ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASIAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE AND FOLKLIFE
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASIAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE AND FOLKLIFE Volume One
Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau, Editors
Copyright 2011 by Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Encyclopedia of Asian American folklore and folklife / Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau, editors. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5 (hard copy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-35067-2 (ebook) 1. Asian Americans—Folklore—Encyclopedias. 2. Asian Americans—Social life and customs— Encyclopedias. I. Lee, Jonathan H. X. II. Nadeau, Kathleen M., 1952– GR111.A75E63 2011 398.20 08995073—dc22 2010030699 ISBN: 978-0-313-35066-5 EISBN: 978-0-313-35067-2 15 14 13 12 11
1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America
Jonathan H. X. Lee dedicates this project to his father, Minh Quoc Lee. Kathleen M. Nadeau dedicates this project to her immediate and extended families.
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CONTENTS
VOLUME ONE Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Asian American Folklore and Folklife PAN ASIAN AMERICANS
xxix xxxiii xxxv 1
Asian American Ethnomusicology and Folklore
1
Asian American Family, Memory, and Folklore
5
Asian American Female Suicide and Folklore
10
Asian American Folklore and Children’s Literature
14
Asian American Folklore, Folklife, and Material Culture
18
Asian American Grocery Stores
21
Asian American Humor and Folklore
23
Asian American Popular Culture and Folklore
29
Asian American Queer Folklore and Folklife
35
Asian American Queer Studies and Folklore
41
Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore
46
Asian American Theater and Folklore
51
Asian American Visual Culture and Folklore
54
Asian American Youth Culture and Folklore
59
Asian Pacific Heritage Month
63
Avalokitesvara
64
“Got Rice?”
66
Lotus Flower
68
Model Minority
69
Mother-Daughter Narrative in Asian American Literature
71
Orientalism and Folklore
73
Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions
74
Root Quest
76
vii
viii
Contents
Second and Subsequent Generations
77
Sexuality, Love, and Folklore in Asian America
79
Siddhartha Gautama (c. 6th–5th Centuries BCE)
84
Swastika
86
“Twinkie,” “Banana,” “Coconut”
88
MIXED HERITAGE, MIXED RACE ASIAN AMERICANS
91
Myths of Origin
91
Amerasians
97
Hapa and Folklore
98
Interracial/Interethnic Marriage and Romance AFGHAN AMERICANS
100 105
History, People, and Culture
105
Culture and Language
110
Folk Dance, Folklore, and Children’s Tales
114
Identity
117
Religion
120
Rites of Passage
123
BURMESE AMERICANS
127
History, People, and Culture
127
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
133
Arts and Crafts
134
Domestic Religious Practices
135
Dying and Death Rituals
137
Festivals and Holidays
138
Folk Dance and Performance
141
Folk Music
144
Folktales
145
Foods and Foodways
146
Heroes and Heroines
148
Home Decoration
151
Humoral Medicine and Spirit Beliefs
152
Identity
153
Literature and Folklore
154
Contents
Mythological and Legendary Deities
156
Names and Name Giving
158
Nature and Animals
160
Proverbs and Maxims
162
Religion
163
Rites of Passage
166
Social Etiquette and Customs
167
Superstition and Taboo
169
Temples
172
Traditional Medicine and Healing
173
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
176
CAMBODIAN AMERICANS
179
History, People, and Culture
179
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decorations
185
Children’s Folklore
186
Clothes and Jewelry
188
Dance, Music, and Performance
189
Dying and Death Rituals
191
Family and Community
193
Festivals and Holidays
195
Folk Music
196
Foods and Foodways
198
Heroes and Heroines
199
Identity
201
“The Killing Fields”
202
Literature
204
Names and Name Giving
205
Narrative Folktales
206
Proverbs and Maxims
207
Religion
209
Rites of Passage
213
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
214
Traditional Medicine and Healing
216
ix
x
Contents
Urban Legends
217
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
219
CHINESE AMERICANS
223
History, People, and Culture
223
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
228
Arts and Crafts
230
Bok Kai Temple and Parade
231
Children’s Folk Songs
233
Chin, Vincent (1955–1982)
234
Chinatown
236
Chinatown Ghost Stories
238
Chinatown Opera Theaters
241
Chinese Calligraphy
246
Chinese Martial Arts
248
Chinese Zodiac
250
Clothes and Jewelry
251
Confucian Traditions
253
Domestic Religious Practices
254
Donald Duk (Frank Chin) (1991)
256
Dying and Death Rituals
257
Fa Mu Lan
263
Family and Community
264
Feng Shui/Geomancy
266
Festivals and Holidays
267
Folk Dances and Performances
269
Folk Music
270
Folklore in Children’s Literature
272
Foods and Foodways
274
Fortune Cookie
276
Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan
277
Guandi
278
Ha Jin (1956–)
281
Heroes and Heroines
282
Contents
Home Decoration
283
Hong Fook Tong
285
Identity
286
Kingston, Maxine Hong (1940–)
288
Lee, Bruce (1940–1973)
290
Lin, Maya Ying (1959–)
291
Literature and Folklore
292
M. Butterfly
294
The Monkey King (Sun Wukong)
296
Mythological and Legendary Deities
297
Names and Name Giving
299
Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant (Honolulu)
300
Narrative Folktale
302
Paper Sons/Paper Daughters
303
Proverbs and Maxims
304
Qing Ming
305
Religion
307
Rites of Passage
309
Social Etiquette and Customs
311
Taiwanese American Religious Temples
313
Tan, Amy (1952–)
316
Taoism
318
Tianhou/Mazu
319
Traditional Medicine and Healing
322
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
324
Vernacular Overseas Chinese Architecture
325
Yin and Yang
328
FILIPINO AMERICANS
331
History, People, and Culture
331
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
336
Arts and Crafts
337
Balikbayan Boxes
339
Beauty Pageants
341
xi
xii
Contents
Beauty Standards
342
Bulosan, Carlos (1911–1956)
344
Children’s and Folk Song
345
Clothes and Jewelry
346
Debutantes
348
Dying and Death Rituals
350
Family and Community
353
Festivals and Holidays
355
Filipino American Churches
356
Filipino American National Historical Society
358
Filipino Turntablism/Mobile DJs
359
Folk Music
361
Foods and Foodways
362
Gender Folklore
364
Gonzalez, N. V. M. (1915–1999)
366
Heroes and Heroines
368
Home Decoration
369
Identity
370
Igorot Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
372
Igorot Balikbayans
373
Igorot Dying and Death Rituals
374
Igorot Family and Community
376
Igorot Foods and Foodways
377
Igorot Home Decoration
379
Indigenous Folk Dance and Performance
380
Indigenous Identity
383
Jeepneys
384
Literature and Folklore
385
Malakas at Maganda
386
Manilamen
387
Mestizaje
389
Names and Name Giving
391
Narrative Folklore
392
Pakikisama
395
Contents
Pilipino Cultural Night
396
Pinoy and Pinay
398
Proverbs and Maxims
399
Religion
401
Rites of Passage
403
Santo Nin˜o Festival
405
Social Etiquette and Customs
406
Traditional Medicine and Healing
408
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
409
Index
I-1
VOLUME TWO HMONG AMERICANS
413
History, People, and Culture
413
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
417
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
418
Bride Capture
421
Children’s Literature and Folktales
423
Clothes and Jewelry
424
Dying and Death Rituals
425
Family and Community
427
Festivals and Holidays
429
Folk Music
430
Folk Songs
431
Foods and Foodways
433
Heroes and Heroines
434
Identity
435
Music
437
Names and Name Giving
439
Narrative/Oral Folktale
440
Nature and Animals
442
Proverbs and Maxims
443
Religion
445
xiii
xiv
Contents
Rites of Passage
448
Shamanism
450
Social Etiquette and Customs
452
Story Cloths
453
Textiles
455
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
457
INDIAN AMERICANS
459
History, People, and Culture
459
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
461
Ayurveda
463
Children’s Folk Songs
465
Clothes and Jewelry
466
Dance
467
Domestic Religious Practices
469
Dying and Death Rituals
470
Festivals and Holidays
472
Folk Music
474
Foods and Foodways
475
Henna
477
Heroes and Heroines
478
Hindu Temples in America
479
Home Decoration
482
Indian American Writers
484
Jain Temples
487
Literature and Folklore
489
Little India
490
Mukherjee, Bharati (1940–)
492
Muslim Mosques
494
Mythological Hindu Deities
495
Names and Name Giving
497
Narrative Folktale
499
Nature and Animals
500
Proverbs and Maxims
501
Contents
Religion
503
Rites of Passage
505
Social Etiquette and Customs
508
Superstition and Taboo
509
Threshold Designs
510
Traditional Medicine and Healing
511
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
512
INDONESIAN AMERICANS
515
History, People, and Culture
515
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
520
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
523
Children’s Folk Songs
524
Clothes and Jewelry
526
Dying and Death Rituals
528
Family and Community
531
Festivals and Holidays
532
Folk Dance and Performance
534
Foods and Foodways
536
Heroes and Heroines
538
Identity
540
Javanese Puppets
544
Literature and Folklore
545
Names and Name Giving
548
Narrative Folklore
551
Proverbs and Maxims
553
Religion
554
Restaurants and Cuisine
557
Rites of Passage
560
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
562
Traditional Medicine and Healing
563
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
566
JAPANESE AMERICANS History, People, and Culture
569 569
xv
xvi
Contents
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
576
Arts and Crafts
577
Chanoyu (Japanese Tea Ceremony)
579
Cherry Blossom Festival
580
Children’s Literature and Songs
581
Domestic Religious Practices
583
Draft Resisters during World War II
585
Dying and Death Rituals
587
Dynasty Warriors
589
Family and Community
590
Festivals and Holidays
591
Floral Arrangements
593
Folk Dance and Performance
595
Folk Music
596
Folktales
597
Foods and Foodways
599
Hawaii Sugar Plantation
601
Heroes and Heroines
602
Identity
603
Inouye, Daniel K. (1924–)
605
Internment Camps
606
Japanese American Artists
610
Japanese American National Museum
611
Japantown
614
Lemon Notebook (Remoncho)
615
Literature and Folklore
617
Martial Arts
618
Mori, Toshio (1910–1980)
620
Names and Name Giving
621
Nature and Animals
622
Noguchi, Isamu (1904–1988)
624
No-No Boys
626
Okada, John (1923–1971)
627
Origami
628
Contents
Pearl Harbor
630
Picture Bride/Shashin Hanayome
631
Pilgrimage to Japanese American Internment Sites
632
Poke´mon
634
Proverbs and Maxims
636
Religion
637
Rites of Passage
639
Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike” (1977–)
640
Social Etiquette and Customs
641
Superstition and Taboo
643
Taiko Performance
644
Tatami
646
Traditional Medicine and Healing
647
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
649
Yamamoto, Hisaye (1921–)
651
Zen Garden
652
KOREAN AMERICANS
655
History, People, and Culture
655
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
660
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
661
Children and Folk Song
663
Children’s Literature and Folklore
664
Clothes and Jewelry
666
Comfort Women
668
Domestic Religious Practices
669
Dying and Death Rituals
671
Family and Community
673
Festivals and Holidays
674
Folk Dance and Performance
675
Folk Music
677
Foods and Foodways
678
Heroes and Heroines
680
Identity
682
xvii
xviii
Contents
Korean American Adoptee Film
683
Korean American Adoptee Literature
685
Korean American Adoptees
687
Korean American Martial Arts
689
Korean Church in America
690
Koreatown and Koreans Living Overseas
693
Literature
694
Music
696
Names and Name Giving
698
Narrative Folklore
699
Proverbs and Maxims
700
Religion
701
Rites of Passage
704
Social Etiquette and Customs
706
Superstition and Taboo
707
Traditional Medicine and Healing
709
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
710
LAOTIAN AMERICANS
713
History, People, and Culture
713
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
717
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
719
Children’s Folk Song
720
Clothes
721
Domestic Religious Practices
723
Dying and Death Rituals
725
Family and Community
727
Festivals and Holidays
729
Folk Dance and Performance
730
Foods and Foodways
732
Heroes and Heroines
734
Identity
735
Jewelry
736
Literature and Folklore
737
Contents
Marriage Rituals
739
Names and Name Giving
742
Narrative Folktale
744
Pii May Lao or Lao New Year
745
Proverbs and Maxims
746
Religion
747
Rites of Passage
752
Social Etiquette and Customs
754
Traditional Medicine and Healing
755
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
757
MALAYSIAN AMERICANS
759
History, People, and Culture
759
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
764
Children and Folk Song
768
Clothes and Jewelry
771
Dying and Death Rituals
774
Family and Community
778
Festivals and Holidays
781
Folk Dance and Performance
783
Folk Music
786
Foods and Foodways
787
Heroes and Heroines
789
Home Decoration
791
Identity
792
Literature and Folklore
793
Names and Name Giving
795
Narrative Folklore
796
Proverbs and Maxims
798
Religion
799
Rites of Passage
804
Superstition and Taboo
806
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
808
Index
I-1
xix
xx
Contents
VOLUME THREE MONGOLIAN AMERICANS
811
History, People, and Culture
811
Children
816
Clothes and Jewelry
818
Dying and Death Rituals
820
Family and Community
822
Festivals and Holidays
823
Folk Dance and Performance
825
Folk Music
826
Folktales
828
Foods and Foodways
829
Heroes and Heroines
831
Home Decoration
833
Identity
835
Music and Folk Song
836
Names and Name Giving
837
Proverbs and Maxims
839
Religion
840
Rites of Passage
842
Social Etiquette and Customs
844
Superstition and Taboo
845
Traditional Medicine and Healing
846
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
848
NEPALI AMERICANS
851
History, People, and Culture
851
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
854
Clothes and Jewelry
855
Dying and Death Rituals
857
Family and Community
858
Festivals and Holidays
860
Folk Dance and Performance
861
Folk Music
862
Contents
Foods and Foodways
864
Identity
865
Maxims and Proverbs
866
Religion
868
Rites of Passage
869
Social Etiquette and Customs
870
Traditional Medicine and Healing
872
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
873
OKINAWAN AMERICANS
877
History, People, and Culture
877
Art and Dance
880
Festivals and Holidays
883
Foods and Foodways
884
Martial Arts
885
Music
886
Religion
890
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
892
PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICANS
893
History, People, and Culture
893
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
899
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
900
Chamorro Folklore of World War II
902
Children and Folk Song
903
Clothing and Jewelry
904
Dying and Death Rituals
906
Family and Community
907
Festivals and Holidays
908
Fiji and Fijians
910
Filipino Material Culture on Guam
911
Folk Dance
913
Folk Music
914
Foods and Foodways
916
Guam and Chamorus
917
xxi
xxii
Contents
Guam: Narratives of Female Deities among the Chamorro
919
Hawaii and Hawaiian
922
Hawaii: Nature and Animals
924
Hawaiian Folklore
925
Hawaiian Folk Music
927
Heroes and Heroines
928
Identity
930
Literature and Folklore
931
Names and Name Giving
932
Narrative
934
Pidgin
935
Pigeons
936
Polynesian Cultural Center
937
Polynesians
938
Puku’i, Mary Kawena (1895–1986)
939
Religion
940
Rites of Passage
944
Samoa and Samoans
946
Surf and Surfing
948
Tahiti and Tahitian
950
Traditional Medicine and Healing
952
PAKISTANI AMERICANS
955
History, People, and Culture
955
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
960
Arts and Crafts
961
Children’s Folk Song
963
Clothes and Jewelry
964
Dying and Death Rituals
966
Family and Community
967
Festivals and Holidays
968
Folk Dance
971
Folk Music
972
Foods and Foodways
973
Contents
Heroes and Heroines
975
Home Decoration
977
Identity
978
Literature and Folklore
980
Names and Name Giving
982
Narrative Folktale
983
Proverbs and Maxims
985
Religion
986
Rites of Passage
989
Social Etiquette and Customs
991
Superstition and Taboo
992
Traditional Medicine and Healing
994
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
996
PUNJABI AMERICANS History, People, and Culture
999 999
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1005
Children’s Folklore
1007
Dying and Death Rituals
1008
Family and Community
1010
Festivals and Holidays
1012
Foods and Foodways
1014
Gurbani Kirtan
1015
Gurdwara
1017
Heroes and Heroines
1018
Home Decoration
1020
Identity
1021
Literature and Folklore
1023
Names and Name Giving
1024
Proverbs and Maxims
1026
Religion
1028
Rites of Passage
1030
Sikh Gurus
1033
Sikhism
1036
xxiii
xxiv
Contents
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1039
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1041
SRI LANKAN AMERICANS
1043
History, People, and Culture
1043
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1048
Caste
1049
Christians
1051
Clothes and Jewelry
1053
Dying and Death Rituals
1054
Family and Community
1055
Festivals and Holidays
1058
Folk Dance and Performance
1059
Foods and Foodways
1061
Heroes and Heroines
1063
Identity
1064
Literature and Folklore
1066
Muslims
1068
Names and Name Giving
1069
Religion
1071
Rites of Passage
1074
Tamil Folktales and Proverbs
1076
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1078
THAI AMERICANS
1081
History, People, and Culture
1081
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
1084
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1085
Children’s Folklore
1086
Clothes and Jewelry
1087
Community
1088
Domestic Religious Practices
1091
Dying and Death Rituals
1092
Ethnic Media
1093
Family and Community
1095
Contents
Festivals and Holidays
1096
Folk Dance and Performance
1098
Folk Music
1099
Foods and Foodways
1101
Heroes and Heroines
1102
Identity
1103
Names and Name Giving
1105
Narrative Folklore
1106
Religion
1109
Rites of Passage
1113
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
1114
Thai Dance and Music
1116
Thai Town
1120
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1122
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1122
TIBETAN AMERICANS
1127
History, People, and Culture
1127
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1128
Children and Folk Song
1130
Clothes and Jewelry
1131
Dalai Lama (1935–)
1133
Dying and Death Rituals
1134
Family and Community
1135
Festivals and Holidays
1137
Folk Dance and Performance
1138
Folk Music
1140
Foods and Foodways
1141
Heroes and Heroines
1142
Identity
1144
Literature and Folklore
1145
Names and Name Giving
1146
Narrative Folktales
1147
Proverbs and Maxims
1148
xxv
xxvi
Contents
Religion
1149
Sand Mandala
1153
Social Etiquette and Customs
1154
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1156
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1157
VIETNAMESE AMERICANS
1159
History, People, and Culture
1159
Arts and Crafts
1165
Boat People
1166
Children and Folk Song
1168
Clothes and Jewelry
1170
Domestic Religious Practices
1171
Dying and Death Rituals
1174
Family and Community
1177
Festivals and Holidays
1179
Folk Dance and Performance
1181
Folk Music
1184
Folktales and Narratives
1185
Foods and Foodways
1187
Heroes and Heroines
1189
Home Decoration
1191
Hurricane Katrina Experience
1193
Identity
1195
Indigenous Religious Traditions
1196
Little Saigon
1198
Monkey Bridge (Lan Cao)
1199
Names and Name Giving
1201
Proverbs and Maxims
1202
Religion
1204
Rites of Passage
1206
Social Etiquette and Customs
1208
Superstition and Taboo
1209
Tet
1211
Contents
Trung Sisters
1213
Truong Van Tran Incident
1215
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1216
Viet Kieu
1218
Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
1221
Bibliography
1241
List of Contributors
1247
Index About the Editors
I-1
xxvii
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PREFACE
We have organized the Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife according to a simple framework that allows the reader to zoom in on specific headwords that are of most interest to her or him. There are many different and diverse communities in Asian America, each with its own rich folk traditions that are newly emerging in the context of changing life in the United States. Given the cultural specificity of folk practices and that access to available resources varies by each of these cultural groups in accordance with their particular histories in the United States, we have encouraged contributors to this collection to be creative in choosing and selecting topics pertaining to their cultural group. Also, Asian America remains a largely understudied field at the level of folkloric theory, so we have included as our first section a collection of essays on Pan Asian American topics and on Asian American folklore methods and theories from various academic disciplines to introduce the interested reader to this fascinating field of study. This is the first encyclopedia of its kind. We have taken care to be as exhaustive as possible in terms of covering all the different Asian American cultural communities, especially those traditionally underrepresented in the literature, such as new immigrant communities, adoptees, and interracial and mixed heritage Asian Americans. The volumes contain more than 600 entries written by 179 expert contributors. The Encyclopedia is divided into sections of entries covering the following 23 Asian American communities and subgroups: Afghan Americans
Laotian Americans
Burmese Americans
Malaysian Americans
Cambodian Americans Chinese Americans
Mixed Heritage, Mixed Race Asian Americans
Filipino Americans
Mongolian Americans
Hmong Americans
Nepali Americans
Indian Americans
Okinawan Americans
Indonesian Americans
Pacific Islander Americans
Japanese Americans
Pakistani Americans
Korean Americans
Punjabi Americans
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Sri Lankan Americans
Tibetan Americans
Thai Americans
Vietnamese Americans
All of the subgroups, with the exception of Pan Asian Americans and Mixed Heritage, Mixed Race Asian Americans are introduced with a lead essay entitled “History, People, and Culture.” These lead essays are intended to orient and guide the reader to better appreciate the shorter essays that follow on specific folkloric topics. The essays for each section cover an illustrative range of exemplary topics in alphabetical order, although some are culture specific. Exemplary essay topics found across the different cultural sections include the following, among others: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
Identity
Arts and Crafts
Literature and Folklore
Clothes and Jewelry
Names and Name Giving
Dying and Death Rituals
Narrative Folklore
Family and Community
Religion
Festivals and Holidays
Rites of Passage
Folk Dance and Performance
Social Etiquette and Customs
Folk Music
Superstition and Taboo
Foods and Foodways
Traditional Medicine and Healing
Heroes and Heroines
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
Home Decoration
Thus, anyone interested in studying, for instance, foods and cooking traditions across a number of Asian American groups or cultures, should read all the “Foods and Foodways” entries found in the various group sections. Introductory and lead essays run between 1,500 and 3,000 words, while the shorter essays range from 500 to 1,000 words long. The entries are written in plain language in a straightforward style that is as interdisciplinary yet jargon free as possible, with explanations provided for any specialized terminology. Concepts are explained in an uncomplicated manner. Examples are used to illustrate and clarify concepts and definitions. The Encyclopedia contains art and photographs of people, places, rituals, and artifacts pertaining to the specific cultural group under discussion. Besides an extensive bibliography for readers interested in learning more about Asian American folklore and folklife, the appendix in the concluding volume contains a sampling of various folktales important to select Asian American cultural groups. Related topics in other sections are cross-referenced with “See also” pointers to sections and entries placed at the ends of essays. Also, each volume has a listing of the headwords by culture group found in the other volumes so that
Preface
readers can quickly identify a cross-referenced headword from another group. Each volume also contains a table of contents and complete subject index to the set. Finally, the essays in this collection cover new scholarship offering current information in Asian American folkloric studies. They incorporate richly illustrative discussions on the origins, processes of transplantation and transmission, and development of all the various and different Asian ways of life in the United States and the subsequent production of Asian American communities, identities, cultures, and ways of life. The Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife continues the tradition of folklore and folklife studies, but with a focus on Asian American communities, concerns, cultural productions, and diversities. It is intended to show established scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, policy makers, and the interested general public what the discipline of Asian American folkloric studies can potentially be. Additionally, it shows the bountiful outcome of cross-cultural, cross-generational, and cross-disciplinary research and studies. The boundaries between Asian and Asian American studies, between East and West, traditional and modern, old and new, are fluid and creative. We, therefore, encourage our readers to step outside the boundaries, and discover the myriad possibilities that studying Asian American folklore and folklife offers. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau wish to acknowledge all the contributors who have invested their time and heart in this project. We especially thank George Butler, John Wagner, and Kaitlin Ciarmiello with ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Press. This project would not be complete without them. Lee wishes to acknowledge his colleagues and the graduate students in the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University for their enthusiastic support and contributions. Lee also acknowledges the inspiration and hope that his nieces and nephews provide him in his work: Goldie, Michael, Robert, Sailing, Tiffany, Stephanie, Samantha, Christina, Jessica, Jacqueline, Christopher, Johnny, Kevin, and Emily. In particular, Lee wants to extend warm thanks to Mark S. Quady for his encouragement and steadfast support in seeing this project through. Nadeau also acknowledges her colleagues, students, and friends at California State University, San Bernardino, whose support and encouragement are first-rate. Finally, thanks to everyone who has contributed to this project in any way from beginning to end, we hope this encyclopedia will open a new trove in Asian American folklore and folklife studies for future scholars to build on.
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INTRODUCTION: ASIAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE AND FOLKLIFE
What is Asian American folklore and folklife? This is the central question addressed by the Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife. The word “folklore” can be an abstract term. Folklore can contain religious or mythic elements, but it equally concerns itself with the mundane traditions of everyday life. Folklore can serve to validate a culture as well as transmit a culture’s morals and values. Folklore can also be used to assert social pressures, or, as in the case of jokes and festivals, relieve them. Folklife is a way of life—the expression of folklore through commonplace actions, rituals, and other forms of social interactions. Folklore and folklife are embedded in human social relationships. Therefore, to study folklore and folklife is to reveal social relationships, and what it means to be human. Many rituals and beliefs can be considered folklore and folklife, whether formalized in a cultural or religious system (e.g., weddings, baptisms, religious festivals) or practiced within a family or secular context. For example, in certain parts of the United States (as well as other countries) one places a knife, or a pair of scissors, under the mattress to “cut the birth pains” after giving birth. In various Southeast Asian countries, the umbilical cord of a newborn baby is buried underneath the house or in the garden, forever connecting the person to the land, and cementing kin relationships for multiple generations. Folklorists often invoke a common cliche´ that there are more definitions of the word folklore than there are folklorists. The word folklore was coined by William Thoms in an article published in Atheneum in August 1846. Thoms intended the word to be employed as “the generic stories, songs, sayings, and the like current among backward peoples or retained by the less cultured classes of more advanced peoples.” Since that time, there has been much development in the study of folklore. Twenty-one competing definitions of folklore proposed by influential American scholars are listed in The Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend published in 1949. Today, after much innovation, folklore has come to be defined by some as whatever folklorists are interested in. According to Barre Toelken, things of interest are items, events, and other cultural forms of dynamic expressions of local social life. Folklore is no longer restricted to the word folk, says W. Edson Richmond. No longer do folklorists confine their studies solely to
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those things that are perpetuated orally or by precept. Folklore is most certainly not restricted to “backward” cultures. Folklore is concerned with those things that appear and, more importantly, reappear in varied forms whenever and wherever human beings interact. In the 1960s, the examination of folklife emerged as a way to complement the oral traditions of folklore studies. Don Yoder (1976) and Warren Roberts (1990) maintain that the study of folklore must go hand-in-hand with the study of folklife, which includes the multifarious dimensions of human culture: material culture, community festivals, vernacular architecture, dances, music, proverbs, vernacular speech, foods and foodways, clothes and jewelry, rites of passage, rituals, religion, traditional medicine and healing, and so on. On January 2, 1976, the Library of Congress created The American Folklife Center, which defined “American folklife” as “the traditional expressive culture shared within the various groups in the United States: familial, ethnic, occupational, religious, [and] regional; expressive culture includes a wide range of creative and symbolic forms such as custom, belief, technical skill, language, literature, art, architecture, music, play, dance, drama, ritual, pageantry, handicraft; these expressions are mainly learned orally, by imitation, or in performance, and are generally maintained without benefit of formal instruction or institutional direction . . . ” (Public Law 94–201). The Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife employs the broadest definition and discourses on its topic. The Encyclopedia contends that Asian American folklore and folklife, among some Asian ethnic and cultural communities, has already been firmly established, while in others it is emerging. However, their variegated expressions have not been studied as extensively as have other regional and world folklore traditions. More research needs to be done to understand the similarities and differences in the various Asian American folklore and practices, theoretically and ethnographically, to make a new contribution to comparative folklore and Asian American studies. Folkloric studies is an interdisciplinary field that draws on various methodologies for the study of cultural matters. Hence, Asian American folklore and folklife consists of more than Asian mythologies narrated in Asian American families and communities, or Asian ritual traditions performed in the private sphere of the home. Asian American folklore and folklife is an Asian American way of life. Asian American folklore encompasses the narrative history of Asians in the United States. Asian American folklife is the totality of Asian material cultures, religious traditions, performances, celebrations, social relations, and so on, used to produce individual and collective Asian American identities and communities. Folklore for Asian Americans can be the oral traditions of family histories, including romantic tales of the homeland and of the struggles of resettlement in a foreign land. Asian American folklore can be the historical experiences of Asian immigrants in the United States, who, since the 1840s, cultivated the lands of the
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American West, built the railroads, worked the plantations of Hawaii, constructed the levees of California’s San Joaquin Valley, suffered internment during World War II, became naturalized citizens, and served in the U.S. military. Asian American folklore also includes the epic tales that entertained Asian immigrants, both historically and today, such as The Tale of Genji, The Ramayana, The Tale of Kieu, and The Romance of Three Kingdoms. Asian American folklore bridges Asia to America with tales employed by elders and parents to transmit cultural mores, ethics, and pride to Asian American youth. More importantly, these stories inspire. For example, oral histories of the flight of Laotian refugees from Laos after the Pathet Lao communist party swept into power in 1975, as well as the origin myth of the Lao peoples emerging from a giant gourd, reinforce social solidarity among Laotian Americans. The Cambodian origins tale of Kaundinya and Soma reinforces among Cambodian Americans a timeless link to Cambodia, its history, and land. Asian American religious folktales teach children how to resist “this-worldly” vices, such as selfishness, greed, jealousy, and the lust for power, and thereby potentially transform themselves into nurturing human beings and members of a community. Asian folklore also opens a window onto the relationship between men and women, which may reveal contrasts and contradictions when juxtaposed with the relationships and status as seen in actual social life. Asian folklore also reveals the angst related to issues of gender and sexuality, as in the case of the “female undead” that came to the United States in the folklore of Filipinos, Indonesians, and Malays. These creatures are usually disguised as beautiful women, but their goal and function does not indicate that hypersexuality is an innate aspect of their attack. The male vampires in these traditions prey only on children, which is opposite of the way male vampires behave in European-American contexts, where they are hypersexual and prey on anyone they desire. Asian American folklife also reveals the transition from Asian to Asian American. For instance, in Cambodia, tattooing is a form of spiritual art. In this cultural context, tattoos are considered magical and believed to supply the carrier with power and the ability to influence good fortune. In Cambodia, men create and are able to possess tattoos. However, in the United States, this has changed, as Cambodian American women are acquiring tattoos that once were only available to men. The most common magical tattoos are words of the Buddhist scriptures, in Pali, which are believed to protect and empower the carrier of the words. Asian American folklife is embedded in everyday life. Expressions of Asian American folklife are the assemblages that unite Asia and the United States. For instance, among Southeast Asian Americans from Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, and South Asian Americans from India and Sri Lanka, people greet each other with hands together and a bowing gesture. In Laos, it is called nop or wai; in Cambodia, it is called sampeah; in Thailand, it is called wai; and among South
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Asians it is called anjali mudra or namaste. These vernacular expressions reveal social relationships, social status, and community unity. In Asian America, youths are taught to “speak” and “perform” these cultural expressions as a way to honor their elders for their life experience and collective wisdom. In so doing, they express themselves as Asian and reinforce their cultural, religious, and ethnic identities. In Laos and Laotian America, for example, there are three forms of nop: with one’s hands together placed at one’s chest to greet strangers and friends; with one’s hands together with thumbs placed at one’s chin to greet elders, teachers, and people of respect; and with thumbs pressed at the third-eye (the space between the eyebrows), which is the highest form of respect reserved for the Buddha. Asian American folklife is expressed when ethnic clothes (e.g., Indian saris, Muslim veils, Thai sarongs, Filipino barong, Vietnamese ao dai, Japanese kimono, or Chinese qipao) are worn or when cooking techniques and recipes are transmitted from parent to child. Asian American folklife is expressed in the observance of festivals and holidays, in the celebrations of rites of passage, as well as in the way each specific community cares for and maintains relationships with their deceased ancestors. Folklife is recorded in the Hmong American “story cloth.” Story cloths are made of designs created by women that depict scenes from daily life, usually, village life. During the Vietnam War, however, some men drew pictures of their wartime experiences on the cloths that were embroidered by women as a way to remember. Later, in the refugee camps, these cloths became popular with the tourists and were produced by men and women for sale as tourist art. Hmong American story cloths reveal these changing gender relations. They function mainly as a marketing tool but are sometimes distributed as gifts and heirlooms. Hmong American women combine fine needlework tradition with new knitting and quilting techniques to create designs that depict everyday life in the United States. Folklore and expressions of folklife are portable, situated, and changing. Asian immigrants have introduced many elements of their folklore and folklife to the United States. Over time, new folklore about a given group develops, while some folklife practices are appropriated and become quintessentially “American,” such as yoga or the Chinese American fortune cookie. Balikbayan boxes (“boxes returning home”) are cargo containers of Filipino American folklore and folklife. Almost every Filipino American sends balikbayan boxes filled with gifts and goods back to family members and friends in the Philippines. Balikbayan boxes magically transform into carriers of gifts that are opened and displayed to signify a person’s hospitality. These boxes sometimes are sent even at the expense of the balikbayan (returning person). The transnational fluid boundaries of Asia and Asian America can also be seen in popular video games from Asia that transmit Asian folklore to Asian American youth. This high-tech transmission is exemplified by Dynasty Warriors, a series of
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tactical action video games created by Omega Force and Koei. The game is based on the Chinese epic The Romance of Three Kingdoms, known in Japanese as Shin Sangokumusou. The Romance of Three Kingdoms and its heroes—Guangong, Liu Bei, and Zhang Fei—thus become part of the cultural literacy of Asian American youth through video games. We encourage readers and users of the Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife to stretch their imaginations and explore the following questions: What is Asian American folklore? What is Asian American folklife? Some examples may be clear, while others may not be. For example, do tales of former Khmer Rouge cadres living in Long Beach, California or the deportation of Cambodian American refugees back to Cambodia as a result of changes in U.S. immigration laws in 1996 qualify as examples of urban legends? Growing up in a Chaozhou Chinese Cambodian family, who fled Phnom Penh before the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975, I constantly heard stories of red-eyed oau-sai (black shirts) living in Long Beach, home to the largest Cambodian community outside Cambodia. The Chaozhou Chinese American refugee elders called the Khmer Rouge cadres oausai because they wore black clothes. Asian American folklore and folklife is the consequence of transplantation, accommodation, transformation, and (re)invention of cultural traditions, material and ideological, of the Asian subjects and communities in the United States. Hence, though there might not be such a thing as “Punjabi American folklore and folklife,” there is a Punjabi way of life that is being transmitted, employed, and used within Punjabi American communities. Conversely, among Japanese American communities, a uniquely Japanese American way of life can be seen in the accommodations made to the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist tradition in the United States, and the production of the Buddhist Churches of America immediately after World War II. In recent times, the “Got Rice?” logo has become a sign and symbol of Pan-Asian American pride, while the popular metaphor of the “Twinkie,” “Banana,” and “Coconut”—yellow and/or brown on the outside, white in the inside—bespeaks the cultural-identity struggles of growing up in Asian America. Asian American studies was founded four decades ago out of struggle. It was fueled by the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and it demanded an alternative definition of what it means to be American. Being an American was not limited to the normative white, middle-class, Protestant, heterosexual image and ideals. Instead, the Asian American movement demanded that Asians living in the United States, past, present, and future, have the right to express themselves as fully American. Regardless of degree of acculturation, this demand rejects the totalizing model of assimilation. Asian American folklore and folklife practices affirm the Asian American experience, which is shared among the Chinese gold miner, the Punjabi farmer, the Sikh taxi driver in New York, the mother who only speaks Lao, the Cambodian monk in Lowell, the Vietnamese American writer, the
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Burmese refugee, the Thai restaurant owner, the young Asian Americans who immigrated as kids, the undocumented Filipina, fourth-generation Japanese Americans, and the Asian American civil rights activists. Each group, each generation will express themselves in manifold ways, and their stories, once told and recorded, will become part of the folkloric traditions of Asian America, and, by extension, part of American folklore and folklife traditions. Asian American folklore and folklife is not “exotic” and “other,” rather, it is American—naturally, comfortably, and rightly. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau
Further Reading The American Folklife Center: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/ (accessed April 18, 2010). Berger, Harris M., and Giovanna P. Del Negro. Identity and Everyday Life: Essays in the Study of Folklore, Music, and Popular Culture. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2004. Dorson, Richard M., and Inta Gale Carpenter, eds. Handbook of American Folklore. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983. Richmond, W. Edson. “Introduction.” In Richard Dorson and Inta Gale Carpenter, eds. Handbook of American Folklore. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983. Roberts, Warren E. Viewpoints on Folklife. Looking at the Overlooked. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1990. Toelken, Barre. “The Folklore of Academe.” In Jan H. Brunvand, ed. The Study of American Folklore: An Introduction. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1978. Yoder, Don, ed. American Folklife. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976. Yoder, Don. Discovering American Folklife: Essays on Folk Culture and the Pennsylvania Dutch. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001.
Pan Asian Americans Asian American Ethnomusicology and Folklore Asian American music historically represented a pervasive, important element within local communities at family gatherings, weddings, holiday celebrations, and cultural fairs. Over the last few hundred years, Asian immigration continues to be influenced by a variety of social, political, and economic factors throughout the Asian diaspora. Furthermore, various cultural factors, including customs, traditions, languages, and religions, all served as a basis for a collective identity. The first generations of Asian Americans were the progenitors and vehicles for traditional folk music. Oftentimes, Asian American folk music included small orchestras, ensembles, solo musicians, and theatrical works with little or no change in production and performance from former homelands. New residents practiced historic traditions and music-making with original instruments, indigenous languages, and theatrical song and dance. Essentially, Asian American music in the 20th century was largely devoted to a musical direction inherently more “Asian” than “American” traditional music and folklore. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 fostered the establishment of numerous ethnic groups, including immigrants from Asian nations. In this regard, Asian American individuals from previously acculturated or assimilated groups from prior generations could be studied and compared with recent populations for adaptive and resettlement processes. The heterogeneity of the Asian American label is divided into about twenty different groups determined according to country of origin, such as “Pakistani,” “Chinese,” “Indian,” “Burmese,” “Lao,” and “Cambodian Americans.” Importantly, Asian American ethnomusicology is varied and does not connote folk or popular music contains the signature style, sound, or even instrumentation indicative of indigenous “Asian” music. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 eventually paved the way for Asian immigration and a new musical environment within the United States. Immigrants from China, Indian, Mongolia, Japan, and South Korea, were mostly established first, while those from Burma, Thailand, Republic of Lao, Nepal, India, Cambodia, Vietnam,
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Philippines, Malaysia, and Tibet established musical traditions in the United States over the past 50 years. The face of Asian American ethnomusicology and folklore is not only shaped by historical customs and traditions, but American, or Western, music, too. At first, Asian American music was mainly produced at ethnic festivals, private parties, and academic institutions before assimilation and incorporation with “Western” styles. During the later part of the 20th century, however, Asian American musicians added pop and rock music styles, with the iconic drums, electric guitar, and bass instruments. The earlier definition of Asian American music as being limited to traditional Asian music was an incomplete and inadequate definition, since the term actually pertains to any type of music created by any American citizen of Asian ancestry. In other words, Asian American music as an ever-changing mode of communication and entertainment that cannot be narrowly confined and described as “Asian American music.” Rather, Asian American ethnomusicology encompasses a wide range of musical instruments, styles, and musicians of Asian ancestry that are best defined and studied as “Americans with an Asian ancestry making music.” The most common arena for exposure to Asian American music is found in festivals throughout the United States. In this regard, music is celebrated and authenticated by generational traditions passed down from ancestral lineages. The festival celebrations of Asian American music and folklore highlight traditional and contemporary elements. In most cases, cultural festivals showcase traditional music. The celebrations of dance, music, poetry, and other dramatic art forms provide a collective voice and communal bond for various Asian American groups. In the middle of the 20th century, Asian American groups largely performed traditional music echoing the traditions of the Asian diaspora. Interestingly, recent Asian American immigrants have been primarily concerned with fitting in among the non-Asian majority. However, collective musical festivities promote greater cultural awareness among the general population, while offering some economic and educational opportunities. Asian American music festivals are social platforms with oftentimes confusing or conflicting perceptions about the authenticity of self-representation and cultural awareness. The emergence and importance of Asian American music and folklore as public displays of cultural identification are undeniable. Asian American music festivals are closely tied with holidays, for example, the New Year’s celebrations of Hmong and Chinese Americans. The struggle to organize specific events relates to scheduling conflicts, media advertising, financial budget, number of volunteers, and audience. Most Asian American music festivals cater to specific Asian American groups by playing and performing traditional music. Social and cultural marginalization is one factor that is inherent in every cultural display and is primarily responsible for the success or failure of the event.
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Ethnomusicology and Folklore
However, Asian American music festivals face a number of other challenges including cultural responsibility of authenticity, financial stability, national reception, and festival locations. Asian American music performances were initially relegated to universities and small “folklore” festivals. Academic studies of Asian American music were largely incomplete and difficult to ascertain, due to the multifactoral and multiethnic complexities. Still, Asian American music was different in form, style, and structure from “Western” or “white American” music. As a result, its popularity was limited to Asian communities. The establishment of community music festivals provided a forum for creative musical exchange within a specific Asian American community. Unfortunately, many Asian American music and folklore festivals relied on grassroots support by Asian Americans in the beginning. However, local government grants, regional volunteer support, and academic contributions provided music festivals with life-sustaining, economic support. Yet some Asian American music festivals are no longer in existence due to lack of funding and community support. A combination of meager financial support and the small population sizes of some Asian American communities have limited the long-term success of Asian American festivals. Also, these festivals are often located far from Asian American neighborhoods. For instance, in 1996, a Chinese American hip-hop concert in New York City was moved from a smaller, Union Square locale to a more centralized and expansive location at the Lincoln Center. The new move proved catastrophic, as the entertainers were dwarfed by the vastness of the new surroundings and attracted few attendees. In short, the loss of a smaller, more personalized venue away from the “elitist” mainstream interfered with the transmission of the performance and created an overall disconnect with the fans. The relationship between musical performance and reception is an integral part of any musical society and Asian Americans are no exception. Live performances of traditional music have been showcased for local, Asian audiences, as well as non-Asian individuals. This intraethnic connection between Asian and non-Asian individuals fueled national cooperation and celebration of ethnic music and folklore at festivals, private parties, and schools. The establishment of limited funding and increased national exposure allowed Asian American music to flourish. This was due in part to recorded technologies, including LPs, CDs, cassettes, and digital formats. Television and print technology served as invaluable resources for establishing a growing Asian American music and folklore audience. The “world music” boom of the 1980s helped the Asian American community move into the forefront of the national music scene. Around the same time, immigration by Asian individuals increased partly in response to poor living conditions and/or economic and political instabilities overseas. Newly devised multicultural and pluralistic initiatives in the United States increased opportunities for Asian
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individuals to pursue academic studies at American institutions. This led many students, professors, and families to permanently immigrate to the United States. This immigration brought various musical styles that were eventually incorporated and popularized within American society. Asian American folk ensembles and traditional music opened the door to more Westernized, electronic sounds found within the genres of pop, rock, dance, trance, rap, and alternative. As with other ethnic groups in the United States, Asian American music is largely underrepresented, with only five to six percent of Americans claiming Asian American ethnicity as of 2008. The existing study of Asian music in the United States is generally characterized by two contrasting ideas: Asian music as artifact and Asian music of the diaspora. The first idea explains music as a separate entity primarily concerned with sounds and practices. “Artifact” music describes the traditional and isolated nature of musical development in a cultural vacuum devoid of nonessential elements, such as specific instruments, styles of music, and so forth. Of course, treating music as purely artifact limits a thorough understanding of any type of music, especially for Asian American music. To account for the numerous musical influences inherent in any multiethnic and diasporic music, ethnomusicologists consider Asian American music as a cultural form ever-changing and everinfluenced by local, national, and global styles, instruments, and languages. The latter description, Asian music of the diaspora, explains how music is shaped, changed, and influenced within and between countries. In essence, Asian American music and folklore are musically connected to the popularized and nationalized genre forms of the United States, the new host country. In recent times, the musics of the Asian diaspora have been represented by notable musicians from the Philippines, Mongolia, China, Japan, India, Malaysia, Cambodia, Nepal, Tibet, and other countries. Asian American music and folklore transcends generations, national borders, ages, and ethnicities. In essence, Asian American music is not only performed by musicians of Asian descent, but Asian music is also being performed by a non-Asian minority. The effects of horizontalism, the practice of music-making whereby ethnic traditions are adopted by peoples of other communities, are perhaps the ultimate legacy of Asian American musicians. This is especially important for the Asian American community as the adoption of traditionally Asian instruments, styles, and genres is also influenced by Westernization. Essentially, Asian American music and folklore will reach a wider audience without losing its inherent “Asianness.” The establishment of numerous Asian American cultural organizations, societies, and music troupes has been followed by national and independent record labels, not to mention, hundreds of digital, CD, and LP self-releases to ensure a steady supply of musical history for Asian Americans. Overall, there is a fine balance between Asian American music preservation and marginalization that will
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continue to present ethnomusicologists, musicians, and academic researchers with complicated issues of inquiry. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Japanese Americans: Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike” (1977–); Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Family, Memory, and Folklore; See also all entries on Folk Music; Folk Dance and Performance.
Further Reading Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology Vol. VI: Asian Music in North America. 1985. s.v. “Introduction.” Wong, Deborah. Speak It Louder: Asian Americans Making Music. CD included. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Asian American Family, Memory, and Folklore Guided by history, shaped by migration, and transmitted from one generation to the next, Asian American folklore offers a reading of difference, immigration policy, and contemporary U.S. racial dynamics. From internment to relocation, from family traditions to memories of war, Asian American folklore is expansive in reach and scope. Situated between, within, and through Asia and the United States, Asian American folklore attests to the transnational in that it reflects and negotiates Asian and American influences. Further, there is no singular Asian American subject, nor is there a monolithic Asian American experience. Labels such as “Japanese American,” “Korean American,” “Pakistani American,” and “Cambodian American” hint at the heterogeneous makeup of the “folk” in Asian American folklore, making it impossible to map exact coherences between groups. Nevertheless, despite Japanese American rapper Mike Shinoda. the heterogeneity of Asian Americans, (Aaron D. Settipane/Dreamstime.com)
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what links each group to the other is not a common history so much as a connected immigration experience in the United States. Moreover, family as a conduit to cultural and historical memory in Asian American folklore is constructed through experiences of immigration and histories of discrimination. With regard to historical memory, immigration law and practice figure keenly in the Asian American experience precisely because Asian immigrants have in the past been the explicit targets of nativist laws and policies. Within the United States, Asian Americans have contended with racial discrimination, which has taken its most legible form in segregationist domestic and immigration policies. Additionally, immigration law and policy had, until the mid-20th century, prohibited the migration and naturalization of first-generation Asian immigrants. From the passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act to the 1917 Asiatic Barred Zones Act (which drastically limited immigration from China, Japan, Korea, and South Asia), from the enforcement of segregationist laws in the western United States to juridical prohibitions on naturalized citizenship, Asian immigrants were, at multiple historical points, denied the right to become American citizens. The exclusion of Asian immigrants via the law was partially configured to address contemporaneous mainstream economic, social, and political anxieties. These anxieties would circumscribe the experience of subsequent generations of Asian Americans, who, despite being natural-born citizens, nonetheless were read according to specific racial scripts. Taking the form of stereotypical declarations that Asian immigrants were a perpetually foreign, inassimilable cheap labor force prone to vice, anti-Asian sentiment reflected a characterization of Asian immigrants as antithetical to mainstream notions of “family.” The first wave of Asian immigration primarily consisted of male Chinese laborers, who sought fortunes in mining, worked on Hawaiian plantations, and labored to complete the western portion of the transcontinental railroad. Prohibited economically and politically from bringing their families to the United States, Chinese immigrants were from the outset discouraged to settle permanently in the United States. The exclusion of Chinese—and by extension other “Oriental”—women in immigration policy was codified in 1875 with the passage of the Page Act. This act ostensibly forbade the importation of Asian women for illicit purposes (i.e., prostitution), but was universally applied to all female applicants for immigration. In fact, it was not until the 1945 War Brides Act that the first major wave of Asian female immigration occurred. Thus, the assault on Asian immigration was waged on a family front. Immigration law and practice obviated the formation of Asian American families for nearly a century after the first wave of Chinese immigrants in 1850. Asian immigrants finally gained unimpeded access to citizenship with the passage of the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act, which removed racial requirements for naturalization. Moreover, the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act
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(Hart-Celler Act), which eliminated nation-state quotas in favor of hemispheric designations (170,000 from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 from the Western Hemisphere), enabled the first mass migration of Asian immigrants to the United States. With regard to family frames, the majority of the seven preferences categorizing would-be immigrants to the United States involved family reunification and political refugees. This latter category would achieve further prominence as U.S. foreign policy turned its attention to Asia, the subsequent passage of the 1975 Indochinese Refugee Act and 1980 Refugee Act made possible an even larger influx of Southeast Asians into the United States. This preference, in tandem with shifts in immigration law, contributed to an increase in Asian immigration to the United States and Asian American families. According to Pyong Gap Min, between 1965 and 2002, 8.3 million Asian immigrants became permanent residents, a number that represents 34 percent of total immigrants. Hence, if Asian American folklore is invested in the telling of communal stories and experiences, then the history and legacy of immigration emerge as potent and undeniable touchstones for the Asian American experience. And if, as cultural critic Robert G. Lee asserts, family functions as a metaphor for the nation, then immigration law historically regulated the production of ideal citizens. Contemporary parlance uses parental terms to talk about countries of origin (fatherlands and motherlands), and linguistic affiliation is evident in characterizations of “mother tongues.” Individual citizens are cast as “sons” and “daughters” of nation-states, and patriotism is coded according to affective mentions of love, faith, and duty. National identity, discussed via such relationships, is thus socially constructed and understood via the family, a label suggestive of like relationships, common practices, bonds, traditions, and beliefs. Nevertheless, for Asian Americans, the use of kinship terms vis-a`-vis one’s citizenship is necessarily complicated because of bifurcated cultural senses and multiple histories. Moreover, assuming that Lee’s original observation that family is a metonym for the nation holds, then the question emerges as to which nation is referenced in Asian American folklore. Within this milieu, uprooted and transplanted, Asian American folklore relies on the transmission of cultural memory through family frames. The notion of transplantation is not limited to the immigrant and refugee experience, yet it reflects a previous history of discrimination and racialization. For example, the Japanese American redress movement of the 1970s and 1980s was largely shaped by the work of third-generation Japanese Americans, who had little to no memory of internment camps. Whereas first- and second-generation Japanese/Japanese American internees were silent, the third-generation was much more vocal in addressing the forced relocation of an estimated 110,000–120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans between 1942 and 1946 following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This generation—known as “sansei”—mobilized the memory of the
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internment to foreground calls for justice, and reparations were finally paid to internees in 1988 as per a congressional redress bill. Thus, the issue of transplantation in the case of Japanese Americans is domestic in scope. This history is taken up by third-generation Japanese American rapper Mike Shinoda, the lead singer for the group Fort Minor. In “Kenji,” a track from the 2005 album Rising Tied, Shinoda expresses through spoken word and hiphop his father’s story of life during World War II and in Manzanar, a California internment camp. “Kenji” includes interviews with former internees (including his father) and concludes with Shinoda’s assertion that the narrative expressed is in fact his family’s story of internment. Utilizing the multidisciplinary idiom of hip-hop, characterized by not only the lyric but the sample, Shinoda revises his familial story in intergenerational fashion so that his narrative exists alongside samples from interviews with his father and another female internee. In doing so, Shinoda constructs a unified communal narrative of internment that reflects the folkloric transmission of history through familial memory. Returning to immigrant and refugee frames, marked by bicultural sensibilities informed by experiences in the country of origin and the country of settlement, Asian American folklore signals in form and theme the multifaceted consequences of transplantation, accommodation, and adaptation. Cambodian American rapper praCh Ly’s memorialization of the Cambodian genocide (known more widely as the Killing Fields era) in his Dalama trilogy album series (2000– 2009) similarly uses as a narrative foundation a family story. Between 1975 and 1979, over a three year, eight month, twenty day period, an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died as a result of execution, starvation, disease, and forced labor (roughly 21–25% of the population). The rapper takes on the task of commemorating this loss through hip-hop. Parental memories of survival coexist with traditional Khmer music forms, which are in turn juxtaposed with contemporary U.S. hip-hop beats. The fused end-product makes visible the transplanted experiences of the Cambodian refugee and represents the adaptation of hip-hop to speak to the accommodation of Cambodian and American music practices. On another level, praCh’s work is invested in articulating an intergenerational transmission of memory and artistic practice. Following suit, praCh’s negotiation of family stories takes on the task of commemorating the genocide. Shinoda and praCh gesture toward a reading of Asian American folklore that stresses the importance of not only telling parental stories but also listening to those narratives, which leads to collective understanding. In contrast, the inability to “listen” to parental stories is apparent in two Asian American novels that feature mothers and daughters. Korean American writer Nora Okja Keller’s Comfort Woman (1997) and Vietnamese American author Lan Cao’s
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Family, Memory, and Folklore
Monkey Bridge (1997) employ folkloric elements to explore tensions between firstgeneration parents and their second-generation children. Each novel is situated within a particular history of migration, revealed through familial memory. Central to each novel is the negotiation of multiple histories, cultures, and experiences through memory, an act of remembering the past that nevertheless occurs in the present. In Comfort Woman, a daughter must come to terms with not only her mother’s death and previous history as an involuntary sex worker for Japanese soldiers (or “comfort woman”) during World War II. In Monkey Bridge, the Vietnamese American refugee daughter must piece together a family story of betrayal and infidelity involving her grandfather and mother. Both novels access the same mother/child story. In Comfort Woman, the mother narrates a tale of two frogs. According to Keller’s narrator, the frog never listened to his mother, and would instead do the exact opposite of what he was told. The mother frog, acknowledging her son’s previous actions, tells her child that she wants to be buried not on a mountain but by the river. Thinking that her son will do the opposite, the mother stresses the river location as a burial site. Desiring a mountain burial, the mother deliberately manipulates a familial history of rebellion. However, when the mother dies, the child, saddened by his loss, decides to follow his mother’s seeming final wish and buries her by the river. This parable is slightly revised in Monkey Bridge. Instead of two frogs, Cao’s narrator tells the story of a Japanese mother and daughter. Within each narrative, the parable speaks to a tension between mothers and children who live together but do not listen to one another, which brings to the fore the consequences of miscommunication. The Americanized daughters in each novel do not listen partially because they do know their mothers’ histories. In turn, mothers have not been able to effectively communicate this past as a result of war memory and trauma. A familial history of miscommunication leads to a disastrous consequence, embodied by a burial that contradicts maternal wishes. “Translation,” the expression of meaning from one language to the next, is obscured because the family parties involved cannot effectively listen to one another, which causes them to misread cues and intent. Keller and Cao thus highlight the potential disruption of family as a result of transplantation, wherein children forget previous cultural affiliations and are consequently rendered unable to adequately listen, whereas Shinoda and praCh present alternative listening practices. Nevertheless, despite different narrative strategies, Shinoda, praCh, Keller, and Cao each take on the task of translating—or making legible—the heterogeneous nature of the Asian American experience. In doing so, each artist compellingly brings together family and memory to underscore a larger, variegated narrative of history through folkloric transmission. —Cathy J. Schlund-Vials
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Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Female Suicide and Folklore See also: Japanese Americans: Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike”; Pan Asian Americans: Mother-Daughter Narrative in Asian American Literature.
Further Reading Cao, Lan. Monkey Bridge. New York: Penguin Books, 1997. Keller, Nora Okja. Comfort Woman. New York: Penguin Books, 1997. Lee, Robert G. Lee. Orientals. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999. Min, Pyong Gap. Asian Americans: Contemporary Trends and Issues. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications, Ltd., 2006.
Asian American Female Suicide and Folklore Asian American folklore about mental health is defined as the cultural beliefs, myths and taboos about suicide and mental illness, as well as the healing belief systems and practices that Asian Americans transmit intergenerationally and circulate within the panethnic community. Through its transmission, suicide folklore is inherently shifting and uniquely Pan-Asian American, mixing traditional cultural beliefs about suicide from diverse immigrant, diasporic communities with contemporary social myths and stereotypes about Asian American mental health. Further, Asian American suicide folklore functions in the Foucaultian sense as a means of social control, creating taboos about mental illness that contribute to social stigma and, thus, increased suicide risk for Asian American women. On the other hand, Asian American folklore also operates as a source of healing for suicidal and depressed Asian American women, as they revise and practice traditional Asian American ideas about mental health and healing. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the Asian American female suicide rate in 2006 was 3.4 per 100,000 individuals in the population. Compared to the national rate of 10.9, suicide among Asian American women overall does not appear to be a problem. However, when national suicide data are disaggregated by race, sex, and age, a more accurate picture of Asian American female suicide emerges. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Asian American women, aged 15–69 years, have had the second-highest female suicide rates during 1999–2006. During the same period, Asian American women aged 70 years and over have had the highest female suicide rates. Furthermore, suicide is ranked higher as a leading cause of death for Asian American women (12th) than for white women (17th). Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Asian American women aged 15–24 years, compared to white women aged 15–19 years, which means that suicide ranks high as a cause of death for a longer period for Asian American females than for white females. In terms of years of potential life lost, suicide accounts for the highest percentage
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Female Suicide and Folklore
of years lost among Asian American females compared to women of other racial and ethnic groups. Finally, Asian American women attempt suicide more often than Asian American men and exhibit depression and suicidal thinking at higher rates across both gender and race. Therefore, suicide statistics point to a unique mental health crisis among Asian American women. Asian American suicide folklore—specifically, the myths, beliefs and taboos about suicide, depression and mental illness transmitted from primarily firstgeneration Asian Americans to American-born generations—creates both protective and risk factors for Asian American suicide. Some of these beliefs about the meanings and causes of mental illness and suicide originate in ethnic-specific, diasporic cultural folklore. For example, some Chinese Americans believe that suicide by hanging is an expression of rage and hostility, and that the spirit is so tortured through the method of suicide that it will forever haunt those surviving. Chinese superstitions about suicide by hanging can discourage suicide through the social taboo or stigma of suicide that such superstitions create. Asian American religions can also serve as a protective factor against suicide. For instance, Catholicism, practiced by many Filipino Americans, views suicide as a sin, thus discouraging individuals from considering it as an option. While Asian American folklore can help prevent suicide through the creation of social taboos against suicide, it can also serve as a risk factor through stigmatizing, and thus marginalizing, suicidal or depressed individuals. Fearful of social stigma as a result of myths about mental illness, suicidal individuals may suffer in silence and isolation, placing them even more at suicide risk. For example, based on empirical data, the Chinese taboo against suicide by hanging does not seem to discourage suicide among Asian Americans overall. The CDC reports that the most popular method of suicide used by Asian Americans is suffocation, including strangulation, which is responsible for 45 percent of all Asian American suicide deaths. Another ethnic-specific Asian American folk practice that can help put Asian Americans at risk for suicide is the practice of honor suicide, based on the Japanese ritual seppuku, the act of a Samurai killing himself to avoid shame. In contemporary times, honor suicide takes on a gendered component, as Asian American women also turn to suicide to avoid social shame. The threat of shame, coupled with the gender socialization of Asian American women to be self-sacrificing, places Asian American women particularly at risk for suicide. When retold through the lens of Asian American culture, some folklore that originates in ethnic-specific, diasporic immigrant communities shifts and is revised through shared experiences of assimilation and processes of panethnic identity formation. In Asian American Panethnicity (1993), Yen Le Espiritu demonstrates how distinct Asian ethnic groups have come together to form an allethnic Asian American identity in the United States. Hence, a unique, collective
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Asian American folklore about suicide arises that is indigenous to the U.S. context. For example, the practice of honor suicide may have originated in Confucian societies, which valued collectivity and an understanding of one’s place within society; thus, suicide was seen as a way of “saving face” in situations of social transgression. However, Asian Americans, Confucian or not, have since then been homogeneously constructed as shame-based cultures, in opposition to Western cultures, which prize individuality above others’ expectations. Thus, whether through shared experiences of social stereotyping or of assimilation, Asian Americans have adopted a panethnic Asian American folklore about suicide. What makes Asian American suicide folklore uniquely American is largely due to the internalization, by both immigrant and American-born generations of all ethnicities, of an externally imposed belief system that is part of U.S. racial folklore, namely the model minority myth, which has created a false picture of Asian American mental health. The “model minority” myth, coined in 1966 by University of California sociologist William Petersen in an article he wrote for the New York Times Magazine, has become hegemonic in Asian American folklore about mental health. The model minority myth stereotypes Asian Americans, among other things, as super-achievers free of mental health problems compared to other racialized ethnic groups. In fact, Asian Americans are shown not to be doing well in terms of mental health, when differences of ethnicity, generation, age, gender, and sexual orientation are taken into account. A study by Eliza Noh, “Suicide among Asian American Women” (2002), shows that, for Asian American women, the model minority myth has created incredible pressures to perform due to unrealistic expectations of success, as well as social taboos against acknowledging experiences of mental illness, depression, or suicidal tendencies. Thus, the contemporary model minority myth increases the risk for suicide and depression for Asian American women. The impact of the model minority myth on Asian American mental health indicates that Asian American suicide folklore is not just stories that the Asian American community originates and circulates on its own, but also a hegemonic discourse that influences the way Asian American suicidal subjectivity is formed. Since the model minority myth explains academic and financial success as being the result of Asian values emphasizing hard work and education, the problems associated with the model minority myth are commonly assumed to originate from traditional Asian cultural values, and thus from within the Asian American community itself. Further, these pressures are often experienced within the contexts of family and parental expectations, usually between immigrant parents and their American-born children. However, the model minority discourse, popularized by Petersen’s article and through mass media, did not originate from the Asian American community; rather, it arose as a part of U.S. racial folklore as a means of controlling U.S. racialized minorities. In Unraveling the “Model Minority” Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth (1996), Stacey J. Lee describes
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Female Suicide and Folklore
the model minority stereotype as a hegemonic device that maintains the racial dominance of whites by diverting attention away from racial inequality and by setting standards for how minorities should behave. Asian Americans, across ethnicity and generational status, have internalized the model minority image and circulated it as a part of their own cultural folklore. As a result, Asian Americans attempt to fulfill unrealistic standards of success, while ignoring or marginalizing problems, to the detriment of their mental health. Besides myths and taboos about suicide, Asian American mental health folklore includes healing folklore that suicidal and depressed Asian American women use to help them recover their mental health. Asian American healing folklore is used in conjunction with or as an alternative to conventional Western therapies centered on psychological counseling and the use of prescription medication. A report of the Surgeon General on mental health (2001) confirms that Asian Americans possess the lowest utilization rates, across gender, age, and geographic location, of mental health services compared to other ethnic populations. Their low utilization rates are due to factors such as distrust, stigma, lack of financial resources, differing conceptions of health and treatment from those underlying Western mental health services, linguistic inappropriateness of services, and the use of alternatives within Asian American communities. The alternative healing folklore that Asian American women use is comprised of diverse Asian American belief systems, rituals, and practices, including traditional Chinese medicine and theory, such as the use of herbal medication and acupuncture; holistic healing beliefs about the inseparability of the mind, body, and spirit; spiritual faith practices, such as Buddhist meditation and chanting or Christian prayer; and cultural “homecoming” rituals, which entails returning to one’s Asian cultural roots as a means of strengthening self-identity. Cultural “homecoming” rituals can be as simple as learning about Asian American cultural history or as in-depth as learning to use Asian American creative arts, such as music or visual art, as a means to vent or express emotional pain. Asian American women use these cultural folkloric practices in creative ways, revising and reinterpreting them to suit their needs. Thus, Asian American folklore about mental health is not just a discursive means of regulating Asian American suicidal subjectivity, but it also provides sources of healing and agency, through which suicidal Asian American women can rebuild their mental health. —Eliza Noh See also: Pan Asian Americans: Model Minority; Mother-Daughter Narrative in Asian American Literature; Root Quest.
Further Reading Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centers for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online, 2005]. http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars.
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Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Folklore and Children’s Literature Duldulao, Aileen Alfonso, David T. Takeuchi, and Seunghye Hong. “Correlates of Suicidal Behaviors among Asian Americans.” Archives of Suicide Research 13 (2009): 277–90. Heron, Melonie, Donna Hoyert, Sherry Murphy, Jia QuanXu, Kenneth Kochanek, and Betzaida Tejada-Vera. Deaths: Final Data for 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports 57.14. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2009. Noh, Eliza. “Suicide among Asian American Women: Influences of Racism and Sexism on Suicide Subjectification.” PhD dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 2002.
Asian American Folklore and Children’s Literature Asian American stories have been in the United States as long as Asians have been in the Americas. Sui Sin Far’s Tales of Chinese Children, published in 1912, is generally considered the first “Asian American” story for young people. However, in subsequent years, folktales from Asian cultures and nonfiction children’s books explaining to non-Asian, white American children about the Asian countries, cultures, and peoples dominated the landscape of children’s literature. After the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, there emerged more fictional and autobiographical stories by and about Asians and Asian Americans, so the proportion of folktales and nonfiction to fiction is becoming more balanced. Since 2002, approximately 100–175 children’s books have been published by and/or about Asian Americans every year, but scholars still decry the paucity of Asian American representation in American children’s literature; the increase is a smidgen compared to the approximate 5,000 American children’s books that are published annually. In 2008 the Cooperative Center for Children’s Books in Madison, Wisconsin, reported that only 77 of the 175 Asian/Pacifics and Asian Pacific American children’s books were both by and about Asian/Pacifics and Asian Pacific Americans. As well, many of these books tend to depict Asian New Year celebrations, and nonfiction books tend to teach about Asian cultures and countries, rather than about the contemporary experiences of Asian Americans. Asian American children’s literature includes all the stories that are told about the Asian diaspora for young audiences; this includes but is not limited to genres such as folktales, nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Asian American children’s literature is an integral component of the folklore of Asian American experiences because it is one of the primary ways in which young people—both Asian and non Asian—might be exposed to Asian and Asian American cultures, traditions, beliefs, and ways of life.
Origins in Folklore Much of Asian American children’s literature began with and continues to stem from the folklore that was brought from across the Pacific Ocean to the
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Folklore and Children’s Literature
United States. Books containing Asian content tended to be in the form of folktales written by white Americans (such as missionaries, diplomats, or explorers) who had been to Asian countries and/or had interacted with Asian people. An early example is the Grandmother Tales collections by Frances Carpenter. One reason why most of the authors of these books were white is because they had easier access to publishing; in the earlier part of the 20th century, many of the Asians in the Americas were immigrant laborers who did not have much leisure time for writing. Folktales function as a convenient way for people to learn about other cultures because, although each culture’s folklore is specific to that culture, certain elements of the more universal stories (such as the ubiquitous Cinderella story) may transcend national and cultural boundaries. However, these folktales are not without controversy. One of the most wellknown and problematic children’s books featuring Asian characters is The Five Chinese Brothers (1938), written by Claire Hutchet Bishop and illustrated by Kurt Weise. This picture book tells the story of five identical Chinese brothers who outwit their captors with one identical brother standing in for another. However, the illustrations depict not just the five brothers as identical (which is necessary for the story to work), but also the Chinese townspeople are almost entirely and stereotypically identical to one another. In the 1970s, this led to a debate in the children’s literature journals about the racism reflected by these illustrations (Schwartz 1977; Lanes 1977). These criticisms fell in line with the conversations of the day; in 1965 Nancy Larrick had observed that fewer than 7 percent of the 5,206 children’s books published between 1962 and 1964 depicted black characters. After Larrick’s landmark accusation leveraged at the “all-white world of children’s publishing,” publishers scrambled to provide more books portraying ethnic minorities, and scholars and other readers began to critically examine children’s books for their ethnic and cultural content. Federal monies available to schools and libraries also created a demand for more children’s books; in the wake of the civil rights movements, there was a particular demand for more books by and about ethnic minorities (Sims Bishop 1982). While traditional Asian folktales are still retold for the American market, more of the stories published from the 1970s onward tend to be from insider voices about contemporary experiences.
Political Purpose of Children’s Literature As scholars Dolores de Manuel and Rocı´o Davis and point out, writing Asian American children’s literature is a political project in which Asian Americans rewrite themselves into the landscape of American children’s literature (2006; Davis 2007). Many Asian American contemporary writers say they write their largely autobiographical stories because they want today’s children to see
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themselves reflected in the books they read—a privilege unavailable to the authors during their youth (de Manuel and Davis 2006). Aside from folktale collections, literature depicting Asians increased with more media exposure to the war in the Pacific, Japanese Internment, and the Korean War. Historian Christina Klein observes that America’s involvement with the Pacific heightened a sense of “Cold War Orientalism” that led Americans to embrace Asian culture through “middlebrow culture” (2003). One logical method was to publish children’s books featuring Asians and Asian Americans. Also, in the aftermath of the Japanese Internment (1942–1945), Japanese Americans such as Yoshiko Uchida wrote children’s novels and picture books that share the gritty truth about the relocation camps. In the years following the Korean War, white American authors began publishing books about Korean orphans; for example, Kim of Korea, written in 1955 by Faith Norris and Peter Lumn, depicts a Korean orphan who is adopted by a white American soldier. As transnational/transracial adoption from Korea to the United States steadily increased in the postwar era, white American authors published a new children’s book about a Korean orphan adoptee at least once every two or three years. Similarly, adoption stories about Chinese girls have exploded across the market alongside the rapid increase of Chinese transracial/transnational adoption. Historical fiction and autobiographical fiction comprise a significant part of Asian American children’s literature, including personal narrative, family history, community customs, and other forms of folklore. Since the 1970s, Laurence Yep has been publishing novels about Chinese American experiences spanning the mid-1800s to the present day. In addition to a distinguished collection of Chinese American folktales (The Rainbow People, 1989), two of his novels, Dragonwings (1975) and Dragon’s Gate (1993), have won Newbery Honors, and in 2005 he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his collective contribution to the body of children’s literature. Testifying to the emergence and quality of Asian American children’s literature, in 2002 Linda Sue Park won the Newbery Medal for A Single Shard, a historical novel set in Korea, and An Na won the Michael L. Printz Award for her debut young adult novel, A Step from Heaven. In 2004, Cynthia Kadohata received the Newbery Medal for Kira Kira, also a novel of historical fiction, and in 2007 Gene Luen Yang received the Michael L. Printz Award for his graphic novel, American Born Chinese. Yang’s colorful and provocative work blends a traditional “Journey to the West” Monkey King folktale with a young Chinese American’s process of coming to a greater, more complicated understanding of his Chineseness. These complex stories debunk, challenge, and subvert the more linear assimilation stories published during earlier decades. In 2004, the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association established the first APALA Literature Awards to honor the illustrations and texts in children’s and young adult works depicting Asians and Asian Americans. Interestingly, in
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Folklore and Children’s Literature
contrast to the Coretta Scott King Award, the American Indian Library Association Award, and the Pura Belpre´ Award, the APALA Literature Award does not require the illustrator or author to be Asian American; the main criteria are that the content be about Asia or Asian America.
Transnationalism in Children’s Literature As in the earlier years of Asian folktales making their way across the Pacific, Asian American children’s literature published at the turn of the 20th century may also be viewed in a transnational context. Although the United States exports many more of its stories than it imports from other countries, American publishers have imported and translated a few key stories from Asian countries. One example is Keiji Nakazawa’s graphic novel series Barefoot Gen, a semi-autobiographical account of Nakazawa’s experiences during the bombing of Hiroshima (originally published in 1972, and translated and republished by Last Gasp in 2004). Another example reflecting the transnational trend in Asian American children’s literature is Allen Say’s Caldecott Medal book Grandfather’s Journey (1993), which aptly shows that “literature of the world does not break down conveniently along national lines” (Garrett 2006). Say’s conclusion best conveys the tensions: “The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other.” Children’s literature scholar Junko Yokota observes that there has been a “significant move away from the ‘long ago and far away’ literature of folklore and historical fiction” to more books about contemporary Asian American experiences (2009). This may be because more Asian American writers are writing about their own experiences. As reflections of Asian American folklore, children’s books purport to depict the everyday culture and experiences of Asians in the Americas. While stories about the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean diaspora still dominate, there are increasing numbers of books about the Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, and other South and Southeast Asian American communities. For example, the picture book A Song for Cambodia (2008) and young adult novel Born Confused (2002) depict experiences of Southeast and South Asians, respectively. In addition to the usual folktales and stories about immigration and assimilation, Asian American children’s literature is also addressing other issues with more complexity. For example, contemporary stories about mixed race Asians and transracial adoption, many still written by outsiders to the experiences, abound. As well, children’s books are published in more complex formats, such as in graphic novels (American Born Chinese), manga (Naruto series), and poetry (Tofu Quilt 2009). The huge popularity of graphic novels and manga gives Asian American stories an increasingly secure place in the canon of children’s and young adult literature. —Sarah Park
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See also: Chinese Americans: Folklore in Children’s Literature; Pan Asian Americans; Mother-Daughter Narrative in Asian American Literature.
Further Reading Davis, Rocı´o G. Begin Here: Reading Asian North American Autobiographies of Childhood. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. de Manuel, Dolores, and Rocı´o G. Davis. “Editor’s Introduction: Critical Perspectives on Asian American Children’s Literature.” The Lion and the Unicorn 30(2) (April 2006): v–xv. Garrett, Jeffrey. “Of Translations and Tarantulas: What’s at Stake When American Children Read Books from Other Countries.” In Doris Gebel, ed. Crossing Boundaries with Children’s Books. Oxford, UK: Scarecrow Press, 2006, 10–14. Klein, Christina. Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, 1945–1961. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Lanes, Selma G. “A Case for The Five Chinese Brothers.” School Library Journal (October 1977): 90–91. Larrick, Nancy. “The All-White World of Children’s Books.” The Saturday Review (September 11, 1965). Schwartz, Albert V. “The Five Chinese Brothers: Time to Retire.” Interracial Books for Children Bulletin 8(3) (1977): 3–7. Sims (Bishop), Rudine. Shadow and Substance: Afro-American Experience in Contemporary Children’s Fiction. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1982. Yokota, Junko. “Asian Americans in Literature for Children and Young Adults.” Teacher Librarian 36 (3) (Feb 2009).
Web Site University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education. “Children’s Books By and About People of Color Published in the United States.” Cooperative Children’s Book Center: http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/pcstats.asp (accessed December 11, 2009).
Asian American Folklore, Folklife, and Material Culture Material culture refers to the design, construction, modification, and use of physical objects to both create and express meaning within a culture. Material culture includes the study of artifacts, landscapes, architecture, and art. Artifacts are objects that have been produced or manufactured, such as items of clothing, tools and utensils, and ritual or decorative items. Landscapes are cultivated natural settings. A rock in a field has no inherent meaning, but a rock that marks the site of
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Folklore and Folklife
a significant event, or a rock placed in a garden has assigned meaning. Spaces can be manipulated to become meaningful as they become built environments of houses, shops, schools, and places of communal or religious activity. All of these objects and environments are subject to design and shaping beyond basic functionality, thus moving the study of material culture into the realm of art and aesthetics. In studying the material culture of Asian American communities, every thing is a significant expression of meaning within that community—from the literal contents of ancestral baggage to plastic chopsticks cases purchased at the Marble sculptures of mythical lions adorn the local mall, from slippers to saris, from tops of two eight-foot granite pylons marking a dozen kinds of rice to durian ice the entry into San Francisco's Tenderloin cream, and from Buddhist house tem- District's Little Saigon. The gateway was ples to Sikh gurdwaras to time-share erected by the City of San Francisco, California, in 2003, which legitimated this Christian churches. neighborhood as meaningfully Vietnamese. The use of the term “material cul- (Jonathan H. X. Lee) ture” originated in the 19th century in two distinct but related contexts: (1) with the study of artifacts by archaeologists and early anthropologists and (2) with the rise of the great museums of Europe and the United States—the employers of the majority of early anthropologists. The Victorian study of objects paralleled and fueled colonial interests in locating, and thus managing, cultures along some continuum of civilization: the evolution of a society could be read from the progress of its technologies and the sophistication of its artifacts. Museums, therefore, grew from being random or happenstance collections of exotic curiosities such as shoes for bound feet, to deliberate collections of objects that made possible the study of peoples distant in either time or space. The cultural knowledge constructed from the study of artifacts was assumed to be authoritative; this knowledge served to assure modern European-American museum patrons of the superiority of their own culture, as judged by technological advances over the more primitive objects on display. In the early 20th century, material culture studies lost favor. Anthropologists moved out of the museums and sought to understand other cultures through long periods of cultural immersion and fieldwork; the study of material artifacts as cultural “fossils” and
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milestones toward modernization was superseded by contemporary insights gained through participation-observation and the analysis of kinship structures and social processes. Within the field of folklore studies, however, the study of objects steadily contributed over the past century to a growing appreciation of the role of material culture in the construction of local and national identities. Similarly, and in the face of rapid social change, it became clear that the study of material culture could be used to chart the disappearance of heritage. Rural trades and tools were lost to industrialization, traditional architectural forms and building techniques were lost to urbanization and mechanization, and unique arts and crafts— puppetry, kites, umbrellas, baskets—were lost to mass production and commodification. Material culture studies in the 20th and early 21st century have taken a sometimes melancholic turn as traditional cultural forms and objects have continued to vanish. A focus on nostalgia and loss, however, obscures the fact of continued material cultural production. In Asian American cultures, not only are traditional Asianorigin objects retained, but they are also retooled or repurposed or appropriated beyond the originating cultural community. Rice cookers and woks are ubiquitous in “American” kitchens. In Chinese American communities, feng shui still dictates that burial in one cemetery is preferable to another due to their relative location and influence of natural forces, but the tools of this ancient divination tradition have morphed into the mirrors, aromatherapy candles, and decorative plaques that adorn the walls of homes and offices with no heritage connection to China at all. Material culture can function as a means of resistance to forces of globalization and homogeneity. The wearing of traditional clothing or the incorporation of design elements such as woven buttons or frog closures into non-traditional items of apparel signal publicly a preservation of identity. Material culture can also constitute or bolster new hybrid cultural forms, as when, out of economic necessity, immigrant Hindu communities pool resources to create a mandir, or temple, to house deities that would not be enshrined together in India. Very different combinatory impulses are displayed in the creation of Indian salsa or in Asian American hip-hop culture, in which non-traditional musical instruments and modes—as well as fashion and marketing strategies—are employed expressively. In studying the material culture of Asian America, we ask how objects function: what do they do, and for whom? What is their social value and what is their social cost? Who benefits from their use and who is excluded? Are changes occurring in the form or character of objects themselves, or in the setting in which they are used? Surveying the material cultural landscape of Asian America is a complex assignment. Not only do artifacts, landscapes, architecture, and art interact with each other within a particular Asian American culture, but they interact with
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and within the material cultural settings of surrounding cultures as well. The construction of Japanese Buddhist churches, some replete with pews and stained-glass windows, offers evidence of both accommodation to local zoning demands and definitions of a religious (and thus tax-exempt) structure and also of preservation of significant and distinctive imagery and objects (the stainedglass windows display the Buddha and lotuses). Whether under the force of pressure from the majority culture, through natural processes of generational change fueled by linguistic shifts and unfamiliarity with cultural practices beyond the familial, or through the development of new technologies, material culture is always changing—constructing and conveying the multiple meanings of its community. —Vivian-Lee Nyitray See also: Chinese Americans: Chinese Calligraphy; Feng Shui/Geomancy; Fortune Cookie; Vernacular Overseas Chinese Architecture; Japanese Americans: Floral Arrangements; Origami; Tatami; Zen Garden; Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Grocery Stores; Asian American Visual Culture and Folklore; “Twinkie,” “Banana,” “Coconut”; Lotus Flower; See also all entries on Arts and Crafts; Clothes and Jewelry; Home Decorations; Foods and Foodways.
Further Reading Buchli, Victor, ed. The Material Culture Reader. Oxford and New York: Berg, 2002. McDannell, Colleen. Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995. Miller, Daniel. Material Cultures: Why Some Things Matter. London: University College Press, 1998.
Asian American Grocery Stores In North America running a grocery store has long been one prominent means of making a living for immigrants and their descendants, and hence ethnographers have researched ethnic grocery stores to study aspects of diaspora culture. The anthropological literature on ethnic grocery stores tends to treat such issues as transnationality, consumerism, and the socioeconomic statuses of store owners and customers, but ethnic grocery stores additionally constitute rich loci for studying from a folkloric perspective a spectrum of everyday sociocultural human expressive culture, both material and oral. Ethnic grocery stores come in various sizes and types—from mom-and-pop stores to large-scale markets—and their clientele and merchandise vary depending upon location. Whereas one store may cater to a single ethnic group if situated
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within that group’s urban ethnic enclave, another store located in a suburb or smaller city may function as a pan-Asian outlet serving multiple ethnic groups, including non-Asians. Although most major supermarkets today carry Asian foods (due to the growing popularity of Asian cuisines within mainstream culture), ethnic grocery stores continue to thrive as homes-away-from-home for immigrants, whose lives they support tangibly and intangibly. For immigrants it is important to have a place in which to experience the familiar, and the sights and scents of fondly recalled imported products in an ethnic grocery store bring a sense of comfort to those living in Asian America. Food is one of the most important constituents of ethnic tradition, playing a crucial part in the maintenance of quotidian diets and in the observance of religious rituals, calendar customs, and cultural celebrations. But the preservation of ethnic foodways depends upon the availability of the proper ingredients. Many immigrants maintain faith in foodstuffs imported from their native countries for the sense of security that they provide, and sometimes because of skepticism and disapproval of those products’ American counterparts. The more essential a food to the immigrants’ ethnic foodways, the more loyal they are likely to be to a homeland variety and brand, because flavors are something ingrained in the taste buds from childhood. Thus the proprietors of successful ethnic grocery stores, exercising culturally bestowed insight, accommodate the needs and preferences of the ethnic communities that they serve, whose members reciprocate with loyal patronage. The non-victual also contributes to a store’s welcoming environment. The interior may be adorned with business-related lucky charms, amulets, and figurines (coins, jade, knots, beckoning cats, wall hangings bearing such Chinese characters as fu [fortune] and shou [longevity]), as well as posters advertising products. Due to the material presentation of ethnicity on site, a trip to the ethnic grocery store may be construed metaphorically as a trip to the homeland. The friendly embrace of the place is not created by materials alone, as multiple types of verbal lore circulate within the store. Here immigrants—speaking the native language, English, or some hybrid of the two (Chinglish, Hinglish, Hmonglish, Japanglish, etc.)—can exchange information ranging from frivolous gossip to legal advice. A clerk-shopper dialogue filled with bantering, bargaining, and joking reflects cultural values and gender roles as well as humor. More formulaic lore including proverbs, riddles, and folktales may be recited among those who share the same cultural background. An ethnic grocery store is for ethnic communities not merely a place to shop for food, but a social hub and a conduit of folklore. The store provides a space in which people encounter others living in the same circumstances, with whom they share not only cultural knowledge but also New-World experiences. Exuding a homeland atmosphere that links immigrants and their descendants
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to their ethnic traditions and folkways, the ethnic grocery store supports the continuity of traditions in diaspora and their perseverance through subsequent generations. —Ayako Yoshimura See also: All entries on Foods and Foodways.
Further Reading Bonus, Enrique. “Marking and Marketing ‘Difference’: Filipino Oriental Stores in Southern California.” Positions 5(2) (1994): 643–69. Dhaliwal, Amarpal K. “Gender at Work: The Renegotiation of Middle-Class Womanhood in a South Asian-Owned Business.” In Wendy L. Ng, Soo-Young Chin, James S. Moy, and Gary Y. Okihiro, eds. Reviewing Asian America: Locating Diversity. Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1995, 75–85. Dresser, Norine. “ ‘Is It Fresh?’ An Examination of Jewish-American Shopping Habits.” New York Folklore Quarterly 27 (1971): 153–60. Mankelar, Purnima. “ ‘India Shopping’: Indian Grocery Stores and Transnational Configurations of Belonging.” Ethnos 67(1) (2002): 75–97. Yoshimura, Ayako. “Oriental Shop: An Ethnography of Material Communication inside an Asian Grocery Store in Madison, Wisconsin.” MA Thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2009.
Asian American Humor and Folklore In the study of folklore, humor—as it appears in blasons populaires, jokes, and jocular tales—has been researched as a part of verbal lore. Folklorists have collected and indexed such lore to understand geographical diffusion of motifs, cultural patterns in manners of telling, and individual performance styles, as well as to conduct psychological and contextual analyses that explore sociocultural implications embedded in the humor. Because humor can reveal a perceptual boundary between originator and target, it provides a rich locus for researchers to examine the ways in which one group perceives itself from the inside-out, while judging others from an outside perspective. Ethnic humor highlights characteristics of targeted ethnic groups deemed distinct to those groups by others. These range from physical and behavioral traits to cultural elements such as food, clothing, beliefs, customs, and speech, all subject to exaggeration for the purpose of ridicule. Overemphasized or distorted, these characteristics are developed into ethnic stereotypes (the bumptious Jewish American mother, the garlicky Italian American, the fried-chicken-eating
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African American) that underscore the boundary between originator and target, which maximizes the humorous effect at the expense of the target’s Otherness. In American humor culture, it has been customary for minority groups to embrace ethnic characteristics previously put forth as stereotypes by others, so as to turn the tables for their benefit. Self-deprecation in humor is often regarded as a means of self-empowerment, and ethnic groups such as African Americans, Jewish Americans, and Norwegian Americans have employed this strategy to claim for themselves stereotypes previously advanced by others. The difference between being ridiculed by others and ridiculing oneself is enormous. Through self-ridicule the originator exhibits confidence in qualities that may be perceived by others as evidence of inferiority. In this way, an ethnic group cultivates a sense of ethnic pride and solidarity. Employing humor, a minority can challenge social judgments and biases projected by the majority, and confront them with the minority’s viewpoints to expose the majority’s shortsightedness (Oring 1992). Asian American humor has won little recognition in academia. New Directions in American Humor (1998), edited by the renowned humor scholar David Sloane, includes not a single article dedicated to Asian Americans. The Encyclopedia of 20th-Century American Humor (2000) contains entries for minority groups such as “African Americans,” “American Indians,” “Hispanics,” and “Jews,” but none for Asians or Asian Americans. And it was only recently that Studies in American Humor, the journal of the American Humor Studies Association, began to feature articles devoted primarily to Asian and Asian American humor. Frustration over the lack of scholarly attention given to minority humor spurred John McNally to compile Humor Me: An Anthology of Humor by Writers of Color (2002), which does contain a few selections by Asian Americans. Such underrepresentation is not surprising because historically Asian Americans have contributed to American humor culture more as targets of mainstream caricature than as humor producers. From the Chinaman in Cal Stewart’s “Uncle Josh in a Chinese Laundry” (a classic “No tickee, no washee” scenario) to Long Duk Dong in the film Sixteen Candles, the image of Asians (and Asian Americans) in mainstream America has typically been that of the goofy and incompetent foreigner. But the current is shifting now that multiple Asian Americans have emerged as humor producers. Margaret Cho and Bobby Lee, both Korean Americans, are at the forefront of Asian American humorists, while others are following in their wake as stand-up comics, developing their own performance styles and routines. A pivotal moment in the history of American humor was the victory of the Vietnamese American Dat Phan in the first season of the comedy competition television series Last Comic Standing.
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Humor and Folklore
As have those from other minority groups, Asian American comedians have adopted the tactic of lampooning majority-prescribed ethnic characteristics. For example, speech accent is a primary source of ethnic humor because it is one particularly prominent characteristic of ethnic groups, and Asian American comedians frequently employ accent-switching in their stage performances. In her stand-up act Margaret Cho tells anecdotes drawn from her experience as a firstgeneration Korean American, often imitating her mother by employing a speech pattern characteristic of Asian immigrants, with incomplete sentences, missing articles, an inability to distinguish “l” from “r,” and the omission of words’ terminal consonant sounds. Asian American comics’ onstage accent-switching conveys something more than its purely phonological features. Many Asian Americans still experience being mistaken for immigrants by non-Asians, despite their native English. That Asian-looking people must have come from other countries is a common mainstream misconception offensive to Asian Americans. Thus when Asian American comedians engage in accent-switching, they draw a distinction between Asians in America and Asian Americans. Switching between native English and stereotypically accented English allows Asian American comedians to demonstrate that they are native speakers of English, and at the same time that they find Asian accents as comedically fertile as do non-Asians. An effective use of such accent-switching launched Dat Phan’s opening performance on Last Comic Standing, in which he introduced himself as an archetypically goofy foreigner by speaking in a heavy Asian accent, then a moment later astonished the audience by proclaiming in perfect English his ability to speak the language. In this instance Phan debunked not only the common misconception but also the all-too-frequent mass-media portrayal of Asians. Comedians adopting accents in their humor delivery differs from actors adopting accents for their typecast roles (e.g., Pat Morita as Arnold Takahashi in the series Happy Days, Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles). Such roles in mainstream entertainment are created for the majority, and are designed to fit existing stereotypes such that the characters remain within the majority’s perceptual comfort zone. Although the ability to feign accents is considered part of an actor’s craft, many Asian Americans find it offensive that Asian American actors must play immigrants by faking Asian-immigrant accents, because this simply reinforces the majority’s perception of Asians as foreigners. On the other hand, stand-up comedians can employ this skill to deliver their viewpoints on this condescending perception. For example, Henry Cho (a Korean American comic from Tennessee) sometimes intensifies his own Southern accent to parody rural Southerners. Russell Peters (an Indian Canadian comic active in the United States) regularly mocks multiple Asian accents, and in the television show Comedy Now! compares the sound of white Canadians to that of donkeys. When comedians
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adopt accents, they exhibit their competence in standard English, and through humor remind us that white people too talk funnily. Other examples of majority-prescribed ethnic characteristics challenged by Asian American comedians include the following: 1. “Asians” are incompetent in American-style humor: Chinese American Eliot Chang closes a show by acknowledging the probable doubts among his Asian fellows about his ability to make the majority laugh. 2. “Asian” males are not masculine: Japanese American Paul Ogata jokes about his inability to grow a full beard. 3. “Asians” are poor drivers: Half-Filipino American Jo Koy exposes the illogic in the notion that the Japanese could design and produce the best cars, yet be unable to maneuver them. 4. It is difficult to tell “Asians” apart: Henry Cho recalls losing his father in a crowd on a visit to Korea. 5. “Asians” necessarily embrace their Asianness: biracial K. T. Tatara counters the majority’s expectation that he should be able to speak Japanese simply because he is half-Japanese. Asian American comedians tackle ethnic stereotypes so as to bring fresh perspectives to mainstream perceptions of their racial and ethnic groups. When reseasoned to Asian American tastes and served to the original projectors, jokes about ethnic stereotypes become charged with new meanings. Stereotypes that once reflected the majority’s exoteric view of Asians and Asian Americans are redefined to communicate to the majority the esoteric Asian American opinions of those stereotypes. Thus minority comedians challenge the majority’s erroneous social assumptions to counterattack with their minority viewpoints. Some comedians assume more of an activist role. The biracial performance artist Kate Rigg uses stand-up comedy, singing, and poetry to advocate for, among other things, women’s rights and gay marriage. As vocalist for the performing group Slanty Eyed Mama, she sings “Rice, Rice, Baby”—a takeoff on Weird Al’s song of the same title, itself a parody of Vanilla Ice’s debut—to criticize American society’s Eurocentric perceptions of the Asian and Asian American community. Rigg is especially assertive in her disapproval of the way in which Asian women are portrayed in the mass media as exotic objects of desire, something that has grown into a phenomenon called “Asian fetish.” While some Asian and Asian American women believe that “Asian fetish” works to their advantage, others take offense because it reflects a view of Asian women as submissive playthings (the China doll, the geisha girl). As a selfstyled “fierce Asian gangsta poet,” Rigg declaims that not all Asian and Asian
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American women play goody-goody Asians, because “there’s a whole other world in the hearts of these Oriental girls” who do not conform to the stereotype concocted by mainstream America. Margaret Cho also works political statements into her stand-up show. Well known as an advocate for women’s rights and gay rights, Cho often rants about social injustices that she attributes to the Republican political party and government during the George W. Bush era (1995–2000). She recounts that during the George W. Bush administration she was condemned by conservatives for stating that although the President was not Hitler, “he would be, if he applied himself” (Assassin 2005). For this she was inundated with hate mail that, rather than denouncing her political stance, attacked her personally on the basis of her perceived nationality and sexuality. To such a remark as “Go back to your country, you fat dyke!” Cho replies, “I can’t go back to my country because I was born here; I am already in my country” so as to criticize the majority’s tendency to lump Asians and Asian Americans together into a single category (“Asians”), and its inability or unwillingness to distinguish between Asians in America and Americans of Asian descent. For comedians like Cho, humor is the platform that allows them to deliver political statements and social critiques. A tamer brand of humor can be useful for educational purposes. The Minnesota-based Hmong comedian Tou Ger Xiong visits schools as a diversityeducation consultant to perform stand-up comedy and tell stories about his early life in Laos and Thailand, migration, and experiences growing up in the United States. Switching between English and Hmong, he exhibits competence in both American and Hmong cultures and confidence in his ability to find humor in life’s hardships. The Hmong are still underrepresented in the Midwest despite the size of their population, and racial discrimination against them is a grim part of everyday reality. For minority children it is encouraging to hear a public figure recounting personal experiences to which they can relate: coping with the trials of growing up a young immigrant child, being greeted with ethnic slurs such as “Chink” and “Gook,” facing the dilemma of having to be American at school while trying to be Hmong at home, having to fend for himself because his parents neither spoke English nor understood what he was going through due to not having grown up in the United States themselves. Immigrant and minority children need to learn how to balance mainstream culture with their household cultures, as they often discover that their cultural values are incongruent with mainstream norms. Comedians like Tou Ger Xiong enlighten minority children on the importance of embracing their own backgrounds, while teaching majority children about the experiences of their new neighbors and the diversity of people’s lives. For ethnic humor to be effective, it is necessary that both producer and audience share an awareness of the differences between majority and minority in the
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perception of ethnic characteristics, and it is because of this prerequisite that studying humor helps folklorists to understand the ways in which group characteristics are perceived, and group identities constituted. In contemporary American humor culture, minority comedians frequently practice the principle of selfprojected ethnic humor: countering exoteric ridicule with esoteric reinterpretation thereof. In this regard, the 21st century is witnessing a sea change as more and more Asian Americans enter show business as comedians. Ultimately their selfproduced ethnic humor communicates to mainstream America that the viewpoints and life experiences of Asian Americans are as varied as those of other groups. In their humor, boundaries are drawn between whites and Asians/Asian Americans, and furthermore between Asians and Asian Americans. The future of the Asian American contribution to American humor is promising, yet some sensitive issues still linger. Often embedded in humor are caricature and discrimination; hence humor historically has aided in disguising hatred, hostility, and disdain. Regardless of Asian American comedians’ mainstream success, it is important to recognize that not every Asian or Asian American appreciates ethnic humor. When Asian American comedians mock Asian accents, it might be understood merely to pillory immigrants behind the shield of humor. Asian American comedians often proclaim that they caricature races and ethnicities so as to illuminate prejudices pervasive in the mass media. Yet not everyone concurs with the practice of using racial and ethnic humor to tackle prejudice, because of its potential to perpetuate stereotypes—or worse, to legitimize them. Perhaps the most publicized example of such an intraethnic conflict is the criticism Margaret Cho received from the Korean and Korean American community for her once-much-anticipated sitcom, All American Girl, because that community did not approve of her as an ideal representative (Cho 2000; Cassinelli 2008). Many Asian immigrants do not favor American-style sarcasm and selfdeprecation as means of self-revelation, and not all Asian Americans believe in using such humor to gain the understanding of the mainstream. Asian Americans have long struggled to differentiate themselves from Asian immigrants so as to prove to non-Asian Americans that they are indeed Americans, while Asian immigrants have striven to survive in a foreign land, no matter how relentlessly they are belittled by the majority. And when “Asians” are labeled a model minority (which some Asians and Asian Americans welcome as a positive stereotype), why dismantle this with self-ridicule? Humor is a vehicle through which Asian American comedians communicate their perspectives to the public so as to elevate the minority’s status and prove the competence of its members within the mainstream. While self-directed ethnic humor may allow Asian American voices to take part in the race and ethnicity discourse in the United States, it may still register as derogatory to insiders trying to live up to the “model minority” label and to climb the social ladder in the white-dominated world.
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Whether or not one enjoys self-deprecating humor depends not only upon one’s sense of humor but upon how one positions oneself in society. Asians and Asian Americans constitute not one coherent group but a mix of people with varied personalities, in addition to differences in terms of race, religion, and culture. The success of Asian American humor will depend upon approval and support from inside as much as upon recognition from outside. The rest of the century has a lot to look forward to. —Ayako Yoshimura See also: Pan Asian Americans: Model Minority.
Further Reading Cassinelli, Sarah M. “ ‘If We Are Asian, Then Are We Funny?’ Margaret Cho’s AllAmerican Girl as the First (and Last?) Asian American Sitcom.” Studies in American Humor, New Series 3(17) (2008): 131–44. Cho, Margaret. I’m the One That I Want. New York: Ballantine Books, 2001. Dundes, Alan. Cracking Jokes: Studies of Sick Humor Cycles and Stereotypes. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1987. Leary, James P., ed. So Ole Says to Lena: Folk Humor of the Upper Midwest, 2nd ed. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2001. McNally, John, ed. Humor Me: An Anthology of Humor by Writers of Color. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2002. Mieder, Wolfgang. “ ‘No Tickee, No Washee’: Subtleties of a Proverbial Slur.” Western Folklore 55(1) (1996): 1–40. Oring, Elliott. Engaging Humor. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003. Oring, Elliott. “Self-Degrading Jokes and Tales.” In Jokes and Their Relations. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1992, 122–34. Oring, Elliott, ed. Humor and the Individual. Los Angeles: California Folklore Society, 1984.
Web Site Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures. “Tou Ger Xiong, Hmong Comedian.” http://csumc.wisc.edu/cmct/HmongTour/locations/madison/tougerxiong.htm (accessed July 26, 2009).
Asian American Popular Culture and Folklore Introduction Since the 1960s, Asian Americans have frequently been portrayed as “the model minority,” a racial group successfully assimilated to Euro-American culture. For example, Sandra Oh and Kal Penn have leading roles as likeable doctors on two
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separate Emmy-winning broadcast series, Grey’s Anatomy and House, respectively. In 2009, Penn, a New Jersey native, left House for a position as an Associate Director for the White House Office of Public Engagement. He serves as the liaison within the arts and the Asian Pacific Islander American communities. These common examples of the model minority stand in direct contrast to previously held dominant images of Asian Americans in the media as the “pollutant” (a threat to white racial purity in the mid-19th century), the “coolie” (a threat to white working-class masculinity), the “deviant” (a threat to white sexuality), the “yellow peril” (a threat to the American nation), and the “gook” (a slur popularized during the Cold War to dehumanize Asians). Despite this history of narrow Asian American constructions in U.S. popular culture, Asian Americans are and always have been a heterogeneous group, representing dozens of distinct nationalities (e.g., Hmong, Japanese, and Vietnamese), religions (e.g., Christianity, Buddhism, and Muslim), languages (e.g., Mandarin, Korean, and Tagalog), cuisines, and spanning across every imaginable socioeconomic group. Generalizing the experiences of Asian Americans as a singular group with a unified history would be a grave mistake. However, it is important to acknowledge the significance of the term “Asian American.” It has served as a politically potent umbrella term for the Asian American community as it challenges the derogatory designation by the Western world of all of Asia as the exotic “Oriental.” Since the last U.S. Census Bureau count in 2000, Asian Americans represented roughly 4 percent of the total population, with figures expected to more than double by 2050. Compared to other racial groups, they also exhibit the highest rates of outmarriage and producing interracial children, further complicating what it means to be, look, or behave “Asian American.” While we recognize the heterogeneity of Asian Americans, identifiable values and beliefs, or folklore, certainly do exist in this racial subculture. Up to the mid-20th century, Asian Americans, like other racial minority groups, have historically been denied citizenship rights in the United States; these include, but are not limited to, the right to fair wages, to vote, to testify against whites, to own property, to marry whites, and to become citizens. Marginalization in the political sphere has contributed to the rising importance of the cultural sphere, an active site for creation, resistance, and identification for minority groups who have been historically denied a voice in the political arena. Today, this voice often transcends the boundaries of face-to-face interactions and expands globally through technological advances, including satellite broadcasting and the Internet. In this way, folklore is no longer limited to oral traditions but is captured and transmitted to a global cyberspace audience. Asian Americans, in particular youth, are a highly “connected” demographic, technologically speaking. Many of them are first- and second-generation Asian Americans who grew up during the
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proliferation of the Internet, and coincidentally, the globalization of mass media which forever altered the landscape of popular culture by compressing time and space. As a result, contemporary Asian American popular culture and folklore are deeply intertwined. The terms “popular culture” and “mass culture” have often been used interchangeably. They are both believed to represent the values of ordinary folks rather than the refined tastes of elites whose social capital (i.e., who they know) and cultural capital (i.e., what they know) are expected to correlate with their financial capital (i.e., wealth). Hence, popular culture is more likely to reflect the values of non-elites. As such, popular culture serves as a rich site to explore Asian American folklore, highlighting the mundane traditions of their everyday life and the transmission of their morals and values from one generation to the next. Popular culture as an examination of folklore reveals a group’s expression of their way of living, whether it is disseminated through oral tradition (e.g., stand-up comedy), written narratives (e.g., films), and/or cyberspace (e.g., Web sites). In no way are these categories meant to be exhaustive or mutually exclusive. The examples offered in this summary demonstrate that Asian Americans are not merely consumers of popular culture, but more importantly, producers of it, as well. In essence, Asian American popular culture as folklore represents the manners by which Asian Americans express their values and beliefs, or folklore, in a society that continues to marginalize their existence through the perpetuation of stereotypes in American mass media.
Margaret Cho: All American Girl? Folklorists examine “joke-telling” as a form of oral tradition to reveal insights about a group. Jokes about Asian Americans often reflect American anxieties about Asian Americans as “inassimilable” despite their model minority status (e.g., poking fun at language skills or facial features) or possessing a questionable sexuality (e.g., emasculating men and hypersexualizing women). These types of jokes disclose information about dominant and subordinate group relationships at any given time and place. Although telling racial jokes is increasingly becoming politically incorrect, the messages embodied in jokes have not disappeared. In many ways, highly caricatured and exoticized stereotypes of Asian Americans in popular culture have replaced jokes. These types of jokes are not created by Asian Americans, but reveal a lot about the ways in which American popular culture views Asian Americans. On the other hand, Asian American comedians have frequently challenged and rearticulated “joke-telling” from an Asian American perspective. For example, Jo-Koy proclaims, “We built the best cars, you don’t think we can drive them!” and
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Russell Peters declares, “The smaller your manhood, the more you will hump because your ego is at stake. You don’t believe me, look at the two largest populations in the world!” While Koy confronts the stereotype that “Asians can’t drive,” Peters challenges the myth of the emasculated Asian male. Of all the Asian American stand-up comedians, Margaret Cho is one of the most successful. In the early 1990s, Cho starred in the first broadcast sitcom featuring an Asian American family. She played the rebellious daughter of a traditional Korean American family. Her sitcom was short-lived, but provided fodder for her comedy act, “I’m the One That I Want.” Cho’s comedy leaves no subject untouched, as she makes jokes about race, gender, and sexual orientation. Considering herself a minority in all these spheres, she suggests her voice is an authentic one and often takes a subversive stance. For example, Cho confronts the ways in which Asians are often mocked for having small eyes and asks AngloAmericans, “Why your eyes are so big?” She turns the table on Anglos by normalizing small eyes and questioning their big eyes. In another show, she brings up the topic of the Asian glow that some are afflicted with when they drink alcohol. Cho admits: “I’m not sunburned, I’m just f*cked up.” Unlike joke-telling, acting as an aspect of folklore has been underexamined and undertheorized. Hollywood is predominantly white, and Asian Americans continue to face barriers because of their race. Anna May Wong (1905–1961) has been heralded for paving the way for Asian American actors. Often relegated to the limited number of Orientalist roles that were commonplace in classical-era Hollywood, Wong learned to speak with a British accent as well as learn French and German to get work in Europe. In 1935, Wong rejected a role in the film adaptation of The Good Earth, a novel written by Pearl S. Buck, which boasted the largest budget in cinematic production to date. She found it insulting to be offered the only unsympathetic role in a picture with an all-white cast portraying Chinese characters; although the use of blackface was becoming obsolete, the use of yellowface was commonly practiced. Although Asian Americans are becoming more visible, they still constitute a minority in Hollywood. Daniel Dae Kim, one of the stars of Lost, initially considered a profession in investment banking, but stuck to acting, eventually securing recurring roles in several popular television series, including Angel, 24, and Lost, the series that ultimately propelled him to his current stardom. Ironically, Kim’s Americanized upbringing was an obstacle when Lost started filming. His costar, Yoon-Jin Kim, coached him on the Korean language to make the show seem more authentic. Today, he is an activist for Asian American causes as a result of his experiences with racism in the acting industry. For him, playing the role of Jin in Lost is a relief after having been cast as almost every other Asian heritage but his own Korean one. Moreover, Kim defies the stereotype of the typical Asian American male offered as comic relief with their
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Popular Culture and Folklore
questionable sexuality in popular culture (e.g., the role of Ari Gold’s assistant, Lloyd, in Entourage). In 2005, he made People’s Sexiest Man Alive list. He was the only recognizable Asian man to ever make the list; Keanu Reeves and Russell Wong also share an Asian ethnic heritage, but they are less likely to be marked as Asian American actors because of their mixed heritages, which makes it possible for them to “pass.”
Film as Folklore Written narratives, in the form of films, are another way to explore Asian American popular culture and folklore. In particular, two Asian American films have had notable mainstream success, Joy Luck Club (1993) and Better Luck Tomorrow (2002). Both films explore Asian American folklore, offering more nuanced representations of Asian Americans than previous mainstream films. Joy Luck Club, directed by Wayne Wang and based on a novel written by Amy Tan, is considered a watershed film for Asian Americans. The film explores the relationships of four Chinese American women and their immigrant mothers. Employing a majority cast of Asian Americans, the film received praise for its portrayal of Asian American women and their family roles. On the other hand, many Asian Americans criticized the film for its largely negative portrayal of Asian American men as cold, abusive, and/or undesirable. Better Luck Tomorrow, written and directed by Justin Lin, is another staple of Asian American folklore. Lin grew up in Orange Country and attended UCLA film school. Lin subverted the model minority stereotype by writing about four Asian American, Ivy-League-bound, honor roll students who get caught up in a world of cheating, robbery, drugs, and murder. Lin challenges the unidimensional characterization of Asian Americans as model minorities, exposing a darker side often left unexplored. Despite the many accolades this film received, some felt it was a betrayal of the Asian American community. Like Joy Luck Club, Better Luck Tomorrow was subject to criticism for portraying Asian Americans in a negative light. Most critics overlooked the larger structural problem facing Asian Americans: the lack of substantive roles in Hollywood.
Asian Americans in Cyberspace With the pervasiveness of the Internet as a major source of communication, faceto-face “word of mouth” is being quickly replaced with mass e-mails, twitters, blogs, and even the creation of Web sites, meant to relay information to large numbers of people instantaneously. Many of these Web sites created by Asian Americans reflect issues and questions directly affecting their community. For example, Lela Lee, a rhetoric student at UC Berkeley, created the first “angry little Asian girl” comic character in 1994 as a way to resist stereotypes of Asian girls as passive.
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Although many people thought her idea to turn her characters into a cartoon was a good one, she was often told there was no market for Asians. Nonetheless, by 1998, she launched her Web site, www.angrylittlegirls.com, and in 2005, she published her first book. She now merchandises a wide variety of products ranging from canvas bags to t-shirts carried in specialty retail stores. In similar fashion, in 2000, Kristina Wong created the subversive “mock” mail order bride site, www.bigbadchinesemama.com, for her senior project at UCLA. Addressing the ubiquity of Asian females on the Internet being reduced to sex objects, this provocative Web site was created to draw in men looking for “lotus blossoms” and instead offering them blazing insults for their patriarchal proclivities. Today, it is used by activists and teachers in college classrooms. However, not all Web sites are designed to be political statements. For instance, http://alllooksame.com originated as a joke to confront the urban myth that “all Asians look the same.” The creator, Dyske Suematsu, invites users to take a test and see how accurately individuals are able to distinguish among 18 Korean, Japanese, and Chinese faces taken in New York City; according to the Web site, the average user identifies seven faces correctly. This Web site is a testament to the social construction of race and the flawed practice of relying on physical characteristics as racial identifiers. Suematsu asserts that he considers his Web site “a joke, but at the same time a celebration of the similarities and differences among Asians.” —Linda J. Kim See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Humor and Folklore; Model Minority.
Further Reading Davis, Shilpa, Leilani Nishima, and Tasha G. Oren, eds. East Main Street: Asian American Popular Culture. New York and London: New York University Press, 2005. Hamamoto, Darrell Y. Monitored Peril: Asian Americans and the Politics of TV Representation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. Lee, Robert G. Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999. Nguyen, Mimi Thi, and Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu, eds. Alien Encounters: Popular Culture in Asian America. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007. Rubin, Rachel, and Jeffrey Melnick. Immigration and American Popular Culture. New York: New York University Press, 2007.
Web Sites http://alllooksame.com/. http://www.angrylittlegirls.com. http://www.bigbadchinesemama.com.
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Queer Folklore and Folklife
Asian American Queer Folklore and Folklife Precolonial Indigenous Asia At the origin, there is the female, Ba, and the male, La. Mated, they create people. Joined together, they are bakla. In the Philippines, those male-bodied people who are bakla might have been, before Spanish colonialism, considered as having access to the sacred or the divine though this joining of masculine and feminine. In precolonial India, those who encompassed both male and female energy, in male bodies, were hijra. Hijra were also considered to have a sacred role, so much so that even today, even after hundreds of years of British colonialism, and despite having been relegated to the position of prostitutes, they are still invited to bless weddings and births. Hawaii’s mahu, the third gender or transgender, lost their respected place in Native Hawaiian society through colonialism and Christianity. These roles are similar to those of the American Indian “Two-Spirit,” who, before European contact, often occupied the role of shaman. These colonial encounters degraded many traditional sexualities in Asian cultures including Japanese geishas, India’s devadasi (temple dancers) and courtesans, and Cambodian aspara (celestial nymphs that adorn the walls of Angkor Wat). Unlike Western Christian notions of sexuality Mia Nakano uses photography to break down as dirty and sinful, these images sug- sexual, gender, race, cultural, and folkloric stereotypes. She utilizes a wide gamut of gest that pleasure from sex was considtools from digital cameras to historical ered to have a religious dimension, as processes, such as the tintype (as seen represented by the aspara or Hindu here), to create visually powerful portraits. deities depicted in sexual acts. Despite This self-identification project focuses on this overall degradation of sexuality making visible the broad spectrum of queer Asian Americans who identify or have identivia Western Christian colonialism, fied as female, including genderqueer, trans, many Asian cultures still show the leg- bisexual, and lesbian folk. As the project acy of strong folklores and folk prac- expands, so do the definitions of the comtices of queer sexualities. Thailand’s munities involved. (Mia Nakano/Mary Celojko)
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male-to-female transgender people or gay men, who are called katoeys or lady boys, and lesbian women (or toms and dees or dys—short for ladies) are generally socially accepted even though they may not be legally accepted as gay, lesbian or transgender. China has historical, visual art, and literary examples of homo- and bisexuality; and contemporary Chinese culture, especially in large urban centers, provides space for queer Chinese, though the governments of Taiwan and China are sometimes oppressive. Some ascribe this relative acceptance to the varying influence of Taoism in East Asian cultures and Buddhism in a variety of Asian cultures. Some elements of Confucianism also may make queer sexualities more acceptable. Taoist metaphysics in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam encourage spontaneity, as in “going with the way.” This means living life to its fullest, as long as one does not harm oneself or cause harm to someone else. Taoism is known for its techniques of sexual pleasure; however, such pleasure is not pursued for its own sake, but rather for the cultivation of qi (vital energy), which results in immortality. It is understood that by night, and in one’s bedroom, one’s Taoist nature, defined as one’s true nature, can come out; whereas, by day, socially expected norms of conduct dictate how one behaves. Buddhist doctrines are generally neutral on the matter of homosexuality. Instead, it is the social and cultural norms in Asian societies and by extension, Asian American communities, that proscribe queer sexualities. Despite this relative neutrality, Buddhist doctrines are interpreted to mean that being born female or queer is punishment for misdeeds in a past life; some interpretations consider queer sexuality a violation of ethical and natural principles within Buddhism. Another interpretation is that the Third Precept of Buddhism counsels avoidance of sexual misconduct, but Buddhist doctrines do not explicitly mention queer sexualities. For Buddhists, sexuality, whether homosexuality or heterosexuality, is a vice that one must overcome, because sexuality of any kind pollutes the mind from being able to free itself from the bondage of samsara (the cycle of reincarnation) and karma. Therefore, celibacy is required of both monks and nuns. This allows them to see the body as impermanent and in a state of decay. In Indian Buddhist scriptures, the pandaka, who lack maleness (napumsaka), and therefore are attracted to the same sex, are commonly understood to be very lustful people, incapable of religious discipline. However, despite these negative attitudes toward homosexuality, because the core principles of Buddhism are compassion (karuna) and nonharming (ahimsa), Buddhism tolerates and to some extent accepts queer people. Confucianism is more problematic; kin and social relationships are maintained through one’s ability to fulfill obligations and responsibilities related to kinship positions. Hence, sexuality is not a major issue if queer children are filial to their parents. However, this includes reproducing the family, which is the basic building
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Queer Folklore and Folklife
block of the Confucian system, and hence, East Asian societies. Thus, insofar as traditional homosexuality is nonreproductive, it can be viewed as a threat to the family. However, with new technologies that grant homosexual couples the ability to have children, the Confucianism of the 21st century may adjust to a new type of family. Moreover, Confucian humanism focuses more on the human condition, and given the reality of the fact that nuclear weapons, environmental population and terrorism can end the world as we know it, Confucianism may refocus on perfecting human relationships, queer or nonqueer.
The Myth of the White Disease But for many Asians and Asian Americans today, queer identities are divorced from precolonial cultures, and instead are seen as a “white disease.” The folklore belief of many Asian immigrant parents with queer children is that it was coming to the United States that made their children queer, or that some failure of their parenting caused this calamity to happen. It is sometimes imagined that a trip to the homeland will “cure” the disease. The result of such a journey may not always have the desired effect, however, as many Asian cultures are more accepting of sexualities that in the West might be labeled queer, including a continuum that ranges from intimate same-gender friendships for both males and females to those who are openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.
Indirect Discourse and Family Acceptance The folklore of the European American-dominated queer community is that Asian American queer people must have it harder because of the homophobia of “traditional Asian culture” (as though there is only one). However, the reality is often more complex. Indirect discourse as it functions in many Asian American families results in situations in which a son or daughter’s “friend” is accepted for many years, with no direct conflict. Queer Asian Americans may be less likely than white queer people to be thrown out of their families because of this indirect discourse. However, the relationship between queer Asian Americans and the dominant queer community can also be affected by this indirect discourse, particularly insofar as it reinscribes the model minority stereotype.
Asian American Queer Cultures The model minority myth is related to the hyperfeminization of both Asian American men and women. Although it has deeper roots, the model minority myth really blossomed during the civil rights movement as a strategy to divide Third World and people of color coalitions. Ultimately, the model minority myth is founded in
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Orientalism, which, as Edward Said describes it, is the process by which the “West” constructs the “East” as an exotic Other, ripe for colonizing. Masterful House Boys and Bossy Bottoms: Folklores of Asian American Gay Men Asian American gay men are affected by this model minority myth in that they are multiply hyperfeminized by it as both Asians and gay men. Being a gay Asian American man also means being subjected to specific queer community folklores, such as the assumption that an Asian man in a presumably interracial relationship will always be the “bottom” or receiving partner, while the white, African American, or Latino man will always be the more aggressive “top” or dominant partner. Asian men who prefer white men are referred to in the folk lingo as “potato queens,” while white men who prefer East Asian and Southeast Asian American men are “rice queens,” and those who prefer South Asian American men are “curry queens.” In a particularly racist folklore, gay Asian men are looked at as being little more than sexualized “houseboys” who should be prepared to serve their white masters— similar to the way Asian women are supposed to serve white men with “oriental” massages and exotic sexual techniques. The way that gay Asian men are seen within this folkloric construct as being hyperfeminine makes the idea of gay Asian men who prefer other Asians unthinkable. They are referred to as being “sticky rice,” and misogynistically derided as being like “two lesbians.” Invisible Women: The Myth of Asian American Lesbians Asian American lesbians are lost between contradictory folklores: those of Asian American women and those of lesbians generally. Asian American women are hypersexualized and hyperfeminized in the heterosexual context—their images are the stuff of legend: dragon ladies, china dolls, and geishas, all of whom are sexually exciting/exotic and sexually available to white men. These myths of Asian American women leave Asian American lesbians in a peculiar position. Lesbians in general are unseen in U.S. society—yet their image, such as it is, is hypermasculinized; they are butches, wearing men’s clothing, almost able to pass for men. Caught between these two extremes of hyperfeminized and hypermasculinized, what, then, is the image of Asian American lesbians? The Asian American lesbian becomes the invisible woman—her sexuality and her identity unseen and thus unknowable within the dominant racist and homophobic sexual folklores of U.S. culture. Queer Asian American visual artists like Lenore Chinn and Hanh Thi Pham confront this invisibility directly in their work, as have photographers Mia Nakano and Christine Pan with The Visibility Project, through which over 40 Asian American queer females (openly defined) have been photographed.
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Queer Folklore and Folklife
UnPassing: Bisexuality and Mixed Asian Americans Asian American bisexuality has been infrequently explored. One of the best-known and earliest anthologies of bisexual identity, Bi Any Other Name, was coedited by mixed Native Hawaiian author and community organizer, Lani Kaahumanu. In this text, and in writings by mixed Asian American academics George Kitahara Kich, Teresa Kay Williams, and Beverly Yuen Thompson, as well as in performances by queer mixed Asian American performance artists Allison de la Cruz and Erin O’Brien, connections are made between the transgressive, liminal qualities of both bisexuality and mixed heritage Asian American identity. But in general, the folklores that affect bisexual Asian American identity are those that affect bi people in general—the myth of the inability of bi people to be faithful or monogamous; the image of them as fence-sitters, incapable of committing to either side; and finally, the idea that bisexuality is merely a way-station on the path to “finally” coming out as queer. All of these folklores fail to understand bi-ness as a part of a sexuality continuum, within which a kind of bisexuality or “pansexuality” (in rejection of the binary opposition/limitation of a two-gender system) is the most common sexuality, with completely homosexual and completely heterosexual as the more rare extremes. Gender-Queer Asian American Trans-Identities From the drag queens who perform at the illusionist restaurant Asia SF, to more radical myth-makers like Sri Lankan American performance artist D’Lo, trans Asian American performers deconstruct mythologies of gender binary essentialism through their performance of various gender identities. The idea of drag is that all gender is performance. Asian American drag queens and drag kings perform both realistic and exaggerated gender identities with various intentions, and by so doing they call attention to the way that folklores dictate rigid gender identities are being deconstructed in favor of more fluid folkways of being. The folklore of Asian American trans-identities is dominated by those who perform these identities publically, but this is not a complete picture of the very diverse trans/gender queer Asian American community. Many transgender or transsexual, or gender-queer Asian Americans live their lives in various states of transition, some preferring to remain “gender-queer” rather than conforming to a specific strict definition of gender identity. Others transition to male or female roles and live fully in them.
Phobias and -Isms Most Asian American queer people have experienced some kind of racism in whitedominated queer communities and homophobia in Asian American ethnic communities; as well as trans-phobia and bi-phobia in every community. Heterocentrism and
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Eurocentrism are sometimes more subtle versions of these phobias, but they have similar effects. These kinds of experiences leave queer Asian Americans multiply marginalized, but from “within the margins,” to quote the queer Vietnamese American poet Truong Tran, queer Asian Americans develop strength and resistance.
Asian American Writers: Contemporary Mythmakers Asian American writers have created the folklore of contemporary queer Asian Americans, and some do so by reinvesting Asian stereotypes and traditional Asian folktales with queer sensibilities. Russell Leong has edited an anthology of critical writing on Asian American Sexualities, and has written a collection of Queer Asian American short fiction, Phoenix Eyes. In this collection, the short story “No Bruce Lee” turns the popular folklore of Bruce Lee’s masculine sexuality into a detriment for a queer Asian American man, when a man he meets at a bar declares that after all, he is “no Bruce Lee.” Despite what might be expected from hundreds of years of Spanish and U.S. colonialism, and particularly Catholic influence, Filipino and Filipino American cultures embrace queer sexualities. Queer Filipino American poet Joel Barraquiel Tan, in his poem “Ode to a Naked Man in a Barrel,” takes a Filipino folk object, the hypersexualized “barrel man” that is found in many Filipino/Filipino American homes, and reinvents it to confront the myth of the small Asian penis and at the same time deals directly with Catholic-guilt around homosexuality. In her book Legend Sondayo, Filipina American poet and performance artist Maiana Minahal begins with the Filipino folklore of the woman Sondayo, who battles the wind goddess for stealing her husband. In Minahal’s creative reimagining, Sondayo fights the wind goddess for her wife rather than for her husband, but implies that the legend had been heterosexualized during a more conservative time. Such queer rewritings of traditional folklores provide a way for queer Asian Americans to re-integrate their queer and Asian American identities, which are too often torn asunder by the combined effects of homophobia and racism, which are too often applied from both of the communities they might otherwise call home. —Wei Ming Dariotis See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Queer Studies and Folklore.
Further Reading Clarke, Shayne. “Monks Who Have Sex: Parajika Penance in Indian Buddhist Monasticisms.” Journal of Indian Philosophy 37 (2009):1–43. Eng, David, and Alice Y. Hom. Q & A: Queer in Asian America. Philadelphia. Temple University Press, 1998.
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Queer Studies and Folklore Hanh Thi Pham. Hanh Thi Pham: A Vietnamese: Her Body in Revolt. Fukuoka, Japan: Fukuoka Art Museum, 1997. Kaahumanu, Lani. Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak. New York: Alyson Books, 1991. Kumashiro, Kevin. Restoried Selves: Autobiographies of Queer Asian-Pacific American Activists. New York: Routledge, 2003. Leong, Russell. Asian American Sexualities. New York: Routledge, 1995. Leong, Russell. Phoenix Eyes and Other Stories. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000. Minahal, Maiana. Legend Sondayo. Berkeley, CA: Civil Defense Poetry, 2009. Tan, Joel Barraquiel. Monster. Los Angeles: Noice Press, 2002. Tran, Truong. Within the Margin. Berkeley, CA: Apogee Press, 2004.
Asian American Queer Studies and Folklore Asian American queer folklore entails the self-making “folk” practices queer Asian Americans create out of existing in between Asian America and queer America. It comprises the hybrid belief systems and cultural “customs” queer Asian Americans enact in response to embodying multiple social identities—saliently figured by the intersection of race and sexuality. While Asian American queers participate in Asian America and queer America, they also create spaces for a queer Asian America. Hence, queer Asian Americans actually constitute their own social, cultural, and political identity distinct, yet not completely separated, from “Asian American” and “queer.” Queer Asian Americans simultaneously live as queer and Asian American. Rather than view the cultural practices of these folks as divorced from mainstream lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) communities or from Asian American communities, Asian American queer folklore demonstrates how the “folk” traverse the borders and boundaries between and within race and (homo)sexuality. As several scholars, artists, and activist have argued, Asian American queer folk cannot escape their racialization as Asians, living in a country that has historically excluded Asians from belonging in the United States—legally, politically, economically, culturally, and socially. However, these same scholars, artists, and activists have rightly argued that Asian American queer folk also cannot escape their sexual orientation and gender expression. While race, gender, and sexuality demarcate discrete social formations, they materialize as bodily scripts. Therefore, Asian American queer folk practices demand a conceptualization of race and sexuality as mutually constitutive. In this way, Asian American queer folklore helps to bridge the gap between Asian America and queer America.
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In relation to the production of knowledge, several Asian American queers have contested the privileging of race over sexuality within Asian American studies and the privileging of sexuality over race within queer studies. Even when Asian American studies considers sexuality, homosexuality often remains marginal. Similarly, when queer studies engages with race, race becomes framed as oppositional to queer sexuality. Together, these fields of knowledge cast racial/ethnic and homosexual identities as incompatible and posit queers of color as impossibilities. Consequently, queer Asian American scholars, along with queer of color scholars more generally, seek to produce knowledge reflective of the unique experiences lived out by queer people of color.
The Rise of Queer Studies During the late 1980s and early 1990s, “queer” emerged as a political and academic term contesting normativity (what mainstream society defines as “normal”). Whereas lesbian and gay studies primarily dealt with homosexuality as the opposite of heterosexuality, queer studies sought a more expansive engagement with homosexuality by framing it within the much broader context of normativity. In so doing, queer studies attempted (and continues to attempt) to dislodge the power of normativity through its social, cultural, economic, and political exclusion of people deemed “not normal,” primarily in relation to sexuality but also in terms of race, gender, and class. While queer studies scholars sought to expand the narrow view of (homo)sexuality within the academy, queer activism arose in response to the United States government’s failure to adequately address the AIDS pandemic. Although queer scholars and activists oriented their political projects against normativity, they did not always collaborate. Moreover, “queer” signifies a historically derogatory term (and remains so today); thus, not all LGBT-identified people feel comfortable using it. Furthermore, although some people use “queer” and “lesbian,” “gay,” or “bisexual” interchangeably, these terms are not equivalent. Nevertheless, queerness encompasses the range of social, cultural, folk, and political beliefs and practices of those who live against “the normal” and takes seriously the intersectionality of sexuality with race, class, gender, and geopolitical location.
The Meeting of Asian American Studies and Queer Studies “Asian American queer studies” represents the study of queerness in relation to Asian America, focusing on the lives of Asian American queer people as well as on cultural productions either written by queer Asian Americans or reflective of queer Asian American themes. Asian American queer studies considers how the
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Queer Studies and Folklore
racial and ethnic dimension of Asian Americanness complicates queer studies. Even though queer studies aims to problematize normativity and analyzes how power operates through the intersection of race, class, gender, and sexuality, queer studies does not always encompass race and ethnicity in its critique of sexual normativity. Thus, Asian American queer studies, as part of a growing body of scholarship that can be termed “queer of color critique,” seeks to address the interlocking connection of race and sexuality often understudied in mainstream queer studies scholarship. In addition, some scholars and activists take issue with queer studies being heavily biased toward “the West” (the United States and Europe). In this way, “queer” may not adequately represent all non-heteronormative peoples (those living apart from the “heterosexual norm”), despite its critique of heterosexuality as a racist, classist, sexist, and homophobic institution. More specifically, some scholars and activists have argued that queerness reflects a Euro-American-centric concept of homosexuality and attempts to distinguish those different from “Western” lesbians and gays as “traditional” and “pre-modern.” Anthropologist Martin F. Manalansan IV critiques this view as “global gayness”—the use of gay Western standards to measure non-Western gay beliefs and practices. By privileging Western notions of queerness, the diverse gendered and sexual ways of living outside the West become eclipsed. Indeed, non-heteronormative sexual identities and practices exist through the world; however, such phenomena may appear illegible under Euro-American concepts of sexuality. In contrast, “queer Asian American studies” troubles Asian American studies by attending to sexuality, being especially critical of the heteronormative assumptions that undergird Asian American studies scholarship. If the dominant discourse imagines Asian Americans as “family oriented” and holding onto “traditional values,” queer Asian Americans contest these boundaries of belonging by insisting LGBT individuals are a part of Asian American communities and actually work to redefine the meaning of “family” and “tradition” by forming families of their own and/or including non-blood-related members under the heading of family. However, Asian American community membership for queer individuals evokes tension from queers and non-queers alike. As with heterosexuals of any other race, non-LGBT-identified Asian Americans share a range of opinions about queer sexuality (i.e., from discomfort to acceptance). Likewise, those who identify as queer share such attitudes about other queer people and toward themselves (a form of internalized oppression), largely as a result of living in a world that views homosexuality with disdain. Nevertheless, queer Asian Americans challenge who and what defines home, family, and community by actively engaging in Asian American and queer politics—bridging the divide between race and sexuality.
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Asian American Queer Folklore Asian American queer folklore invites Asian American studies scholars to critically analyze the place of sexuality, particularly nonnormative sexualities, in relation to Asian American communities and identities. Moreover, it calls on queer studies to critically attend to the differential experiences LGBT people face based on race, class, and national origin. In short, Asian American queer folklore highlights the diverse cultural practices enacted by queer Asian Americans and demonstrates how these individuals live as queer and Asian American. One of the challenges to Asian American queer studies revolves around the problem of visibility. Not unlike the issue of taking care against projecting queerness onto those outside the West, queer scholars, especially those working on queer historiography, face the dilemma of determining who and what counts as “queer.” Indeed, what makes queerness so difficult to locate is its elusiveness due in part to the constant shifts in meaning tied to sexuality in social discourse as well as the societal pressure to conform to heteronormativity (or face the consequences of straying from the norm). However, simply ascribing the label “queer” to historical subjects who fail to fit heteronormative scripts runs the risk of projecting contemporary notions of sexuality onto people who would never consider themselves queer. On the other hand, whereas trying to determine whether or not someone was lesbian or gay, queer allows for a more expansive reading of history in relation to same-sex sexuality. In light of the relative absence of locatable queer historical subjects, scholars have applied queer reading strategies to address the historical silence around queerness. For example, “queer codes,” such as the fact of remaining unmarried or maintaining close friendships with members of the same sex, signals the potentiality of queer existence. In the case of Asian America, rather than exclusively presume Asian American male migrants of the early 20th century (namely the Chinese, Sikhs, and Filipinos) “failed” to create families because of U.S. immigration laws that barred Asian women from immigrating to the United States—which was certainly the case—such homosocial (relationships between those of the same gender, in this case male) groupings might also serve as the place where queer desire resides. By reading queerly, the historical possibility of queerness enables contemporary Asian American queers to feel a sense of belonging in Asian American history. In addition to historical invisibility, Asian American queers are also tackling their lack of positive media portrayals. Racialized as Asian American, queer Asian Americans, like their non-queer counterparts, also encounter the problem of being perceived as “perpetual foreigners.” Moreover, within queer communities, Asian American queers experience the potential of being exoticized (desired sexually due to perceived foreignness) by non-Asians. Comedy serves as one method Asian American queers combat these issues of inequality. The stand-up comedies of Korean American comedian Margaret Cho
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Queer Studies and Folklore
and Filipino American comedian Alec Mapa both illustrate how Asian American queers use comedy to enunciate what it means to experience queer life vis-a`-vis Asian America and America. Their unapologetic, direct confrontation of Asian American stereotypes, such as the myth of Asian Americans as passive or asexual, helps to make visible Asian American (queer) sexuality to non-Asian Americans and Asian Americans alike. Q. Allan Brocka’s stop motion animated series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, which airs on Logo (a U.S.-based LGBT television network), also exemplifies the queer Asian American comedic genre. While the show hosts a multiracial cast, queer Asian America emerges through the Filipino American main character Rick and the Asian American “fag hag” (gay slang, not without debate, describing a heterosexual woman who maintains close ties with gay men) Condoleezza “Condi” Ling (voiced by Margaret Cho). The show, along with the comedic performances of Cho and Mapa, help to render imaginable queer Asian American spaces and subjectivities. Furthermore, queer Asian Americans are developing their own hybrid cultural practices, vernaculars, and aesthetics. In the case of queer Filipino men living in the diaspora, their claiming a bakla (a Filipino term that describes male homosexuality and effeminacy and thus not entirely equivalent to “gay”) identity in the U.S. context signals the self-making practices queer Asian Americans enact as people living in between cultures. In Global Divas Martin F. Manalansan discusses how gay Filipino men living in New York fuse “traditional” Filipino religious practices with queer cultural practices through their participation in and rescripting of Santacruzan festivals. Whereas this celebration usually involves young women representing important female figures in Catholic mythology, Manalansan details the ways in which gay Filipino queer the Santacruzan through cross-dressing and redefining the titles of such important female figures. Although such practices may suggest bakla culture figures as a “pre-modern” sexual formation in comparison to U.S. gay culture, queer Filipino American men actually challenge this racist developmental narrative by blending sexually nonnormative cultural practices from “back home” (whether or not they have actually traveled to the Philippines) with “here” (in the United States). Queer youth of color offer another example that highlights the production of a unique, hybrid culture informed by their multiple identities. By forming student organizations and support groups at various colleges and universities throughout the country as well as by hosting conferences specifically around their queer ethnic identities, queer youth of color create an affirming space for themselves between the margins of race and sexuality. For example, the Queer Pin@y Conference (QPC) in California, which began in 1999 at the University of California, Los Angeles from the efforts of Filipina/o American college students on that campus, attests to the ways in which queer Asian Americans create a unique
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culture that sutures at once queer and Asian American. These conferences offer a space for queer Asian Americans to build community, to express themselves holistically, and to formalize (albeit open-ended) a queer Asian American sociopolitical consciousness. Through such gatherings, individuals begin to see themselves as part of a broader community with a history. Whereas ethnic and LGBT student organizations are both common on many college campuses, those who are queer and of color often find themselves divided between such organizations. Hence, conferences like QPC create a venue for queer people of color to exist in totality. Such conferences are helping to make legible a distinct Asian American queer way of life. Even as Asian American queer culture continues to develop and become more visible both to mainstream Asian American studies and queer studies, the fluorescence of Asian American queer folklore indicates the promise of sustainable ways of living for queer Asian Americans within and without the space of queer Asian America. —Thomas Xavier Sarmiento See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Queer Folklore and Folklife.
Further Reading Eng, David L., and Alice Y. Hom, eds. Q & A: Queer in Asian America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998. Leong, Russell, ed. Asian American Sexualities: Dimensions of the Gay and Lesbian Experience. New York: Routledge, 1996. Manalansan, Martin F. IV. Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003. Masequesmay, Gina, and Sean Metzger, eds. Embodying Asian/American Sexualities. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009. Yoshino, Kenji. Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights. New York: Random House, 2006.
Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore The United States has always been a nation of many religions. The decades since 1964 have seen a dramatic change in America’s religious landscape, from which the United States has emerged as the most religiously diverse nation in the world. Asian American communities have been a primary component of this transformation—and a transformation it has been as Asian American immigrants have adapted spaces to meet their religious needs. Even before the majority of U.S. cities housed Chinese Buddhist temples, Sikh gurdwaras, or Pakistani mosques, the predecessors
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to these constructions were there—in private homes, seldom-used community centers, old warehouses, or otherwise defunct urban spaces. Today no one could deny the visibility of Asian American religion, or its importance in American culture. American Christianity, for example, has been enriched by large Filipino and Vietnamese Catholic communities, or by Chinese Pentecostals and Korean Presbyterians. The most complex Buddhist city in the world is Los Angeles—a home to Asian (and Euro-) Americans from all facets of global Buddhism. There are more American Muslims than there are American Episcopalians. Yoga and traditional Asian medicines find an increasingly common place in American culture. Americans can read about the Tao of Pooh or The Te of Piglet, and can expect to sometimes learn about American Hinduism or Buddhism on episodes of the animated series The Simpsons or King of the Hill. The United States is now considered a home to gods and goddesses of Asian religious traditions, and the myths, legends, folklife, and folklore of Asia have become intertwined with that of the United States.
Asian American Religion and Asian Religions in America Much study of Asian American folklore has focused on Asian American immigrants and their descendants, because they are the individuals who bear that folklore, who make the decisions to pass the lore on to their children. While Asian American religious studies may still be an emerging field, the contact between America and Asian religions has been in place since the earliest decades of the United States’ existence. The American Oriental Society, founded in 1842, is one of the oldest academic organizations in the United States, long before Asian immigrants were a visible presence. Before this society’s formation, 18th-century American intellectuals read reports published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, as well as reports sent back from American Christian missionaries. This contact proved important for several of America’s founders. Benjamin Franklin, for example, published some of Confucius’s sayings in the Pennsylvania Gazette, and John Adams was well-read in Asian religious traditions—a study that strengthened his belief in the need for religious tolerance. The invocation of Asian religious traditions has in fact been often used by Americans arguing for tolerance and equality. The 19th-century abolitionist Fredrick Douglass, himself born into slavery, made some of his era’s strongest arguments for the importance of Chinese and Japanese individuals in American society. In the following excerpt from an 1869 speech on “Our Composite Nationality” Douglass singled out America’s religious landscape as one of the greatest beneficiaries of the growing Asian presence: It is the Chinaman, not the Christian, who should be alarmed for his faith. He exposes that faith to great dangers by exposing it to the freer air of America. But shall we send missionaries to the heathen and yet deny the heathen the
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right to come to us? I think a few honest believers in the teachings of Confucius would be well employed in expounding his doctrines among us. Any survey of religion in the United States is incomplete without reference to the Asian religions that have taken root there and the effect they have had on America’s most fundamental development. Likewise, a survey of religious traditions of Asia would be incomplete without acknowledgment of their worldwide spread and influence.
The Diversity of Asian Religions in the United States “Religion” is no simple term to define in any context, especially an Asian American one. Followers of certain traditions, such as Buddhists and Confucianists, often define their belief system not as a religion but as something closer to a philosophy. Further complicating the definition, adherents to many faiths do not articulate a distinction between religious and nonreligious aspects of their lives. The term “Asian American religion” is equally problematic, and its study has therefore required a variety of approaches. One approach has focused on ethnicity—what role does religion play in Asian American culture? Another approach focuses on “Asian religions in America”—what is the history of Asian religions in America and of American perspectives of Asian religion? Of course the question of who counts as an Asian American (as opposed to Asian, or American, or something else) is complicated, as is the question of whether a religion is Asian, American, or both. For example, the Hari Krishna movement was founded in 1966 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, not in Calcutta (the Indian birthplace of this Hindu monk) but in New York City. The movement has tens of thousands of devotees in the United States and around the world. Should this be considered an Asian religion or an Asian American religion? Likewise, the most active Christian organizations on U.S. college campuses are Asian American Christian groups. While the religion itself is considered a Western one, it has established strong roots in all Asian countries and plays an important role in the formation of ethnic identity in many Asian American communities (e.g., Korean and Filipino Americans). But even the notion of Christianity as an entirely Western religion is difficult to support when one considers that in India, for example, a Christian minority has been present for over 16 centuries. At what point and in what context could this religion be considered Asian? There are currently no comprehensive national surveys that detail religious affiliation for individual Asian American ethnic groups. Much of the data regarding Asian American religious diversity is based in ethnographic work conducted in recent decades. By far the most popular religion among Asian Americans is Christianity, with Asian American Catholics being the most numerous. In part this
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reflects the religious makeup of certain Asian countries. The Philippines, for example, is a predominantly Catholic country—a legacy of Spanish colonization. As well as having their own Asian versions of Protestant and Catholic religions, Asian countries are also home to many non-Judeo Christian religiocultural traditions. So immigrants from these countries have made a significant impact on religious diversity in the United States. Immigrants from South Asian countries have brought Hinduism, Sikhism, and Islam. Chinese immigrants have brought a variety of folk religious traditions still thriving in America’s urban Chinatowns. Many Southeast Asian refugees and Thai immigrants are Buddhists. The religious makeup of Asia cannot, however, be used to determine exact percentages in the United States, because religious demographics of Asian countries of origin do not necessarily match the demographics of Asian American groups. Religious minorities in Asian countries have often had more reasons to leave their homeland and are therefore disproportionately represented in the United States. Protestantism is a minority religion in Korea; for example, the majority of Korean immigrants to the United States have been drawn from that minority. Hinduism is the dominant religion in India, but a disproportionate number of Indian Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians have migrated to the United States.
Assessing the Place of Religion in Asian American Communities Studies of the religious life of Asian immigrants to the United States have often focused on how religion helps immigrants adjust to their new life. Religious traditions provide a way for immigrant groups to emphasize a shared heritage, and worship plays a strong role in the preservation of ethnic culture by emphasizing the maintenance of ethnic social networks. For this reason, many new immigrants from Asia describe themselves as more “religious” in the United States than they may have been in Asia. Christian religions tend to emphasize congregational worship, increasing the possibility that worship spaces may also become spaces for socialization, charity, and the dispensation of advice and support. Other Asian religions—such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism—that do not traditionally emphasize congregational worship (or at least not to the same extent as Christianity) do tend to focus more on group worship in the U.S. setting than they do in Asia. So while Hindu and Buddhist temples in Asia might traditionally be a site for individual worship, in the United States they become sites for large, regularly scheduled group gatherings and worship. The type of support provided by various Asian American religious organizations is often based in secular needs of the Asian American community: job counseling and training, legal and immigration issues, health care, and translation services. These functions of Asian American religious organizations have been the topics of several sociological studies. More recent works have delved into
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theological constructions of the Asian American self and the significant ways that religion forms and re-forms Asian American identity.
Folklore and Transnational Popular Culture Asian American religion does not exist in a New World vacuum. The religious and cultural alienation felt by the first 19th-century Sikh or Chinese migrants to California is now mitigated by multiple ties that crisscross the globe. Chinese American Buddhist temples may be constructed from materials imported from China, emphasizing a transnational connection. The folklore and origin myths of American temples associated with various regional Asian traditions detail connections between the American soil that houses the temples and the Asian soil from which the worship of these deities originates. Tamil Christians, Korean Protestants, Chinese Buddhist, or New Age Hindus—all engage in transnational networks that include the exchange of texts, preachers, missionaries, and material resources between the United States, Asia, and beyond. As folklore increasingly shares space with popular culture, religious information that was traditionally transmitted through oral tradition is deployed across multiple media and across the globe. In terms of the transmission of Asian American religious information, the boundaries between folklore and popular culture are increasingly blurred. Consider two new verbs in the English language—“to youtube” and “to google.” An American woman of Indian heritage who wishes to paint a traditional rangoli ritual design at the threshold of her home can google or youtube the term and watch the art being practiced both by Hindus in Indian villages and by Indians on the streets of New York City. An American Buddhist interested in creating a Tibetan Buddhist sand mandala design could do the same. Korean American students on college campuses can youtube “Korean Gospel Songs,” to watch performances in Korea and in the United States—performed by Koreans, Americans, and even Israelis and Iranians—and can upload their own performances for others to see. In this way, religiously motivated actions bring Asian American folklore and folklife onto the global stage, and complicate the categories of “folklore,” “Asian,” and “Asian American.” —Ian Woolford See also: See all entries on Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Domestic Religious Practices; Dying and Death Rituals; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Rites of Passage; Traditional Medicine and Healing; Chinese Americans: Bok Kai Temple and Parade; Confucian Traditions; Feng Shui/Geomancy; Qing Ming; Taiwanese American Religious Temples; Taoism; Tianhou/Mazu; Filipino Americans: Santo Nin˜o Festival; Hmong Americans: Shamanism; Indian Americans: Hindu Temples in America; Jain Temples; Muslim Mosques; Threshold Designs; Japanese Americans: Dynasty Warriors; Zen Garden; Korean Americans: Korean Church in America; Pan Asian Americans: Avalokitesvara; Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions; Swastika; Punjabi Americans: Gurbani Kirtan;
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Theater and Folklore Gurdwara; Sikh Gurus; Sikhism; Sri Lankan Americans: Caste; Christians; Muslims; Tibetan Americans: Sand Mandala; Vietnamese Americans: Indigenous Religious Traditions.
Further Reading Carnes, Tony, and Fenggang Yang, eds. Asian American Religions: The Making and Remaking of Borders and Boundaries. New York: New York University Press, 2004. Iwamura, Jane Naomi, and Paul Spickard, eds. Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America. New York: Routledge, 2003. Jeung, Russell. Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2004. Lawrence, Bruce B. New Faiths, Old Fears: Muslims and Other Asian Immigrants in American Religious Life. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. Min, Pyong Gap, and Jung Ha Kim, eds. Religions in Asian America: Building Faith Communities. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002. Phan, Peter C. Christianity with an Asian Face: Asian American Theology in the Making. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2003. Tweed, Thomas A., and Stephen Prothero, eds. Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Yoo, David K. New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Asian American Theater and Folklore Theater has long served as a safe cultural repository of the narratives of those who live on society’s margins—including racial minorities like Asian Americans— because a play manuscript not only documents the obvious such as the language characters use to express themselves, but more so because it serves as a detailed, living artifact of their lives, from their dreams to their lost loves. The oldest existing play manuscript about Asian Americans was written in 1924 by Gladys Li. Entitled The Submission of Rose Moy, the play dramatizes “a Chinese American girl’s rejection of an arranged marriage,” thus preserving for future generations the sociocultural milieu of this dramatic conundrum. Owing to the impermanent nature of theater prior to the age of video archiving, cultural preservation was perhaps on the mind of University of Hawaii playwriting professor Willard Wilson in publishing and binding his students’ playwriting assignments from 1937 to 1955, noting that “I am convinced that many of them deserve a fate better than the oblivion of a student’s notebook.” It would take 28 years for another collection to feature Asian American playwrights, again from Hawaii—Denise Carroll’s 1983 Kumu Kahua Plays. Misha Berson’s Between
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Worlds would then break ground in 1990 by featuring Asian American plays from the mainland. Two years later, two pioneering anthologies of Asian American women playwrights would be released primarily for universities where Asian American theater courses were being demanded by students, particularly because their editors, Roberta Uno (Unbroken Thread) and Velina Hasu Houston (The Politics of Life), were themselves university professors. Uno, at the University of Massachusetts, and Hasu-Houston, at the University of Southern California (USC), were addressing the dearth of resources for academic study of the dramatic narratives of Asian Americans in addition to the lack of In costume and makeup as a Chinese opera singer, B. D. Wong poses at the Broadway opportunities for playwrights, actors, Theater in New York on April 12, 1988, where directors, and designers from the comhe starred in M. Butterfly, a play by David munity to feature their work. Uno also Henry Hwang. Wong's role is that of a man founded the New World Theater, who impersonates a female opera singer. which presented plays from diverse (AP Photo/Rene Perez) playwrights, while Hasu-Houston continues to write for the theater while directing the playwriting program at USC. The impact of anthologizing play manuscripts such as those of Wilson, Carroll, Berson, Uno, and Hasu-Houston while propagating new playwrights in university settings becomes even more magnified when juxtaposed with the realities of Broadway, mainstream America’s barometer for commercial success in the theater. To both the pride and consternation of Asian Americans in the theater, the first and only commercial and critical success written by and about Asians/Asian Americans fully embraced by the community was written by David Henry Hwang in 1986. Winning the Tony Award for best play among many accolades, M. Butterfly gave its mostly white audience its dose of excitement and mystery through its international romantic espionage plot while posing complex questions on how white mainstream culture stereotypes and underestimates Asians. Hwang’s strategy as a playwright boldly encapsulates and problematizes the plight of Asian Americans not only in the field of theater but also film and television, precisely
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because it succeeded in attracting a white audience into watching a play that clearly criticized the audience’s own misperceptions about the Asian/Asian American community. Such a conundrum had historically existed for most artists of color in the United States, who have struggled to find a sizeable audience for their work to be commercially bankable, and to be recognized as an unqualified American success. Prior to Hwang’s M. Butterfly, successful Broadway plays about Asians/Asian Americans abound, but they were not necessarily embraced by the Asian American community because of demeaning and insulting casting and portrayals of Asians/ Asian Americans. Written by mostly non-Asians, these plays portrayed Asians as one-dimensional characters—for example, the prostitute willing to sacrifice her life for the love of a white man as in Claude Michel Schonberg’s Miss Saigon, a 1987 redux of the opera Madama Butterfly. Recognizing the tremendous power in rolemodeling to children of iconography and imagery in media such as theater, many Asian Americans organized protest actions and media-watchdog groups calling for an end to stereotypical portrayals of Asians/Asian Americans. Meanwhile, Asian American artists in the theater, particularly those with Broadway aspirations, found themselves having to reflect on the price they would have to pay to make their dreams come true. Would they be willing to enact poorly written, onedimensional characters that serve only to move the plot forward, which would also provide negative role models for younger Asian Americans aspiring to a life in the theater? Despite his success in Hollywood with an Oscar Best Supporting Actor Nomination for the film The Sand Pebbles (1966), the actor Mako continued his pursuit of well-written dramatic narratives about Asian Americans by leading the founding in 1965 of East West Players in Los Angeles. In 1973, San Francisco’s groundbreaking playwright Frank Chin began the Asian American Theater Company primarily as a playwright’s workshop. Another actor in New York, Tisa Chang, established the Pan Asian Theater Company in 1977 to become the mecca of Asian American theater artists off-Broadway. While the foundation of these three stalwarts of theater by and about Asian Americans have led to many more community-supported theater companies within Asian America, the challenges abound and multiply for the quest to imprint the Asian American dramatic narrative on American space, from the imagined to the physical. Financial difficulties frequently imperil completion of productions due to the lack of funding but also because of poor audience attendance from the Asian American community itself. The great work of publishing play manuscripts, while aiding literary scholarship, abrogates the true magic of theater, which is in the physical communion between an audience and the live actor on the stage. Only in that space can the history, folklore, and mythology of humanity exist as lived experience, forever etched in an audience’s memory, erasing the possibility of
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oblivion Willard Wilson feared for his students’ stories at the University of Hawaii in 1937. —Francis Tanglao-Aguas
Further Reading Berson, Misha. Between Worlds, Contemporary Asian American Plays. New York: Theater Communications Group, 1990. Carroll, Denise. 1983 Kumu Kahua Plays. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1983. Hasu-Houston, Velina. The Politics of Life: Four Plays by Asian American Women. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993. Kurahashi, Yuko. Asian American Culture on Stage: The History of the East West Players. London: Routledge, 1999. Lee, Josephine. Re/collecting Early Asian America: Essays in Cultural History (Asian American History and Culture). Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. Uno, Roberta. Unbroken Thread: An Anthology of Plays by Asian American Women. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993.
Asian American Visual Culture and Folklore In a world that constantly redraws and manipulates both real and imaginary borders, the intersecting roles of visual culture and folklore in documenting and transmitting the complex geographies of Asian America has emerged as a crucial field of study. Encapsulating personal experience, family traditions, and community identity, the embedding of Asian American folklore into diverse forms of visual culture produces stories of desire, nostalgia, and loss that equal the power of oral history in conveying cultural memory from one generation to the next. Given that folklorists from Dan Ben-Amos (1971) to Richard Dorson (1972) have defined folklore as “artistic communication in small groups,” and theorists from John Berger (1972) to Nicholas Mirzoeff (2002) have characterized visual culture as “the purposeful seeing of images that a society takes for granted,” the marginalized positionalities and multiple perspectives shared by folklore, visual culture, and Asian America together possess the capacity to decenter master narratives of art, belief, and race. The terrain of Asian America, comprising diverse immigrants from East, South, and Southeast Asia, underscores the disparate components of visual culture, encompassing fine art, public monuments, interior decoration, commercial advertising, moving images, and new media technologies. When the varied practices of folklore, including legends, jokes, performances, and rituals, are added to the mix, the resulting networks shed new light on the intercultural, intergenerational,
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and transnational concerns at the heart of Asian American life. The sheer multiplicity of these networks requires replacing broad claims for a comprehensive “Asian America” with a focused approach that articulates precise methodologies and identifies specific case studies. Accordingly, this essay first considers the methodological and theoretical implications of folklore and visual culture, and then explores these implications through the lens of Burmese American domestic space. Since folklore and visual culture lie outside mainstream social values, they share an expansive view of human expression and cultural production rooted in the local and the non-canonical that blur categories such as popular and elite. When taken together, folklore and visual culture also facilitate a dynamic understanding of images and objects as entities that come into being when performed in a living process, thereby sidestepping common criticisms of art as esoteric forms of creative activity for limited audiences that merely continue older traditions. The overlapping frameworks of folklore and visual culture consequently permit an approach to images and objects as active participants in the invention of tradition that collides the substantiality of a distant, timeless, commoditized Asia with the ephemerality of a present, shifting, living Asian America. The invented traditions of Asian American visual culture resist categorization as folk survivals that require careful preservation as vestiges of cultural authenticity perpetually threatened by acculturation. As inheritance and invention, then, Asian American visual culture highlights the paradoxical traits of authenticity as exhibiting both continuity and variability, while reformulating notions of authenticity into counter-assimilative gestures that highlight the contradictions inherent in immigrant folklore. In this sense, the invented traditions of Asian American visual culture also question the privileging of authenticity within “down to earth” populations that represent, to many folklorists, a process uncorrupted by mannered pretensions. Memory, nostalgia, and the desire for former stability are not unique to the underclass of Asian America, but forge links between the obscured agency of the folk and the hegemonizing tendencies of the elite. The invented traditions of Asian American visual culture, whether in the private space of domestic practices or the public arena of urban enclaves, emphasize the varying societal details of the creative act and the multiple uses of particular forms. The domestic space of Burmese American immigrants provides one case study of folklife and the invented traditions of Asian American visual culture. Burma is a multireligious society that includes Theravada Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. Underlying all these beliefs is the native animist worship of spirits (nat), viewed by some Burmese as irrational, but almost universally acknowledged as powerful. The domestic religious practices of Burmese Americans reflect this diverse religious heritage as well as the immigration history of these various groups to the United States. In general, the first wave of Burmese immigrants began arriving during the late 1960s, when the elimination of quotas on Asian immigration in
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the United States coincided with the xenophobic policies of Ne Win’s military regime in Burma to facilitate the arrival of Burmese Chinese (Theravada Buddhist) and Burmese Indians (Muslim and Hindu) in the United States. Another wave of predominantly indigenous Burmese (Theravada Buddhist and Christian) arrived in the United States during the 1990s following the national uprising in 1988. Although the 2000 United States Census documents 16,720 persons of Burmese descent in the United States, the current number is estimated at over 50,000 due to the growing number of political refugees from Burma and the tendency of Burmese-Chinese and Burmese-Indian to identify as East or South Asian. Most Burmese American Muslims, Hindus, and Christians have been absorbed into broader religious communities based on ethnic identity or missionary activity. However, the development of a distinctively Burmese Theravada Buddhism, inflected with both indigenous animist belief and the Confucian values of the overseas Chinese in Burma, continues in the United States through domestic religious practices that range from the daily offering of water, fruit, and flowers at home altars crowded with Buddhist icons, ancestor portraits and photographs of Mount Popa (the volcanic home of 37 great nat spirits) to once-in-a-lifetime, Buddhist novitiate ceremonies (shin-byu) conducted within private residences that affirm religious beliefs, confirm family ties, and reconnect the displaced identities of the second generation with the homeland of the first generation. As a site of visual culture, the domestic altars of Burmese Americans do not distinguish between fine art and folk craft, religious image and secular object. Oil paintings of the Shwedagon pagoda, gilded sculptures of the Buddha, inlaid betel nut boxes, lacquered harps (saung gauk), repousse´ silver bowls, and carved ivory hairpins are displayed with equal dignity on Ikea shelving as icons of religious devotion and mementos of immigrant origin. For the first generation, these objects are a concrete bridge that connects their lives in the United States with memories of the homeland. For the second generation, these objects are similarly significant as touchstones for cultural identity and family folklore that determine intergenerational conversations. The role of arts and crafts in Burmese American households thus manifest cultural mythologies, personal histories, and lived behavior for a subsection of Asian America in which second-generation Burmese Americans rarely speak or write the native language of the first generation. In this sense, the visual culture of Burmese American domestic altars have an instrumental effect on daily life, regardless of the degree to which they are used or unused. A distinctive element of Burmese American visual culture are the betel nut boxes (kun-it), lidded and cylindrical containers of varying size and material, that frequently decorate the domestic altars of Burmese America. These craft objects sit empty in their transplanted context, since both the betel nut and the euphoric habit of sucking on betel nuts are rarely found or practiced in the United States. Made of black lacquer and gold leaf, carved mother-of-pearl, or pounded silver, these
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examples of Burmese folk art are divorced from their original function as containers for ritual hospitality (the offering of betel nuts being a basic duty of a Burmese host) to become tokens of Burmese American folk artifacts; these objects contain, more than any physical thing, the cultural ties that link the spatial and temporal gaps of the immigrant experience. Indeed, the presence of betel nut boxes alongside Buddhist icons suggest that the invented visual tradition of domestic altars, which replicate the sacred sites of the homeland on the one hand, are also deeply entrenched in notions of immigrant nostalgia and cultural authenticity on the other. If the domestic altars of Burmese America recreate, on a daily basis, the foundations for personal and group identity within the disruptive transitions of immigration, then the domestic religious practice of shin-byu, a major rite of passage in which a young boy re-enacts the decision of the Buddha’s son to join the order of monks, creates an unforgettable lived process of images, sights, and folklore that allow Burmese Americans to distinguish themselves from the larger society, while providing them with the cultural space to establish new beliefs and customs. Perhaps most notably, Burmese American performances of shin-byu have adapted to the absence of Burmese Buddhist temples in most parts of the United States by centering on a private home rendered suitable for monastic precepts, which avoids luxurious beds, meals after noon, and the cohabitation of genders under the same roof. Although an eminent monk from Burma is invited to preside over the ceremony, participation in shin-byu as a domestic religious practice is typically limited to close family members that bear witness to a boy’s vow to uphold the Ten Precepts, the shaving of his black hair, and the changing of his clothes into yellow monastic robes. Taken together, these ritual acts make profound visual impressions that prepare the family for the dramatic reversal of conventional generational hierarchies during the shin-byu period (lasting from one to several weeks), in which parents show daily obeisance to their son, who is now a novitiate (ko-yin), and children distance themselves from their parents, who are now laypeople (daga-jee). By rupturing family ties within the home itself, the Burmese American practice of shin-byu forces parents and children to temporarily replace generational concerns with religious and cultural ones. As an important religious, cultural, and family event, the shin-byu ceremony also provides opportunities for the display of Burmese textiles on the body itself. Women and men typically wear their most intricately woven sarongs (hta-mein for women and pah-so for men). Frequently aromatic from storage with decades old mothballs, the wearing and viewing of these textiles provide a sensory link between the country of origin and the country of residence. At the shin-byu ceremony, and other festive occasions, the bright colors and complex patterns of the sarong become the source of polite compliments and cultural bonding, inviting generations to transmit folklore through the direct experience of visual culture. Parents might use the wearing and viewing of these textiles to instruct children
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that cotton is preferable to silk in regard to Burmese Buddhist aversions to taking life; or they might impress cultural pride upon children by recounting that the shimmering wave-patterned acheik distinctive to Burmese silk weaving would shred with age before any of its color or luster would fade; or the gendered specificities of tying the sarong might reiterate the patriarchal relationships of the homeland, in which girls are only allowed to engage in the shin-byu ceremony as decorative bystanders. Elaborately dressed as Burmese princesses-for-a-day, the girls in the family mark their participation in this ceremony by getting their ears pierced for the first time rather than entering into a religious tradition alongside their male brothers and cousins. The visual culture of domestic altars and domestic religious ceremonies in Burmese America also highlights the crucial role of folklore in transmitting class identity along with cultural identity. The possession of finely crafted objects from the homeland, the maintenance of a separate domestic space for religious devotion, and the financial resources to commission the various components of a novitiate ceremony signal the prerogatives of a post-1965, professional class of Southeast Asian immigration that differentiates themselves from refugees with few resources, education, or skills. Within this context, the intersections of folklore and visual culture arguably establish proper Asian American middle-class formation as it purports to draw links between the United States and the Southeast Asian homeland. By questioning the binary of cultural authenticity and cultural assimilation, the visual culture of domestic altars and domestic religious ceremonies in Burmese America creates a “symbolic authenticity” that conflates religion with race and ethnicity, while integrating Southeast Asian identity into the class requirements of mainstream American assimilation. —Winston Kyan See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Folklore, Folklife and Material Culture.
Further Reading Ebaugh, Helen Rose Fuchs, and Janet Saltzman Chafetz. Religion and the New Immigrants: Continuities and Adaptations in Immigrant Congregations. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2000. Fraser-Lu, Sylvia. Burmese Crafts: Past and Present. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Hobsbawm, Eric, and Terence Ranger. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Isaacs, Ralph, and T. Richard Blurton. Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the Art of Lacquer. London: British Museum Press, 2000. Spiro, Melford. Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and Its Burmese Vicissitudes. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Youth Culture and Folklore
Asian American Youth Culture and Folklore Largely viewed by scholars as a stage of life, youth, childhood or adolescence, occurs between the ages of 16 and 24, when “young adults” begin to make their own choices and form their own identities through the negotiation of social norms and rules. As a period of time before adulthood, youth in general are considered immature, needing adult supervision and oversight because they are undisciplined. Youth culture studies overlaps and connects with other areas of interdisciplinary study including popular culture studies, urban studies, criminology, folklore studies, and education. Youth culture studies can be organized into two areas of research in the fields of sociology and cultural studies. During the 1930s, British scholars studied urban youth “problems.” At the Institute for Social Research, Marxist critical theory scholars (also known as the “Frankfurt School”) argued that mass culture was repressive as it controlled individuals through the suppression of individuality and forced integration into the status quo. Youth in particular were most susceptible to control through the mass media. Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer’s “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” epitomizes this body of thought within the Frankfurt School. In the postwar era, during the mid-1960s at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham, the Birmingham School of scholars and cultural critics studied youth and youth culture with greater complexity. They critiqued the Frankfurt School’s narrow vision of individuals as passive producers and consumers. The Frankfurt School’s Marxist approach was also ahistorical, and arguably did not account for the role of folklore and folk beliefs and practices that comprised a large part of the “parent” culture. Instead, the Birmingham scholars studied representations of individuals and groups in the media, specifically youth, who expressed a distinct youth culture. Birmingham School scholars argued that youth culture was being produced in relation to three larger forms of cultural structures: working-class parent culture, the dominant culture, and mass culture. It could be argued that the Birmingham scholars documented how youth created their own distinct folkways. Classic Birmingham School studies on youth culture include Paul Willis’s study of British “lads” (1978), Dick Hebdige’s study of punk subculture (1979), and Angela McRobbie’s research on young women and popular culture in the 1970s. British cultural studies influenced U.S. cultural studies scholars to consider the importance of consumption and reception of mass culture. However, youth culture studies did not develop into a particular focus of U.S. cultural studies. Instead, it has been primarily embraced by fields such as sociology and ethnic studies in the United States. Sociologists at the University of Chicago during the post-World War II era comprised the Chicago School of sociological research. These scholars addressed the
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social changes occurring after the war by focusing their research on criminal behavior, deviance, and delinquency. Youth (working-class in particular) were framed as unruly, rebellious, resistant, delinquent, and often violent. As such, Chicago School sociologists argued that youth were deviant by closely observing their folk practices including patterns of dress, behavior, and leisure habits, which, they argued, all deviated from the “norm.” Youth deviance was clearly exhibited in urban contexts through gang activities and other stigmatized identities. Scholars argued that urban youth experienced disrupted and dysfunctional family and community structures and a breakdown of moral values; urban youth turned toward juvenile delinquency and crime and had mental health problems and stigmatized outsider statuses. Classic Chicago School studies include Frederick Thrasher’s study of urban gangs (1927), Albert Cohen’s study of lower-class boys and gang membership (1955), and Howard Becker’s study of “outsiders” (1963). Studies on youth culture in general have mainly focused on three particular aspects: white, young men and women, and class. Not until recently have scholars placed race at the center of analysis. In particular, youth of color have been subjects of inquiry in the fields of sociology, education, and psychology. Scholars have explored “minority” youth issues as evidence of national social problems while ignoring how social crisis affects youth of color. Youth of color are blamed for societal issues framed as “problems,” including single motherhood, urban youth gangs, and high school dropouts. The folklore on youth of color in the United States are mainly understood through these stigmatized contexts. More recent youth research has characterized this framing of youth of color as inherently “troubled.” More complex research that disrupts mainstream folklore explores how youth are often victims of social crises including low/high levels of academic achievement, political activism, delinquency and juvenile justice, queer issues, and at-risk and urban identities. African American and Latino youth are frequently the subject of these studies. Noteworthy studies on African American and Latino youth include Tricia Rose’s 1994 study on black youth and the emergence of hip-hop culture and Robin D. G. Kelley’s 1997 book on perceptions of black popular culture and black youth, both of which have contributed to the folklore of black youth in the United States. In addition, Felix Padilla’s 1992 study on urban gangs associates gang culture as part of Latino youth folk practices. On the other hand, Asian American youth are not often acknowledged as youth “of color” because of the model minority stereotype. Unlike research on their counterparts, the folklore of Asian American youth strongly affects how they are studied: as “success” stories in education, immigrants who have fully “assimilated,” and individuals who do not experience racism. Scholarship on Asian American youth is an emerging area of inquiry in the field of Asian American
Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Youth Culture and Folklore
studies in the United States. The research that has been conducted on Asian American youth is mainly in the field of psychology, with issues such as academic achievement generally the focus. Sue and Okazaki’s well-known study “Asian American Educational Achievements: A Phenomenon in Search of Explanation” (1991) is an example from this body of research. In 1996, Stacey Lee wrote about how the model minority stereotype affected the ethnic and racial identity of Asian American youth at a public high school. Lee’s research would be among the first to not only focus on Asian American youth, but also their experiences as Asian American youth. Lee creates a space for youth to articulate their own folk practices and beliefs. Likewise, Lee and Min Zhou’s 2004 book Asian American Youth: Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity is a collection of essays that focus on how Asian American youth articulate their own folkways. Other research on Asian American youth includes Sunaina Maira’s Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in New York City (2002), Angela Reyes’s Language, Identity, and Stereotype among Southeast Asian American Youth: The Other Asian (2007), and Andrew Garrod and Robert Kilkenny’s Balancing Two Worlds: Asian American College Students Tell Their Life Stories (2007). The paucity of research on Asian American youth reflects the vast diversity amongst Asian Americans, complicated intergroup relations between Asian Americans, and the conflicting way Asian Americans have been racialized as both unassimilably foreign and the model minority in the United States. To fully understand the complexities of Asian American youth experiences, Lee and Zhou argue that research on Asian American youth and youth culture must take into account the effect of international migration and American racialization. Born in the 1980s, Asian American youth are children of the post-1965 immigrant generation. Many are children of first-wave Asian American activists, but they are also new immigrants, parachute kids, or transnational citizens like their parents who practice what Aihwa Ong (1999) refers to as flexible citizenship. These youth are part of a generation of cosmopolitan consumers who are haunted by mainstream American folklore of them as having grown up in an immigrant family, “foreign” and “other” like their immigrant parents and relatives, hypersuccessful “model” minorities, and invisible in the American mainstream media. Ong argues that through globalization and transnationalism, Asian American youth have complex folk practices that include the use of technology to stay connected with ancestral homelands. These dynamics complicate previous notions of identity development as a localized practice. However, while these youth are fully steeped in modern technology, they draw on folklore from their parents’ ancestral homelands to construct modern sensibilities of ethnic and cultural identity. Asian American youth reappropriate the “folklore” of the Asian American movement of the 1960s and 1970s to reconstruct and remake Asian American identity.
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For example, self-identified Asian American youth in higher education negotiate highly complex environments in which active resignifications are neither completely forms of resistance to hegemony nor complicit internalizations of ideology. Asian American college-aged youth construct pan-Asian ethnic identity through strategic decision-making and public performances of Asian folkloric practices as well as American identity during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (nationally recognized during the month of May). These new folkloric practices of Asian American panethnicity are even more complex when we consider everyday experiences such as how they resist as well as take up aspects of the model minority stereotype; how higher education institutions shape the field of race and ethnicity that they must negotiate; how their articulations of panethnicity are negotiations of Asian American identity vis-a` -vis American identity and citizenship; and how their increasingly global and transnational identities evade simplistic analysis within assimilation/acculturation paradigms. It is within these spaces, as well as others yet to be explored, that Asian American youth create new and distinct forms of culture and expressions of folk practices. These cultural practices also beckon the attention of scholars to understand how Asian American youth can be active agents while also caught in the constraints of historical and contextual factors. —Dawn Lee Tu See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian Pacific Heritage Month; Model Minority.
Further Reading Hall, Stuart, and Tony Jefferson, eds. Resistance through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain. Hutchinson, UK: Hutchinson University Library in association with the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham, 1976. Lee, Jennifer, and Min Zhou. Asian American Youth: Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity. New York: Routledge, 2004. Maira, Sunaina. Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in New York City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. Maira, Sunaina, and Elisabeth Soep, eds. Youthscapes: The Popular, the National, the Global. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. Men˜ez, Herminia Quimpo. Folkloric Communication among Filipinos in the United States. New York: Arno Press, 1976. Ross, Andrew, and Tricia Rose, eds. Microphone Fiends: Youth Music and Youth Culture. New York: Routledge, 1997. Willis, Paul. Common Culture: Symbolic Work at Play in the Everyday Cultures of the Young. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, 1990. Wong, Deborah. Speak It Louder: Asian Americans Making Music. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Pan Asian Americans: Asian Pacific Heritage Month
Asian Pacific Heritage Month Similar to other Heritage Months such as African American/Black History Month (February), Native American Awareness Month (November), and Hispanic Heritage Month (mid-September through mid-October), Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is observed during the entire month of May and was established to raise awareness about the contributions by Asian Americans to American society and to recognize and celebrate the culture and accomplishments of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the United States. In 1976, Jeanie F. Jew, president of the Organization of Chinese American Women, contacted government officials about the lack of Asian Pacific representation in the U.S. bicentennial celebrations occurring that year. She felt that Asian Pacific Americans were excluded from the stories told about individuals who helped the country. She enlisted the support of Representatives Frank Horton (R-NY) and Norman Mineta (D-CA) about introducing legislation that would enable Americans to celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of Asian Pacific Americans to the United States. In June 1977, Representatives Horton and Mineta introduced House Resolution 540 asking the president to proclaim the first 10 days of May as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.” Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a Senate Joint Resolution 72 on July 19, 1977, also calling upon the president. The House Joint Resolution 1007, authorizing the president to proclaim a seven-day period beginning on May 4, 1979, was passed on October 5, 1978. President Jimmy Carter designated through Public Law 96-419 the first Asian Pacific Heritage Week as May 4–10, 1979. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the first 10 days were chosen because they coincided with two significant moments in Asian Pacific American history: the first Japanese to arrive in the United States on May 7, 1843, and contributions by Chinese laborers to the building of the transcontinental railroad, completed on May 10, 1869 (Golden Spike Day). On May 7, 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed a resolution extending the celebration into the entire month of May. Twenty years later, Reps. Horton and Mineta introduced House Resolution 5572 calling upon the president to designate every month of May to avoid the need to introduce legislation every year. On October 23, 1992, President Bush signed legislation, Public Law 102–450, to finally designate May of each year as “Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.” Asian Pacific American Heritage Month celebrations often include enriching and educational events pertaining to Asian and Asian American culture. The common events include but are not limited to sharing different types of Asian food, learning facts and figures about Asian Americans, celebrating the accomplishments of notable Asian Americans, Asian ethnic dances and other
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Pan Asian Americans: Avalokitesvara
performances of Asian folklore and culture, and presentations and discussions about experiences of Asians in Asia and the United States. These celebrations occur every year across the United States on colleges and universities, Asian American and Pacific Islander cultural organizations, and federal government departments. —Dawn Lee Tu
Web Sites “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.” Daniel J. Evan Library, Government Documents/Maps Web Site: http://govdocs.evergreen.edu/hotopics/asian-pacifichistory/. “Celebrating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Chronology.” District of Columbia Department of Health Web site: http:// www.dchealth.dc.gov/doh/cwp/view,a,1370,q,574017,dohNav_GID,1787,dohNav,| 33120|33139|.asp.
Avalokitesvara Avalokitesvara, Bodhisattva of compassion, was originally a male figure brought from India to China in the 5th century CE. By the late 8th century, she was perceived as female with her name translated into the Chinese Guan-shi-yin. She is commonly known by the shortened version of Guanyin or Kuan Yin, and has many names and manifestations. For example, she is known as Kannon in Japan and Quan Am in Vietnam. Avalokitesvara reached enlightenment through meditation on sound where both subject (hearer or hearing) and object (sound) are merged in the Void. When awareness of both existence and nonexistence vanished, nirvana supervenes. The Buddha taught her to enter samadhi through a process of hearing and reflecting. Avalokitesvara, as the secondary embodiment of compassion, an emanation from the primary liberating energy of compassion, the Amitabha Buddha, thus acquires two unsurpassed merits: the profound compassion that proceeds from the Bodhi (Enlightenment) and the plea for compassion of all sentient beings below. As a Bodhisattva, one who is on the way to the attainment of perfect knowledge, a future Buddha yet who postpones its fulfillment for the sake of others, Guanyinthus remains available for all suffering sentient beings as the “Hearer-of-Cries.” From this gesture on her part as one who sits next to you, one is able to draw near to her in a more accessible way than when one is awestruck by a Buddha. The Shurangama Sutra enumerates the 32 response bodies in which Guanyin manifests in an appropriate way to draw near to those who need this Bodhisattva of Compassion. Guanyin listens to the sounds of suffering, not contemplating the
Pan Asian Americans: Avalokitesvara
sounds for her own sake but rather to enable “living beings through the 10 directions who are in suffering and distress to attain liberation by contemplating their sounds.” In the Lotus Sutra, 33 different forms are referred to, and female manifestations appear as follows: If they need a monk, a nun, a layman believer, or a laywoman believer to be saved, immediately he becomes a monk, a nun, a layman believer, or a laywoman believer and preached the Law for them. . . . If they need a heavenly being, a dragon, a yaksha, a gandharva, an asura, a garuda, a kimnara, a mahoraga, a human or a nonhuman being to be saved, immediately he becomes all of these and preaches the Law for them.
Guanyin/Avalokitesvara altar at the Buddhist Tzu Chi Compassion Relief USA National Headquaters, San Dimas, California. (Jonathan H. X. Lee)
Guanyin is thus a universal gateway or doorway to Enlightenment for all sentient beings, manifest in the ways necessary and appropriate to their situation and need. Think on the power of the Perceiver of Sounds And at once all will be swayed by compassion! Guanyin as Hearer-of-Cries reveals the sounding that is in the heart of each suffering person. Guanyin corresponds to an actual energy permanently latent in the mind, though it may be that the forms in which she is envisaged are deliberate human creations. In our own selfless and compassionate true nature, Guanyin is present. “You are Kuan Yin” is an understanding in Mahayana Buddhism and is expressed in poetry and sutras. Mahayana Buddhism is found most often in China, Japan, Tibet, Korea, and Vietnam, and Asian American immigrants, who brought with them their familiar devotions. The first wave of Chinese immigrants, for example, created “joss houses” or small temples to Guanyin (among other deities). There are many stories
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Pan Asian Americans: “Got Rice?”
of Quan Am (Kuan Yin) interceding for the Vietnamese refugees, as the “boat people” called on her and believe she saved many from storms, starvation, and pirates. Her presence continues with them as they establish their lives in the United States. Among the Tibetan and Mongolian American communities who venerate the Dalai Lama, the Dalai Lama is believed to be the living embodiment/reincarnation of Avalokitesvara. —Joanne Doi See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore; Siddhartha Gautama.
Further Reading Blofeld, John. Bodhisattva of Compassion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 1978. Boucher, Sandy. Discovering Kwan Yin, Buddhist Goddess of Compassion. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999. Reis-Habito, Maria. “The Bodhisattva Guanyin and the Virgin Mary.” Buddhist-Christian Studies 13 (1993): 61–69. Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua, commentary. The Shurangama Sutra, Vol. V. San Francisco: Sino-American Buddhist Association & Dharma Realm Buddhist University, 1980. Watson, Burton, trans. The Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
“Got Rice?” The slogan “Got Rice?” emerged as a cultural meme among Asian Americans in the 1990s and is a clear parody of the “Got Milk?” campaign used by the California Milk Processor Board in 1993. It is closely related to and often seen in conjunction with the slogan “Asian Pride.” As both a parody of American popular culture and an identity marker in its own right, the slogan works on multiple levels. It is a tongue-in-cheek critique of the marginalization of cultural practices—the eating habits—of those not in the American mainstream. This critique gains further resonance because of the perception that Asian Americans have a preponderance of lactose intolerance (which is true among some but not all groups). Furthermore, the commercials used in the original “Got Milk” campaigns typically paired the milk with other “allAmerican” foods such as peanut butter sandwiches or cookies, furthering the sense of marginalization. One of the earliest uses of the slogan, and one of the most notable for increasing its popularity, was as a t-shirt for Yolk, a magazine for Asian Americans.
Pan Asian Americans: “Got Rice?”
Yolk’s parent company, Informasian Media, Inc., applied for the trademark in 1997 and held it through 2008. Designs based on the slogan on Yolk’s storefront have expanded to include other apparel as well as t-shirts sporting variations such as “Got Adobo?,” “Got Pho?,” and “Got Sushi?” Interconnected with the race politics and parody of the “Got Rice?” phenomenon is the relationship between cultural identity and food. Rice, considered a staple by many Asian Americans, is subsequently an identity marker of Asianness recognizable both by Asian Americans themselves and other groups, both dominant and subaltern. The term was widely used in conjunction with other terms such as “Asian Pride” (and its variations like “AZN Pride”) by Asian American youths in community contexts to establish both a general Asian American identity and a more specific ethnic identity, such as being Vietnamese American. In addition, while it has lost some of its initial popularity, the term has been demonstrated to remain important in a number of local contexts, including youth in Hmong American communities. In the late 1990s, the Internet became an increasingly important venue for negotiating Asian American identity, either on general social networking sites such as Myspace or niche sites such as AsianAvenue. Consequently, much of the popularity of “Got Rice?” on the Internet can be attributed to a parody rap song entitled “Got Rice Bitch?,” which was released in the late 1990s by a rapper known only as “AZN” or “AZN PRIDE.” Laid over the instrumental from Tupac’s “Changes,” the song contained lyrics extolling everything from import car culture to ethnic cuisine while using stereotyped rap imagery about women, violence, and crime. The song proved very popular as a parody of both rap music and Asian American culture, and numerous remakes and music videos created in homage to the original song are still available on video-sharing sites like YouTube. —Jason R. Nguyen
Further Reading Barker, Olivia. “The Asianization of America.” USA Today, March 22, 2001. http:// www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/03/2001-03-22-acovthu.htm. Holt, Douglas B. “Got Milk?” Advertising Educational Foundation. 2002. http:// www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/case_histories/3000. Lee, P. Racial Assimilation and Popular Culture: Hmong Youth (Sub) Cultures and the Persistence of the Color Line. PhD dissertation, University of Minnesota, 2009. Mai, Quang Hung, and Hoai Linh Chau Patricia Nguyen. “What’s Vietnamese for ‘Conflict?’ An Exploration of Asian Identity Development through a Vietnamese American/Canadian Perspective on Self-Given Names.” The Vermont Connection 29 (2008): 81–92. Ohnuki-Tierney, E. Rice as Self: Japanese Identities through Time. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.
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Pan Asian Americans: Lotus Flower U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Record: “Got Rice?” December 17, 1997. http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4009:r5fqfv.2.2. Wang, O. “Rapping and Repping Asian: Race, Authenticity, and the Asian American MC.” Alien Encounters: Popular Culture in Asian America (2007): 35–68. YOLK. Homepage. YOLKshop—Good To Go! 2007: http://www.yolkshop.com/.
Lotus Flower The lotus flower, a plant in the Nelumbonaceae family, is an aquatic perennial that is commonly mistaken for a water lily. For many Asian Americans, whose religious traditions originate from Asia, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, the lotus flower is a sign of purity and the potential for humans to overcome mundane existence. The lotus is so popular in Asia that it is the national flower of India and Vietnam. It is also the inspiration for great deal of folk art in all of Asia.
Lotus blossoms at Echo Park in Los Angeles, California, for the 32nd celebration of the Lotus Festival in July 2010. (Jonathan H. X. Lee)
Pan Asian Americans: Model Minority
In Hinduism, Hindu gods and goddesses are imagined as sitting on lotus thrones. Images of Hindu gods and goddesses will always have a lotus as a symbol of their purity versus the population associated with the human world. In Buddhism, when the Buddha was born, he walked on lotus that suddenly grew from the ground. This communicates his supreme purity. The same is true for Jainism and its founders, or tirthankaras. The lotus is an aquatic plant, growing in swampy environments. This represents the people and vices of the physical world. However, as the lotus flower blooms, there is no mud or dirt on its petals, because it has a waxy layer. This is interpreted as the human potential to transcend its material existence and the vices of the world— greed, anger, hate, lust, and so on—to become clean and pure, like the lotus flower that grows from the swam and mud. Each respective traditions— Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism—employs the metaphor of the lotus as a way to communicate their teachings’ potential to bring one out of the mundane world. The lotus is so central to Mahayana Buddhism that one of the greatest sutras is named after it: the Lotus Sutra. In Chinese folk art, the lotus becomes a sign of immortality. In Buddhist Asia, the folk arts and crafts depicting the lotus may indicate that one is Buddhist. Among Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains in the United States, the lotus is a reminder of their religious goals. The lotus is also popular in jewelry design, wood crafts, and clothing. Since it is edible, it is a common ingredient in various traditional medicines in ethnic Asian enclave communities in the United States. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Folklore and Folklife and Material Culture; Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore.
Further Reading Billing, Kelly, and Paula Biles. The Lotus: Know It and Grow It. Churchville, NY: International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society, 2007. Watson, Burton, trans. The Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
Model Minority The model minority stereotype can be traced to media images that appeared in American popular culture during the late 1960s. This stereotype has also become a part of how Asian Americans are perceived in the United States and contemporary Asian American folklore. The model minority stereotype, as a form of folklore, has become an inherent part of the how Asian Americans exist in the
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United States. The stereotype has been difficult for Asian Americans to resist and refute because of the elements of “reality” based on “empirical” data and the privileged racial status associated with identifying with these “truths.” Chinese and Japanese Americans were the first subjects of the model minority image in which their newfound immigrant success stories shared two assumed characteristics: successful assimilation in the American mainstream and “good” cultural values. Newspaper and magazine articles that appeared in Time Magazine and U.S. News and World Report praised Japanese and Chinese Americans for their ability to overcome racial discrimination by working hard and minding their own business. These articles purported to provide convincing empirical evidence from U.S. Census data to factually explain why these two groups in particular were able to move into high-status occupations, had rising incomes, low rates of mental illness and crime, and high achievement in education. The stereotype emerged during the racial politics of the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s as the conservative right’s answer to black militancy of the 1960s. Portrayed by the mainstream media in contrast to their African American and Latino counterparts, Asian Americans were reported to refuse assistance from federal relief programs such as welfare, have strong morality and cultural values because of “traditional” Asian reverence for learning, and show a natural inclination for hard work and thrift. The political implications for black leaders were clear: Asian Americans found success in the land of opportunity because they worked hard and didn’t complain. The model minority image served to discipline African Americans by seemingly disproving black activists’ claims that the United States was a fundamentally racist society. The persistence and legacy of the model minority stereotype is far-reaching and has become a part of the folkloric imaginary of Asian America today. Images of the model minority continued to appear in media throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. Interchanging Japanese and Chinese in the 1980s for Koreans and Vietnamese refugees acknowledged the growing diversity within the Asian American community. The achievements of the 1980s group were more focused on overcoming poverty brought from their home countries through educational attainment. In the 1990s, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese students were portrayed as the model minority because of their increasing numbers, their presumed monopolizing of merit-based scholarships, and their low numbers in utilizing student services such as counseling services and affirmative action admission quotas. The folktale of the American Dream intertwined with the model minority stereotype by privileging hard work and meritocracy to achieve success in the United States. The model minority stereotype affects and portrays Asian Americans in different ways. East Asians, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans, are most generally stereotyped as model minority. Southeast Asians such as
Pan Asian Americans: Mother-Daughter Narrative
Vietnamese are portrayed as hard-working and able to escape poverty. South Asians are portrayed as hard-working and intelligent. Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians, though lumped with Asian Americans, are seldom portrayed as model minorities and are more closely associated with stereotypes of “island natives.” The persistence of the model minority stereotype also creates a racial hierarchy by placing Asian Americans above blacks, Latinos, and “other non-whites.” It also functions as a disciplining agent for Asian Americans to be “good” national subjects if they want to retain their privileged status. Furthermore, a demarcation is created between the “good” culture of Asian Americans and the “bad” culture of “other non-whites”; the dominance of the white group and the reproduction of white virtue are never called into question. The ideology of meritocracy as a cornerstone for achievement in the American imagination is further reinforced by the “truth” of perceived successes of Asian Americans and the “myths” of why they are successful. —Dawn Lee Tu
Further Reading Lee, Stacey. Unraveling the Model Minority Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth. New York: Teacher’s College Press, 1996. Osajima, Keith. “Asian Americans as the Model Minority: An Analysis of the Popular Press Image in the 1960s and 1980s.” In Min Zhou and James Gatewood, eds. Contemporary Asian America: A Multidisciplinary Reader. New York: New York University Press, 2000. Suzuki, Bob. “Education and the Socialization of Asian Americans: A Revisionist Analysis of the ‘Model Minority’ Thesis.” In Don T. Nakanishi and Tina Yamano Nishida, eds. The Asian American Educational Experience: A Sourcebook for Teachers and Students. New York: Routledge, 1995. Wu, Frank. Yellow: Race in America beyond Black and White. New York: Basic Books, 2003.
Mother-Daughter Narrative in Asian American Literature In the work of Asian American women writers, the theme of mother-daughter relations has been immensely popular since the publication of Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior and Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. The motherdaughter narrative is predominantly disclosed via the American-born daughter’s perspectives. This use of the protagonist’s viewpoints allows mainstream
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American readers to identify with the daughter. Through this identification, this explicit narrative formula makes the particular Asian American women’s experience accessible to its readers by using the daughter’s coming-of-age story. As Patricia P. Chu observes, through this formula, in the process of establishing her subjectivity, the daughter recoils from and then ultimately reconciles with her immigrant mother, who embodies social marginality and Asianness, by discovering the mother’s silenced traumatic past. By deepening her understanding of the mother and by sharing the pains her mother experienced, the daughter is eventually healed from her own racial and/or sexual trauma inflicted by the abusive power of American mainstream society, and starts to fully acknowledge and embrace herself as an Asian American woman. In this popular narrative formula of the mother-daughter dyad, the mother’s secret past is often conveyed to her daughter in a coded manner. The mother prefers such indirect methods because of the ambivalence that exists between her shames of the past, her desires for articulation, and her wishes to protect her daughter from a similar painful experience. The use of this coded transmission involves utilizing forms of folklore such as songs and stories. This approach is widely used to avoid the direct confession of a brutal past. For instance, in Comfort Woman by Korean American author Nora Okja Keller, protagonist Akiko, a former Korean comfort woman, or sex slave, of the Japanese military during World War II, uses various forms of Korean folklore to convey her messages to her biracial daughter Beccah. Also, Akiko uses folklore to pass down her ethnic heritage to her daughter, and thus she employs folklore as an effective means of creating Korean/American women’s genealogy. Therefore, from the daughter’s perspective, the rich cultural imagery expressed in folklore tradition operates as the keys to connect her with her mother, her Asian American community, and her ancestral origin in Asia. Furthermore, the daughter often attempts to gain her strength and wisdom by identifying herself with a female character of a folklore story. An example of this can be found in the novel Monkey Bridge by Vietnamese American author Lan Cao. Here in an effort to manipulate her college interview, young Vietnamese refugee Mai attempts to follow a strategy employed by the legendary Trung sisters, who prevented Chinese invasions in Vietnam. Among Asian American women writers, especially in the subgenre of motherdaughter relationships, folklore tradition is generally used for celebrating the strength of the ties among women and for proclaiming Asian/American feminism. Thus, these authors often revise and modify the original stories to make them more suitable for their own story lines. Mother-daughter narratives in Asian American literature reveal the authors’ fertile imagination that contrives variations of the folklore of their ethnic origins. —Yasuko Kase
Pan Asian Americans: Orientalism and Folklore
Further Reading Cao, Lan. Monkey Bridge. New York: Penguin, 1997. Chu, Patricia P. “To Hide Her True Self”: Sentimentality and the Search for an Intersubjective Self in Nora Okja Keller’s Comfort Woman.” In Eleanor Ty and Donald G. Goellnicht, eds. Asian North American Identities: Beyond the Hyphen. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 61–83. Keller, Nora Okja. Comfort Woman. New York: Penguin, 1997. Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts. New York: Vintage International, 1989. Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Putnam, 1989.
Orientalism and Folklore In his influential book Orientalism (1978), Palestinian American scholar Edward W. Said (1935–2003) describes the relations between Western culture and imperialism. According to Said, Western culture and knowledge are profoundly intertwined with the power of political system, and thus even the aesthetic and epistemic values are not innocent from this system. Theoretically incorporating Michel Foucault’s notion of discourse and Antonio Gramsci’s hegemony, Said declares that Orientalism is a Western corporate institution of domination over the Other, the Orient. In other words, Orientalism is an enormous hegemonic system that produces cultural expressions about the Other to legitimize Western colonial domination. In this unsymmetrical system of representation, the Other is denied its own subject position for self-representation by being reduced to the mere object of Western knowledge. The Orient is studied in academia, displayed in museums, and illustrated in various cultural expressions by the West. By extending Said’s theoretical notion of Orientalism, which is geographically focused on the Middle East, to the studies about the particular racial subordination of Asian Americans in U.S. society, the scholars of Asian American studies have been developing arguments concerning problematic representations about Asian Americans and the exoticization of their ethnic cultures including the folklore tradition in American mainstream society. Historically associated with foreignness because of their inscribed racial Otherness, Asian Americans have needed to strongly claim their denied American identity. Therefore, whereas Asian American folklore tradition can strengthen their racial and ethnic pride by offering a rich cultural heritage, it has also provoked either fetishization or stigmatization by mainstream society and thus has evoked ambivalent feelings among Asian Americans toward their own folk cultures. For example, as King-Kok Cheung points out, during World War II Japanese Americans were forced to abandon their ethnic heritage,
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which was immediately bracketed as the ethnic marker of the enemies/Other. Likewise, after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, South Asian Americans were compelled to renounce some of their tradition to avoid becoming the target of racialized hate crimes. While such international crises have caused the stigmatization of Asian American folk tradition, American ethnocentricity also fetishized some forms of the tradition such as music, martial arts, dance, food cultures, and philosophies. In general, these cultural expressions are disconnected from their cultural and historical contexts and therefore depoliticized as the safer troupes of multiculturalism in American mainstream culture. An example of this is in the depiction of Asian Americans in cinema: Hollywood films often distort Asian martial arts and philosophies as exotic spectacles to attract the mainstream audience. The spectacles created by these films reinforce the stereotypes of AsianAmericans as the exotic Other. On the other hand, politically engaged Asian American scholars, activists, and artists in various fields attempt to subvert such racial stereotypes by creatively using the folk tradition. For example, Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese uses a Chinese folk story of the Monkey King to reveal the Chinese American protagonist Jing Wang’s self-disdain and internalized racial prejudice. This example illuminates the significance of the subjective use of folk tradition by and for Asian Americans to challenge Orientalism. —Yasuko Kase
Further Reading Cheung, King-Kok. “Re-viewing Asian American Literary Studies.” In An Interethnic Companion to Asian American Literature. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books-Random House, 1979. Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006.
Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions Reincarnation is one of the popular concepts discussed in various spiritual and religious teachings, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Kabbalah. Various cultural groups such as Chinese, Hindus, Tibetan, Indonesian, Egyptian, Celtics, Greek and Australian aborigines believe that one’s soul travels and transmigrates into different forms when one dies. Souls can be reincarnated into different bodily shapes, celestial beings, humans, animals, insects or plants. While the concept of reincarnation is known cross-culturally, it is probably most frequently referred to within Asian and Asian American communities that practice dharmic religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. The transmigration and
Pan Asian Americans: Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions
reincarnation of one’s soul, or atman, based on Hindu and Buddhist teachings, is determined by one’s karmic deeds and connections—the “law of karma.” Hindus and Buddhists believe that human interactions are interdependent and that one’s actions have ethical consequences. One’s fate, development, and deterioration are not random acts but based on one’s causal and karmic connection. For example, it is believed that within the Tibetan community, the reincarnations of the Dali Lama— Panchen Lama, Karmapa, Rinpoche, and other spiritual teachers—are connected to their past life and deeds. Some believe that certain spiritual gurus—who are teaching Buddhism in the United States or in the Europe—are reborn in the “western world” so they can teach dharma (i.e., Buddhist teachings) to Westerners and Asians and Asian Americans in the Western Hemisphere. In the Tibetan community, there is a verification process to recognize that a Tulku—which literally means “living Buddha” or enlightened Tibetan lama—Rinpoche, or a lama, is a reincarnation of a previous celestial being. For example, the Dali Lama is believed to be the reincarnation of the Compassion Buddha (Avalokitesvara). It is also believed within the Asian and Asian American communities that certain celestial beings reincarnate into a lower level of being to perform certain duties, as addressed in the Hindu notion of “avatar.” For example, it is believed that Vishnu, one of the Hindu Trinity (trimurti) who preserves and maintains cosmic order, has 10 various incarnations, which are called avatar. Each incarnation is descended with the specific purpose of rescuing humankind from great danger. For example, some believe that the seventh avatar of Vishnu is Lord Rama, whose heroic story is depicted in one of the most important mythological Hindu epics, Ramayana; his eighth avatar is Lord Krishna, whose teachings are revealed in the Hindu sacred scripture Bhagavad-Gita; and his ninth avatar is Buddha, who relives human sufferings and helps spread spiritual teachings to China, East Asia, and the rest of the world. There have been discussions regarding how many incarnations Vishnu or Krishna have: some believe that Vishnu has more than 10 incarnations, and some believe that Krishna has infinite reincarnations (as discussed in another sacred Puranic Hindu text, Bhagavata Purana). In fact, it is possible that every human being is a reincarnation of Krishna. The notion that Krishna has innumerable reincarnations is in accordance with the Buddhist belief that everybody possesses the Buddha nature and Buddha is within everybody (“You are the Buddha, and Buddha is you”). The dharmic implications of reincarnation for Asian and Asian American Buddhists (or any Buddhist regardless of ethnicity) is to reach enlightenment (Hindu moksha or Buddhist nirvana) so that one’s soul does not linger in the cycle of birth and rebirth called samsara. —Rueyling Chuang See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore; Avalokitesvara; Siddhartha Gautama.
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Further Reading Algeo, John. Reincarnation Explored. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987. Fishbane, Eitan. “A Chariot for the Shekhinah: Identity and the Ideal Life in the SixteenthCentury Kabbalah.” Journal of Religious Ethics 37(3) (2009): 385–418. Head, Joseph, ed. Reincarnation: A East-West Anthology. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Press, 1967.
Root Quest The practice of going back to Asia in search of one’s cultural heritage and family history is known as root quest. Like the Ingenious American vision quest, Asian American root quest is a rite of passage, and life transforming. The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco’s In Search of Roots Program began in the early 1990s to reconnect Chinese American youth to China. For Asian Americans, who are stereotyped as being “perpetual foreigners,” growing up is difficult. Asian American youths will ponder these questions: Who am I? Why am I here? A seemingly harmless question, “Where are you from?,” reinforces in the mind of the Asian Americans that they must not be American, because they look like they are from somewhere else. Hence, as young adults, Asian Americans begin a process of searching for their “roots,” their heritage, the origins of their family, back in Asia. The Asian American roots quest is also connected to the birth of Asian American studies of the late 1960s and early 1970s, because, at that time, Asian Americans demanded recognition of their histories, experiences, and contributions to United States history and society. Above all, a journey back to Asia is a journey to understand one’s identity as an Asian American. Filipino American youth, for example, on many university campuses in the United States, especially on the West Coast, often begin to explore their rich cultural history through performing in Pilipino Cultural Night or Celebration of Pilipino Culture events. These events are musical, dance, and theatrical performances and parodies that promote education and culture and evoke a sense of pride in the community. These students, and Filipinos in general, visit their relatives in the Philippines, carrying gifts and renewing family ties. College students often go back to learn their “mother tongues” and to “give back” to the land of their ancestors by participating in various volunteer and mutual self-help organizations, especially amongst the poorest of the poor neighborhoods in the Philippines. Most Filipino Americans regularly mail back balikbayan boxes to their relatives in the Philippines. These boxes contain many small gifts for every member of their extended family and neighbors and friends too. Filipinos who visit the Philippines, in turn, come back laden with gifts or pasalubongs for their own families and the family of friends in the United States. Filipino Chinese Americans whose grandparents might have been “paper sons” fill a large gap in their family histories through the root quest. Asian Americans,
Pan Asian Americans: Second and Subsequent Generations
young and old, see the journey as part of a process of making themselves complete. For transracial adoptees, it is a journey in search of answers and birth family members. This is documented in the film Daughter from Danang (2002). Daughter from Danang follows Heidi/Hiep, an Amerasian adoptee of the Vietnam War, who grows up in the small town of Pulaski, Tennessee. Heidi is the mixed race daughter of an American serviceman and a Vietnamese woman. Fearing for her daughter’s safety at the war’s end, Hiep’s mother sent her to the United States on “Operation Babylift,” a Ford administration plan to relocate alleged “orphans” and mixed race children to the United States for adoption after the Americans pulled out in April 30, 1975. For nearly 22 years, Heidi never knew her mother, but always had a strong desire to return to Vietnam. They were reunited in Danang, after Heidi was successful in locating her mother’s whereabouts. The reunion was at first sweet, but later became bitter as a result of clashing cultural expectations. Not all root quests require a journey to Asia. For Japanese Americans, it is the pilgrimage to World War II Japanese American internment camps. Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian Americans whose great grandparents and grandparents were on Angel Island, in the San Francisco Bay Area, may also have a transformative experience by visiting the island. Learning their grandparents’ or parents’ language is also a part of the root quest process. Not all questions will be answered. Not all reunions will be smooth, but the process is life-changing for Asian Americans who are searching to complete their identity. Asia remains a powerful source of inspiration for Asian Americans, no matter how long, or for how many generations they have been in the United States. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Paper Sons/Paper Daughters; Japanese Americans: Pilgrimage to Japanese American Detention (Internment) Sites.
Further Reading Dolgin, Gail, and Vicente Franco, directors. Daughter from Danang. (2002). DVD. Woo, Andrea. “In Search of Chinese Roots: Young Americans Learn about Selves, Exploring Ancestry.” SFGate, Sunday, October 24, 1999.
Second and Subsequent Generations While Asian-origin people have been in North America for more than 200 years, Asian immigrants and refugees have continued to arrive to the United States over the past five decades due to major shifts in the nation’s immigration policies. Academic researchers have long been interested in theorizing how different
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groups of immigrant Americans and their descendants acculturate and integrate into American society to predict social phenomena such as the roots of human conflict and social mobility. Long-standing theories are based on the Eurocentric assumption that the second and succeeding generations will eventually lose their cultural affiliations and become unhyphenated Americans. However, sociologists of ethnicity and race have counteracted the above thesis by pointing out that racially identifiable populations such as Asian Americans have a more difficult time acculturating than Euro-Americans because racialized groups are frequently treated by the dominant culture and its institutions as outsiders. Due to more than 150 years of history of anti-Asian sentiment and volatile U.S.-Asia relations, even acculturated Asian Americans whose ancestors were among the first Americans are still perceived and represented as foreigners. Academic researchers have used generation as a major means of categorizing Asian American experiences and identities. Immigrants or refugees who are or have intentions of becoming permanent residents of the United States are considered first-generation Americans. Expatriates and tourists who have no intention of staying in the United States are not counted as immigrant Americans. Immigrants who emigrate during early adolescence, usually before the age of 14, are referred to as the 1.5 generation. The American-born children of immigrants are referred to as the second generation, with the major criterion of inclusion being that one or both parents must be foreign-born. The grandchildren of immigrants are referred to as the third generation, the great-grandchildren as the fourth generation, and so forth. Japanese Americans are a group with unique names designated for generational status based on the Japanese counting system. In the Japanese language, the numbering system starts out as ichi, ni, and san to refer to the numbers one, two, and three, respectively. Correspondingly, Issei refers to the firstgeneration immigrant generation, Nisei as the second generation, and Sansei as the third generation. Asian American generational status has not always been simple to classify due to factors such as interracial unions, partnerships between multigenerational Asian Americans, and transnational adoption. For instance, when Asian American men marry Asian-born women, their daughters and sons could be differently classified as second-, third-, or fourth-generation Asian Americans. Asian Americans across and within generations have varying interpretations and understandings of, as well as opportunities to develop, their ethnic and racial identities. The rate of acculturation among second- and subsequent-generation Asian Americans varies by factors such as class, ethnicity, language proficiency, rates of exogamy within the group, and region of resettlement, as well as individual choices and lifestyles. For instance, since many Midwestern Asian Americans reside in communities with the lowest concentration of Asian American people in the nation, their children may not be able to fully develop and nurture their bicultural identities because few opportunities exist for heritage-language development
Pan Asian Americans: Sexuality, Love, and Folklore in Asian America
and sustained contact with co-ethnics. Conversely, Asian Americans residing in areas with large ethnic networks such as in the greater Los Angeles and New York metropolitan areas, have more opportunities to maintain their cultural identities through institutions such as cultural centers and heritage-language schools and other social spaces such as ethnic grocery stores and places of worship. For example, in the Japanese American community in Southern California, the annual Nisei Week Festival in Los Angeles takes place in August of each year in the Little Tokyo district. Tens of thousands of Japanese Americans participate in cultural activities including Japanese dances, games, ikebana (flower arrangement), kabuki (dance and form of classic theater), and sumie (calligraphy) demonstrations. The festival serves as a space where Japanese Americans may learn about the contexts and histories of Japanese folklore, holidays, and traditions. —Rachel Endo
Further Reading Nazil, Kibria. Becoming Asian American: Second-Generation Chinese and Korean American Identities. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. Pyong Gap Min. Second Generation: Ethnic Identity among Asian Americans. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002.
Sexuality, Love, and Folklore in Asian America Studies of Asian sexuality and romantic love have historically overlapped one another in examinations of various cultural forms and practices. The attitudes and beliefs expressed about pleasure, desire, intimacy, companionship, courtship, communion, promiscuity and sexual union all reveal the thick layers of cultural values and anxieties of any given culture and society. Explorations of such sensitive cultural narratives and practices can be organized into various areas of research from the pedagogical value of morality tales and the titillating entertainment of storytelling traditions passed on in oral cultures and diverse textual modes to the current semiotic hypervisibility of Asian bodies and sexuality in newer digital formats. Folkloric histories of sex and love in Asian contexts can conjure up centuriesold tales of the Kama Sutra and Tantric sensuality, forbidden erotic motifs of 1,001 Indian-inflected Arabian nights by the Middle East Asian storyteller Scheherazade, Japanese Shunga art woodblocks and hand scrolls of the Edo period, medieval heterosexual and homosexual fetishes, and the intrigue of ancient Chinese Taoist spiritual seduction and early modern silk print erotica. Counter-balanced with such provocative images of sexuality are conceptualizations of romantic love as necessary loyalty and devotion to Buddhist, Confucian,
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Taoist, Shinto, Islamic, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Judaic and Christian principles extending firmly into patriarchal family structures. In such formulations of love and family, Asian female figures care dutifully for their heteronormative fathers, husbands, and sons while maintaining their virtues of purity, chastity, beauty, skill in hard work, and talent in the arts of love and seduction, such as lute playing, poetry, or calligraphy. Interestingly, despite Hinduism’s ultimate arrangements of societal norms and marriage customs, this “oldest living religion” is often considered to be responsible for the reemergence of the feminine in Asian and world philosophical beliefs with its worship of Goddesses. Many scholars have speculated and asserted that the sexually lascivious forms of romantic expression have their origins precisely in the rigid social institutional formations and the constriction by these Asian filial traditions and obligations. This applies to both men and women in such circumstances. In much of the relevant early literary works, hopes of romantic love and sexual coupling are dashed by conflicting cultural principles and social pressures. Other heroes and heroines are threatened by more politically powerful rival masculine menaces. Demonized depictions abound of mothers-in-law who deploy deceit against the unsuspecting innocent and naı¨ve female love interests of their sons to amass and solidify family wealth. Manipulations and distortions of maternal figures often by early male writers surface quite regularly in romantic literature of the early modern periods in each national context. In such self-representational formulations of romantic love, self-orientalizing configurations of tradition as equivalent to repression and exploitation are juxtaposed with notions of an idealized modernity as the imagined space of freedom and choice in love. Irreverent lust, creative corporeal stimulation, and sexual license, then, such as in the familiar references to the Kama Sutra and Shunga mentioned above, have become treated as hallmarks of radical gender and social politics and often associated with “western” feminism, gender, and sexual politics. Stemming from such early found art objects, literature, and myths of origin, scholarship on Asian love and sex have sporadically been undertaken in the disciplines of art history, Asian area studies, cultural studies, folklore, gender and sexuality, history, and literary studies. Despite the historically varied binary assumptions about love and sexuality cast upon the East and West, contemporary folklore and popular cultural imaginings of Asian love and sexuality in both the East and West conjure up, as well, gendered figures of lotus blossoms and China dolls, geishas and dragon ladies, men of repressed desire and sexuality, marginalized bachelor societies, sex workers and sex trafficking, and hyperfeminization of both Asian men and women. Scholarship on gender, sexuality, and love in Asian American cultures in general has mainly focused on these five aspects of social and romantic life.
Pan Asian Americans: Sexuality, Love, and Folklore in Asian America
In the early Asian American context, studies on love and sexuality are necessarily reconfigured to address the difficulties of negotiating western and eastern values and relationship adjustments due to differing cultural expectations and external political and economic pressures. Historical development of early Asian American amorous, erotic and sexual relationships, or lack thereof, within the American mainstream—read “white”—first addressed the emasculation and feminization of pioneer Asian migrant laborers. For example, Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino immigrant workers were segregated into lonely and alienated bachelor societies as a result of racial discrimination— socially and culturally—as well as by formalized discriminatory federal legislation in multiple exclusion acts that discouraged marriage and prevented them from settling down in the United States with traditional families. At the same time that their physical movement and mobility were deeply controlled and intensely regulated in the United States, Asian American men were portrayed in mainstream discourses as a rhetorically dangerous threat, or “yellow peril,” to be feared by white women and to be rendered impotent by white men. These sexual stereotypes revealed the conflicted and contradictory nature of Asian American gender depictions as at once sexless and sexually powerful and potentially devastating, much more closely resembling the United States’ fear of the growing Asian social, cultural and economic presence in the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. A smaller number of researchers, cultural historians, and visual artists in the 1990s explored the possibilities of gay love and sex that were forged in these city and town quarters as well as on the building of the transcontinental railroad and agricultural plantations, while others have highlighted the participation of both heterosexual and homosexual Asian American male engagement in the urban dance halls and cabaret flats on the two coasts, emphasizing the increased social interactions with African Americans and Latinos to a lesser extent during this period. Because of such forms of sexualized racial discrimination, attempts were made in early Asian American modes of self-representation to remasculinize Asian American male sexuality. As often addressed in Asian American literature of the 1970s–1990s, and as documented in Jeff Adachi’s 2007 film The Slanted Screen, the limitation of Asian masculinity to the typical evil chinaman, Charlie Chan, chauffeurs, spies, and houseboys was evident in the limited acting roles available to early Asian American thespians, including the first Academy Award nominated Sessue Hayakawa (1910s–1960s), founder of East West Players and second Oscar nomination Mako (1960s–his death in 2006), and Hollywood studio break-in sensation James Shigeta (1960s–present). After a century of invisibility, desexualization and disempowerment, Asian American male images depicted in the popular medias began to change with the emergence of action star Bruce Lee (1940–1973) and the reappropriation and
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resignification of Asian American masculinity by writers such as dramatist Frank Chin and literary critic Elaine Kim. While Chin and others tried to reinstate Asian American virility and machismo, feminist cultural producers like Kim and novelist Maxine Hong Kingston cautioned against the redeployment of the same oppressive frameworks of sexuality used against Asian Americans historically. Other studies of Asian American sexuality and romantic love during this period critiqued forms of “white love” or internalized racism that translated into reverse racist and masculinist sexual politics. A later outcome of these early debates in Asian American sexuality surfaced when media critic and Asian American academic Darryl Hamamoto directed and produced Asian American pornography in an attempt to reimagine and promote Asian American sexual desire and self-representation. A second area of scholarship on Asian American sexuality, love, and folklore revolves around the hypervisibility of Asian women and the hypersexuality of their racialized desire and sexual consumption in the U.S. mainstream. Just as figures of emasculated Asian men abound, familiar narratives, legends, national histories, myths, and epic stories of the heterosocial and heteronormative hyperfeminization of Asian American women pervade popular culture. The spread of the military around the world, has given rise to increasing prostitution, as well as, international spectacles of “fortune cookie fever” and “rice kings,” or nonAsian sexual and romantic desire and consumption for hypersexualized Asian women, in pandemic proportions by way of mail-order brides and global marriage contracts. Such repeatedly stereotypical characterizations of Asian sexuality, gender, and love that dominate over two centuries of a mainstream Asian imaginary find themselves thoroughly embedded in the production of Asian American communities, identities, cultures, and ways of life. A third area of focus in this body of scholarship explores the folkloric familial tensions that inflict social pressures upon romantic love and sexual relationships as a result of these infinite bicultural, hybrid, and heterogeneous cultural negotiations with gender and sexuality. After the early success and critical acclaim of Asian American films in the 1980s such as Chan Is Missing (1982), the Dim Sum films (1985 and 1988), and Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989), Hong Kong-born director Wayne Wang earned enough clout to garner Oliver Stone’s executive producer title card for his mainstream crossover film The Joy Luck Club (1993), based on Chinese American author Amy Tan’s 1989 novel of the same name. Now considered a film classic in Asian American circles as much for its weepy melodramatic effects as for its ability to encapsulate so many family relationship conflicts into 139 minutes, Wang’s film opened the way, if only an initial crack, for more complex variations in the portrayals and depictions of Asian American romantic love and sexuality. Taiwanese American film director Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (1994) revealed more penetratingly the intricate ritual
Pan Asian Americans: Sexuality, Love, and Folklore in Asian America
preparations of banquet-quality dishes for Sunday dinners and the formalized rituals of Asian American cultural systems, such as weddings, birth customs, days of remembrance, commemorations of death, and religious festivals, as almost secular practices enacted within universal family narratives. Collectively through these films, such familiar household practices were shown to serve as alternative forms of spoken expression often rendered difficult to divulge, emote, and articulate amongst Asian American families. Validation of the difficulties of expressing love for one another—and the requisite alienation, isolation, and marginalization of transplanted older Asian immigrant generations with their own anxieties about cultural transmission in the face of younger more “Americanized” generations— proved vital for highlighting more complex imaginings of Asian American romantic and filial love, as well as how these complexities map themselves onto or assert themselves upon sexual relationships and other intimacies. Recently scholars have moved to a fourth area of studies that places race at the center of analysis. In particular, noteworthy studies on comparative “yellow, black and brown,” or Asian American, African America, Chicano/Latino, and Indigenous or Native American, rhetorical formations have focused on gender and sexual stereotypes found deeply embedded within media discourses and circulating throughout the global economic marketplace. Much more recently, scholarship on Asian American sexuality has begun to focus on interracial love and sexuality, to force the broadening of the more familiar models of inter- or panethnic Asian American sexuality to account for changing social, cultural, biological, and sexual demographics. Queer subjects, transgender and transnational practices, and queer diasporas address the latest studies on social networks and global linkages as part of the fifth area of scholarship on Asian American sexuality, love, and folklore. Some of the richest intellectual engagement with Asian and Asian American sexuality and love reveal themselves in this body of work when the very notions of performed “Asian Americanness” and hypersped global connection transform the transmission of cultural morals and values. Studies of sexuality, love, and folklore in Asian American cultural contexts can be used to assert and change, or reenliven, previous formulations of desire and diaspora, to account for the diverse dimensions of sexualities, corporeal changes, and public cultural positions and imperatives facing Asian Americans today. Asian American sexuality and romantic love have been subjects of inquiry and connection with other areas of interdisciplinary study including anthropology, history, sociology, postcolonial criticism, media and cultural studies, ethnic studies, labor studies, globalization, transnational feminist critique, folklore studies, and gender and sexuality, among other disciplines. —Mariam Beevi Lam
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Pan Asian Americans: Siddhartha Gautama (c. 6th–5th Centuries BCE) See also: Mixed Heritage, Mixed Race Asian Americans: Interracial/Interethnic Marriage and Romance; Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Family, Memory, and Folklore; Asian American Queer Folklore and Folklife; and Asian American Queer Studies and Folklore.
Further Reading Adachi, Jeff, dir. The Slanted Screen. Passion River Productions, 2007. DVD. Eng, David L., and Alice Y. Hom, eds. Q & A: Queer in Asian America. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1998. Gopinath, Gayatri. Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005. Leong, Russell, ed. Asian American Sexualities: Dimensions of the Gay and Lesbian Experience. New York: Routledge, 1995. Manalansan, Martin F., IV. Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003. Masequesmay, Gina, and Sean Metzger, eds. Embodying Asian/American Sexualities. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009. Parren˜as Shimizu, Celine. The Hypersexuality of Race: Performing Asian/American Women on Screen and Scene. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007. Soe, Valerie, director. Picturing Oriental Girls: A (Re)Educational Videotape. San Francisco: Oxygen Productions, 1992.
Siddhartha Gautama (c. 6th–5th Centuries BCE) The biography of Siddhartha Gautama, the man who would become the Buddha, has been inextricably entwined with 2,000-plus years of history, myth, and legend. There is no one “biography” of the Buddha as such; rather, there are numerous accounts in early Pali suttas and later noncanonical sources as well as the Jataka stories of his previous incarnations. From both canonical sources, later hagiographies, as well as more recent historical scholarship, the following narrative of Siddhartha’s life emerges. Traditionally believed to have been born in 624 BCE, more recent scholarship shows that Siddhartha was born in 566 or 448 BCE in the city of Kapilavastu in present-day Nepal. Before his birth, his mother, Mayadevi, dreamt that an elephant entered her side and placed the Buddha-to-be in her womb. After giving birth in Lumbini grove, the baby walked seven paces, lotus flowers blooming in his footsteps; pointed to the sky and the earth; and declared that this was to be his final incarnation. Soon after, Mayadevi died, leaving Siddhartha to be raised by his father Suddhodana of the Sakay clan, a member of the ksatriya caste.
Pan Asian Americans: Siddhartha Gautama (c. 6th–5th Centuries BCE)
Folk art depicting Siddhartha when he leaves his sleeping wife and baby son, from a Burmese manuscript. (The British Library/StockphotoPro)
A well-known sage predicted that the child would either grow up to be a universal king (chakravartin) or a great religious leader. Desiring that his son become the former, Suddhodana set about to shield Siddhartha from all troubles or cares. For nearly 30 years, Siddhartha lead a life of luxury in his father’s palace, sequestered from the suffering of the world outside, and eventually married and fathered a child. Shortly after the birth of his son, Siddhartha encountered four signs. First, he saw an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. These three were understood to be representations of the existential reality of all life; that is, all sentient beings suffer, eventually grow old, die, and their bodies decay. But the fourth sign was a wandering ascetic (sramana), which was the impetus for his own spiritual quest. At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his wife and child and his father’s palace and began his own ascetic practice. After several years, however, he came to understand that the ascetic life of self-deprivation and the palace life of luxury represented two opposite extremes and that neither lead to true awakening. Choosing a middle path between these extremes, he took food, settled under a tree in Bodhgaya, and after 49 days of deep concentration, attained nirvana and became the Buddha Sakyamuni (sage of the Sakya clan). Thus began a 45-year teaching career of wandering the
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Indian subcontinent, spreading the dharma, and attracting a large number of followers. According to the tradition, the Buddha passed away (parinirvana) near Kushinagar in present-day India at the age of 80. Siddhartha’s life story has varied meanings in different Buddhist contexts. Often his life is cast within the larger context of the Buddha’s previous incarnations. The Jataka stories can be read as morality plays detailing the Buddha-tobe’s previous good works along the Bodhisattva path before being born as Siddhartha. In Mahayana cosmology, which assumes the existence of multiple world systems and an infinite number of Buddhas, Siddhartha’s life is important to the extent that he became Sakyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of this world. In other traditions, the life of the historical Buddha represents an idealized goal to be recreated by Buddhists in this life, a representation of the Buddha that has become extremely popular outside of the Asian American community (see Herman Hesse’s 1922 novel Siddhartha). Regardless of the multiplicity of meanings and uses, recurring themes of selflessness, compassion, and wisdom emerge from the life story of Siddhartha Gautama. —Scott A. Mitchell See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore; Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions.
Further Reading Cowell, Edward B., trans. The Jataka; Or, Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births. London: Luzac, 1969. Mitchell, Donald W. Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Nakamura, Hajime, and Gaynor Sekimori. Gotama Buddha: A Biography Based on the Most Reliable Texts. 1st English ed. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Co, 2000. Robinson, Richard H, and Willard L Johnson. The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co, 1982. Strong, John. The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations. 2nd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2002.
Swastika The swastika is a symbol formed by two perpendicular intersecting lines, with four arms bent at right angles, giving the appearance of rotation. The word “swastika” is taken from the Sanskrit root su-asti, meaning “well-being,” “good fortune,” or “prosperity.” However, usage of the symbol itself appears much earlier in
Pan Asian Americans: Swastika
archaeological records than this name for it. This symbol has seen very wide usage throughout human history, being found in ancient archaeological remains from India, China, Egypt, Persia, Rome, and Greece, and also within more recent archaeological evidence from Native American, Celtic, Germanic, and Nordic peoples. It has been used by these cultures variously as a symbol for the sun, the four cardinal directions, the continuing cyclical rotation of the four seasons and other natural cycles, and, nearly universally, as a symbol of good fortune. The swastika’s appearance within the folklore of different Asian American cultures has primarily come through its associations within multiple religious traditions from Asia. South Asian Americans can point to the particularly long history that the swastika has had in the Indian subcontinent. Its earliest known appearances in archaeological materials are dated around 2500 BCE from the Indus Valley Civilization, in modern-day India. Hindus have associated the swastika with samsara, the cycle or “wheel” of birth, death, and rebirth. They have also associated it with the sun, and used it as a symbol of the Hindu god Vishnu. These usages of the swastika have been continued within South Asian American folklore. For Jains in India, and in the United States, the swastika continues to have great importance as a central image within the Jain religion. For Jains, the swastika itself represents samsara, with the four arms representing the four levels of existence; that of the gods, of humans, of animals, and of the underworld. For Buddhists also, the swastika has long been seen as a symbol for samsara. For Theravada (“School of the Elders”) Buddhists—who have come to the United States primarily from Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka—the swastika has also been seen as one of the traditional auspicious markings of the Buddha’s footprints, which are popular images within Theravada Buddhist iconography and material culture. For Chinese Buddhists, the swastika has been considered a symbol of the “seal” of the Buddha’s infinitely compassionate heart. For this reason, Chinese icons of the Buddha—such as the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California—often depict a swastika on the Buddha’s chest. Within Taoism, and broader Chinese and Chinese American culture, the swastika is a symbol of luck or prosperity, and is used to represent 10,000, this number itself being symbolic of infinity. Thus, for Taoists, the swastika is a symbol of infinite luck. Due to its 20th-century appropriation by Nazi Germany and accompanying associations with Nazi aggression and anti-Semitism, usage of the swastika in the United States after World War II has been controversial. There have been several instances of the swastika appearing on consumer products imported from Asia, with companies having to recall or issue apologies for the offense these products have caused to consumers in the United States who are unaware of the swastika’s meanings outside of Nazi Germany. However, with the swastika being such a central symbol within several major Asian religions, there have been calls
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by many Asian Americans for a movement toward reclaiming the swastika from its relatively recent negative associations with Nazi Germany and anti-Semitism. —Charles M. Townsend See also: Indian Americans: Hindu Temples in America; Jain Temples; Mythological Hindu Deities; Pan Asian Americans: Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions; the Religion entries in the Burmese Americans, Cambodian Americans, Indian Americans, Laotian Americans, Sri Lankan Americans, and Thai Americans sections.
Further Reading MacArthur, Meher. Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and Symbols. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002. Quinn, Malcolm. The Swastika: Constructing the Symbol. London and New York: Routledge, 1994.
Web Site “Reclaiming the Swastika”: http://www.reclaimtheswastika.com/.
“Twinkie,” “Banana,” “Coconut” “Twinkie,” “Banana,” and “Coconut” are terms used to describe the social status of Asian Americans in the United States who have assimilated and acculturated into the white/Anglo/Euro/Christian American mainstream culture. These terms refer to Asian Americans who do not display “authentically” Asian cultural characteristics. “Twinkie” and “banana” both refer to light-skinned East Asians who are “yellow” on the outside but “white” on the inside. “Twinkie” is considerably more negative since the term highlights a more artificial “whiteness” (in this case, artificially created “vanilla” filling). A “banana” can be considered less derogatory because the inside is described as “whiteness” that is naturally created. The term “coconut” is used to describe darker-skinned Asians such as Filipinos and South Asians who have acculturated white/Anglo American mainstream cultural characteristics. Asians and Asian Americans may use these terms to negatively point out another Asian/Asian American’s degree of conformity. Non-Asian/Asian Americans may use these terms to also negatively point out an Asian/Asian American’s lack of Asian cultural authenticity or to praise them for successfully assimilating into the Euro-American (white) mainstream. Asian Americans who are referred to with these terms are considered fully accepted by white Euro-Americans who do not “notice” Asian American racial identity. These derogatory and offensive terms reveal the anxiety about assimilation and acculturation of Asians in the United States. Asian cultural authenticity is
Pan Asian Americans: “Twinkie,” “Banana,” “Coconut”
measured by the ability to display and knowledge about ancestral homeland cultural markers. Authenticity is often measured folkloristically by the ability to speak ancestral homeland language, mannerisms and speech patterns, knowledge of ancestral homeland folklore and cultural practices, the ability to cook “authentic” Asian food, and the preference for dating other Asians. The less an Asian American is able to perform as a “foreign” Asian, the more he or she is considered assimilated and acculturated into the Euro-American mainstream, or “whitewashed.” Assimilation and acculturation is problematically measured against white/Anglo-Christian standards of normative acceptability, which stands in for “American culture.” This white/American dominant and often oppressive power relation is never called into question when these terms are deployed. These terms work to discipline Asians and Asian Americans into maintaining internalized cultural identity and reveal an identification with the model minority stereotype. By self-identifying with these labels, Asian/Asian Americans also claim a privileged position of near-white status. However, maintenance of Asian folklore, culture, practices, and beliefs cannot be outwardly displayed too obviously. Knowledge of Asian folklore, culture, and practices is preferred so that Asians and Asian Americans can deploy this knowledge in specific circumstances but not bring attention to them, lest they make other Asians and whites uncomfortable by being “too Asian.” —Dawn Lee Tu See also: Pan Asian Americans: Model Minority.
Further Reading Herbst, Philip. The Color of Words: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States. Boston: Intercultural Press, 1997. Pyke, Karen, and Tran Dang. “ ‘FOB’ and ‘Whitewashed’: Identity and Internalized Racism among Second Generation Asian Americans.” Qualitative Sociology 26(2) (June 2003): 147–72.
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Mixed Heritage, Mixed Race Asian Americans Myths of Origin The origins of mixed heritage Asian Americans begin with the myths of racial purity held by Europeans as well as by some Asian cultures. The myth of pure blood is prevalent among various East Asian cultures, notably in Korea, Japan, and China. The upper class of Koreans are often referred to as the yangban, either literally or euphemistically descended from an elite class originally based in an examination system. Those from this group are particularly pressured to not marry outside the group, to avoid diluting the value of their heritage. This idea of racial purity is further reinforced by the national mythology of Korea as the “Hermit Nation.” “Chineseness” is constructed upon the mythology of Han Chinese purity, although the Han Chinese are actually an amalgam of ethnic groups. In the past, this resulted in discrimination against ethnic minorities; today, ethnic minorities are supported by the government because of commercialism and tourism. Yet mixed race people are still referred to by terms that dehumanize them. Pure blood is also a folklore that dominates race relations in Japan. These mythologies are also part of the culture and histories of Southeast Asia. After the Vietnam War, Vietnamese Amerasians were targeted for harassment by ordinary people as well as by the government. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia paired the idea of pure blood with the notion of ethnic cleansing. Targeting mixed race Cambodians, Muslims, Chinese, and others deemed tainted, they killed nearly a quarter of the country’s population. These myths of racial purity are ideologically related to the constructions of racial hierarchies, such as those developed by Europeans used to justify colonialism and imperialism.
The European Fantasy of Blood Purity Race as it is commonly understood now is an idea that was constructed over time through the development of racialized discourses. Folklores about race often center on the purity or impurity of blood.
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Cleanliness of blood has historically been associated, especially in Spain, with having no Jewish or Muslim forbears but only “pure” Christian heritage. Many Jewish and Muslim people had converted to Christianity when Spain’s Islamic rulers were pushed out; these conversos and their descendants were subjugated through the myth of blood purity. European ideas about race developed through the Middle Ages along with ideas about class. People from lower classes were assumed to have an inherent—that is, biological— inferiority that condemned them to their status. Similarly, the notion of the divine right of kings to rule was racialized such that royalty—and the aristocracy—were mythologized as Drawing inspiration from Bollywood posters, having an inherent superiority. Laura Kina painted large-scale portraits of As Europeans from even tiny mixed Asian Americans from across the nations searched throughout the world United States. Hapa Soap Opera #1 features a racially ambiguous cast of characters posfor fertile ground, material wealth, ing in an action movie landscape filled with and human capital, the processes of flames. In this pop fantasy world, her paintimperialism and colonialism were ings reflect the present and past as they play intertwined with the construction of with the ideals of the American melting pot and the anxieties and hopes surrounding the mythologies of racial hierarchies. changing face of America. (Laura Kina) Adapting the concept of the inherent superiority of those from the upper classes, European theorists from a number of nations, but especially France, Great Britain, and Germany, established various racial hierarchies to justify the exploitation of peoples in Africa, Asia, and the Americas by their “natural superiors”—i.e., the Europeans.
Eugenics and Antimiscegenation Arthur de Gobineau’s An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (1853– 1855) theorized this kind of racialization, constructing a racial hierarchy based in an essentialist notion of race that is grounded in biologic essentialism rather than an understanding that human populations change and merge over time.
Mixed Heritage, Mixed Race Asian Americans: Myths of Origin
Eventually, this kind of racialization was given a pseudo-scientific veneer through the use of the term “eugenics,” coined by Francis Galton in the late 19th century. Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, based his ideas on Darwinian theories of evolution. Particularly concerned with the degeneration myth, Galton argued that intelligence was inheritable. These concepts were institutionalized through the efforts of European American Charles Davenport, who established the Biological Experiment Station at Cold Spring Harbor, New York, in 1904. In 1919, Davenport set up the Eugenics Records Office, with which he supported the development of eugenics laws and policies. By the 1930s, over 30 states had laws mandating the compulsory sterilization and abortion of those deemed mentally disabled or ill, or of people in prison for specific crimes. These laws also prevented marriages between certain kinds of people, all with the stated intention of improving the human race. Although largely discredited because of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis, who used theories based in eugenics, eugenics laws continued on the books in some states until the 1970s. Eugenics theories also supported immigration restrictions and antimiscegenation laws according to the theory of “racial hygiene.” In 1924, Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act, which mandated the identification of every child’s race at birth as either white or “colored” and categorized marriage between whites and people of color as a felony, and the same year the United States passed the Immigration Act, which followed the Chinese Exclusion Act in particularly preventing Asian immigration. These and related laws structured race relations for another 40 years, until the 1965 Immigration Act and the Supreme Court decision, in Loving v. Virginia (June 12, 1967), which declared that antimiscegenation laws were unconstitutional.
War Baby/Love Child The racialization of Asians in the United States as “unassimilable aliens” combined with antimiscegenation laws to make interracial relationships, especially between Asians and Euro-Americans in the United States, comparatively rare before the 20th century. However, this changed radically in the middle of the 20th century through U.S. wars in Asia and later after the civil rights movement. The folklores people use to understand the identity of mixed Asians usually involve images of either the war baby or the love child. The folklore of the mixed race war baby counteracts racialized, stereotypical images of Asians in America as the racial Other while reinscribing stereotypes of Asians as “perpetual foreigner”—in this case, literally the child of the enemy. Conversely, the love child folklore reconstructs Asian Americans as an assimilating minority by conferring upon them more than just “honorary” whiteness—as inheritors of their presumed fathers’ whiteness, they appear to demonstrate the creed that
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“love sees no color”; in fact, however, mixed Asians—even those with white parents—are indeed people of color and identify as members of ethnic and racial communities. The war baby mythos of mixed Asians stems from media images of mid-20th century U.S. wars in Asia (Japan, Korea, Vietnam), through which the most public examples of mixed race Asians were the children of U.S. military personnel and Asian women. So-called war babies are seen as the tragic by-products of U.S. wars in Asia, while love children have in the past been imagined to be the racially confused/confusing result of illicit and illegal sex (pre-1967’s Supreme Court decision, Loving v. Virginia, which ended antimiscegenation laws) or of hippiestyle free love (post-1967). However, love children in the 21st century, in the “Obama era,” are now being mythologized as the “saviors” of our society’s racist past. In other words, they are now seen as embodying the utopic “end of racism” and thus as harbingers of racial harmony. This myth of the mixed race savior is exemplified by the role Keanu Reeves plays in the Matrix series of movies: Neo, who becomes a hybrid between human and machine, is the nexus of computerprogrammed fantasy melded with dystopic reality. The last Matrix movie (The Matrix: Revolutions, 2003) ends with an image of Neo positioned like Christ being brought down from the cross. Although these folklores are rooted in the past century, they continue to hold meaning as the United States maintains military bases throughout Oceania, East and Southeast Asia, and engages in war in West Asia; and as cultural images of mixed race Asians turn from signs of racial dissolution (hybrid degeneracy) into signs of racial progress (hybrid vigor).
Counting on Us Through the 1990s, mixed race Asian American activists (individuals and organizations like Hapa Issues Forum) worked in concert with other multiracial activists (and organizations such as the Mavin Foundation and the Association of MultiEthnic Americans) to change the U.S. national census. According to the 2000 Census, which marked the first time individuals could self-enumerate as more than one race, 13.9 percent of Asian Americans indicated multiple racial identification and 27.2 percent of Asian Americans reported being married to a partner of a different race. For some groups, the percentage is strikingly higher; for example, 57 percent of Japanese Americans age 0–30 are of mixed heritage (including people of mixed race and mixed ethnicity) and 55.4 percent of Pacific Islanders are mixed with some other race. When Asian Transracial Adoptees are included in the category “mixed Asian American,” the number of mixed Asian Americans climbs even higher. Approximately 10 percent of Korean Americans are transracial adoptees.
Mixed Heritage, Mixed Race Asian Americans: Myths of Origin
These changing demographics are literally changing the face of Asian America— the next generation of Asian Americans, those who will be leaders in Asian American communities in the next 10 years, will include a significant portion of people of mixed heritage. Mixed heritage Asian Americans are the new folk of the Asian American community. But just as important as the demographic shift is the way the mixed heritage lens allows us to critically reexamine not only the construction of the category “Asian American,” but also the way the U.S. racial hierarchy uses the myth of monoracialism in the process of racializing all groups of humanity.
Other Histories of Mixed Asian Americans There are multiple histories of mixed heritage Asian Americans, encompassing many communities and all racialized groups. Mixed Asians through Colonialism and Imperialism European colonialism and imperialism, structured by Orientalist mythologies, developed mixed heritage populations as buffers between colonizers and colonized. These groups, whether the Anglo-Indians, Dutch-Indonesians, FrancoSoutheast Asians, or Anglo/Euro-Chinese (like authors Han Suyin and Diana Chang), were often educated in the European system and were set up as middle management in the colonial administrative system. In the postcolonial period, many of these populations found themselves displaced, or forced to live in not always welcoming European countries. Colonialism in the Philippines has been multilayered—first hundreds of years of Spanish rule and then the U.S.-Philippines War (1898–1902), followed by U.S. colonialism; this has led to multilayered structures of mixed race identity. Spanish mixed Filipinos, known as mestizos, generally have a higher status in Filipino culture. People who are part Chinese may also have a higher status, as they are associated with the Chinese merchant class. Those who were born as a result of U.S. militarism, especially those of mixed African American heritage, are likely to have relatively lower status. The nature of colonialism is such that a colonized population is more likely to immigrate to the colonizing country than to any other nation, thus these mixed heritage populations can be found largely in their colonial nation. Mixed Asians through Social Injustices and Antimiscegenation Laws Segregation, antimiscegenation laws, and other factors constructed a United States in which intermarriage between whites and people of color was prohibited or unlikely, but intermarriage between groups of people of color was not prohibited.
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Housing and educational discrimination, as well as labor injustices, created specific patterns whereby certain particular populations emerged. In the early to mid-19th century, the Irish population in New York was not considered to be “white” in the same way that Northern Europeans were seen as white (as the folklore definition of whiteness expanded, this situation changed). Often living in poverty, a large Irish community lived side-by-side with the Chinese in New York City, and several hundred Irish women intermarried with Chinese men. Mixed Chinese author Edith Eaton/Sui Sin Far captured some of their stories in her writings. The Black-Chinese of Mississippi developed because the abolition of slavery in 1865 was closely followed by the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869; thus the idea was born to import Chinese from the West Coast to do the work of emancipated people on cotton farms in Mississippi. Moved into the same neighborhoods and doing the same work, this relocated Chinese population—of mostly men—often intermarried with the local African American population. In the early 20th century, Indian immigrants from the Punjab came to California; several hundred of those who settled in the Imperial Valley married Mexican women, with whom they felt they had many cultural commonalities.
The Chopstick Test; or on Being Authentic Stereotyped assumptions both from within and outside Asian American communities are involved in constructing folklore about mixed heritage Asian Americans. Because mixed heritage identities present a serious challenge to cultural nationalist constructions of Asian American identity, they are often subjected to folkways structured to determine their levels of cultural authenticity. This may literally involve a “chopstick test” whereby a shared meal is used to determine both mixed heritage people’s level of proficiency in using the appropriate Asian culinary utensils (including, for some cultures, hands) and their familiarity with and gusto for particular Asian cuisines and folk foodways. Other tests involve language ability and appropriate behavior toward community and familial elders. —Wei Ming Dariotis
Further Reading Amerasia Journal. “No Passing Zone.” 23(1) (1997). Fojas, Camilla, and Mary Beltran. Mixed Race Hollywood. New York: New York University Press, 2008. Fulbeck, Kip. Part Asian, 100% Hapa. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2006. Hara, Marie, and Nora Okja Keller. Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry and Prose. Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge Press, 1999. King-O’Riain, and Rebecca Chiyoko. Pure Beauty: Judging Race in Japanese American Beauty Pageants. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006.
Mixed Heritage, Mixed Race Asian Americans: Amerasians Root, Maria P. P., ed. Racially Mixed People in America. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1992. Root, Maria P. P., ed. The Multiracial Experience: Racial Borders as the New Frontier. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1995. Williams-Leon, Teresa, and Cynthia L. Nakashima. The Sum of Our Parts: MixedHeritage Asian Americans. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001.
Amerasians Amerasians are war babies, or so the folklore goes. The myth is that they continue to be children of war, at war with themselves, infantilized by their public image as the children of U.S. soldiers/fathers and passive and sexualized Asian and Pacific Islander women/mothers. The other myth is that the Amerasians are a population of the past; now that U.S. wars in Asia are over, why should there continue to be “war babies”? This folklore ignores contemporary wars in West Asia (Afghanistan and Iraq) as well as U.S. military bases in those regions. In general, an Amerasian is a person with one parent who is a citizen of the United States (e.g., U.S. military personnel or government employees, or American expatriates or businesspeople) and one parent who is a citizen of an Asian nation. Amerasian is a term that refers to parents of different nationality or citizenship (e.g., the United States and Asia), whereas the terms “Eurasian” and “Afroasian” have come to signify more specific racial mixing. Because an Amerasian could be someone with one Asian American parent and one Asian national parent, the person could technically have two parents of the same ethnic or racialized “Asian” heritage. However, the folklore of the Amerasian requires that the parents be seen as members of “enemy” nations, with the parents’ relationship often presumed to be one in which the father abandoned the mother in a reworking of Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly (1904).The myth of the “Tragic Amerasian” stems from this racial-gender dynamic, in which the result of such a “tragic” narrative must be a confused—and tragic—identity. Related to the earlier term “Eurasian,” used primarily in the context of the French colonization of the Southeast Asia, the term “Amerasian” is assumed to have been coined by author Pearl S. Buck, and it was given legal definition through Public Law 97–359. Providing for the immigration rights to children of U.S. citizens (presumably the father) if there is reason to believe that the aliens were born in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, or Thailand after December 31, 1950, and before October 22, 1982, this law could be modified to include Filipino Amerasians from U.S. colonialism both before and after World War II; Japanese Amerasians from World War II; Okinawan Amerasians from the continuing
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U.S. military occupation of Okinawa; and Pacific Islander Amerasians from Guam and other places where U.S. military occupation continues. Other laws, such as the Vietnamese Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, have provided for the immigration of Amerasians to the United States. A common folk belief often held by Amerasians and their mothers immigrating under this law was that they would be reunited with their American fathers; and that they would be accepted in U.S. society as “Americans,” precisely because they were often not accepted within Vietnamese society. In the early 1970s, the term was often considered synonymous with the term “Asian American,” thus the UCLA publication Amerasia Journal (founded 1971), for example, focuses on Asian American studies, not on the Amerasian population. —Wei Ming Dariotis
Further Reading Chuong, Chung Hoang, and Le Van. The Amerasians from Vietnam: A California Study. Folsom, CA: Southeast Asia Community Resource Center, 1994. Dolgin, Gail, and Vicente Franco, directors. Daughter from Danang. 2002. DVD. McKelvey, Robert. The Dust of Life: America’s Children Abandoned in Vietnam. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000. Murphy-Shigematsu, Stephen L. H. The Voices of Amerasians: Ethnicity, Identity, and Empowerment in Interracial Japanese Americans. Published by Dissertation.com, 1999. Yarborough, Trin. Surviving Twice: Amerasian Children of the Vietnam War. Dulles, VA: Potomac Books, Inc., 2005.
Hapa and Folklore The origins and use of the word hapa have been vigorously debated and involve questions of cultural appropriation, Native Hawaiian sovereignty, and the membership of mixed heritage Asian Americans in Asian American communities. There are multiple folklores about the history of the word. One version is that it originated in a Native Hawaiian adaptation of the English word “harp.” Another version is that it was always a Native Hawaiian word meaning part or mixed, and was first applied to ethnic identity to describe the descendants of the Native Hawaiian ali’i class and the early European American colonizers. Some, particularly artist and writer Kip Fulbeck, tell the story that the word once had a derogatory connotation. It is possible that all of these folklores contain some truth. In many folklores and mythologies, the power to name something or someone equates to the power to control that thing or person. For Asian Americans of
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mixed heritage, the use of hapa as a self-identifier and ethnic signifier has been an issue of power—the power to self-name in response to derogatory words, in response to the question, “What are you?,” and as a way to bring together an otherwise extremely disparate and diverse group of people. Mixed heritage Asian Americans began to have a recognized place within Asian American communities through their naming as an identifiable group through the use (some would say misuse) of the term hapa. It has been understood as a specifically Asian American term—more than just “mixed” or “multiracial,” which could mean anything. However, this power has had a flipside, as this feeling of unity and identity for mixed heritage Asian Americans has been criticized by some Native Hawaiians and others who see this use of the word as a form of cultural appropriation by Asians. Native Hawaiians experienced oppressive English-language education that almost eradicated Native Hawaiian language. Thus, the appropriation of this one word could be seen as symbolically mirroring the way Native Hawaiian land and culture have been colonized—especially by European Americans, Japanese, and Japanese Americans. This process was institutionalized through the formation of Hapa Issues Forum in 1992 by a group of Japanese American students at the University of California, Berkeley. From a student club on a single campus, Hapa Issues Forum quickly grew into a significant advocacy organization with five campus and two community-based chapters, as well as affiliate mixed “race” student clubs. Hapa Issues Forum put on 10 conferences and was part of the push to change the census to allow multiple box-checking on the racial and ethnic identity question. Unfortunately, regardless of efforts by some mixed heritage Asian Americans to stem the tide of Asian Americans of mixed heritage using hapa as a self-identifier, the Internet has spread the word “through Web sites like WeAreHapa.com, hapas.us, and Fulbeck’s seaweedproductions.com, and even a concerted effort is unlikely to stop its use. Folkways and folklores of cultural production intersect with community formation as writers and artists use the word hapa in the process of constructing narratives and visual images about Asian Americans of mixed heritage. Mari Hara and Nora Okja Keller’s anthology, Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry and Prose; May Lee Chai’s novel, Hapa Girl; and Kip Fulbeck’s fictional autobiography, Paper Bullets, use hapa as a signifier of identity and as a way to connect the mixed heritage Asia American community. Fulbeck’s book of photos, Part Asian, 100% Hapa, and Laura Kina’s series of large-scale acrylic paintings Hapa Soap Opera, in both their production and their execution, also create mixed heritage Asian American communities centering on the use of the word. These narratives, both written and visual, contribute to the development of a hapa folklore, in which the word creates community. —Wei Ming Dariotis
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Further Reading Chai, May-Lee. Hapa Girl: A Memoir. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2008. Dariotis, Wei Ming. “To Be ‘Hapa’ or Not to Be ‘Hapa’: What to Name Mixed Asian Americans?” At 40: Asian American Studies @ San Francisco State. San Francisco: Asian American Studies, San Francisco State University, 2009. Fulbeck, Kip. Paper Bullets: A Fictional Autobiography. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001. Fulbeck, Kip. Part Asian, 100% Hapa. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2006. Hara, Mari, and Nora Okja Keller. Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry and Prose. Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge Press, 1999.
Interracial/Interethnic Marriage and Romance Marriage has historically been about power and wealth, especially among the upper classes. Only in the past hundred years, and only in certain parts of the world, has the meaning of marriage shifted to embrace a romantic ideal of love matches. Therefore, it makes sense that many folkloric tales about marriage center on maintaining status—carefully matching the educational, class, and social status of the families involved. Given that a differential racial hierarchy rules status in U.S. society, it is no wonder that interracial and interethnic relationships struggle with questions of power. However, many such couples are drawn together through love despite such struggles. The folklores around interracial and interethnic marriages do not often take into account those couples that have come together primarily through a romantic love attachment.
From Amalgamation to Miscegenation to Loving Folklores around interracial marriages and sexual unions are stories about power. In general, throughout the world, dominant population men may have sexual relationships with subordinate population women, and may even marry them. Women from the dominant group, however, have no such power (until recently) as their sexuality is seen as being within the control of the men of their group. In 1661, a law was passed in Maryland prohibiting the marriage of white women to African American men. Over time, more localities enacted similar laws meant to protect whiteness, though they were not always gender-specific. The term used to refer to mixing between racialized groups was “amalgamation,” but this word has a positive folklore association: like amalgamated steel, two things brought together are supposed to be stronger. During the Civil War, the term “miscegenation” was coined to connote the danger of mixing the races—particularly white and black. Thus, laws that prevented marriages between people classified
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as white and people of color became known as antimiscegenation laws. These laws prohibited such marriages in terms of specific ethnic or racialized groups rather than taking a blanket approach. Storyteller/performance artist Brenda Wong Aoki discovered the painful specificity of California’s antimiscegenation laws when she tried to uncover her family secret. Her great uncle, Gunjiro Aoki, a Japanese immigrant, had wanted to marry Gladys Emery, a white woman, and would have been able to do so in 1908 because California’s antimiscegenation laws did not specify Japanese among the groups whites could not marry until faced with the publicity of the Aoki-Emery case. In 1967, the Supreme Court decided in the case Loving v. Virginia that antimiscegenation laws were unconstitutional. The folklore of the evils of miscegenation was maintained by the 1930 Hays Code, which prohibited the depiction of interracial sexuality in Hollywood. This prohibition lasted over a generation; the first interracial kiss on television was between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols on an episode of Star Trek (“Plato’s Stepchildren, 1968). Because many television owners had black and white rather than color televisions, and because of the makeup fashion of the time that favored dramatic “cat-eyes,” some viewers perceived Nichols’s character, Uhura, as Asian, and thus saw this as a kiss between a white man and an Asian woman. Such an image would hardly be shocking now in the 21st century, as we often see insurance ads, laundry detergent ads, and storylines on television and in the movies featuring this most normalized of interracial couples: the Asian woman and white man.
The Myth of the Cherry-China-Doll-Whore There are conflicting folklores about interracial marriages in which one partner is an Asian or Asian American woman. On the part of the non-Asian partner, especially if it is a man, he may have succumbed to the myth of the Asian woman as cherry blossom, china doll, geisha, or Asian prostitute, each of which is just a variant of the same belief in sexually available, culturally “traditional,” submissive, passive-yet-passionate, hyperfeminized Asian women. Conversely, Asian and some Asian American women who seek non-Asian male partners, especially Euro-American men, may believe the folklore that a white man will treat them like a “white woman”—that is, as a liberated equal—in contrast to the supposedly patriarchal behavior of an Asian/Asian American man. Although interracial relationships between Asian Americans and European Americans are less likely to fall prey to this stereotype, it remains prevalent. It is the intersections of these folklores, combined with extreme income disparities caused by imperialism and colonialism, that have made the “mail-order bride” phenomenon so prevalent and so tragic. Performance and Internet artist Kristina Sheryl Wong confronts these issues in her fake mail-order bride Web site—bigbadchinesemama.com.
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The Racial Hierarchy of Interracial Dating The folklore of interracial dating often presents the supposedly utopic vision that “love sees no color,” while in fact the reality of interracial dating is that love sees every shade of every color, and places each on a racial hierarchy. The black-white binary oppositional structure of race in the United States has become more complex as larger numbers of Asian Americans and Latinos marry Euro-Americans, African Americans, and each other, but this complexity still follows a certain pattern. For most groups, “endogamy,” or marriage within the group, is still highly preferred, with the exception of Japanese Americans, who are more likely to marry outside of their group than within it. When it comes to “exogamy,” or marriage outside the group, a strict racial hierarchy emerges, with some regional variations reflecting local prejudices. The first preference for a marriage partner outside of one’s own group is almost always white, with the idea that such a marriage would “elevate” the children and make it easier for them to assimilate into the dominant culture. The next preferred is Asian American, because of their presumed higher class status and educational attainment (consider similar preferences in the racial hierarchy of transracial adoption). After Asians, Latinos are preferred, though this varies by region. The folklore of this hierarchy has an invisible bottom rung: what about somebody black? African Americans are still considered by many parents to be completely outside of the marriage category for their children. This folklore of interracial marriage racial hierarchy even adheres when families have accepted that their children are queer, so that bringing home a black partner of the same gender, for those who are not black, is unthinkable.
The Goldilocks Chart Gender differences complicate these folklores of hierarchy. Asian American women are much more likely to marry white men than Asian American men are to marry white women, and this difference is caused at least in part by the folklore of hyperfeminization. Asians and Asian Americans of both genders are hyperfeminized, so that Asian women become feminine ideals while Asian men fall prey to the myth of being less well endowed and overall less masculine than white men. In a closely tied corollary myth, African Americans of both genders are hypermasculinized, making black women seems sexually aggressive and threatening and subjecting black men to the myth of being over-endowed. Just as in the fairy tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” this leaves Euro-Americans in the normative middle, so that they are neither too soft nor too hard, too under-endowed nor over-endowed, but “just right.”
Mixed Heritage, Mixed Race Asian Americans: Marriage & Romance
On the imaginary Goldilocks chart, the gender differences in interracial relationships can be accounted for by the simple fact that more masculinized men can be with more feminized women, but the reverse is much less likely. Thus, for approximately every 1,000 Asian American women married, only 800 Asian American men are married; similar statistics for African American men and women show that the folklore translates into leaving Asian American men and African American women out of the marriage market. This pairing is also the least likely interracial marriage to occur.
The Ethnic Hierarchy of Asian American Dating Within the Asian American community there is also a folklore of an ethnic hierarchy that rules interethnic dating and marriage. As in interracial marriage, the first preference is to marry someone of the same group—sometimes defined as narrowly as someone from the same village or region, class, and—especially important for religiously diverse communities like South Asians—the same religion. The next preference is for Japanese Americans, with an important exception for those of Chinese, Korean, and Filipino heritage, for whom histories of Japanese imperialist aggression translate into grandparents “who still remember” and prohibit these relationships either directly or indirectly. Chinese come next, and indeed many Asian Americans already represent a mixture of Chinese and Vietnamese, Chinese and Cambodian, Chinese and Indonesian, etc. The preference goes to Korean Americans, then Vietnamese Americans, then Filipinos or Southeast Asians, and finally to Pacific Islanders. South and West Asian Americans complicate this hierarchy because of the confusing combination of darker skin and often higher class status and educational and professional attainment, but also because many East and Southeast Asians do not consider South Asians and West Asians (Afghanis, Iranians, etc.) to be Asian Americans. In general, however, the ethnic hierarchy works on terms similar to and perhaps borrowing from the racial hierarchy: lighter skin and higher class are preferred; the closer one is to “whiteness,” the more desirable one is as a marriage partner. —Wei Ming Dariotis
Further Reading Leonard, Karen. Making Ethnic Choices: California’s Punjabi-Mexican Americans. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992. Marchetti, Gina. Romance and the “Yellow Peril”: Race, Sex, and Discursive Strategies in Hollywood Fiction. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. Morgan, Charlie V. Intermarriage across Race and Ethnicity among Immigrants: E Pluribus Unions. The New Americans: Recent Immigration and American Society. El Paso, TX: LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2009.
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Mixed Heritage, Mixed Race Asian Americans: Marriage & Romance Nemeto, Kumiko. Racing Romance: Love, Power, and Desire among Asian American/ White Couples. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2009. Root, Maria P. P. Love’s Revolution: Interracial Marriages. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001. Smith, Earl, and Angela Hattery. Interracial Relationships in the 21st Century. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2009.
Afghan Americans History, People, and Culture In this piece, “Afghan Americans” refers to those individuals who have some sort of ancestral tie to Afghanistan but have come of age or lived in the United States for a considerable period of time—these include individuals who emigrated directly from Afghanistan as well as their children who may have been born in the United States. Most of the Afghan immigrants who live in the United States today immigrated shortly following the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, which marked the beginning of the Afghan-Soviet War (1979–1989). Contrary to what much of the popular discourse has conveyed, Afghan immigration to the United States goes back to the 1930s and 1940s as part of student exchange programs facilitated between the U.S. and Afghan governments. Many Afghan students, who came to study in the United States on scholarships, pursued their graduate and doctorate degrees at U.S. universities and then returned to Afghanistan, and thus did not establish family structures in the United States. Later waves of immigrants came to the United States from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, as well as following the October 2001 U.S. intervention in Afghanistan. This is not to say, that no Afghans immigrated to the United States during the intermediate time intervals. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2007 American Community Survey approximately 84,000 people in the United States classified themselves as having Afghan ancestry.
Origins It is difficult to do justice to Afghanistan’s long and rich history before and after it officially entered into nation-statehood, but this section provides a brief overview of contemporary Afghan political history, beginning from its official establishment as a political entity with a self-governing power apparatus. Formerly part of the Mughal Empire, the political entity known today as Afghanistan was officially declared in 1747 under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Durrani, formerly known as Ahmad Khan Abdali, an Abdali chieftain and commander of the bodyguard team of Nader Shah, the then-ruler of Persia. Contextualized within the political competition of the
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19th century Great Game orchestrated by Great Britain and Russia, Afghanistan was viewed as prime realty due, in part, to the country’s abundance of opium and its ideal location as a segue to assert economic and political control in India. The British army invaded Kandahar in the spring of 1839, sparking the first Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), but eventually withdrew by mid-1842 due to an inability to govern the territory and frequent tribal uprisings. In 1878 the British government sent a military mission to counter what it framed as an unlawful Russian diplomatic mission that had intervened in Afghan political affairs. This intervention eventually formed the pretext for signing Afghanistan as a protectorate of Great Britain one year later. Abdol Rahman Khan, an embittered and resentful former puppet leader of the British, eventually spearheaded efforts to win independence from the British in the second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880). The creation of the Durand Line in 1893 is one of the most important developments in Afghan history that has shaped and continues to shape Afghanistan’s political landscape. The line, named after British India’s Foreign Secretary, Sir Mortimer Durand, and sanctioned by Abdol Rahman Khan, runs through the Hindu Kush, and was designed to separate land assigned to British India from Afghanistan. The establishment of the Durand Line has been the focus of much debate on what constitutes the indigenous territories of Afghanistan. To what extent the line was designed to be a permanent international boundary remains contested by historians. Foreign intervention and political competition continued to play a role in shaping Afghan governance, with the rule of King Habibollah, a strong supporter of German intervention in Afghanistan. His son and successor, Amanollah, focused on asserting Afghan grievances to the British and made it a point to declare Afghanistan’s independence in his first inaugural speech. The third Anglo-Afghan war (1919), which ended with the quick defeat of the British resulted in the August 1919 Treaty of Rawalpindi, effectively granting Afghanistan political independence. The reign of King Amanollah is known within popular and academic realms for its dramatic modernization efforts, which is said to, in part, be attributed to the King’s appreciation of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s strategies in shaping the modern Turkish nation-state. Some of Amanollah’s reforms included strengthening the army, instituting the solar calendar, requiring western dress throughout the country, mandating the implementation of literacy programs, abolishing slavery and forced labor, and introducing a secular educational system. As many of these reforms were imposed from the top down, they garnered much opposition in many rural provinces, but fared well among the middle and merchant classes. Following the reign of Amanollah, Nader Shah began to unify Afghanistan along lines similar to those of Abdol Rahman Khan, through introducing banking, industrial, and economic reforms, as well as addressing tribal violence in the peripheral provinces. Nader Shah’s death ushered in the rule of his son, Mohammad Zaher Shah, who continued modernization efforts and solicited significant political
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and economic assistance from Italy, France, Germany, and the United States. Though Zaher Shah’s rule, the high point of which is oftentimes referred to as the constitutional decade (1963–1973), is lauded by many in the Afghan diaspora for its political stability relative to other moments in Afghanistan’s tumultuous political history, much of its economic progress and military development can be attributed to heavy foreign investment. During this time, the government did seem to open more spaces for people to publicly criticize the government and debate the country’s political future. The subsequent rule of Mohammad Daud Khan saw a less politically open environment and greater Soviet intervention in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs. The Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, which triggered the AfghanSoviet War (1979–1989) was, in part, a result of the political complexities involved in the expansion of the Soviet Empire, whose hold on its satellite states by 1979 had already been dwindling. During the War, the United States, under the Carter and Reagan administrations, offered extensive arms to aid the Afghan resistance, but the human trauma borne from the war could not be easily assuaged. At the beginning of the 1990s, Afghan refugees formed the most numerous refugee group in the world, making up nearly half of the total refugees that fell under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) at the time (about 6.22 million dispersed throughout the world). Increasing political instability and warlordism emerged at the later stages of the Afghan Civil War, beginning in 1992, facilitating the Taliban’s usurpation of power and governance over most of the country in 1996. The U.S. military operation, which began in October 2001, partially contributed to the removal of the Taliban regime. However, they still engage in resistance efforts against U.S. forces and the larger international coalition based in Afghanistan today, and have sustained a complex network of ties and alliances to warlords who ruled Afghanistan during the Civil War, and many allege, to officials within the current administration of President Hamid Karzai. The Taliban continue to work toward carving viable forms of political and economic power for themselves through a variety of political and violence-based strategies.
Demographics The first group of immigrants who came from Afghanistan to the United States most likely arrived in the 1930s and 1940s to pursue postgraduate degrees at institutions of higher education. Immigrants continued to arrive in the 1950s and 1960s from Kabul as part of U.S.-Afghanistan student exchange programs. Some of these immigrants settled in various parts of the United States, while others used their degrees toward taking posts as civil servants in the Afghan government. According to the 1994 Report to Congress: American Statistics Index, between 1981 and
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1990, an estimated 22,946 people from Afghanistan immigrated to the United States, constituting the largest wave of Afghan immigrants to the United States yet. As a result of the Refugee Acts by Country of Birth implemented by the U.S. government, Afghans in varying numbers came to the United States at different historical periods: Between 1971 and 1980, approximately 542 immigrants arrived; between 1981 and 1990, approximately 22,946; between 1991 and 1996, approximately 9,065; and in 1998, about 137 immigrated. Between 1971 and 1992, about 29,903 Afghan applicants were granted refugee status, including those who applied for political asylum. Of the asylum applications approved by the Immigration Naturalization Service (INS) between 1980 and 1993, about 1,462 were those from Afghanistan. Though the 2000 U.S. Census found that 53,709 people in the United States self-identified as Afghan (this does not include all non-permanent residents), the previously cited 2007 study on ancestry groups in the United States, found that 84,000 people identified their ancestry as being from Afghanistan. If one uses the 2007 figure, the same study noted that about 17 percent (14,280) live in the northeast U.S., 4 percent (3,360) in the midwest, 24 percent (20,160) in the south, and 56 percent (47,040) in the west. Those who immigrated between 1981 and 1990 settled in various parts of the country and many took positions as menial laborers, while others established businesses, such as coffee stands and newsstands, Afghan restaurants, and Afghan specialty markets. Today, some of the highest concentrations of Afghan immigrants and their children live in Flushing, New York, and Fremont, California. According to recent statistics on ancestry groups from the 2000 U.S. Census, an estimated 9,119 people of Afghan ancestry live in New York. In California, a famous street in Fremont—Fremont Boulevard—is oftentimes dubbed by community residents and popular media as “Little Kabul” because of its apparent resemblance to the bustling business and daily social interactions of modern-day Kabul, with its abundance of Afghan markets, specialty stores, restaurants, and Afghan residents. Today, Afghan immigrants live throughout the United States. The Afghan diaspora is highly scattered as a result of a variety of political and social processes that emerge from Afghanistan’s tumultuous political history. Afghan diaspora communities (whose social and cultural coherence as communities is still being explored by anthropologists and sociologists), are located in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, India, Iran, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and in parts of the Gulf states.
Afghan Culture in America Cleavages within the Afghan diaspora in terms of social experiences, integration, and forms of self-identification make it difficult to say that there exists an Afghan diasporic consciousness or that it is asserted homogeneously. Nevertheless, there
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are certain cultural institutions that many in the diaspora consider important mediums through which to assert an Afghan cultural identity. Hospitality is often pinpointed as a distinguishing marker in the creation of Afghan cultural essentialisms. Demonstrating hospitality to one’s guest is part of the larger concept of taarof, which refers to a code for interacting with good friends and new acquaintances. It is a system in which people flatter each other or show false modesty in response to exaggerated words of praise and kindness that are not necessarily really meant or truly felt. Oftentimes, the children of immigrants have trouble adhering to the politics of taarof used by their parents, and therefore, generate their own interpretations of this system of social codes. Another important cultural institution is that of marriage, which symbolizes not only the coming together of two families but also transitional moments for the man and woman in fulfilling new standards of maleness and femaleness. Other cultural celebrations are also heavily shaped by social interactions that take place within a familial structure—celebrations, like Eid, for example, are for some, occasions that carry a spiritual and meditative overtone and require the focused execution of certain religious rituals, while for other Afghan Americans, the occasion’s importance is more centered on the coming together of family and friends, which has become more important in an America where fast-paced and hectic lifestyles are the norm, coupled with new and more accessible ways of interconnecting. Afghan Americans encounter many challenges in transmitting both an adherence to and a knowledge of Afghan cultural institutions to their children. Though some Afghan Americans might assume that their children’s ancestral lineage will automatically mean that they have the same kind of emotional connection to Afghanistan and Afghan cultural productions that their parents have experienced or that any connection exists at all, the realities prove to be quite different and more complex. The children of Afghan immigrants in the United States articulate their connections to Afghan cultural institutions in very different ways. Parents, in an effort to facilitate transmission of knowledge of cultural institutions, may, for example, enroll their children in Sunday classes at an Islamic center at a young age, or try to facilitate friendships with other Afghan Americans for their children. As children enter into adolescence and young-adulthood, parents might make a greater effort to teach them about the responsibilities of hospitable behavior toward one’s guests and obligations to older members of the family. Cultural transmission also takes place within the diaspora through engaging in discussions about the experiences of growing up in the United States through professional and social networks, community centers, and an increasing number of online social networks and forums. Afghan American student organizations at universities across the United States have contributed to creating forums for their peers and others in the local Afghan community to assert, debate, and reinforce certain notions of Afghanness, whether through hosting “heritage celebrations”
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or organizing discussions of identity struggles within the diaspora or raising awareness about present-day Afghanistan’s struggles with humanitarian and human rights struggles. With Afghan Americans being able to more easily touch base with family members and friends in other Afghan diasporas across the globe through different social networking sites, Afghan Americans’ consciousness as part of a diaspora is becoming increasingly molded by transnational exchanges of notions of Afghanness and a more globalized idea of what really constitutes Afghan cultural institutions. Afghan Americans have become more connected with those in the Australian, Austrian, British, Canadian, and German diasporas through both online networking and new forms of mobile communication. —Helena Zeweri
Further Reading Edwards, David B. Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. Fitzgerald, Paul, and Elizabeth Gould. Invisible History: Afghanistan’s Untold Story. San Francisco: City Light Books, 2009. Hanfi, Jamil M. “Anthropology and Representations of Recent Migrations from Afghanistan.” In Elizabeth M. Godziak and Dianna J. Shandy, eds. Rethinking Refuge and Displacement. Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association and Committee on Refugees and Immigrants, 2001. Hyman, Anthony. “Nationalism in Afghanistan.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 34 (2002): 299–315.
Web Sites “Fact Sheet: 2000 U.S. Census: Afghans.” United States Census (online 2000). “Population by Selected Ancestry Group and Region.” U.S. Census Bureau http:// www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0052.pdf (online 2007).
Culture and Language What one might call “Afghan culture” is a heavily contested idea, and it can be safely said that a homogeneous understanding of this concept does not exist. While some Afghan immigrants and their children might imagine “Afghan culture” to encompass cuisine, traditional clothing, ceremonial rituals and celebrations, and folk musical traditions, a definition of culture should also encompass an understanding of social practices and norms that emerge as useful forms of social capital among Afghans within the U.S. context. While also recognizing that no two life experiences are exactly the same, there are certain themes for social
Afghan Americans: Culture and Language
This is the Kouchi Supermarket, which carries primarily specialty Afghan foods, including meat, and ingredients for Afghan dishes. It also has a diverse array of decorations for the home. Located on Parsons Boulevard in Flushing, New York, the Kouchi Supermarket is well known among Afghan families in the area, who often go there to purchase ingredients for Afghan food and desserts, home items, as well as Afghan board games, musical instruments, and the latest CDs by singers from Afghanistan and from various parts of the Afghan diaspora. (Helena Zeweri)
behavior that find relevance in the daily lives of Afghan immigrants and their children, but are not necessarily limited to the Afghan diaspora. Many Afghan Americans value certain forms and exchanges of hospitality toward family, friends, and guests. Whether through keeping one’s house clean for welcoming guests, bringing an expensive bottle of scotch to a family friend’s party, or offering generous amounts of food for guests to enjoy at their homes, hospitality is an important practice Afghan culture. Afghans in the diaspora also reimagine and reconstitute certain celebratory coming-of-age rituals, including marriage ceremonies. In the American context, a marriage ceremony might begin with a religious ceremony (nekah) in which the marriage contract (aqd) is signed in the presence of the bride and groom’s families. This can take place either in a mosque or in a reception hall in the presence of a large group of guests or in a more intimate setting with close family members. Following this, there might be a larger party in a reception hall or in the house of a family member in which guests enjoy Afghan music and food as well as other ceremonies designed to cement the marriage union in the presence of guests. Some receptions might have separate areas for men and women to enjoy the festivities,
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while in others, men, women, and their families interact with each other. Some families will also host a post-wedding festivity called a paywazi gathering to officially welcome the bride and groom into the community of Afghans. Celebrations such as Eid, following the end of the month of Ramadan (during which some Muslims across the world fast and abstain from other worldly pleasures) are also interpreted by Afghan Americans in various ways. While some Afghan Americans fast during the whole month, others do so on a partial basis. Regardless of the degree to which the fast is observed, Eid still emerges as an occasion for celebration even if it simply takes the form of wishing other Muslims and Afghans they know a “Happy Eid,” or through hosting parties at their homes. How Afghan Americans understand “American culture” is often articulated in opposition to their notions of what being Afghan means. Afghan Americans might consider “Americans” as those who would typically be categorized as white Anglo-Saxon Protestants or those who identify as white in some formal or informal capacity. Some Afghan Americans associate “American culture” with a certain set of behaviors and worldviews, including secularism, individualism, consumerism, sexual promiscuity, and political liberalism. “American culture” is also defined by so-called positive stereotypes including its “inherent” valuing of a democratic political tradition, and a valuing of the idea that anyone from any socioeconomic or cultural background can mobilize socioeconomically and professionally, which is evocative of an American dream discourse. These two notions of American culture are not mutually exclusive and oftentimes emerge for individuals as simultaneously eligible for use within a given social space. Being in America also means, for some, confronting the fluid tension that exists between the need to fulfill stereotypes of racial and ethnic groups that are salient within American public discourses, and to fulfill stereotypes of being Afghan espoused and reinforced by family, friends, and even non-Afghans who promote their own fixed ideas of “Afghanness.” The uniquely American concern with having multicultural public institutions and highlighting the diversity of cultures that make up the American social fabric has had a significant impact on the way Afghan Americans understand their own positioning within multiculturalist discourses of belonging. What some race and ethnicity scholars have termed the “ethnoracial pentagon”—in which five ethnoracial categories (Euro-American, Asian American, African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Indigenous Peoples/Native American) constitute the options on most publicly administered surveys (such as the U.S. Census)—have helped to shape how Afghan Americans situate themselves within the history of American immigration and contemporary discourses of belonging in racial and ethnic groups. The spaces in which Afghan Americans might highlight their contributions to American cultural diversity fluctuate and
Afghan Americans: Culture and Language
sometimes are oriented toward a critique of “Americans” as harboring prejudice that Afghan social norms are antithetical to “American identity.” A discussion of Afghan culture must include how cultural frameworks impact an understanding of language. Afghan Americans might locate language as a core site for “cultural authenticity,” meaning if one has some knowledge of a language spoken in Afghanistan (preferably the ability to speak fluently), one may be considered more invested in sustaining a sense of Afghanness. In terms of linguistic practices, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, of the 53,709 Afghans counted as part of the U.S. population (a contested number), 45,417 spoke a language other than English in the home. Many Afghan Americans speak the two predominant languages of Afghanistan, Dari (a more ancient dialect of Persian) and Pashto. However, given the diversity of ethnolinguistic associations in Afghanistan, there are Afghan Americans who speak a variety of other languages, including Uzbeki and Hazaragi. Of the children of Afghan immigrants, some have acquired the ability to both read and write in Persian script and converse in Dari, whereas others may fare better in either reading, writing, or speaking. Some Afghan Americans have developed a knowledge of other South Asian languages, including Urdu, from being exposed to certain South Asian cultural productions, such as Bollywood films, the viewing of which constituted an important part of adolescent life for their parents if they had grown up in Kabul. One of the conflicts that occurs between different generations of Afghan Americans relates to the ability of the children of immigrants to fluently speak Dari or Pashto. Some parents might encourage only speaking Dari or Pashto in the household, and reserving English for interactions outside of the home, thereby positioning the home as a space for the preservation of Afghanness. Fluency in Dari or Pashto is one measure that some Afghan Americans use to measure or validate claims to an Afghan identity. These are not the only languages spoken amongst Afghan Americans, and others may speak one of the many languages of Afghanistan’s ethnolinguistically rich social landscape. These include Tajeki, Hazaragi, Uzbeki, Baluchi, Turkmen, and Nurestani, to name only a few. In Afghanistan, bilingualism is common, in part due to the officialization of Dari and Pashto by the state. Many Afghan immigrants have been compelled to acquire and continue to cultivate knowledge of spoken English to sustain jobs and earn decent livelihoods. Some Afghan immigrants, who settled in the United States as a result of the Afghan-Soviet War, had already developed a good foundation for conversational English, as many were required to take English courses in high school if they finished schooling in Kabul. Thus, some Afghan immigrants found it easier to ascend the socioeconomic ladder after settling in the United States, though statistical analyses on the processes of socioeconomic mobility have not been conducted. —Helena Zeweri
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Afghan Americans: Folk Dance, Folklore, and Children’s Tales
Further Reading Ahmadi, Wali. Modern Persian Literature in Afghanistan: Anomalous Visions of History and Form. New York: Routledge, 2008. Ioannesyan, Youli A. Afghan Folktales from Herat: Persian Transcription and Translation. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2009. Moghissi, Haideh, Saeed Rahnema, and Mark J. Goodman. Diaspora by Design: Immigrants in Canada and Beyond. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009.
Folk Dance, Folklore, and Children’s Tales Folk Dance There are a variety of Afghan dance forms that those in the diaspora interpret and perform in differing ways. Different ethnolinguistic regions in Afghanistan lay claim to many forms of dance, yet these dances tend to be understood in the United States from a homogenized perspective as “Afghan.” Some Afghan Americans perform traditional Afghan dances at weddings as a way to honor the bride and groom, while others dance at celebrations such as the new year celebration (Nowroz) or the celebration of Afghanistan’s Independence Day on August 19. Community functions organized by Afghan social networks also present spaces for engaging in Afghan dance. Also featured at celebrations is what is today known as the national dance of Afghanistan, the attan. Though there are different styles of attan, including Kaboli, Logari, Wardaki, Paktiawal, Nurestani, and Khostai (which are named after the province/town in Afghanistan from which they, in part, originate) in general, the attan dance entails moving around in a circular form to the rhythm of the music, with two to five steps after which the individual claps while facing the center of the circle. This continues as the dancers move around the circle. Arms and hips move along with the hands that clap together. As the rhythm increases in speed, the dancers must make sure their claps are in sync. Some forms of the attan, such as the Wardaki attan, require the dancers to twist and wave their heads more dramatically than a Kaboli attan.
Folklore Besides dancing, there are many other celebratory contexts in which claims to an Afghan identity are asserted, contested, and change shape. Looking at folklore and oral stories that come from Afghanistan is another element of Afghan culture that is reimagined within the diasporic context. Nancy Hatch Dupree explores the legend of the hoopoe, which she describes as a mythical bird with a long, slender beak that has been incorporated in the folktales and myths of other societies, including Egypt, ancient Persia, western Europe, and parts of Scandinavia. Other
Afghan Americans: Folk Dance, Folklore, and Children’s Tales
names assigned to the hoopoe in different languages spoken in Afghanistan include hudhud (in Arabic and Hindi); poppoo (Pashto in the Ghazni area); popak or bobak (Persian spoken in Iran); bubuti (Pashto of the Logar valley); popishak (Uzbeki spoken in Afghanistan); ututak (Dari). To some, the hoopoe is considered a sign of pleasure, whereas others associate it with a bad odor. In some of the poems of the world-renowned 14th-century Persian poet Hafez, the hoopoe is said to bring together long-lost lovers through romance and good fortune. Dupree continues that it can also be associated with wealth, and some say that if a hoopoe selects a house on which to create its nest, that house will surely prosper and the people who live in it must have had the dispositions of kings or queens. The hoopoe is also said to hold the power to turn a disengaged husband into a passionate lover. The ritual associated with bringing out this power includes burying the hoopoe for 40 days and then collecting the bones of its carcass, followed by rubbing each bone one by one in front of a sheep. Whichever bone the sheep follows is said to have this magical power. Other Uzbek families use the hoopoe’s head as a talisman for stability in the family’s household.
Children’s Tales Some literary analysts have noted that many folktales and children’s stories originating in Afghanistan are unique in that they are not designed simply to scare children into obedience but compel them to think about larger character-building and morality issues, and attempt to get listeners to realize their own gullibility for believing the initial premise of the story. Some of these stories include those written by Idries Shah, like The Lion Who Saw Himself in the Water (a story of a lion’s supposedly irrational fear of plunging into a pool of water) and The Silly Chicken (about a loquacious chicken who does not know as much as he makes it seem). Idries Shah has also produced collections on the stories of Molla Naser-al-din (also transliterated as Nasruddin in Persian), the romanticized figure of wisdom who appears in stories throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean regions. These include, The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin/The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin, and The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin. Claimed by Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and parts of China, among many other places, as their own, Naser-al-din’s stories continue to be used by parents to offer both lessons of wisdom to their children and points of laughter at gatherings with family and friends. Many of the stories surround the gullibility of the human mind and the human inclination to believe in ideas that, when deconstructed, seem quite unreasonable. Shah has described them as stories that freeze certain states of the mind. Though this is not unique to Afghan storytelling traditions and folklore, many stories are heavily shaped by the social and political context in which they were
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originally told in Afghanistan, and often provide subtle commentary and critiques of local politics, representations of gender, and ethnic and class roles within discourses of the nation and morality. Recently published collections of children’s jingles and folk songs testify to the idea that many of these songs are products of their time. One of the jingles (from the collection Qu Qu Qu Barg-e Chinaar: Children’s Songs from Afghanistan), titled “Mardom-e Afghan” (The Afghan People), has the following stanza: “Ma mardom-e Afghan-em/Afghan-e Kohestanem” (We are the Afghan people/The Afghans of the land of mountains). The song is based on certain essentialist discourses and exotic imagery of what being from Afghanistan connotes, including the quintessential image of Afghanistan as a mountainous area and a locus for a strong national identity. Some parts of the song also refer to the Afghans being of one religion and practicing the same customs, evoking a homogenized idea of Afghanness: “Yak kish o yak Ayin-em/Yak din o yak Arman-em” (We are of one faith and one custom/We are of one religion and one ideal). The nationalistic overtones and undertones of the song may have emerged from the time in which the collection was originally published, 1968, a time of increasing foreign intervention in Afghanistan. The collection was recently reprinted with a new set of illustrations and designs and an accompanying CD with young children singing along to the melodies, and may have found relevance in the context of war increasing American military and political intervention. Things like children’s songs and lullabies should, therefore, be seen as products of specific historical moments. Margaret Mills’s ethnographic work done in Afghanistan in the early 1990s also explores how people in an Afghan village retell traditional narratives of Afghan stories in response to their surrounding political conditions and speak to larger concerns over political oppression and sexual promiscuity that haunt their daily realities. —Helena Zeweri
Further Reading Baily, John. “Cross Cultural Perspectives in Popular Music: The Case of Afghanistan.” Popular Music 1 (1981): 105–22. Dupree, Nancy Hatch. “An Interpretation of the Role of the Hoopoe in Afghan Folklore and Magic.” Folklore 85 (1974): 173–93. Mills, Margaret A. Rhetorics and Politics in Traditional Afghan Storytelling. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991. Mills, Margaret A. Qu Qu Qu Barg-e Chinaar: Children’s Songs from Afghanistan. Cambridge, MA: Troubadour Inc., 2007. Shah, Idries. The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin/The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin. London: Octagon Press, 1983. Shah, Idries. The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin. New York: The Penguin Group, 1968.
Afghan Americans: Identity
Identity Classification in the American Context Afghan Americans are oftentimes subsumed under the panethnic categories of Middle Eastern, Asian, or white by the U.S. Census Bureau. To what extent those of Afghan ancestry in the United States identify with either of these categories more than the other is unknown due to a lack of statistical data, but it can be said that Afghan Americans do not self-identify only along one available ethnoracial or panethnic line. Some of Afghan ancestry might choose Middle Eastern as a way to self-identify, while others might pick Asian based on a geographical understanding of their ancestral lineage, and still others might pick white (non-Hispanic) because it rings truer to them from a racial classification point of view. Others, however, may choose “other” and manually write in either “Afghan,” “Afghan American,” or even “Central Asian” or “South Asian.” Some Afghan Americans actively seek to distinguish their identities from a “Middle Eastern” identity, which they associate with stereotypical notions of “Arabness.” Popular media has tended to assume that Afghan in Afghanistan and the diaspora have natural social or cultural connections to people of Arab descent, prompting some Afghan Americans to react against such imposed and presumed labels through asserting other kinds of identity markers. Though there is currently no tangible sociological evidence to support this, following the events of SeptemTwo Afghan American women walk past an ber 11, 2001, teenagers and young American flag in the Little Kabul district of adults of Afghan origins may have Fremont, California, October 24, 2001. The either decreased the extent to which Afghan community in Fremont was showing they identified with an Afghan ances- support for the United States by displaying flags. Fremont has the largest Afghan try due to fears of social discrimina- community in the United States with tion or may have consciously tried to approximately 50,000 living in the city. (Justin highlight an Afghan ancestry because Sullivan/Getty Images)
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of the increased relevance of Afghanistan within American popular, academic, and activist discourse. The degree to which the term “Afghan” and the idea of Afghanistan entered the American public consciousness has had an impact on the situations in which the children of Afghan immigrants decide to self-identify as Afghan or Afghan American. Nuanced sociological scholarship on how Afghan Americans create and shift the boundaries of belonging within an imagined Afghan community has yet to be published, but it can be safely said that young adults have a plethora of ideas of what it means, in terms of accessibility to belonging within Afghan social networks, to call oneself Afghan.
Mediums through Which Afghan Identities are Claimed, Contested, and Reconstituted Afghan Americans have found numerous mediums through which to discuss the tensions involved in moving between stereotypes of Afghanness and Americanness. Even in a pre-9/11 America, Afghan Americans have been actively engaging in multidimensional conversations on how to assert belonging within certain racial and ethnic categories, as well as confronting the daily struggles of socioeconomic, class-related, and gender-related issues. Many of these conversations have taken shape and continue to take place through the medium of printed and online publications. The online magazine Lemar Aftaab (which translates to “Brightness of the Sun”) has been in existence since 1997, and discusses the lives, history, and culture of Afghans. The magazine continues to actively publish opinion pieces and news stories in English on contemporary political developments in Afghanistan along with editorials on Afghan diasporic experiences in Europe and the United States, and developments in Afghan pop culture. Older issues of Lemar Aftaab tend to focus less on political developments in Afghanistan, which seem to have had more coverage following 2001. Older articles also have featured personal essays on Afghan American struggles to both assert a sense of individualism and carve a life path within frameworks that could be easily legible to their parents. The publication’s issues from the 1990s also had a regular column by an Afghan psychologist who offered advice to Afghan immigrants on how to most effectively address the tensions involved in competing generational notions of Afghanness. Many of his pieces were addressed to Afghan parents who felt that their children were carving futures that diverged from their conceptions of what establishing livelihoods in the American context meant. Only recently have other types of literature been produced that make a conscious effort to feature the voices of Afghan immigrants and their children from a diasporic perspective. These publications tend to show the voices of those who are part of the post-Afghan-Soviet War immigrant wave and their children. One of the first collections of Afghan American literature published in the United
Afghan Americans: Identity
States is Snapshots: This Afghan American Life. A collection of short stories written by the children of Afghan immigrants, the book speaks to a wide array of concerns related to coming of age in an American context—from the struggles in trying to “correctly” replicate their parents’ ideas of normal social etiquette to trying to understand notions of masculinity and femininity within an imagined Afghan community to the disillusionment and social alienation that comes with Afghan Americans’ return to the homeland. Though most of the contributing writers had grown up for a good portion of their lives in the California Bay Area, the issues they speak to are common concerns for Afghan Americans who live throughout the United States. However, local experience significantly impacts individual Afghan American experiences—those Afghan Americans who have come of age in New York have different experiences than those in Virginia than those in California than those in Texas. A forthcoming collection, Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature (University of Arkansas Press), coedited by Zohra Saed and Sahar Muradi, will feature short stories and poems by those in the American Afghan diaspora. Saed teaches in the Asian American Studies program at Hunter College, and is a cofounder of the recently formed Afghan American Writers Association, along with Muradi. Saed’s poetry and stories about growing up as a child of Afghan immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, have been widely published, and tend to focus on the preservation of memories and the power of writing to help heal such collective trauma as the scattering of peoples throughout the world. Muradi has traveled to Afghanistan to do development work, and many of her pieces center on her experiences revisiting and living for two years in the place of her birth, Kabul. Another prominent publication that features current developments among Afghan Americans is Zeba Magazine printed in English, Dari, and Pashto. Headquartered in Virginia, the magazine positions itself as an Afghan lifestyle publication that enables Afghans to both read about and shape their own culture and history. The magazine is distributed to Afghans in Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden, and the United States. Many individuals, both Afghan and non-Afghan, have been featured in cover stories. One of the more recent issues featured a cover story on former First Lady Laura Bush, and her work with the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council. The magazine has also featured stories on up-and-coming Afghan singers and film stars who produce work both in the diaspora and in Afghanistan. The magazine provides a forum for Afghan American contributors to debate current discourses of Afghan identity and what it means to be a part of an Afghan diasporic community. Writing has served as an important medium for Afghan Americans and Afghans throughout the diaspora to converse about the ethnic, racial, gendered, and class lines along which an Afghan identity can be claimed and reconstituted. Writing has also facilitated spaces in which Afghans in the diaspora can discuss the multilayered experience of reinterpreting Afghan cultural productions and social capital
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within the country of settlement, as well as how the diaspora’s connections to Afghanistan are or are not manifested. These publications often position themselves as forums on which pride in one’s Afghan identity can be asserted; however, they end up becoming spaces in which more complex and multidimensional definitions of being Afghan are discussed and contested. Other published works that have explored the experience of exile and moving between transnational identities within the diaspora include acclaimed author Mir Tamim Ansary’s memoir, West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story; Torn Between Two Cultures: An Afghan-American Woman Speaks Out by Maryam Qudrat Aseel; and The New Dress: An Afghan American’s Journey Back to Afghanistan by Elias Rahimi, among others. Numerous short essays and stories have been featured in the aforementioned magazines and in edited volumes that feature the writings of individuals of different cultural traditions, such as Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out, which includes short essays from writers like Saed, Nadia Ali Maiwandi, and Wajma Ahmady. —Helena Zeweri
Further Reading Afzal-Khan, Fawzia, ed. Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out. Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press, 2005. Ansary, Mir Tamim, and Yalda Asmatey, eds. Snapshots: This Afghan-American Life. San Francisco: Kajakai Press, 2008. Brinkerhoff, Jennifer M. Digital Diasporas: Identity and Transnational Engagement. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Dufoix, Stephane. Diasporas. Translated by William Rodamor. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Olszewska, Zuzanna. “A Desolate Voice: Poetry and Identity among Young Afghan Refugees in Iran.” Iranian Studies 40 (2007): 203–24. Tober, Diane. “ ‘My Body Is Broken Like My Country’: Identity, Nation, and Repatriation among Afghan Refugees in Iran.” Iranian Studies 40 (2007): 263–85.
Web Site Lemar Aftaab magazine. Lemar Aftaab/afghanmagazine.com. http://afghanmagazine.com/ (online November 2009).
Religion Though most Afghan Americans might identify as Muslim when asked for their religious affiliation, there are also small minorities of Afghans who are associated with other religious traditions, including Hinduism and Judaism. Others claim no
Afghan Americans: Religion
Marie Sherzai (top), co-owner of Aliwardak Fashion, shows women fabric made in Kandahar, Afghanistan, during a celebration of Eid al-Adha at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC., January 10, 2006. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is the most important feast of the Muslim calendar, concluding the Pilgrimage to Mecca. Lasting three days, Eid al-Adha commemorates Ibraham's (Abraham) willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son. (Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)
affiliation with any sort of religious tradition. Those Afghan Americans who selfidentify as Muslim view the importance of their Muslim identities in very different ways, oftentimes intertwining Afghan social practices with what are understood as “traditional” Islamic practices to create unique negotiations of Afghan Muslim ways of life. The way Islam is practiced and imagined as part of one’s daily realities differs among Afghan Americans depending on where in the United States they live and on their local surroundings, among other factors. For example, Afghan Americans in Flushing, New York have more ready access to mosques and religious community centers than those who reside in the midwestern United States. The role of religion in the daily lives of Afghans also differs according to the area in Afghanistan from which they or their families emigrated. Seeking to avoid framing secular worldviews and religious traditionalism as two polar opposites, those immigrants who, for example, came from the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, may understand the role of Islam in their daily lives differently than immigrants who came from a more rural area of Afghanistan that had a different social
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landscape shaped by distinctive historical political and social processes imposed by the state. Religious identities are articulated differently in different spaces among Afghan Americans. At times, claiming a Muslim identity is seen as a critical component to being able to claim an Afghan identity. Though this kind of discourse automatically excludes Afghan Americans who hail from other religious traditions, it is a dominant discourse within the U.S. Afghan diaspora and continues to shape how Afghan Americans of all or no religious traditions negotiate “non-normative religious affiliations” with an Afghan identity. A discussion of how Islam might be practiced among some Afghan Americans can perhaps highlight some of the struggles involved in reconciling ideas of Afghanness with those of being Muslim. Some Afghan American families emphasize the practice of praying five times per day, one pillar of the Islamic religious tradition, and continue to pass on the importance of this practice to their children. At times, immigrants and their children encounter situations in which facilitating prayer five times per day becomes more challenging in a professional work environment or within a school environment. Thus, at times, people have to negotiate when they engage in prayer or may have to make up for missed prayers at another time during the day. Many Afghan American families also engage in fasting during the month of Ramadan, another pillar within the Islamic religious tradition, which, according to conventional understandings, calls for Muslims to refrain from eating, drinking, and any other form of worldly consumption. Some individuals wake up early in the morning before the sun has risen to eat food that will keep them full throughout the day (a ritual called the sari), and they will not consume anything until the sun has set, which is also based on the official time that the fast is supposed to end, which changes slightly every day during the month. Some individuals will eat a date as a preliminary break to their fast, a ritual that dates back to the reported practices of the Prophet Muhammad. Families may also make it a point to cook traditional Afghan cuisine most nights to break the fast along with their families. Many of the religious rituals involved in fasting and breaking the fast are, therefore, not completely related to cultivating religious piety, but also to the desire to preserve familial interactions that take place in a unique way during Ramadan. Another way Afghan Americans assert a religious identity is through certain momentous or transitional ceremonies such as births and funeral ceremonies. When Afghan Muslims witness the birth of a baby, they may engage in rituals designed to seal the baby’s identity as a Muslim, such as having one of the parents or grandparents whisper in the newborn’s ear the shahadah (the phrase used to assert oneself as a believing Muslim): “Ashadu ala ilaha ila lahu wa ashadu anna Muhammadan abdoho wa raswuloh” (I testify that there is no God but God, and I testify that Muhammad is His messenger).
Afghan Americans: Rites of Passage
Funeral ceremonies (referred to in Dari as the fatehah) are also spaces in which Afghan Americans evoke certain aspects of Muslimness. Religious phrases might be used by those in attendance to offer their condolences to the grieving family, but these phrases are not always used based on the need to add a spiritual or sacred dimension to grieving for the individual who has passed away. People might offer words of prayer and ask that God grant the family members long lives. However, the occasion of the funeral also serves, for some Afghan Americans, as an ideal space for catching up on the latest gossip within the community and re-engaging with and reinforcing the bonds within Afghan social networks in which people try to position themselves as still relevant members. Gossip takes the form of talking about other Afghan acquaintances or even discussing the types of fashions worn by attendees. The funeral ceremony also features readings of passages of the Quran by the imam of the mosque in which the ceremony is held. Typically, women will sit in one room of the mosque and listen to recitations of the Quran over a loudspeaker, while men sit in a separate room and see the imam read the recitations live. At the end of the funeral, food is usually served in large portions to all attendees either at the mosque itself or at the home of the family member of the deceased. Providing plenty of food and dessert is as an important criterion by which some Afghan Americans measure the success of the funeral ceremony in terms of how hospitable it was to its guests. —Helena Zeweri See also: Afghan Americans: Rites of Passage.
Further Reading Ahmad, Mumtaz, Zahid H. Bukhari, John L. Esposito, and Sulayman S. Nyang. Muslims’ Place in the American Public Square: Hopes, Fears, and Aspirations. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004. Curtis, Edward E., IV. Muslims in America: A Short History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Zulfacar, Maliha. Afghan Immigrants in the USA and Germany: A Comparative Analysis of the Use of Ethnic and Social Capital. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1998.
Rites of Passage Though it is difficult to generalize how rites of passage, such as wedding ceremonies, are practiced and understood by all of those in the Afghan diaspora in the United States, it can be said that these are considered important transitional moments within an individual’s life, if not by the individual him/herself, then
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perhaps by one’s parents or family. Wedding ceremonies are one of those rites of passage that provide spaces in which people might assert a gendered Afghan identity and seek to embody certain notions of maleness and femaleness. Among some Afghan families, the process of facilitating a marriage between two people might begin with the parents of the potential bride and groom conferring with one another about the possibility of an engagement. Eventually, the parents of the potential suitor will pay a visit to the woman’s family’s home to facilitate a legitimate space where the two individuals can see each other for the first time and evaluate whether or not there is an initial attraction upon which to base an engagement. The formal asking of the man’s family representatives for permission for him to enter into an engagement with the girl is known, in Dari, as khastgari. If an engagement occurs, the family of both the bride and groom might organize an engagement party where friends of both the prospective bride and groom will be in attendance. This process of engagement is not the same in all cases, however. Some Afghan Americans take a different route that entails less of a role for their parents in helping them choose a partner, or they pursue relationships that are not necessarily designed to find a life partner in the first place. In the American context, Afghan Americans are also increasingly entering into marriages with people of other ethnic and religious groups. The wedding ceremony itself entails several rituals that contribute to the legitimization and officialization of the union between the bride and groom in the presence of invited family members and friends. In the religious ceremony, called the nekah, either a molla or someone who is considered a spiritual and legitimate religious authority to both families reads passages from the Quran and asks the bride and groom each three times if they are certain they want to enter into the marriage. Here, the marriage contract, or aqd, is also signed stipulating the amount of the bride’s mahr (commonly analogized to a dowry but more complex in that it does not connote a “purchasing” of the woman’s hand in marriage). Another ceremony that usually takes place during the reception itself includes the placing of a silk sheet over the bride and groom, who are sitting next to each other, and having them look at each other through a mirror under the sheet. This ritual, historically, has been and continues to be used in Afghanistan and in the Afghan diaspora to symbolize the supposed first time that the bride and groom see their faces together. At a wedding reception, the bride and groom will walk into the reception hall hand-in-hand, with a member of the family holding the Quran over their heads (assuming that at least one of the individuals identifies as Muslim) as they walk to the song “Ahestah Boro” (figuratively, “Walk Slowly”). Other ceremonies might include a khinah ceremony during which women guests of the wedding can take packets of intricate designs of khinah (henna) skin dye, and have them imprinted on their hands. Women guests may also place a set of candles in the middle of
Afghan Americans: Rites of Passage
the reception hall around which they dance, usually wearing clothing native to more rural parts of Afghanistan. Guests spend the rest of the wedding reception dancing to either a live Afghan singer who may have accompanying musicians, or to pre-recorded contemporary Afghan music. Guests also make it a point to offer congratulations to the bride and groom, who sit in elaborately decorated chairs next to each other in the front or back end of the wedding reception hall. In families that have more financial resources, the mother of the groom may give an abundance of jewelry (of varying kinds, from gold to pearls to different gems) to the new bride as a way to welcome her into the family. The reception usually ends with guests partaking in what is today known as the Afghan national dance, the attan, along with the bride and groom. This is only one rendition of an Afghan American wedding, and there are many other interpretations—for example, for those who imagine the wedding reception as a space for the assertion of masculine and feminine spaces, there might be separate rooms for men and women to enjoy the festivities. Additionally, those with fewer financial resources may not hold the wedding in a reception hall but rather in a family friend’s home. Given that the children of Afghan immigrants are increasingly marrying people of other cultural backgrounds, interfaith marriages have also changed understandings of what constitutes a “typical Afghan wedding.” The ceremonies and receptions of these interfaith unions take a variety of forms. Though some might argue that in such unions the individual of Afghan descent and Muslim faith most likely is the groom, there are more cases of Afghan American Muslim women engaging in unions with non-Afghan, non-Muslim men. In these ceremonies, there may be multiple people officiating the wedding ceremony—for example, in a Christian-Muslim ceremony, the bride and groom may ask a minister to read passages from the Bible, and someone who is well-versed in the Quran (not necessarily a molla) to read passages from the Quran, creating a sort of conversation between different passages from these texts. How the wedding is understood as a rite of passage may be very different if an interfaith and intercultural marriage takes place. The process of asking for the bride’s hand in marriage changes significantly in this kind of situation. The formal process of khastgari may not be applicable if the groom is not Afghan, or if some interpretation of khastgari does occur, altered ceremonial gestures may be used. This may entail the bride and groom functioning as a collective voice when speaking to their respective families about their decision to marry. The decision to marry may also have stemmed from an already extensive period of courtship, thereby making it less urgent to facilitate a long engagement, which is a key function of an engagement that comes from a typical khastgari. These social rituals are understood differently amongst those Afghans whose traditions come from different parts of the country. Some Afghan American
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families facilitate marriages in which the bride and groom meet for the first time during the nekah itself. There may still be an elaborate wedding reception, hosted with guests of both the bride and groom in attendance. —Helena Zeweri
Further Reading Monsutti, Alessandro. “Migration as a Rite of Passage: Young Afghans Building Masculinity and Adulthood in Iran.” Iranian Studies 40 (2007): 167–85. Shalinsky, Audrey C. “Gender Issues in the Afghanistan Story: Nadia’s Story.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies 17 (1996): 102–23.
Burmese Americans History, People, and Culture Burmese America is itself a multiethnic and multicultural part of an already diverse United States. The Burmese diaspora is also multicultural because Burma is a country that is multiethnic, with a Burman ethnic majority and over 125 ethnic minorities, in addition to sizable populations of Chinese, Indian, Korean, and other immigrants. Like other similarly heterogeneous Asian American communities with varied languages, backgrounds, ethnicities and migration circumstances—such as Chinese Americans—Burmese Americans struggle with an individual as well as collective identity and experience. However, unlike other, longer-established Asian American communities, Burmese Americans are only recently gaining recognition in mainstream America due to recent events in Burma. Recent examples include the so-called Saffron Revolution (September 2007), in which monks led peaceful marches and demonstrations against the military junta that rules Burma; and Cyclone Nargis (May 2008), in which relief workers and aid from the United States and France were not permitted into the country.
History of Burma Burma is in Southeast Asia, bordered by Thailand, China, India, and Bangladesh, and by the Indian Ocean, namely, the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Due to its tropical climate, it has three seasons: the cool, dry monsoon from October to February; the hot, dry season from February to May; and the rainy monsoon from late May to October. While the areas around the coasts and the rivers have been inhabited since ancient times, the medieval period of Burma was marked with the establishment and expansion of various inland kingdoms and city-states of peoples such as the Pyu, Mon, Pagan, Shan, and Arakan. In 1056 CE , King Anawrahta of Pagan declared Theravada Buddhism to be the state religion as part of his efforts to unify Burma; thus the Sangha (community of monks) to become integral advisors of the monarchy. This period is considered the start of the classical age of Burma, until 1364 when King Thadominbya created the Court of Ava. After
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many years of additional warfare among the various kingdoms that continued to shift the capital of Burma to different places, King Mindon established the centrally located Mandalay as the capital of Burma in 1857. The First and Second Anglo-Burmese Wars had already been fought, from 1824–1826 and 1852–1853, respectively, as the British continued to expand their colonial Indian empire eastward. During the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885, the British exiled Mindon’s son King Thibaw, Queen Supayalat, and their daughters to India. The British defeated the Burmese monarchy, dismantled the major role of the Sangha in the monarchy and moved the capital to the port city of Rangoon. In 1886, the entirety of Burma, except for the Shan state, was annexed to British India, and later, in 1937, Burma became a British colony. General Aung San is a beloved figure of the Burmese diaspora and is often considered the father of independent Burma. In an effort to remove British rule, he founded the Burma Independence Army and, along with 30 other men known collectively as the Thirty Comrades, received covert military training in 1940 by the Japanese, who offered to help them gain independence. The Japanese set up a supposedly independent Burma in 1943 with a puppet government; hence, in 1945, Gen. Aung San contacted the British in India with an offer to help the Allied forces of World War II by revolting against the Japanese Axis forces in Burma. In January 1947, the British agreed to transfer power, and a year later, in 1948, Burma became an independent nation. Gen. Aung San, his elder brother U Ba Win, and other members of his cabinet were assassinated in July 1947 by political rivals. With Burma struggling to govern itself after its long colonial rule and striving to rebuild its infrastructure after World War II, U Nu became Prime Minister of Burma until 1958 when a caretaker government led by Gen. Ne Win was set up. U Nu was again Prime Minister after the 1960 elections until March 1962 when Gen. Ne Win led a coup; Burma has since then been ruled by a military junta. From 1962 to 1988, Burma was ruled by Gen. Ne Win, who appointed Gen. Sein Lwin his successor after Ne Win resigned in the midst of continued unrest by the people of Burma in the face of his repressive, violent and authoritarian rule. On August 8, 1988 (8.8.88), masses of Burmese citizens, led by students and prodemocracy leaders, peacefully gathered in the streets to protest their country’s dire state of affairs and demanded a multiparty democracy, only to be massacred by the military. It is estimated that the military killed between 3,000 and 5,000 unarmed demonstrators. Gen. Sein Lwin immediately resigned, and soon thereafter, Gen. Saw Maung came into power and established the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Gen. Aung San, was in Burma taking care of her ill mother in 1988 and soon became one of the founders of the National League of Democracy (NLD) political party. She became a popular leader of the prodemocracy movement, was put under house arrest by the military junta in 1989, and
Burmese Americans: History, People, and Culture
won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 due to her efforts to achieve democracy and reform in Burma through nonviolent means. In 1990, Burma had free and open parliamentary elections, in which the NLD won a landslide victory; however, the military junta ignored the results and refused to transfer power. Gen. Than Shwe took power in 1992 when Gen. Saw Maung became ill, and the name SLORC was later changed to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997. In March 2006, the military junta hastily moved the capital to Naypyidaw, a town they constructed in central Burma. The military junta continues to oppress the ethnic and religious minorities, to jail and torture political dissidents and demonstrators, to curtail free speech, to censor the media and entertainment, and to undermine the influence of Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains the only jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Burmese America and Americans Burma is divided into seven administrative states: Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Mon, Arakan (Rakhine), and Shan. These seven states, along with the majority group of the Burman ethnicity, represent the primary ethnic groups in Burma. With more than 125 ethnic groups and immigrants, and more than 100 languages, Burmese culture is incredibly varied. The subsequent Burmese culture that is (re) produced and (re)created in the United States is similarly varied, and also different than in Burma as a result of adapting to the inaccessibility of certain cultural objects and social structures, and adapting to American cultural norms. Because the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 removed immigration quotas, Burmese people have been able to migrate to the United States in larger numbers than previously. Furthermore, while many Burmese come to the United States as immigrants, many more are also coming as refugees in recent years due to the problematic socioeconomic and political conditions in Burma. The refugees are often, but not always, from an ethnic minority group that has been violently persecuted by the military junta and have lived many years, if not their entire lives, in the difficult conditions of the refugee camps in Thailand along the Thai-Burmese border. The different Burmese groups speak different languages, but also practice different religions, wear different types of clothes, cook different kinds of dishes, and practice different forms of arts. The Burmese language is the lingua franca of Burma, and many of the early immigrants who had been educated in the British colonial system learned English prior to arrival to the United States. They did not have the same kinds of English language difficulties that some of the newly arrived Burmese in the United States currently experience. Burmese people generally have only one name, but must adopt the first and last name system in the United States, which arbitrarily splits their name into two parts or compels them to add the end of their fathers’ names to theirs.
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Burmese men and women wear variations of flip-flops (pronounced nya panah) with sarong-like clothes (pronounced longyi) and shirts or blouses (aingyi), either collared or collarless for men, and collarless and fitted for women. The cold climate in some parts of the United States often forces Burmese people to wear shoes. Some Burmese Americans continue to dress in Burmese fashion on a daily basis, while others wear traditional Burmese clothes only on special occasions or only at home. On such occasions, Burmese American children and women may wear on their faces an off-white cream made by crushing the bark of sandalwood (thanaka). These festivities are also times when the Burmese American community performs traditional dancing and singing (ah-nyeit), which are not extensively practiced in the United States. The Burmese holidays that continue to be celebrated in the United States are both secular and religious. Independence Day, marking the end of British colonial rule over Burma, is observed on January 4 and Martyr’s Day, commemorating the assassination of Gen. Aung San and other men in his cabinet, is on July 19. Thingyan, the Water Festival, and the Burmese New Year that it brings, are celebrated in April. Other ethnic groups celebrate their New Year at different times; for example, the Karen New Year is in December, and the Chin New Year is in January. Buddhist Lent starts in July (waso la-pyei nei) when monks retreat, study, and meditate during the rainy season, and ends in October, which is called Thadingyut, or the Festival of Lights. After Thadingyut but before the Tazaungdaing Festival of Flying Lanterns and Hot Air Balloons in November, the Burmese American community offer holy robes to monks (at least five in the Sangha) during the Kathina Robe Offering. The Burmese have celebrated Christmas since British colonial rule, and continue to celebrate it in the United States along with other American holidays such as Thanksgiving. Burmese Americans who are ethnic Chinese or Indian may also celebrate holidays of their ancestral heritage, such as the Chinese New Year in February. With holidays come traditional foods. A few dishes that are well known to all Burmese people are a preserved fish paste relish (nga-pi), fermented noodles with fish soup (mohinga), various noodle dishes (pronounced kauk-swe) that among many other methods may be fried (kauk-swe kyaw) or put in a coconut chicken soup (ohno kauk-swe), pickled tea leaf salad (la-phet thoht), and curry (hin). In the United States, the dishes change according to what ingredients are available; for example, mohinga becomes a dish that is made with plain rice noodles rather than fermented noodles, and often excludes banana heart because it is difficult to find. Mangosteens are fruit that the Burmese eat but are hard to obtain in the United States, while frozen durian, mangos, bananas, and papayas are relatively easy to enjoy. Although Americans in general do not follow soccer as much as other sports, Burmese Americans in particular enjoy soccer, which is called football by the British and was introduced to Burma in the 1870s. The Burmese also have a pastime with a light and hollow ball made out of cane (chinlon) that is tossed and kept up
Burmese Americans: History, People, and Culture
in the air using any body part except for the hands. Although this activity is similar to American youth kicking around a hacky sack, the chinlon today has become a more of a decorative object than a ball with which Burmese American youth play. Just as the chinlon has become more decoration than plaything, the Burmese harp is a musical instrument played in Burma that has become more of an art object in the United States. The Burmese are well known for their decorative arts, such as pastoral paintings, precise woodwork, and elegantly designed lacquerware, and the Chin people are known for their weaving skills and beautiful fabrics. The Burmese also create spectacular religious art in the architecture of a pagoda, Buddhist images using various media ranging from wood to metal, and shrines using mirror, glass, and gilt inlays (hman-si-shwe-cha). While the Burmese majority practices Theravada Buddhism, many of the ethnic minority groups, such as the Karen and Chin, are Christians. The people of Burma also have animist beliefs. Burmese Americans who have settled in California, Indiana, Georgia, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina have created communities around which they build Buddhist monasteries and Christian churches. The social structure of Burmese Americans differs greatly from that in Burma because monasteries are far fewer in number and do not play as central a role in daily life in the United States. The engagement the Burmese American community may have with the monks, who are the spiritual and social force of many Burmese communities (and, to a much lesser degree, nuns), depends greatly on their access to, and proximity of, the monastery or church. Furthermore, some monks help the Burmese American community in ways that are not required of them in Burma, such as providing translation, driving community members to doctors’ appointments, or helping to fill out forms and documents.
Burma or Myanmar The country of Burma is known officially as the Union of Myanmar. In June 1989, the military junta in power, SLORC, adopted the Adaptations of Expression Law, which they claimed would establish formal names of places by using more literary, properly spelled, and properly pronounced designations. Thus, they changed the name of the capital of Rangoon to Yangon and Burma to Myanmar. The military junta claimed the law aimed to excise a British colonial past that established English names and spellings, and to include the ethnic minorities that they suggested were excluded in the name “Burma,” which connotes the Burman majority. However, it is important to note that Myanmar is the literary version of Burma and therefore does not truly address this issue. The United Nations and the governments of France and Japan have adopted the name Myanmar, while the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom have not and continue to reference the country as Burma. The adoption of the name Myanmar is often
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controversial and sometimes thought to reflect a tacit approval of the military junta that enacted the name change, while a rejection of “Myanmar” reflects favoring the prodemocracy movement of Burma that resists military rule. Many Burmese expatriates in the United States and subsequent generations of Burmese Americans use “Burma” rather than “Myanmar.” Thus, in the United States, calling the people of Burma “Myanmarese” is uncommon. Despite this unconventionality, some Burmese Americans and others do use the name “Myanmar.” These variations on name are reflective of the multiple heritages that Burmese Americans have, and reflect the similarly mixed attitude they hold toward the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB). The NCGUB, now headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, was formed by NLD members in Thailand immediately after the Burmese military junta negated the results of the 1990 parliamentary elections and is led by Prime Minister-in-exile Dr. Sein Win, son of U Ba Win and nephew of Gen. Aung San. Early in the history of the NCGUB, many Burmese Americans may have wished that they could soon herald the NCGUB in Burmese American folklore by telling an extraordinary tale of how the NCGUB helped to dismantle the tyranny of the Burmese military regime, which has not been the case. Successfully countering such a regime has proven to be increasingly difficult not only by the people of Burma, but also for the NCGUB and governments of countries such as the United States, who seek to fulfill the wishes of the people of Burma and its expatriates to make real the folktale of a free Burma. —Nolana Yip
Further Reading Aung San Suu Kyi. Freedom from Fear. Edited by Michael Aris. London: Penguin, 1995. Aung San Suu Kyi. Letters from Burma. London: Penguin, 1996. Clements, Alan, and Leslie Kean. Burma’s Revolution of the Spirit: The Struggle for Democratic Freedom and Dignity. New York: Aperture Foundation, 1994. Fink, Christina. Living Silence: Burma under Military Rule. London: Zed Books, 2001. Htin Aung. A History of Burma. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967. Mi Mi Khaing. Burmese Family. Bombay: Orient Longmans, 1946. Rotberg, Robert I., ed. Burma: Prospects for a Democratic Future. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute Press, 1998. Steinberg, David I. Burma: The State of Myanmar. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2001. Thant Myint-U. The Making of Modern Burma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Web Site National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma: http://www.ncgub.net/.
Burmese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Depending on the affinity for Burmese culture, a Burmese American will attach varying degrees of the importance to the practice of ancestor worship. Burmese Americans revere their parents for taking care of them, and feel privileged to repay their gratitude in every way possible. Buddhist Burmese Americans consider Buddha (the Enlightened One), Dhamma (his teachings), Sangha (congregation of monks), parents, and mentors to be worthy of veneration. At the dinner table, they will offer food first to the parents before taking their own. To them, every day is “Father’s Day” and “Mother’s Day.” As much as time and budget permit, they will take care of their parents and/or grandparents while they are still alive, and also remember them. Burmese Americans professing other faiths will also revere their parents, but may not consider them worthy of veneration. For the beloved ancestors who have passed away, Buddhist Burmese Americans usually hang beautiful photos of them on a wall or place them in a home altar or shrine. Some participate in an “appreciation day and memorial” to perform kusala (wholesome deeds) and make merit for their ancestors. Buddhist hold that merit gained through loving acts of kindness and virtuous behavior will increase their chances of a more auspicious reincarnation, or rebirth. Burmese Americans generally believe that their ancestors would be reborn as humans, devas, and brahmas. Depending on the citta (mind) and cetasikas (state of mind) of the dying person, there is a slim chance that he or she may end up as a ghost or spirit. The teachings give examples of people not dying peacefully—maybe with attachments to their belongings—being reborn as peta (hungry ghost) and tree spirit. If the ghosts and spirits are able to see and hear others (especially descendants) performing wholesome deeds and sharing merits, and they can proclaim “Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu” (“well done” three times), they can be transformed almost instantly from their miserable existence to a better one. What if no one knows that they are ghosts and spirits? Depending on their desire to escape from the sad existence and their ability to let others see or hear them, they will try to contact their loved ones by sight, smell, or sound. Like Patrick Swayze in the hit film Ghost, some may try to speak through an interpreter about their ordeal. One Burmese American has a friend who perished in the seas a few hours before the rescue ship arrived. They were supposed to be temporary monks together that summer. The deceased friend possessed the monk aide and said, “I could not get near that monk. Please perform wholesome deeds and share merits.” Most Burmese Americans have not seen vampires and poltergeists. Some practice metta (loving kindness meditation) daily and share merits with all beings including ancestors, ghosts, and spirits. Before moving into new homes, most Burmese Americans invite monks to chant paritta (protective verses) including one
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dedicated to the celestial beings and spirits. Some who feel that their house is haunted will ask monks to perform a ritual requesting the ghosts and spirits to move elsewhere. —Hla Min
Further Reading Mahasi, Sayadaw. The Great Discourse on the Wheel of Dhamma. Translated by U Ko Lay. Rangoon, Burma: Buddhasasana Nuggaha Organization, 1981. Silananda, Sayadaw U. Paritta Pali and Protective Suttas. Daly City, CA: Dhammanda Vihara, 1995.
Arts and Crafts Burmese in the United States, like the Burmese in Southeast Asia, do not distinguish between art and craft. Accordingly, the two primary sites of arts and crafts in Burmese America, the temple and the home, never segregate oil paintings of the Shwedagon pagoda and the gilded sculptures of the Buddha from the inlaid betel nut boxes, lacquered harps (saung gauk), repousse´ silver bowls, carved ivory hairpins, and intricately woven sarongs (hta-mein for women and pah-so for men) that are proudly displayed and preciously stored in equal measure. For the first generation, these objects are a concrete bridge that connects their lives in the United States with memories of the homeland. For the second generation, these objects are similarly significant as touchstones for cultural identity and family folklore that determine intergenerational conversations. The role of arts and crafts in Burmese American households thus manifests cultural mythologies, personal histories, and lived behavior for a subsection of Asian America in which second-generation Burmese Americans rarely speak or write the native language of the first generation. In this sense, arts and crafts in Burmese America have an instrumental effect on daily life, regardless of the degree to which they are used or unused. At one end of the use spectrum, Burmese textiles represent crafts employed in daily life. Frequently aromatic from storage with decades-old mothballs, these textiles are constantly touched and worn in Burmese America and provide a direct sensory link between the country of origin and the country of residence. Whether in public community gatherings, where the bright colors and complex patterns of the sarong become the source of polite compliments and cultural bonding, or in private domestic situations, where parents and children share the tactile appreciation of folded squares of fabric, Burmese textiles invite generations to transmit folklore through the direct experience of material culture. Parents might use textiles to instruct children that cotton is preferable to silk in regard to Burmese
Burmese Americans: Domestic Religious Practices
Buddhist aversions to taking life. Or parents might impress cultural pride upon children by recounting that the shimmering wave-patterned acheik distinctive to Burmese silk weaving would shred with age before any of its color or luster would fade. At the other end of the use spectrum are betel nut boxes (kun-it), lidded and cylindrical containers of varying size and material that prominently decorate Burmese American homes. These craft objects sit empty in their transplanted context, since both the betel nut and the euphoric habit of sucking on betel nuts are rarely found or practiced in the United States. Made of black lacquer and gold leaf, carved mother of pearl, or pounded silver, these examples of Burmese folk art are divorced from their original function as containers for ritual hospitality (the offering of betel nuts being a basic duty of a Burmese host) to become tokens of Burmese American folk artifacts; these objects hold memories and cultural ties more than any physical thing. As such, the aesthetic experience triggered by crafts serves to link the spatial and temporal gaps of the immigrant experience. —Winston Kyan
Further Reading Bishop, Robert, and Jacqueline Marx Atkins. Folk Art in American Life. New York: Viking Studio Books, 1995. Fraser-Lu, Sylvia. Burmese Crafts: Past and Present. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Isaacs, Ralph, and T. Richard Blurton. Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the Art of Lacquer. London: British Museum Press, 2000. Lim, Shirley Geok-lin. Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Writing. Moorhead, MN: New Rivers Press, 2000.
Domestic Religious Practices Burma is a multireligious society that includes Theravada Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. Underlying all these beliefs is the native animist worship of powerful spirits (nat), viewed by some Burmese as irrational, but almost universally acknowledged as powerful. The domestic religious practices of Burmese Americans reflect this diverse religious heritage as well as the immigration history of these various groups to the United States. In general, the first wave of Burmese immigrants began arriving during the late 1960s, when the elimination of quotas on Asian immigration in the United States coincided with the xenophobic policies of Ne Win’s military regime in Burma to facilitate the arrival of Burmese Chinese (Theravada Buddhist) and Burmese Indians (Muslim and Hindu) in the United States.
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Another wave of predominantly indigenous Burmese (Theravada Buddhist and Christian) arrived, in the United States during the 1990s following the national uprising in 1988. Most Burmese American Muslims, Hindus, and Christians have been absorbed into broader religious communities based on South Asian identity or missionary activity. However, the development of a distinctively Burmese Theravada Buddhism, inflected with both indigenous animist belief and the Confucian values of the overseas Chinese in Burma, continues in the United States through domestic religious practices that range from the daily offering of water, fruit, and flowers at home altars crowded with Buddhist icons, ancestor portraits and photographs of Mount Popa (the volcanic home of 37 great nat spirits) to once-in-a-lifetime, Buddhist novitiate ceremonies (shin-byu) conducted within private residences that affirm religious beliefs, confirm family ties, and reconnect the displaced identities of the second generation with the homeland of the first generation. In its original context, the Burmese shin-byu ceremony is a major public rite-ofpassage in a young boy’s life. Linking home and temple, the novitiate (ko-yin) reenacts the decision of Rahula, the son of Gautama Buddha, to renounce his lay family and join the order of monks. In the process, children simultaneously enter into the religious traditions of their parents, while generating considerable religious merit for their parents. In Burmese America, this important event in family life has adapted to the absence of Burmese Buddhist temples in most parts of the country by centering on a private home rendered suitable for monastic precepts, which avoid luxurious beds, meals after noon, and the cohabitation of genders. As a domestic religious practice, participation in shin-byu is typically limited to close family members that bear witness to a boy’s vow to uphold the Ten Precepts, the shaving of his hair, and the changing of his clothes into monastic robes. Taken together, these ritual acts prepare the family for the dramatic reversal of conventional generational hierarchies during the shin-byu period (from one to several weeks), in which parents show daily obeisance to their son, who is now a novitiate, and children distance themselves from their parents, who are now laypeople. By rupturing family ties within the home itself, the Burmese American practice of shin-byu forces parents and children to temporarily replace generational concerns with religious and cultural ones. —Winston Kyan See also: Burmese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Superstition and Taboo; Temples.
Further Reading Cheah, Joseph. Negotiating Race and Religion in American Buddhism: Burmese Buddhism in California. Berkeley: Graduate Theological Union, 2004.
Burmese Americans: Dying and Death Rituals Ebaugh, Helen Rose Fuchs, and Janet Saltzman Chafetz. Religion and the New Immigrants: Continuities and Adaptations in Immigrant Congregations. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2000. Spiro, Melford. Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and Its Burmese Vicissitudes. New York: Harper & Row, 1970. Zhan, Lin. Asian Americans: Vulnerable Populations, Model Interventions, and Clarifying Agendas. Boston: Jones and Barlett, 2003.
Dying and Death Rituals Depending on personal, religious, and social beliefs, the concepts and acceptance of dying, death, and death rituals will vary with each Burmese American. Economic and legal factors can also play roles. Most Burmese Americans know that they are mortals, but they would refrain from discussing dying and death. Some would say, “I am going to die one day. Just do not know when and how.” The older Burmese Americans may have palm leaf natal horoscopes with the message “May you live to 120 years.” Some Burmese Americans practice vipassana (insight) meditation and note “birth and decay (death)” are in every physical and mental phenomena. A Muslim Burmese American was diagnosed with a terminal disease. The family members got him the best medical treatment under his health insurance plan, but they soon noticed that the ceiling for health insurance coverage was imminent. Facing the prospect of huge medical bills and with no possibility of dying gracefully, the family agreed to take off the life support. It was not a simple decision, but it is one that some Burmese Americans will have to face. The death ritual was simple (i.e., wrapped in a white cloth and buried in an Islamic cemetery). Would the example be different if he had professed Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism? One multitalented Burmese American worked as part-time professor while pursuing his other hobbies. He was regarded highly as a scholar and a teacher who never missed a session. When he did not show up for a few classes, the students contacted campus police to check his house. After cursory visits for a few days, the campus police finally decided to break in and found him lying peacefully on his bed. Apparently he had succumbed to “instant death” by aneurism. The department head broadcast help to the Burmese Community: (1) to give him the last rites per his religious and social belief, and (2) to contact his siblings in Burma. Several Theravada Buddhist monks were offered soon (food) and dana (offering). They performed the last rites befitting a Burmese Buddhist. Cremation took place in the presence of friends and community leaders. Ashes were placed in a robust
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box that could be air-shipped to Burma. Per request from his siblings, his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean. The death rituals for Burmese Americans can be simple or complex. It is common to have a wake on one day and a burial or cremation the next. In some cases, these events take place on the same day. Some Burmese Americans might have rituals for a number of days (e.g., 7, 30, 45, or 49) after the death. Rituals might also include eulogies and paying physical respect to the deceased. Performing last rites could get complicated if some family members profess a different faith. —Hla Min
Further Reading Documentary on the Last Journey of Sayadaw U Silananda. TBSA, 2005. DVD. Venerable Sayadaw U Silananda, “Some Collections of Sayings on Death.”
Festivals and Holidays Burmese Americans and, subsequently the religious communities, to which they belong have migrated to the United States seeking political refuge and religious freedom. Almost all of these Burmese immigrants and refugees are either Buddhist or Christian; however, there are small groups of practicing Hindus and Muslims. This entry will focus on Buddhist and Christian holidays celebrated by Burmese Americans. Burmese immigrant Buddhists and, to some degree, their children observe important events in the life of the Buddha. These holidays fall on the lunar cycle or phase when the moon is on the opposite side of earth from the sun, and is otherwise known as the full moon. They include Kason, Waso, Thadingyut, and Tazaungdaing. In addition, every Burmese temple in the United States commemorates the Thingyan (Burmese New Year) festival and, in some temples, the festival of Htamane Pwe (the former word means “sticky rice”) is celebrated, as well. Again, most of these holidays are based on the Burmese luni-solar (solar year and lunar months) calendar with the exception of the Burmese New Year, which falls around April 16, and is a holiday that is based on the fixed Zodiac system. Originally, these Buddhist holidays were connected to either Burmese agricultural or seasonal cycles, both of which are based upon a symbolic system of worship derived from classic formulations and expressions associated with ancient community’s interdependency on all-encompassing notions of faith and preservation. In this respect, the celebrations of these festivals in the United States are out of sync with the season with which they were originally associated because of the differences in time zones. In Burma the spring season occurs a couple of
Burmese Americans: Festivals and Holidays
Children soak one another at Thingyan, the annual Burmese water festival, in Brooklyn, New York. (Lee Snider/The Image Works)
months earlier than in the United States and, therefore, Htamane pwe is celebrated at the end of the spring harvest season in February. In April, Burmese American Buddhists usher in the New Year with the traditional celebration of Thingyan. The full moon of May or Kason commemorates the day on which the Buddha was born, attained Enlightenment, and died. It is celebrated as Kason, or Buddha Day. Likewise, the Buddhist Lenten period runs from the full moon of July (Waso) to the full moon of October (Thadingyut). Waso (July) and Thadingyut (October) mark the beginning and end of the Buddhist Lent. Tazaungdaing marks the last day of the full moon of November (Tazaungmoun) when kathina robes can be offered by the laity to the monks. Almost all of Chin and Kachin as well as a large percentage of Karen and Chinese-Burmese in the United States are Christians. The majority of these Christians are Baptists, largely, due to the Baptist missionary efforts in Burma, during the 19th century. They celebrate the same holidays as other Christian religions such as Easter and Christmas. As is with other Burmese American religious groups, food plays an important role in bringing people for fellowship, the preservation of culture, and the reinforcement of their ethnicity. Burmese American Protestants and Christians of the various different denominations engage in ecumenical fellowships that promote interchurch attendance and activities. Methodists who live far from a Burmese-speaking Methodist church
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will often attend a Burmese American Baptist church. Muslim Burmese American members of a Muslim Community Center often join hands with Buddhist Burmese Americans for events that transcend religions such as fund-raising for the Cyclone Nargis victims in Burma. It is common for Burmese Americans of one religion to help in a fund-raising activity for Burmese Americans of another religion. Burmese Americans celebrate several “bringing in the New Year” ceremonies. In addition to ushering in the American New Year on January 1, they celebrate the Burmese New Year in mid-April based on the lunar-solar-socio-religious calendar. Some Burmese Americans defer the celebration to May or June for better weather conditions and for less schedule conflicts with schools. Some try to emulate the Thingyan (water throwing festival for three or four days) on a limited scale. Young Burmese Americans throw water at each other and the attendees of the festival with water pistols and water bottles. Burmese American women often dance individually and collectively to the Thingyan songs. Artists, such as Accordionists, U Ant Gyi, Daw Mar Mar Aye, Lashio Thein Aung, Myanmarpyi Thein Tan, May Sweet, and Mie Mie Win Pe may give live performances. Since Burma is so ethnically varied, Burmese Americans may also usher in New Year with the Rakhines, Karen, Kachin, Chin, Sino-Burmese, and Indo-Burmese. Older Burmese Americans remember that the Burmese calendar used to be marked with 12 festivals (one for each Burmese month). Some festivals have more significance than others. In Burmese America, where time is precious and some people (especially in the services sector) have to work on weekends and holidays, it is not possible even to emulate some festivals. But Burmese Americans can still enjoy vicariously two lightning festivals in Thadinkyut and Tazungdaing. The word Thadinkyut might trigger memories of the Phaung Daw Oo Festival in the Inlay Lake with its famed leg-rowers. The word Tazungdaing might remind them of the brightlylit cartoons and satires on a street. With the PC and Internet technology, Burmese Americans can still appreciate if not fully practice the customs of their ancestors. There are also customs associated with births, weddings, and funerals, and Burmese Americans may follow full or streamlined versions of those observed by their forebears. A senior Buddhist Burmese American lamented that there was no pagoda nearby, but acknowledged the compromises needed to be near her grandchildren in the United States. Her usual daily ritual back in Burma was to walk to a nearby pagoda or take a side-car or taxi to a pagoda farther away. —Joseph Cheah and Hla Min
Further Reading Cheah, Joseph. “The Function of Ethnicity in the Adaptation of Burmese Religious Practices.” In Huping Ling, ed. Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008.
Burmese Americans: Folk Dance and Performance Maung Shwe Wa. Burma Baptist Chronicle. Rangoon: University Press, 1963. U Hla Min, ed. “The Thadingyut Festival.” Dhammananda Newsletter 22(1) (January 2002): 2, 10.
Folk Dance and Performance Burmese American folk dances have developed synergistically alongside Burmese folk music and stylized classical performance in a setting where folk dance is a refracted and stylistically relaxed retelling of traditional classical and sacred stories which inform the complex Burmese legacy. All performance arts are now increasingly performed for the wider international and American public with the assistance of the Myanmar government, and, to a lesser extent, private arts sponsorships and the assistance of the Burmese Monks Associations. These activities take place across the wary divide of current political climates in a Burmese diaspora split between the military Junta and the Buddhist-leaning prodemocracy elected government. Burmese Americans are less active in local and international folk dance clubs and associations than other Southeast Asian traditions, preferring to participate in such celebrations within the more private communal structure of the Burmese Buddhist Monks Association and its ritual ministry within the Burmese American community. The grounding stories and themes echoing in Burmese folk dances derive from Indian epics, notably the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the later Buddhist Jataka stories of the life journey of the historical Buddha, much of it taking place in Burma. The poetic affection and cultural preference for an equally earthy and spiritually nuanced meditative awareness of nature as deity and deity as nature are alive in the fluid expression and symbolic integrations of the folk dance, providing an easy, celebratory, participatory, and inviting communal and ritual reenactment of Burmese national, religious, spiritual, and cultural identity on American soil. The Burmese American community, deeply concerned to preserve their unique and inward-looking heritage amid serious political difficulties, enjoys a characteristically Burmese emotional release in such symbolically loaded celebratory, poetic, and artistic performances. Most Burmese folk dances are officially characterized as agro-based to mimic agricultural activities, daily chores, and the daily lifestyle of a largely peasant population. The ethnicity of the folk dances and associated performing arts stretches across seven states and political divisions encompassing more than 130 anciently settled ethnic groups. Most Burmese folk dances are group dances. Some are performed for ritual purposes of appeasing or exorcising nat spirits (nature spirits) unbound by international space or time, and also to give thanks, signal a donation, or commemorate specific life events. Buddhist saints are assimilated at the head of the unified
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geomantic and philosophico-religious system that incorporates all Burmese local and regional Nat, to which all Burmese and all Burmese Americans are considered spiritually, physically, and socially related wherever they are in the Burmese global diaspora. Indigenous stories and symbolic elements of the many regional nat are woven into Burmese performing and folk dance traditions and point to the underlying confluence of Indian Tantric, Saivite, Vaisnavite, early Buddhist, primal indigenous, and Taoist geomantic legacies that continue to pervade and characterize the more concrete Burmese and Burmese American unified contextualization of spirituality. The geomantic primal religious perspective and animism, essentially Tantric, is constantly implied and portrayed under layers of symbolism, stylized gesture, costume, accessory, sexuality, and storyline unities, even in folk performance. The dances and performances yield their meanings to the initiated observer, if only by a color, a fabric, a glance, while richly connecting the Burmese American spectator and folk dance participant to the concrete sacred spiritual unity of Burmese geography, spirituality, meaning, and national unity at a single stroke. Several classical forms of Burmese traditional folk dance may be observed in the United States posted on official government Internet sites, and in other secret Internet runs, privately filmed on location from Burma, from clandestine cell phone feeds where SIM chips have remained unconfiscated. We may observe the Ooh-Si, Daubat, Byaw, Boun-gyi, U-Shway Yoe, and other rural folk dances. The Ooh-Si, originally performed at Burmese pagoda festivals, uses drums, oboe, cymbals, bamboo clappers, solo, and chorus singers and is adapted in the United States for commemorative occasions, often karaoke style. The similar Daubat uses a different drum with thun-gia chanting and the services of a witty poet, often able to poke political and satirical fun in the time-honored tradition of ancient street and sacred theater and performing arts. The Byaw is a signal dance announcing the conclusion of a religious deed, including alms giving, entry into the novitiate, ordination, and even a discreetly performed exorcism of malevolent nat spirits, easily adapted in the United States to varieties of Burmese Buddhist religious and healing ceremonies. The Boun-gyi of Upper Burma/Myanmar is performed with older traditional Nuban Zan tufted hairstyles, circular facial and body designs applied in golden mineral Thanaka powder, gold pendants and gold anklets, and is traditionally performed at fund-raising events in Burma/Myanmar with easy adaptation to similar uses in the United States. The U-Shway Yoe, a comic dance from British colonial times, occasionally performed with the stock female dance character Daw Moe, is performed with comic moustaches, lending itself to evolving political satire in the Burmese American setting. A deeper symbolism of the danced stories resonates with Burmese Americans as they identify the tales with the ongoing modern struggles of the forces of the left and the forces of the right ethically and proto-metaphysically depicted in the Epic tales, sacred stories, and mythologies now seen as played out in the current protracted conflict within
Burmese Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
Burma/Myanmar, consciously pegging the character development and fortunes of political leaders to events unfolded in the ancient tales, again lampooned in the modern satires. Burmese folk and classical dance, closer to the full Indian performing arts traditions than other Southeast Asian traditions, incorporate shadow and rod puppet dances with the traditional role reversal of human dancers as puppets, the dancers being choreographed and lighted to cast shadows on a screen, making clear allusion to the didactic themes of the sacred shadow play story dance invoking the play, dance, destiny, and irony of human life. The dancer-as-puppet inversion emerges in the fully developed puppet, street, and folk theater aesthetic genre wherever it has become firmly and culturally rooted. Burmese American folk performance sustains this traditionally inflected role reversal, incorporating the further characteristic development of comic political satire wittily and poetically adapted to contemporary Burmese-Myanmar American sociopolitical events. Traditionally performed under the protective cover of miniature puppet people and easily dismissed by power structures as unimportant, playing to semiliterate masses, such performances have traditionally remained an untouched vehicle of belief and values transmission well under the radar of authority on many continents. Exceptionally, the Burmese inversion and satire are performed inside Burma under threat of actual imprisonment in real time, albeit duly recounted in Internet chronicles in another layer of ribald and lampooning podcasts by the prisoners themselves, all avidly watched by mostly literate Burmese Americans from an attitude of resigned humor and admiration. This is a significant change in the development of the aesthetic genre of puppet-people theater, dance and performance and its efficacy as a means of social satire and cultural transmission. The serious notice taken of it by power structures and the impact of a new technology of global reach and accessibility are important factors in this change. Burmese folk dance and associated performing arts are gaining slow ground in university and college curricula devoted to Asian studies and performing arts. Various degrees of professional or improvised and costumed professional dance, solo performance, and vocal and musical accompaniments are a common sight at Burmese American street festivals coordinated with traditional seasonal and agricultural performances in Burma/Myanmar, often in close association with the Burmese Monks Association. Performances commissioned for weddings and to commemorate special life events of Burmese Americans are largely conducted under the aegis of the Burmese Monks Associations. An emerging class of professional dance instructors and performers in the United States, and awareness of folk dancing and performance initiatives by other Southeast Asian neighbors, are potential factors that may increase the visibility and wider performance of these highly symbolic forms of entertainment and instruction in the United States. —Barbara A. Amodio
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Further Reading For videos in QuickTime format of Burmese/Myanmari folk dance, performance, and short lessons in classic movements, gestures, facial expressions, use of costume to enhance gesture, and music, see http://www.myanmars.net.
Folk Music The folk music of Burma (Myanmar) is largely performed by traditional ensembles during specific festivals or other days of celebration throughout the year. Most of the 50,000–100,000 Burmese Americans are found in the urban centers of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Washington, DC., Fort Wayne, Chicago, San Diego, New Jersey, and Florida. Some of the Burmese immigrated to the United States in the 1960s, but most arrived in the 1980s and 1990s. The only active and popular traditional Burmese American music ensemble is organized by an assistant lecturer at Yangon Cultural University, Nai Htaw Paing. The ensemble, appropriately titled the Nai Htaw Paing Ensemble, performs songs of the Mon ethnic group on traditional instruments. The most striking instrument is the large kyam (crocodile zither), which is a three-stringed zither in the shape of a crocodile. A 14-row, crescent-shaped gong set, pone pon (drums), graw (three-stringed fiddle), battala (23-key xylophone), khanwe (double-reed oboe), and talutt (bamboo flute) provide the rest of the musical accompaniment. Popular Burmese music is virtually nonexistent, except for a single, female artist from San Francisco. A Stanford University graduate, Robin Nathalis Chow, now known professionally as Natalise, has performed most of her life. As a child, Natalise played the piano, studied opera and musical theater, sang in church, and became a jazz singer with her high school band. In the early 2000s, Natalise branched out and released numerous singles and a few albums of noticeably electronic dance/pop music with an urban edge. In striking contrast to Nai Htaw Paing’s Burmese-language ensemble, Natalise embraces Western pop culture and sings in English. —Matthew J. Forss
Further Reading MacLachlan, Heather. “Innovation in the Guise of Tradition: Music among the Chin Population of Indianapolis, USA.” Asian Music 39(2) (2008): 167–85. Nai Htaw Paing Ensemble. Mon Music of Burma. Fire Mountain Records. FM-02.
Burmese Americans: Folktales
Folktales Most Burmese Americans will probably remember the bedtime stories told by their elders, especially in the days before the Internet. There was plenty of time for family members to share folktales, sometimes, just for fun but, at other times, to develop oratory communication skills and transmit timely wisdom, cultural knowledge, and traditional values. No special visual and sound effects are needed by a proficient teller of folktales. Buddhist Burmese Americans are familiar with folktales derived from ancient scripture. As children, for example, they may have heard their parents recite a nursery rhyme about “an old man and a rabbit on the moon.” They might recall the folktale about the supreme dana (offering) made by the rabbit and how it was rewarded by being placed on the moon. First generation Burmese Americans who have spent a sizable part of their life in Burma would have read countless folktales in their Burmese texts and in magazines targeted at children and young adults. U Po Kyar (1891–1942), a nationalist educator, compiled a collection of short stories that reflect the virtues of a Burmese. Some older Burmese Americans would remember reading and enjoying the book. He also wrote a book on the nats (spirits) of Bagan, an ancient capital of Burma. Dr. Htin Aung, who studied at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and was Rector Emeritus of Rangoon University, was a prolific writer covering Burmese history, law, drama, and folktales (i.e., A Kingdom Lost for a Drop of Honey and Other Burmese Folktales). Incidentally, some folktales cover history, law, and drama and highlight universal human truths. Daw Khin Myo Chit, matriarch of three generations of writers and journalists, introduced Burmese short stories and folktales to the world and won accolades. “The 13 Carat Diamond” was included in the collection Fifty Great Oriental Stories. “The Four Puppets” was published in Folktales of Asia, sponsored by the Asian Cultural Center for UNESCO. Ludu U Hla, founder and publisher of the Ludu newspaper known for its radical views, spent 16 years collecting and publishing folktales from the various parts of Burma. He published in Burmese more than 40 volumes containing 1,500 folktales, some of which were published in English. With advent of digital books and libraries, Burmese Americans can once again enjoy their folktales. —Hla Min
Further Reading Htin Aung. Burmese Folk-Tales. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1948. Htin Aung. Burmese Law Tales. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1962.
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Burmese Americans: Foods and Foodways Htin Aung. Burmese Monk’s Tales. New York: Columbia University Press, 1966. Lha Lu thu U. Folktales of Ludu U Hla. Translated by “K” (Khin Zaw), Than Tun, and Kathleen Forbes. N.p., 1994.
Foods and Foodways Burmese American foods and foodways coexist in two infrequently intersecting planes in the United States, namely, the official consular society of the Republic of Myanmar and a diffuse Burmese expatriate community opposed to the current military junta. An inward-looking society, Burmese Americans have not taken to entrepreneurial enterprises such as restaurants, but are easily at home in Indian and newer Malaysian restaurants. Authentic Burmese foods are provided at consular events and celebrations. The other half of Burma loyal to Aung San Suu Kyi, “the lady” Buddhist president, dines privately, with Burmese Buddhist monk associations who also feed the poor, and at community fairs and festivals throughout the United States designed to present their plight to Americans, sell multiple prepared ethnic
Frozen durians are available at Asian markets throughout the United States, for example, at the Manila Oriental Market in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco, California. (Jonathan H. X. Lee)
Burmese Americans: Foods and Foodways
foods, and raise money and consciousness to “save the culture of Burma.” Burmese American foods are mostly confined to home preparation and Burmese American Buddhist monasteries that serve Indian-inspired vegetarian foods communally to friends, visitors, research scholars, and people on meditative retreat at numerous events cosponsored by the monastic and unofficial Burmese American community. Burmese Theravada Monks are central to the psychological and cultural tone of life of Burmese Americans and their introspective attitude toward food. Burmese Americans eat in Buddhist mindfulness set in American legal freedoms. Distinctive characteristics of Burmese American foodways flow from two main ancient populations. Tibeto-Burman, in truth more an Indian Bengali-MonBurman influence in evidence from excavations as early as 5th–6th century BCE in ancient Prome, paved the way for Tibeto-Indian Buddhist migrations, placing Burmese foodways closer to Indian foodways than any other Southeast Asian tradition. Shan and Red Karen indigenous primal peoples of the northwest contribute Eurasian-Chinese influences, the next dominant note in the Burmese aroma. Cambodian Mon-Khmer and Indian Bhils-Gonds families (once called Talaings pejoratively); Central Asian Pyus; pre-Mauryan Hindu Vaisnavaites and Saivaites; and a Malay-Polynesian community are pounded and absorbed into the fragrant Burman Curry nestled in the curve of nearly impassible mountains and shared borders with India, Bangladesh, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, China, and Indonesian seaways. Strands may be teased out only slightly from the intense fusion. The Indian technique of pounding spices, herbs, and vegetables into pastes to blend and release aromatic oils before adding them to a recipe is obligatory. Adding chopped spices and fragrant herbs separately is culinary sacrilege in India and Burma. A deeply introspective spiritual culture integrating native spirit worship into Hindu-Buddhist introspection turns chopping, pounding, chewing, and cleaning up into inward exercises performed as mindfulness meditations on work, patience, humility, perseverance, thanksgiving, and reverence for the ingredients and flesh of animals as sacred gifts from God’s appearing, fruiting, and flowering body. Vegetarianism is emphasized, along with fragrant rice (Basmati/Pausanmu), eggs, fish, fowl, and meats from a land where even Buddhist monks eat some meat. Sepyan, the unique Burmese Curry made with or without Indian curry powders, uses a characteristic slow evaporation process to reduce the liquid content until only a clear oily sauce remains, creating a characteristic consistency and intense fragrance. Sepyans, used for meat or fish, are the main dishes that accompany the fragrant rice of every meal. Sepyans resemble Indian curries only on the surface. Indian American markets cater to Burmese American grocery needs. Distinctive Burmese ingredients include varietal chilies, curry powders, dried shrimp, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, lemon/lime, onion, fragrant rice, salt, shrimp and fish pastes, sweet paprika, tamarind, turmeric powder, lentils, tropical fruits, vegetables, kangkung (Asian water spinach), banana leaves, palm sugar, and Indian naan breads. Three
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meals per day remain common in the United States. Evenings close with meditation, Burmese Tea, Tea Salad made from larger tea leaves when available or substitutes of baby greens and fragrant leaves, and Sweets such as sliced palm sugar. Lentils, as in India, in some form accompany meals. Noodles and, if available from Chinese grocers, a true hardened protein Bird’s (Tern’s) Nest soup separated into noodlethreads in boiling water, or substituted Italian pasta nests, are nostalgic treats. Heavily sweetened and caramelized fruit, rice, milk and coconut milk drinks, some featuring sliced black jellies reminiscent of those in Malaysian ABC (shaved ice kachangs) are shared and sipped quietly alone or with friends. Burmese Americans occasionally frequent Indian and Malaysian restaurants, and often prepare, serve, and dine with Burmese Monks. Evenings end with sipping and savoring a fine tea while cultivating silence amid thoughts of a homeland of golden pagodas in a landscape of a sacred parrot hiding in the shape of a kite with a tail. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Indian Americans: Ayurveda; Foods and Foodways entries in the Indian Americans, Indonesian Americans, and Malaysian Americans sections.
Further Reading Basham, Arthur Llewellyn. The Wonder That Was India. Foreword by Thomas R. Trautmann. Oxford, UK: Pan Macmillan Ltd (Picador), 2004. Chan, Susan. Flavors of Burma: Cuisine and Culture from the Land of Golden Pagodas. New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 2003. Church, Peter, ed. A Short History of South-East Asia. 5th ed. Singapore: John Wiley and Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd, 2009. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. “Part VI. Farther India, Indonesia and Ceylon.” In History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1972, 156–213. Hutton, Wendy, ed. Authentic Recipes from Malaysia. Singapore: Periplus Editions, 2005. Kyi, Aung San Suu. Letters from Burma, with an Introduction by Fergal Keane. London: Penguin Books, 1997.
Web Site Chan, Susan. Web site with pictures of Burma, interesting facts, and recipes. http://www .myanmar.com.au.
Heroes and Heroines Burmese American heroes and heroines can be personal, local, communal, national, international, and maybe even universal. Burmese Americans appreciate heroic deeds and actions done beyond the call of duty. They love to hear and read about
Burmese Americans: Heroes and Heroines
legendary, historical, and real-life heroes and heroines. Ancient Burma is fondly referred by some writers as the “Golden Land of Legends.” Many pagodas starting with the world renowned Shwe Dagon pagoda in Rangoon and the historic temples from the Bagan era have beautiful murals and oil paintings depicting myths and legends—from the ancient scriptures to the Burmese and Mon dynasties— along with the heroes and heroines. Some writers add aura and drama to the historical heroes (such as Anawratha) and heroines (such as Shin Saw Pu). A few are fortunate to experience firsthand the kind acts of seemingly Burmese school headmaster and politician ordinary people who rose to the occa- U Thant served as secretary general of the United Nations during the 1960s, one of the sion as superheroes. Most of Burma’s heroes are linked most turbulent decades of the 20th century. (Corel) to independence and unity. U Thant was born in 1909 during the time the British ruled Burma. He was first published at the age of 16 and graduated college at the age of 20. He continued to publish and wrote a book on the League of Nations and newspaper articles. U Thant became the Minister of Information under the new independent Burma in 1945. In 1957, U Thant became Burma’s representative to the United Nations and served two terms as its Secretary General. U Thant strove to bring peace in the Middle East, advocated for Algerian independence, tried to end the Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the civil war in the Congo. He also created many new UN agencies such as the UN Development Programme, the UN University, UN Environmental Programme, and the UN Institute for Training and Research. He resigned as Secretary General in 1972 and moved to New York, where he died of lung cancer two years later. A Peace award has been named after him as well as an island in the United States, a lecture series, the UN headquarters in Tokyo, and various scholarships. Born in February 1915, Aung San is known as the founder of Burma’s independence. He graduated from Rangoon University with a BA in English, modern history, and political science in 1938. Before World War II, Aung San tired to gain independence from the British and formed the nationalist organization called the Freedom Bloc and then the People’s Revolutionary Party, for which the British
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put out a warrant for his arrest. He fled first to China and then to Japan, receiving training by the military, moved back to Burma, and with Japanese help freed Burma from the British. After World War II, England retook Burma and let Aung San become Prime Minister under their rule. He negotiated Burma’s independence and had the charisma to bring together most of the diverse ethnic groups within Burma except the Karens. Aung San was assassinated, along with most of his cabinet members, in 1947, six months prior to independence. The day of his death, July 22, is a day of national remembrance and a holiday in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi, known as Suu Kyi to distinguish her from her father Aung San, was born in 1945. Suu Kyi graduated from Oxford University with a master’s degree, studying politics, economics, and philosophy. She became a UN Secretariat for two years in New York and then a visiting scholar at various Universities around the world. In 1988, she moved back to Burma and gained national attention as the leader of the National League for Democracy (NDL), which opposed the military government and advocated for democracy. She was placed under house arrest for attempting to split the army and was forbidden to run for election in 1990. Being under house arrest off and on since 1990, Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, the Prize for Freedom in 1995, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000, the Freedom from Fear Award in 2006, the Congressional Gold Medal in 2008, and the Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation in 2009. There are many unsung Burmese American heroes and heroines who helped preserve the Burmese language and culture. A Burmese American is supposed to have served as a Burmese-language specialist during the World War II, and several others helped develop the Burmese-language speaking courses for use by members of the diplomatic service. Some taught Burmese at U.S. universities such as Cornell and the Naval Postgraduate School. Some helped set up Burmese Collections in the Library of Congress and Northern Illinois University. Some set up nonprofit organizations to disseminate bilingual (Burmese and English) news media online and in printed texts. Some Burmese American heroes and heroines showed by example that the United States is a land of opportunities. They overcame obstacles and achieved success in their studies and professions. They not only mentored newcomers with the tools of the trade, but also helped them counter the steep learning curve. They never forgot their roots, and helped raise funds when Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma. Many Burmese Americans are active in professional, social, and religious organizations and in the “Get counted for Census 2010” movement. Some have received recognition awards from the local governments and educational institutions. A Burmese American was grieved to receive a letter saying that her beloved son had made the supreme sacrifice for the country and would be posthumously awarded medals for bravery. She accepted the misfortune calmly as bad kamma
Burmese Americans: Home Decoration
of the family. It had been barely two weeks since she lost her beloved father, who had guided many Burmese Americans as a mentor. Her personal heroes were also heroes for the Burmese American community. The 9/11 toll count did not include Burmese Americans. Among the Burmese Americans who worked at the World Trade Center, one was on evening shift and the other was asked to spend a few hours off-site by his boss. It is said that a young woman, whose father is Burmese American and mother is Middle Eastern American, gave up her place in the elevator to a pregnant coworker. It would be an epitome of a true heroine. —Hla Min and Brandon Fryman
Further Reading Aung San Suu Kyi. Aung San of Burma. Edinburgh: Kiscadale, 1984. Firestone, Bernard J. The United Nations under U Thant, 1961–1971. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 2001. Kin Oung. Who Killed Aung San? Bangkok: White Lotus, 1993. Maung Maung, U. Aung San of Burma. The Hague: Published for Yale University, Southeast Asia Studies by M. Nijhoff, 1962. Nassif, Ramses. U Thant in New York, 1961–1971: A Portrait of the Third UN SecretaryGeneral. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988. Reid, Robert, and Michael Grosberg. Myanmar (Burma). London: Lonely Planet Publications PTY LTD, 2005. Stewart, Whitney. Aung San Suu Kyi: Fearless Voice of Burma. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1997. Thomas, William. Aung San Suu Kyi. Trailblazers of the Modern World. Milwaukie, OR: World Almanac Library, 2004.
Home Decoration Similar to other Southeast Asian Americans, Burmese American home decoration symbolizes what it means to be Burmese in America. The principal Burmese American home decorations are artifacts and images related to Buddhism, such as wooden icons, paintings, and sculptures of the Buddha. Burmese teak and bamboo furniture is also popular. Burmese lacquerware is known for its beauty and complexity. In Burma the lacquer tree is not cultivated. Lacquer is a tree sap that is harvested from the forest. The Burmese lacquer tree is from the same family as the lacquer tree used in China. In Burma, the tree is tapped by creating cuts in the bark and collecting the yellowish-brown sap in tubes. Lacquer sets as a natural, flexible plastic that is
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resistant to heat, moisture, and insect damage. Lacquer can be applied to an extensive array of materials such as palm-leaf, teak wood, metal, and leather, but is mainly used on split bamboo, which can be coiled or woven into vessels and other decorative items. Lacquer is also used in its liquid form as a varnish, glue, or ink. In Burma, the sap can be mixed with ash or sawdust to create a putty, known as thayo, that can be sculpted into Buddhist icons or other Buddhist-inspired arts and crafts. Burmese elephants are also popular in the design of Burmese American home decoration. Burmese silk throw pillows, for instance, depict elephants. The popularity of Burmese home decorations is such that various Burmese lacquer products, in particular Buddhist sculptures and vases, can be purchased in American chain stores, such as Target. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Burmese Americans: Arts and Crafts.
Further Reading Falconer, John, Elizabeth Moore, Daniel Kahrs, and Alfred Birnbaum. Burmese Design and Architecture. North Clarendon, VT: Periplus Publishing, 2001.
Humoral Medicine and Spirit Beliefs Burmese Americans believe that health is related to harmony and balance among an individual’s body, mind, soul, and the universe. Burmese pray to the nats, protective spirits of everything that exists in people, animals, plants, a single tree, a hill, a lake, a house, a village, etc. Nats are not personified; however, everyone must respect them by offering food and drinks, a deferential gesture for protection from the spirit. Outside a Burmese American’s home, one may see a “house” with offerings of fruits, flowers, water, etc. in exchange for protection by the nats. Like other Asian groups, Burmese Americans believe that balance between “hot’ and “cold” elements and states is critical for health; and illnesses are considered to be hot or cold. Therefore, opposite medicines or food are used to treat an illness. In addition, dietary adjustment using the six Burmese tastes (sweet, sour, hot, cold, salty, bitter) may be used to treat illnesses. For example, the postpartum period is thought to be cold due to blood loss; therefore, the body should be kept warm with hot foods and medicines. Sour and bitter foods are also taken during postpartum period because they are thought to reduce blood flow. Cold water is not commonly consumed by people thought to be in a cold state even though the temperature is not a determinant of hot or cold foods. Traditional medicines are used by certain ethnic tribes of Burma, and these medicines may be derived from plants, animals, or minerals. Use of betel quid is
Burmese Americans: Identity
ubiquitous in Burma, even though it may not be as common in Burmese America. The basic quid is chopped or crushed nut from the areca palm, a white or pink paste of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) wrapped in a betel leaf. The quid provides a mild “high” and helps with dental pain; but it is associated with squamous cell carcinoma. In addition to following the Five Precepts for laypeople (exhortations not to kill, steal, lie, drink alcohol, and commit adultery), giving donations (especially to monks) as a meritorious deed may help a person to achieve nirvana As one of the “five objects of worship” in Buddhism, parents are sacred; therefore, disobedience to a parent is considered a sin. Important decisions may be made by a Burmese American after seeking guidance from an astrologer, palm reader, and/or clairvoyant. The head is thought to be the highest part of the body and should not be touched by another person, except for medical examinations. —Dorothy C. Chen-Maynard See also: Burmese Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing.
Further Reading Chu, Nai-Shin. “Effects of Betel Chewing on the Central and Autonomic Nervous Systems.” Journal of Biomedical Science 8 (2001): 229–36. Norton, Scott. A. “Betel: Consumption and Consequences.” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 38 (1998): 81–88.
Identity The identity of Burmese Americans cannot be essentialized or oversimplified. The identity spaces into which Burmese Americans subsume are determined in part by the premigration experiences of Burmese immigrants and their postmigration adjustments to the American context. The Karen, Chin, Kachin, and other indigenous minorities of Burma have had to suffer at the hands of the coercive military regime, whose recriminatory actions have resulted in the pillage of indigenous minorities’ villages, the raping of their women, and use of women and children as military porters. Consequently, when these indigenous groups resettled in the United States as political refugees, they considered themselves neither as Burman nor Burmese but rather Karen, Chin, or as being members of a local ethnolinguistic and cultural group to which they always belonged. The ethnonationalist policies of Burma, which compelled people of Chinese and Indian ethnicity and descent to adopt an essentially Burmese identity for the sake of economic and political survival, have played a role in the formation of identities of nonindigenous minorities of Burma. An ensuing impact of this experience is that many Chinese and Indians, after immigrating to the United States, reaffirmed the
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cultural aspects of their ethnicity that had been lost or given up. Rituals and practices that had been suppressed to conform to dominant ideologies when living in Burma became central to the emerging and sustaining Burmese American voice within the United States. As a result, many Chinese Burmese and Indian Burmese Americans have reethnicized themselves by emphasizing the linguistic and cultural aspects of their Chineseness or Indianness, which, in turn, has led them to classify themselves as “Chinese” or “Asian Indian” on census forms. Immigrant Chinese and Indians rarely use the generic representation of “Burmese” to signify themselves as an individual within the immensity of any cultural calculation. This is particularly true for those who were among the first wave (from 1967 to 1988) of Burmese immigrants to the United States who generally employ the hyphenated connotation of selfhood as being either “Chinese Burmese,” “Indian American,” “Chinese Burmese American,” “Asian American,” or within the classification of one of these descriptive categories. The same can be said about the 1.5 (those who were born in Burma but grew up in the United States) and second-generation Burmese Americans. Within these generations, especially those who have taken Asian American studies or ethnic studies courses in colleges and universities, many learn through pedagogic pursuits that the catchall marker and label of “Asian American” embraces an inclusivity and unifying concept of empowerment that acknowledges and reiterates options, control, choice, and power within the various ethnic and cultural backgrounds to which Burmese Americans are recognized. Hence, while the adjective “Burmese” in the title of this entry serves only as a unifying inscription for denoting people from Burma, it can also be limiting in that it does not explain a justificatory account of the apparent slipperiness range in the diversity, permeability, and/or shared cohabitation of ethnic groups from Burma in the United States today. —Joseph Cheah
Further Reading Cheah, Joseph. “The Function of Ethnicity in the Adaptation of Burmese Religious Practices.” In Huping Ling, ed. Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008. Cheah, Joseph. “Negotiating Race and Religion in American Buddhism: Burmese Buddhism in California. Berkeley: Graduate Theological Union, 2004.
Literature and Folklore Burmese American Literature The paucity of Burmese American literature may be due in part to the later arrival of Burmese immigrants and refugees to the United States than other Asian groups.
Burmese Americans: Literature and Folklore
The writers of Burmese American literature are reflective of the ethnic diversity of Burmese people both in their own backgrounds and in the content of their stories. The bulk of Burmese American literature presently published is of the memoir genre. The focus of these Burmese American writers is both to illuminate the difficult socioeconomic and governmental conditions within Burma and to introduce Burma to readers who are unfamiliar with the country and its people. Kenneth Wong is a Burmese-born ethnic-Chinese American who writes in A Prayer for Burma about his first trip back to Burma since leaving. In Twilight over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess, Inge Sargent, who has been living in Boulder, Colorado, since 1966, explains in a third-person voice how she went from being an Austrian student in Colorado who married a fellow international student from Burma, to becoming a widowed princess when her husband, prince of a Shan ethnic group in Burma, is taken captive by the Burmese military regime. Thant Myint U, born in New York to Burman parents, intertwines in The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma the history of Burma with his Burmese genealogy and his own personal narrative. Readers of these memoirs learn about Burma through the authors’ experiences. Wendy Law-Yone is thus far the only Burmese American fiction author, and she has written two novels. Her first novel, The Coffin Tree, is about a pair of siblings from Burma who become struggling refugees in the United States never able to return home, and her second novel, Irrawaddy Tango, is about a village girl of the fictional country Daya, which is Burma thinly veiled. She first becomes the wife of a dictator, then a prisoner-turned-comrade of the opposition, before escaping to the United States.
Burmese American Folklore As with folktales from other cultures, Burmese American folktales may contain a moral, involve animal figures and fantastical creatures, be religious in nature, relate an origin tale, and include royalty. Burmese American folklore also shows the diversity of Burmese and Burmese American culture because many folktales exist not only from the Burman majority, but also from the many ethnic minorities, such as the Chin, Shan, Karen, and Padaung people. The stories from the different ethnic groups are intertwined—showing the origins of the different ethnicities—as well as separated, revealing that each ethnic group has its own folklore history. A strong element of Burmese American folklore is religious as well as theatrical. Among other folktales that Burmese American monks include in their sermons is the Jataka Tales, or the stories of the many lives of Buddha. The Jataka Tales are also performed onstage in the Burmese American communities during festivals or a pwe, which is a theatrical concert, dance, or marionette show. Examining the folklore from Burma also reveals the historical and religious background
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of Burma because many folktales contain elements of its pre-Buddhist period, such as animist spirits known as nats, which in turn demonstrates how animism and Buddhism in Burma have come together. Nats are considered supernatural beings, and some Burmese Americans still allude to them, such as tree nats that make Burmese Americans sometimes hesitant to cut down certain trees. Some Burmese American folktales can now be found in children books, which may be one way to preserve them in the Burmese American community as Burmese Americans may step away from visiting monasteries or singing the folktales to their children. Burmese American children steeped in Burmese folklore will shape the ways in which Burmese American folklore continues to evolve as the Burmese community in the United States continues to grow. —Nolana Yip
Further Reading Abbott, Gerry, and Khin Thant Han. The Folk-Tales of Burma: An Introduction. Leiden: Brill, 2000. Law-Yone, Wendy. The Coffin Tree. New York: Knopf, 1983. Law-Yone, Wendy. Irrawaddy Tango. Evanston, IL: Triquarterly Press, 1993. Maung Htin Aung. Burmese Folk-Tales. London: Oxford University Press, 1948. Maung Htin Aung. Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism. London: Oxford University Press, 1962. Sargent, Inge. Twilight over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994. Thant Myint U. The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. Wong, Kenneth. A Prayer for Burma. Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press, 2003.
Mythological and Legendary Deities The mythological and legendary deities of Burma persist in Burmese America under a thick veneer of Buddhist practices. Primal indigenous worship of nat as place, elemental, and guardian spirits predates Hinduism and Buddhism in Burma. Such worship also conformed to practices of ancient Chinese and Eurasian migrating peoples who held Taoist geomantic and agrarian cult beliefs. All these protometaphysical mythologies remained deeply connected to nature as spirit and alive. The descendants of these people remain merged in Burmese society today as minority peoples and in countless generations who converted to Hindu and then Buddhist faiths, merging into a Buddhist syncretism that includes lower and higher nat and elevates the historical Buddha and a Buddhist pantheon of saintly presences over all nat. Burmese Buddhism—closest in spirit to early Yoga-Samkhya pure meditative
Burmese Americans: Mythological and Legendary Deities
practices and early Theravada Buddhism, which followed the pure meditative practices of the historical Buddha—is also close to Nichiren, the Japanese Buddhist Saint, who managed a similar syncretism of Buddhist meditation incorporating the indigenous Japanese kami (ancestor nature spirits). King Anawrahta (1044–1077 CE), a Buddhist convert, elevated 37 Burmese nat over all others during a nation-building campaign when he was unable to extinguish their pervasive influence. Modern Burmese recognize nat festivals as tourist attractions, lending impetus to their survival in present political times. The 37 nat represent ancestors from Burma’s historical royal houses, Thai (Yun Bayin) and Shan (Maung Po Tu). Thagyamin, their king, is a dual manifestation of the Buddhist Deva Shakra and the Hindu Indra sitting astride a three-headed elephant holding the sacred Hindu conch and a yak-tail whisk. Mount Popa (“flower” in Sanskrit), Burma’s holiest and highest extinct volcano, hosts shrines to the 37 higher nat. Mount Popa is the site of Burma’s largest annual pilgrimage on the full moon named for the nat (Natdaw) in December. Burmese Americans eagerly watch Internet, cell phone, and consular sites showing Mount Popa celebrations, which include costumed nat kadaws (nat mistresses, mediums, shamans) who trance dance to embody a nat spirit and to entrance the audience, accompanied by a saing wang (orchestra) playing music similar to Indonesian gamelan. Burmese Americans bemoan and blog about the difficulty of finding real nat dancing in the United States and nat kannah pews, village or individual nat festivals and dances throughout the year to propitiate numerous local nat. Younger members perform outlandish mimicry of nat exorcism and dancing in YouTube clips on horror and science fiction themes, walking upside down stairs on the hands while making writhing sounds and gestures with the tongue, acting out the roles of demon-possessed individuals, nat shamans with ritual daggers, shaman-demon voices and dialogue, and exorcisms gone wrong. With greater reverence, Burmese Americans watch exorcism videos from inside Burma performed by chanting Burmese Buddhist monks on busy urban curbsides and rural settings. Abundant ritual water to extinguish demon fire is poured successively over the possessed, who eventually cry out in agony, then relax in release and fatigue, assisted throughout by the chanting monk performing usually under a silk parasol held by an assistant. Once the spirit declares itself, air cuts are delivered at the crown chakra, face, core, sides, and legs with a curved ritual dagger that may make clear contact with the body without drawing blood. Emotional and physical diseases unresponsive to western medicine or meditation may be seen as spirit-caused. The Buddhist spirit pantheon, higher than the 37 nat, ascends past the Buddha into the cosmic spiritual formlessness that grounds all reality. Burmese Buddhist Monks are well able to discreetly carry on all ritual practices as necessary in the United States. As throughout Southeast Asia, meditation and prayer remain the best defenses against soul possession or weakening. The anciently held yo-ya traditions (ritual supplication) toward
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tutelary spirits (mi hsaing hpa hsaing) of one’s native ancestral place extend into Burmese America even among educated people. A complex, quasi-totemic social web emerges where everyone inherits at least 1 of the 37 nat, 2 if mother and father are from different places, not restricted to rural ancestry though most intensely practiced there. Everyone also acquires a ko saung nat (personal guardian spirit) at birth who has no trouble traveling internationally. Coconut and banana offerings at nat shrines throughout Burma are discreetly made inside Burmese homes, in elaborately carved wooden or other bowls, in hollowed-out coconut halves ritually decorated (nat oun), hung on poles, or otherwise unobtrusively tucked into an American decor. Everyone is related to some ancestral nat in Burma, most of whom are nat sein (green spirits) who have died violent (green) deaths. Nat oun can be made or purchased on the Internet despite international blockades. Burmese American ancestor worship lies in a diminished cocoon inside layers of Buddhist meditation, Buddhist reverence for nature, and the comfort of having at least a Burmese Guardian “Angel” in a new and unfamiliar setting. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Burmese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Domestic Religious Practices; Religion; Superstition and Taboo; Temples. Indonesian Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing; Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit entries in the Indonesian Americans and Malaysian Americans sections;
Further Reading Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1972. Kyi, Aung San Suu. Letters from Burma, with an Introduction by Fergal Keane. London: Penguin Books, 1997. Montagu, Jean-Yves. Burma. Cologne: Evergreen, 1998.
Web Site See http://www.dhammaweb.net for books, articles, and videos regarding Buddhist and nat syncretism in Burman culture.
Names and Name Giving Burmese American names are chosen by parents often in consultation with leading experts in astrology and numerology. The length of names may vary. A name may be a single word such as Thant (clean or pristine) and Nu (young, tender, or gentle). As these examples suggest, Burmese do not use surnames, family names, or clan names. Most names have two or three words, but longer names are used to minimize
Burmese Americans: Names and Name Giving
naming conflicts. Qualified names—using place or attribute—often disambiguate persons with the same base name. “Collegian Nay Win” was a soccer star turned outstanding actor with the premier movie called Collegian. Burmese names do not indicate gender. Honorifics such as “Maung,” “Ko” and “U” are used for males (as child, youth, and adult). “Ma” and “Daw” are used for females. U Mya Sein, a prominent diplomat, and Daw Mya Sein, a well-known historian, share the same base name. The third UN Secretary General is known formally as U Thant or Pantanaw U Thant (signifying his place of birth). The first Prime Minister of Burma was called, interchangeably, Maung Nu, Ko Nu, Thakin Nu, and U Nu. The prefix Thakin refers to Lord or honorable prince and was used by freedom fighters during the colonial rule. One naming convention associates a consonant group with the day of the week on which a person was born. Thant’s name implies that he was born on Friday. Nu’s name implies that he was born on Saturday. For two-word names, the first word implies the specific day of birth. Some people have multiple base names. The father of Burma’s Independence was first named Htain Lin by his parents. He renamed himself Aung San to rhyme with Aung Than, his elder brother. His nom de plume as the leader of the Thirty Comrades against colonialism was Bo Teza. Some families use a series of names. For example, three brothers from the Khin Maung family are named Khin Maung Gyi, Khin Maung Latt, and Khin Maung Lay (meaning elder, middle, and young). Some Burmese Americans descended from ancestors who attended missionary schools in Burma have inherited Christian names. There are at least two types of naming practices employed by Burmese Christians in the United States. They use an English name as personal name and their father’s Burmese name as a family name. Or they will have an English nickname and Burmese personal name. Many Burmese Americans may have mixed compound names. Note that variants may exist for Burmese Americans from other ethnic races (i.e., Shan, Karen, Chin, Mon) and religions (i.e., Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism). Prefixes such as “Sao” (royal Shan), “Sai” (non-royal Shan), “Sa” and “Saw” (for some Karen tribes), “Salai” (for some Chin tribes), “Mehm” (for Mon) are used with traditional Burmese names to differentiate the ethnic identities. Rakhines or Arakhines, an ethnic group strongly influenced by Indian Buddhism, name their first-born with “Oo” (which is pronounced the same as “U”). U Oo Kyaw Hla and Daw Khin Khin Oo are likely to be first-borns if they are Rakhines. —Hla Min
Further Reading Chit, Myo, and Daw Khin. Colorful Myanmar. Yangon, Thuwunna: U Ye Myint Press, 1995. Khaing, Daw Mi. “Burmese Names: A Guide.” The Atlantic, February 1958.
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Nature and Animals Nature and animals in Burmese America symbolically sustain the living memory of a Burmese landscape encrypted with a sacred geomancy of shapes, landforms, animals, spirits (nats), weather, and the absorbed sacred energy of the footsteps of holy persons, among them layers of Indian Yogi-Saints, the historical Buddha, his companions, and contemporary Buddhist Hsayadaws linked internationally and locally through Burmese Monks Associations. The spiritual energy of saints, accumulating in the Indian manner in the feet, gives sacred vibration to the ground, burning sacred trails into Burmese soil. Concrete relics of the historical Buddha’s body lie embedded in numerous pagoda (hollow) and dagoba (solid) structures of conical (heaven) and square (earth) shape, among them the Buddha’s molar, one rib, and a single hair encased in three hill shrines at Thandwe, where he lived 3 of his 547 previous lives. Another Buddha hair balances the famous goldcovered skull-shaped rock at Kyaik-htiyoe pagoda, precariously perched on the edge of a crag where it rolls and rocks at the slightest touch but never falls. Burmese Americans venerate engravings and reproductions of these and other concrete natural manifestations of Spirit worn, displayed, or carried as engraved jewelry, charms, sculptures and framed art photos in their American spiritual journey. Some wear the outstretched downwardly extended Buddha Hand, the gesture extending infinite graces, as a golden baby-banana bunch or grow the wrinkled lemon tree as a lucky houseplant. Burma is in reality a sacred landscape marked out by spiritual geomancy and lithography flowing and embedded in its natural rivers, deltas, lakes, plains, plateaus, plants, minerals, jewels, and protective encircling primal rock mountain ranges and massifs. Burmese geography is powerfully animated and protected by numerous guardian spirits (nat), 37 of the highest immanent and venerated at Mount Popa, Burma’s most sacred site. Thagyamin, King of the nat, oversees all Burmese spirits. The yok thei pwe, the Burmese shadow play, re-enacts their sacred story and mythology. The Irrawaddy flows from the same sacred Himalayan source as Mother Ganges, sanctifying the land and creating fertile deltas suggestive of India’s. The Cult of Relics interpenetrates another indigenous Cult of Jewels expressing Burma’s natural wealth of rubies, sapphires, green and purple stones, gold, silver and more as veins in the earth’s body, showing further in jeweled light of sacred yantra (mandalas) visible in meditative experiences, later simulated in Burmese American jewelry in engraved, cabochon-set, or jewel-studded patterns. Animal and spirit shapes are evident in Burmese American reenactments synchronized with Hot Air Balloon celebrations inside Burma. Photos and videos are shared internationally by Internet, and festival videos are watched on consular Web sites. Giant gossamer apparitions of silky, stylized Burmese mythic creatures
Burmese Americans: Nature and Animals
float in a new Burmese American sky, flying until they collapse. Launched cooperatively with non-Burmese hot air balloon societies, non-Burmese advertising, American cartoon and other international shapes fly with them on a new horizon. Hibiscus, fish, a giant Burmese eagle, tiger, leopard, elephant, wild buffalo, water buffalo, wild boar, red deer, geese and fowl, Himalayan black bears, and the small but fierce Malayan bear, all indigenous to Burma, find places according to ingenuity and finances. The Burmese Chinthey Lion, half-lion-half-griffon, Guardian of Pagodas, is contentedly recognized in Chinese Lion-Dragon shapes and more authentically in Burmese arts, statues, engravings, jewelry, and balloons. Hibiscus and orchids are grown and worn in the hair. The white egret, black crow, a nat spirit, and a happy toad from the Buddha’s prophecy regarding Pagan/Bagan appear in American contexts. Following diffuse South Asian didactic nature tales, crows (bad company) follow garbage, spilt blood, and waste. Egrets (right company) seek the fresh water of divine consciousness (immortality.) Nature and ancestral spirits protect, harm, or guide. Happy Toads perch on water hyacinth and the lotus (meditation.) All and more are found in the stories, household objects, talismans, and jewelry of Burmese Americans. Integrated Indian-Taoist mythologies and Taoist reverence for red, life’s ruby blood, the earth’s gemstone veins, and Buddhist compassion persevere in Burmese American love of nature, symbolism, poetic metaphor, and ecological commitment. Dancing blue Peacocks (Krishna, triumphant victory) become the Green Peacock of the Burmese freedom and democracy movement. Dancing Dragons (Chintheys) symbolize prosperity. Indra’s glistening armor falls in American raindrops, thunder, and lightning as from the monsoon’s elephant clouds. Indra’s Vajra (thunderbolt) sparkles gold and silver in lightning that colors American and Burmese raindrops. Moon phases cycle around the earth. Elemental Nature Spirits are international travelers, especially the personal ones acquired at birth. Thingyan (New Year) celebrates April’s monsoon Water relocated to the hot American July, water hoses, and traditional spirited splashing rituals. Burmese Americans set caged pet birds and parrots free, at least in the house, during Thingyan. Thidingyut (Light) lights up animal shapes unknown to Americans in the same low-hung reflective golden October harvest moon in American Pan-Asian Moon festivals. For many, Burma is an anciently manifesting parrot bringing a sacred unity of modern statehood to a Burma already irrevocably and pluralistically defined in geomantic contours inscribed in Burmese American hearts. The parrot’s beak is at Sittwe (Akyal) in the heart of Shan and Red Karen primal indigenous culture. The Irrawaddy gives life along a sacred watery spine and current of spiritual chakras. Unfolded wings are Burma’s northern states. Talons are the wider Rangoon Delta. Tail feathers run down the Taninyarthi (Tenaserim) Peninsula alongside Thailand toward Malaysia. Parrots, speaking a sacred animistic bird language, live in vivid Burmese memory of landscapes amid fragrant flowers, cinnamon trees,
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and the scent of Southeast Asia’s largest remaining teak forests, pointing Burmese Americans to a deep ecology available in American green movements, university studies, and quiet symbolic celebrations. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Indian Americans: Ayurveda; Indonesian Americans: Javanese Puppets; Traditional Medicine and Healing; and the Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit entries in the Indonesian Americans and Malaysian Americans sections.
Further Reading Chethimattam, John Britto. “Chapter Four: Mythical Consciousness.” In Experience and Philosophy. Bangalore, India: Dharmaram Press, 1996. Chethimattam, John Britto. “Chapter Two: Indus Valley Religious Culture.” In Dialogue in Indian Tradition. Bangalore, India: Dharmaram Press, 1969. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. “Part VI: Farther India, Indonesia and Ceylon.” In History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1972. Kyi, Aung San Suu. Letters from Burma, with an Introduction by Fergal Keane. London: Penguin Books, 1997. Montagu, Jean-Yves. Burma. Cologne: Evergreen, 1998.
Proverbs and Maxims Most Burmese Americans are familiar with the vast reference texts in Burmese on proverbs and maxims including the compendium by a high school headmistress on proverbs complete with meaning, usage, illustration, and example. There are numerous booklets—originals and translations in English—of aphorisms by venerable sayadaws (chief monks). Burmese American parents understand that “Tha thamee ma kaung mi ba gaung” (bad children, blame the parents). A kid, who is able to emulate a knowledgeable father is complimented as “Ah Phay chi ya nin” (able to step on the father’s footprint) and is encouraged to do better. Parents tell their children: “Pyinna shwe o lu ma kho” (no one can steal your knowledge), “Pyinna hu thi o thi ma shi” (knowledge never grows old, and it’s never too old to learn), “Pyinna sha pa ma thu phone sar” (be like a beggar in search of knowledge), and “Ngoke mi the taing tet naing phya yauk” (dive to the sandy bottom, climb to the very top). The majority of Burmese Americans—especially the first generation—try to motivate themselves to overcome the initial obstacles in the United States by quoting the proverb “Ta ywa ma pyaung thu kaung ma phyit” (you cannot gain social status without moving to another place). On the other hand, if one is too ambitious and moves in search of something more, the saying “thay gyin de kyar taw
Burmese Americans: Religion
pyaung” (the tiger that wants to get killed moves to another forest) is used to subtly teach being satisfied with one’s station in life. This is illustrated in the example of one Burmese American who was working for a company for a long time. Recruiters called him frequently saying that he should join a start-up company with lots of stock options. Leaving his safety net, the Burmese American was lured to join a company that provided free breakfast, lunch, dinner, laundry service, and more. Sad to say, he lost his job when the economic bubble collapsed. In other words, his job lost is equivalent to a tiger being killed. Interpretations of proverbs and maxims may also shift over time depending on context. Hence, the Burmese American saying “than thay de pyay wa” is generally accepted to mean “if an alchemist can tame than (iron), then he can feed a nation.” One doctor said that the saying should be interpreted as “if one can tame than (ring worm), then the whole nation will no longer be undernourished and thin.” One IT professional added “the thay the kabar wa” to the saying implying “if one can tame the (sand or silicon), then he can feed the whole world.” Burmese Americans also read sayings by their revered teachers that may be used as guidelines in their daily life. For example, “Teach children good manners and learning rather than give material riches. The former brings lifelong benefits. The latter decays with age and diminishes with use.” One Buddhist maxim is central to many Burmese Americans and can be applied to various aspects of their life: the exhortation to be “mindful at all times.” —Hla Min
Further Reading Judson, Andorinam (revised and enlarged by Robert C. Stevenson and Rev. F. H. Eveleth). Judson’s Burmese English Dictionary. Rangoon, Burma: Baptist Board of Publications, 1966. Pe, Hla. Burmese Proverbs. London: J. Murray, 1962.
Religion The term “Burmese American” in this entry refers to any of the conjoined diversity of multicultural ethnic groups (i.e., Indian, Chinese, Karen, Chin, Shan, and other minorities) who are naturalized American citizens or the children of Burmese immigrants who are considered American citizens by the place of their birth (jus soli). While only a few of these Burmese immigrants and refugees are, in fact, practicing Muslims and Hindus, among these displaced victims and consigned settlers, the predominant religions in Burmese American communities are Buddhist or Christian. At the time that this entry was written, the Burmese Muslims and
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Hindus participated at a local mosque or temple in their neighborhoods to which the processes of governmental and organizational groups have created viable and amenable living options. Burmese Buddhist and Christian communities, however, have established ethnic temples and churches in states such as California, Texas, Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts, where a sizable number of Burmese immigrants and refugees reside. The lay leaders in these communities have formed nonprofit organizations to raise funds to purchase residential homes that have been converted into temples representative of Burmeseness and, also Christian churches, both of which have become the sites of more than just worship. Nonprofit organizations and contributors to Burmese Buddhism and Christianity have also sponsored Burmese monks, priests, and ministers from their native country to serve in these fledging ethnic temples and churches. Perhaps unlike many other religious communities, Burmese American religious communities are noticeably multiethnic in terms of having distinct ethnic groups that have formed their own separate temples and churches, but also in terms of the distinctiveness of their referential ethnic groups who have worshipped within the same congregation from the beginning of these religious institutions’ inceptions. In this light, there are Burmese Buddhist temples most frequented by Chinese-Burmese Americans, while Mon Theravada temples and other ethnic temples have been basically monoethnic since their beginnings. There are also meditation centers that serve Burmese and non-Burmese, alike, becoming yet another source of “unconventional vocabularies” that invocate religious and coethnic Burmese culture. The Tathagata Meditation Centre in San Jose, California, for example, was established by the Vietnamese and, since its foundation in 1991, is staffed by Burmese monks and now is supported by Vietnamese, Burmese, and white American meditators. Whatever their ethnic composition, Burmese Buddhist monasteries offer opportunities for devout Buddhists to participate in religious activities, to gain merits, and to enhance coethnic social networks among Burmese immigrants of all ethnic groups. When discussing religion in Burmese American communities, one cannot ignore the so-called informal or popular religion that takes place within the domestic or the private realm. Since Buddhism requires no weekly or obligatory public worship at a temple, Burmese Buddhists—in particular, those who do not live near a monastery—are often left to their own spiritual resources. This means that the second generation from devout Buddhist families primarily learn their faith by modeling their parents’ devotional practices at home. Devotional activities in the domestic sphere are individualistic and personal. In most cases, the adult members of the family take turns, making their daily offering (soon khat) on behalf of the entire family and also reciting daily and reiterative prayers. This type of devotion and ritual practice is distinguishable and reflective of the deep historiographical religious inclusivity of its participants. For example, the
Burmese Americans: Religion
veneration of ancestors, the worship of Kwan Yin, the offering of cooked food, and other practices within the private stratum are suggestive of a distinctively syncretistic brand of Chinese-Burmese Buddhism. These rituals and practices reinforce the ethnic culture and identity of Chinese-Burmese Buddhists. Consequently, the practice of domestic religion has enabled Burmese immigrant Buddhists to express a syncretistic approach to the observance of religious rituals, to transmit their hybrid religious practices to their children, and to reinforce their cultural identity. Unlike Burmese Buddhists, Burmese immigrant Christians were placed into a sociocultural framework in which the shared condition of their Christian faith, and the denomination or religious sect they had belonged to in Burma, had already been established as a dominant presence within the American landscape. Initially, Burmese Americans attended local churches in their neighborhood but, in due time, these immigrant Christians formed their own ethnic associations and/or organizations, usually a subsidiary of the same Christian community churches to which they belonged. Case in point, the Burmese American Catholic Fellowship (BACF) is a separate ethnic association that is part of a multiethnic parish of Saint Thomas More Church in San Francisco, California. Similar to the devotional activities that take place in private homes for Burmese American Buddhists, BACF also invites Burmese priests from Kansas to lead retreats and days of recollections that usually take place during specific and designated weekends related to Burmese multicultural heritage and religious holidays. In addition, American Burmese Protestant Christians comprise the largest membership or group of American Burmese Christians in the United States. Generally speaking, once a religious ethnic group has reached a particular size, it usually establishes an ethic church for its own community. This was the case with what was once a small gathering of Burmese Christians in the city of San Francisco in the mid-1970. By 1985, the number of Burmese Christians identifying as part of this group had grown so large that an interdenominational religious organization was established, and Reverend Shwe Hlaing Dwa was named their pastor. Two years later, this church site was formally recognized by the American Baptist Churches of the West as the First Burmese Baptist Church of San Francisco. Today, there are numerous Burmese Christian churches and also Burmese Christian fellowships throughout the country. Burmese Protestant churches in the United States are often interdenominational and pan-Burmese in that they comprise Christians from various denominations and are also representational of the multifarious ethnic groups from Burma. The pan-Burmese aspect, in part, refers to the lack of a sufficient number of Christians in each ethnic group such as Chin, Kachin, and Shan to form its own separate church. In a truly multiethnic Burmese immigrant church, the Burmese language is used as the medium of communication. —Joseph Cheah
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Burmese Americans: Rites of Passage See also: Burmese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Domestic Religious Practices; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Superstition and Taboo; Temples.
Further Reading Cheah, Joseph. “The Function of Ethnicity in the Adaptation of Burmese Religious Practices.” In Huping Ling, ed. Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008. Cheah, Joseph. Negotiating Race and Religion in American Buddhism: Burmese Buddhism in California. Berkeley: Graduate Theological Union, 2004.
Rites of Passage Research shows that religion continues to be important for minorities in the United States in providing a social space for expressing ethnic differences. Religious organizations serve both ethnic reproduction and assimilation functions that help Burmese Americans to adjust to U.S. culture. Most Burmese (89 percent), across all ethnic groups, are Buddhists and follow traditional Buddhist practices such as rites of passage. Rites of passage are ritual ceremonies intended to mark the transition from one phase of life to another. Burmese Americans celebrate four main rites of passage: the name-giving ceremony, novitiation, marriage, and death.
Name Giving Ceremony When a new baby is 100 days old, families may hold a feast for monks and friends. The monks will chant prayers and shave the baby’s head. It is usual for the mother’s friends and colleagues to give gifts such as bottles, clothes, and diapers. It is customary to give gifts after the baby is born because not doing so can bring misfortune to the baby. Since it is required to have a name on the birth certificate for the baby, this rite of passage is losing ground. Instead, small diners/celebrations are conducted.
Shinpyu/Novitiation Boys around the age of 10 are expected to mimic the Buddha’s life story in symbolic form. In Burma, boys would be dressed up as princes and paraded around the town on an animal while the townspeople all praised the family. After the parade the boys would join their monastic order, shave their head, learn scriptures and meditation techniques, and don the orange-yellow robes for a few days as a novice. Their family would have accrued funds for several years for this important event in which they offer food, medicines, books, and
Burmese Americans: Social Etiquette and Customs
robes to the monks. Afterward, the family hosts a large dinner with other family members, friends, and monks in celebration. In the United States boys no longer dress up nor join the monastery; however, the family might visit the monastery and donate and leave the boy for a couple of hours and upon his return have a large celebration. At the same age girls also undergo an ear-piercing ceremony called na htwin.
Marriage Wealthy families may invite hundreds of guests to a large hotel, and in poorer areas wedding ceremonies are simple affairs in which a feast is offered to monks. The male guest of honor will give a speech to praise the virtues of the bride on behalf of the husband’s parents. A wedding is not a religious ceremony; however, someone of high class will start the wedding by blowing a conch shell; then the couple joins hands, wraps them in a white cloth, dips them in a bowl, and chants some Sanskrit mantras. Many still hold these ceremonies but less formally and followed up with a civil union before a judge. To show that the couple is married, they will place something outside the house such as a shroud. Appropriate wedding gifts depend on the couple’s position in life. If they are young and not financially established, a cash gift is suitable; however, functional items such as crockery, electrical appliances, and fabrics make fitting gifts. —Brandon Fryman
Further Reading Cheah, Joseph. “Cultural Identity and Burmese American Buddhists.” Peace Review 14(4) (December 2002): 415–19. Ma Ma Lay. Not Out of Hate. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1991. Ranard, Donald, and Sandy Barron, eds. Refugees from Burma: Their Backgrounds and Refugee Experiences. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics, 2007. Saw Myat Yin. Culture Shock! Myanmar. Singapore: Times Books International, 2004.
Social Etiquette and Customs Since there is no stereotypical Burmese American, social etiquette and customs can vary with the background and/or current environment in the United States. There are two groups of Burmese Americans: (1) U.S.-born with at least one Burmese American ancestor, and (2) Burma-born who migrated directly or indirectly to the United States. Members of the first group may or may not have an affinity for Burmese culture depending on the racial structure of their ancestors, but there
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are instances where second-and third-generation Burmese Americans still strongly observe Burmese social etiquette and customs. Members of the second group tend to have a strong affinity for Burmese culture, but there are some cases where the American children, supposedly at the instruction of their teachers, stopped speaking Burmese even with their parents at home, thereby losing an opportunity to be multilingual. In Burma, parents and teachers are highly esteemed and are addressed with the appropriate honorific: (1) Saya (mentor); (2) Ah Ba, Oo Gyi, and Oo Lay (uncle, or someone your uncle’s age); (3) Kyi Kyi, Daw Gyi, and Daw Lay (aunt, or similar); (4) Ah Ko or Ko Ko (elder brother, or similar); and (5) Ah Ma or Ma Ma (elder sister, or similar). In the US, the last name is used to address people semiformally or formally, and the first name is used to address people informally. Most Burmese Americans adapt the Burmese tradition but often use “Uncle,” “Aunty,” “Bro,” and “Sis” instead of the standard terms. In Burma, friends of the family members are welcomed without formal invitations and RSVP. In Burmese America, one should call, e-mail, or chat to ask the hosts before visiting them, but the treatment and hospitality are equal if not superior to those at home. Most Burmese Americans offer laphet (pickled tea leaves) or let-thoke (salad of some variety) placed in a lacquer bowl as an appetizer or, if the visitor prefers, as part of the meal. There are social and/or religious procedures associated with events such as birth, naming ceremony, low and high ordinations (to become a temporary novice or monk), wedding, house warming, temporary and serious illness, and death. The procedures can be simple or complex depending on how much Burmese culture is carried over to Burmese America. In places where there are few Burmese Americans, a wedding can take place at the registrar’s office or a place of worship (temple, monastery, church, mosque), while some weddings are formal (e.g., cool water poured over two hands tied in a special scarf or towel) in the presence of a beik-theik saya (master of wedding ceremony) and/or traditional Burmese music and orchestra. To cater to young Burmese Americans not fluent in Burmese, procedures for the low and high ordinations are available in English. Some Burmese customs such as ear-piercing ceremonies have lost their prominence in Burmese America. —Hla Min
Further Reading U Jotalankara. The Basic Teachings of Theravada Buddhism. Yangon, Myanmar: PMTY Publishing House, 2004. Venerable Pyinnyathiha. The Triple Gem and the Way to Social Harmony. Los Angeles: Triple Gems Publication, 2002.
Burmese Americans: Superstition and Taboo
Superstition and Taboo Burmese American superstition and taboo is rooted in widely held indigenous primal and Burmese Buddhist shared beliefs about universal laws of karma (actions and reactions), their impact on good or bad fortune, and their influence over reincarnation, the spirit world, sickness, health, and luck among the living. The powers of the indigenous nat (nature spirits), which include Buddhas, for good or evil in all life’s events is an inseparable part of the Burmese portrait of karma, taboo, and multiple superstitions lying closer to the surface of Burmese and Burmese American cultures. The strongly ingrained reverence for elders and family that transcends all ethnic lines and continents is best understood as a combined reflection of ancestor and spirit worship (everyone is related spiritually and biologically to some branch of the nat), and the belief that living a long life leads eventually to wisdom. Purely malevolent and demonic nat, certain humans allied with them, and even unappeased ancestor spirits may cause continual mischief across continents for the living and the soon-to-be-born. Those who have died a “green (violent) death” are considered particularly unappeased and potentially mischievous, depending on the nature of the karmas and quality of the death incident. Astrology, palmistry, clairvoyance by trance mystics, and yadaya (meritorious deeds) are widely practiced to offset bad karma, “sent” sickness or other “sent” spells by Burmese Americans in subtle ways: setting live birds or animals free on auspicious days and at some festivals, building a foot bridge (in Burma or America), and mending a road. Burmese Americans are expanding the repertoire of meritorious deeds to include donations to the Burmese Buddhist Monks Association for charity and social service needs in both Burma and in the Burmese American community, including educational materials, schools, and ecological concerns in their new land. Under Burma’s many surfaces of long-settled ethnicities is a traditional understanding, carried to the United States, that Burma is the land of the Buddha, a belief that unifies a welter of Burmese cultural beliefs, superstitions, and taboos into a shared reverence for the country’s dominant Theravada Buddhist tradition and its monks, a respect transcending whether one is Buddhist or not. It is particularly offensive and a sure portent of ill luck to treat a monk disrespectfully, including crossing in front of the monk without bowing the head, the widely ingrained ancient pan-Asian social gesture to honor the soul (atman) abiding in another person, abiding in an exalted and purified sense in monks and others recognized as spiritual seekers and holy people. The slight bowing gesture of society, more pronounced toward monks, is also required to acknowledge the elders of any group, whether personally known or not, as a sign of respect for the experience and lessons acquired in the life journey as also to appease them when they become spirit ancestors able to cause mischief unbound by physical space and time. A student never
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goes abreast with the teacher in the street, but always a little behind to court the good karma of respect for knowledge and wisdom. To disrespect an elder is a sure means to court misfortune, including taking a seat at the head of a table or group when you are not the eldest person in attendance, cutting in front of the person, or accidentally touching or bumping the person. At table, elders and monks are also served first and eat first as much from respect as to avoid the ill luck of many complicated negative karmas. Treating a guest or visitor at your door unkindly, unless they are violent, brings bad karma along with asking someone’s salary, telling someone’s salary, borrowing from a guest, being a fussy guest, and touching the top of an elderly person’s head (the zone at which the spirit enters the body.) At any gathering it is sure ill luck to speak of your own accomplishments or treat others with hostility, signs of ego pegged to the bad karma of arrogance toward God and toward God present in the divine life force and souls of others. Suppressing anger toward the young and the old and all forms of open hostility, and covering coughs to avoid injuring others, are strictly obligatory. Hearty greetings are always required as a social minimum. Footwear and even slippers are removed at temple entrances and in the home, leaving the dust of the world well behind and out of intimate, private, and sacred spaces. The announcement of unpleasant events must everywhere be preceded by an event to negate even the casual and unintended power of human speech and consciousness to call forth negative nat spirits and events and setting them inadvertently in motion. Similar inadvertent events may materialize when, for example, a gift is sent for a baby before it is born or one calls on a seriously sick person before there is a firm announcement by the family that the individual is in grave condition. After a phone call or other announcement, however, a visit is strictly required, preferably to the home. Normal gifts include fresh fruits and canned cereals. Guests are served tea and black melon seeds. The gift and the guest’s reception are reciprocal “offerings” in a rather Buddhist sense and inevitably bring good luck and propitiate powerfully in all circumstances, physical and spiritual. Hospitals are considered in the United States as in Burma the undesirable and unlucky places haunted by unclean and demonic spirits who hunt out the weakened spirits of the sick, seeking to inhabit their minds. At Burmese American funerals, bright colors are never worn, and a gift of money is required if the family is poor. Ritual burials and even exorcisms are provided to all Burmese Americans by Burmese Monks, who officiate at the head of the nat hierarchy. Water, a central component of relief in Southeast Asian summers and the central feature of ritual splashing at the Burmese Thingyan festivals, remains an ever-effective agent to wash away bad karma, illness, the activity of mischievous nat, possessing spirits, sent illnesses and bad luck, and difficult ancestors. At Burmese American engagement parties (weddings may be simple legal registration affairs with or without Buddhist ceremonies), gifts are optional, though a speech by the bride groom’s family praising the bride-to-be’s virtues is required. No dowry
Burmese Americans: Superstition and Taboo
is required, and both male and female children are regarded as good, though male children remain tacitly preferred in Burmese America as in Burma. The strict avoidance of friction and negative communication that pervades Burmese society extends to the workplace. Employers are generally expected to treat employees in a paternalistic (or maternalistic) manner, even calling at the home at certain festival times and on other auspicious occasions. Friendship, trust, honesty, favors, and introductions complete the circuit of good karma in the business “family” as in the private circuit in both Burma and Burmese America. The Five Precepts and practices of Theravada Buddhist bavana (meditation) carry forward even for non-Buddhist Burmese Americans into Burmese America; namely, no killing, no stealing, no lying, no alcohol, and no adultery. Breaking a basic precept brings ill luck and builds bad karma. For Burmese Buddhists there are additional precepts up to as many as 227 additional rules of conduct for jemghas (monks). Tantric beliefs practiced by indigenous ethnicities and brought to Burma by early Buddhists persist in the United States, with clear recognition that tantric practices meditatively sacralize sexual activity between married and unmarried partners and friends free of more Christian and puritan taboos encountered in the western setting. In a unique turn facilitated by new global Internet communications technology, the Burmese American community has joined the international Burmese diaspora in a symbolic protest against the military junta called “Panties for Peace.” This characteristically nonviolent protest builds on the popular taboo that a male will lose virility if he touches a woman’s undergarments. Thousands of undergarments have been solicited and mailed to government officials inside Burma, with reactions from the comic to the offended chronicled on international blogs and in the ezine, Shamelessmag.com. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Burmese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Domestic Religious Practices; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Temples.
Further Reading Skidmore, Monique, ed. Burma at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005. Streissguth, Tom. Myanmar in Pictures. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., 2008. Thwe, Pascal Khoo. From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2002.
Web Site The World Factbook, Burma: http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world -factbook.com.
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Temples Like European immigrants before them, one of the initial goals of Burmese Buddhist immigrants living in the United States is to establish temples and to sponsor Burmese Buddhist monks who serve the spiritual, cultural, and social needs of their local communities. Almost all of these temples are residential homes that have been converted into makeshift temples rather than the pagodas or bell-shaped zedi which one finds in abundance in Burma. Even the temples that were built from the ground up are often residential temples, in the sense that monks live in the same building where central worshipping and meditation practices take place. Additionally, many of these newly constructed temples have some sort of symbol or design on the entrance gate, atypical stairwells, or other uncommon and curious parts of the building that distinguish them from ordinary residential houses. Structurally, all of these ethnic temples are representative of the spacialization of Burmeseness within the greater context of the American landscape. Burmese Buddhist temples in the United States have multiple functions. For devout Buddhists, temples become the sites of sharing and acquiring of merits. They provide the sacred spaces in which Buddhists are able to participate in chanting, to listen to dharma talk, and to engage in water libation and other meritsharing rituals. A common way of acquiring merits is the practice of daily food offerings made to the monks within the public space of the temple. This central religious ritual is reflective of the reciprocal relationship between monks and laity. The monks are dependent on the laity for material support, and, in turn, the laity acquires merits by and through supporting the monks. For nominal Buddhists, temples function less as sacred places than sociocultural centers. Most Burmese Buddhists as well as non-Buddhists come to temples to celebrate a cultural festivity, to consume Burmese food, listen to Burmese music, and to socialize with friends. More often than not, food becomes the focal point of gathering in these sociocultural activities. Temples, in other words, become the locus or central positionality that make the preservation of Burmese culture and the enhancement of coethnic social networks tenable. Burmese Buddhist temples are also the traditional locales to which the transmitting of Burmese language and culture can be exampled. The traditional role of a temple-monastery as the transmitter of Burmese language has a spotty record in the United States. This is due in part to the lack of temple personnel to teach Burmese, and also the general apathy toward the learning Burmese among Burmese immigrants comprising mostly non-Burman ethnicity. The initiation rite of shinpyu is one of the primary ways by which Burmese culture is transmitted to the next generation. It is a rite in which a boy, usually at puberty, is admitted
Burmese Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
into the Buddhist order of a novice. This essential ritual of initiation is less often performed by children of Burmese immigrants in part because having one’s head shaved and donning a saffron-colored robe become a countercultural undertaking in the United States. In short, Burmese Buddhist temples in the United States not only are sacred sites for acquiring merits and transmitting religious and cultural values to the next generation, but also serve as a nexus for cultural preservation and ethnic reinforcement. —Joseph Cheah See also: Burmese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Domestic Religious Practices; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Superstition and Taboo.
Further Reading Cheah, Joseph. “The Function of Ethnicity in the Adaptation of Burmese Religious Practices.” In Huping Ling, ed. Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008. Cheah, Joseph. “Intergenerational Maintenance of the Burmese Language by ChineseBurmese Immigrants in the Bay Area.” Hsi Lai Journal of Humanistic Buddhism 4 (2003): 199–203. U Myat Htoo, ed. “Meditation Center Construction Update.” Dhammananda Newsletter 22(2) (February 2002): 12.
Traditional Medicine and Healing Traditional healing and medicine in Burmese America are conducted across a widening political divide between practices and practitioners approved by the official military government and those who are unapproved indigenous practitioners. Burmese Americans who are traditional medicine advocates speak in the various voices of government officialdom, the Burmese freedom and democracy movement, and the Burmese Monks Association. Availability of traditional Burmese medicine, herbal formularies, traditional natural personal products, and raw ingredients for home use is difficult in the United States. Internet import options require official licenses and resourcefulness in international funds transfers in a government-controlled banking system viewed by many with mistrust. Issues of sanitation versus corruption and cultural discrimination fly from two sides of the political divide in the United States. Burmese Monks, through international association, enable discreet two-way transfers of monies, services, medicines and humanitarian supplies outside government channels. Monks are typically trained in indigenous and traditional Ayurvedic medicine from their ancient migrations
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Ingredients used in traditional Burmese medicine. (Sergio Pitamitz/Corbis)
from India, and remain on familiar terms with indigenous practitioners. Burmese Americans express serious concern over preservation of indigenous medicines, medicinal plant species, traditional formularies, diagnostic paradigms, new bans, and licensing difficulties imposed on indigenous practitioners and products by the government health ministry and general access to their cultural heritage. Poverty in indigenous areas, international blockades, multinational pharmaceutical interests, natural disasters, and international poaching of medicinal animals and plant species, particularly the aphrodisiac antlers of Burma’s indigenous red deer by China, are trending oppositions for Burmese Americans. Many are attracted to ecological, environmental, and alternative medical treatment and studies in American higher education as ways to conserve their patrimony. Burmese Traditional Medicine, primarily a specialized indigenous plant medicine, is well integrated with Indian Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), both acknowledged by the WHO (World Health Organization) as a substantially single and unified major medical system. Indian, Chinese, and Burmese plant species are virtually identical with many overlapping medicinal uses locally known in indigenous areas and established through ancient waves of settled migrations, well conserved in Shan, Karen and Kachin indigenous areas and among Burmese Buddhist Monks. In the United States, Monks discreetly offer traditional formularies, word-of-mouth referrals and ingredients for products that Burmese Americans know how to make at home. Some
Burmese Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
ingredients are available at Indian and Chinese ethnic groceries, for example, for Burmese herbal shampoo made from tagaw shrub and black acacia pods. Thanaka powder, in evidence at Burmese American street festivals in hot weather, is worn as a cosmeceutical on the face, a golden metallic powder protecting against sun damage, softening the skin, reminiscent of the hammered gold leaf veneers of sacred pagodas. Little is said or written about the Burmese Cult of Jewels as a form of medicine, or the geomantic rapport of mineral and precious stone veins with the veins and energetic pathways of the human body, but Burmese Americans are discreetly aware of analogies in New Age healing modalities with crystals, stones, and precious metals. The association of lowgrade ruby and garnet with blood and stamina is an example known to smugglers, who include opium poppy smugglers, across the northern passes into China and beyond for pharmaceutical and illicit uses under government censorship. Knowledgeable Burmese Americans acquire geodes for such reasons during American desert vacations and at New Age shops. Meditation remains, however, the best acknowledged preventive, working against malicious nat spirits, spirit possession, and emotional illness. All medical modalities from physical to spiritual can be performed discreetly in the United States by Burmese Monks. Burmese Americans feel at home with Indian Ayurvedic and TCM doctors, and trust Chinese ethnic pharmacies and other Southeast Asian specialty markets. Entrepreneurial attitudes do not dominate among introspective Burmese Americans, but there is some trend toward supplying bulk plant ingredients for global pharmaceutical, organic and vitamin manufacturers when official blessing can be obtained. Myanmar’s single official traditional medical college, established in 2002 at Mandalay, has curriculum and language requirements in Sanskrit and the related Pali dialect of some early Buddhists, enabling Ayurvedic medicine texts, important Buddhist transcriptions and Sino-Tibetan indigenous medicines to be decoded. The curriculum recovers the TCM acupuncture network in Sanskrit in Ayurveda’s nadi-marma network. Western medical anatomy and chemistry are studied, enabling graduates to trend into hybridized careers in green-organic or the laboratory-synthetic chemical approaches evident in official government cosmeceutical personal care, offered in Internet sales, in medicinal and bulk plant sales, and in formularies containing synthetic ingredients, stabilizers, and petrochemicals super-added to plant ingredients. Burmese Web sites advertise medical tourism at emerging government-licensed facilities in Burma. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Burmese Americans: Humoral Medicine and Spirit Beliefs; Indian Americans: Ayurveda; Indonesian Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing.
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Further Reading Frawley, Dr. David, and Dr. Vasant Lad. The Yoga of Herbs. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 1988. Montagu, Jean-Yves. Burma. Cologne: Evergreen, 1998. Ros, Dr. Frank. The Lost Secrets of Ayurvedic Acupuncture. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1995.
Web Site See Burmese/Myanmar herbal and pharmaceutical site with personal and commercial bulk herbal product sale options for the global pharmaceutical and organic markets: http:// www.famepharma.com.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner The language used by Burmese Americans has two forms: Bama Sagar (spoken Burmese) and Bama Sar (written Burmese), but they have subtleties and idiosyncrasies that pose problems for nonnative nonlinguist users but offer challenge and fun to phonologists. Like several Asian languages, the spoken form of Burmese existed long before the written form appeared based on Nagari (an ancient Nagari script) and Pali (the language of the Theravada Buddhists). According to historians and archaeologists, written Burmese first appeared in the Mya Zedi Kyauk Sar (inscriptions at the Emerald Pagoda) in the Bagan era (11th century CE). Spoken Burmese uses three tones: unaccented, lightly accented, and heavily accented to distinguish similar-sounding words. There are also homonyms for each tone, making the task of discerning the correct word and meaning not easy to a novice learner. The unaccented sa can mean “begin,” “tease,” or “piece.” The lightly accented sa can mean “letter,” “language,” or “sparrow.” The heavily accented sa can mean “eat,” “divide” or “rule.” On a happier note, spoken Burmese has fewer tones than Chinese or Tibetan. However, it also has dialects (i.e., used by Rakhines and Tavoyans). Most Burmese would pronounce both ya pa let and ya yit the same. Rakhines would pronounce ya pa let as ya, but ya yit as ra as in Pali. Written Burmese uses 33 consonants and several vowel combinations. Some would say that there are 32 pure consonants, a dual consonant-vowel called a, and several vowel combinations. Written Burmese is nonlinear in the sense that the vowels are not simply ascenders and descenders, but they can be wrappers (encompassing a consonant). Elder Burmese Americans recall how English publications either rendered Burmese inscriptions and texts phonetically or transcribed them. The grammatical structure of Burmese is different from English and is more akin to Japanese. Instead of saying “I go to school,” a Burmese American will
Burmese Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
say in its vernacular, “I [am] school to go.” There are several variations of a word based on gender, honorifics and colloquialism. Burmese language vernacular has its fair share of idioms and exceptional usage. Thus, nga, kyun daw, kyun ma, kyun note, kyote, phone gyi, tabyi daw, tabyi daw ma are manifestations of the word “I.” Similar to poetic license, speakers are given freedom in pronouncing some words. Based on context, the written word ka would be pronounced as ga. Burmese Americans share mannerisms with other Asian Americans, but there are some subtle differences as well. It is common to see Burmese Americans stand up to greet elders and teachers. Some also clasp their hands in respect while addressing elders and teachers (not by their names but by formal terms drawn from a thesaurus of naming). They may nod in agreement, but will refrain from arguing forcefully in public. However, the addressing and conversation at home tend to be less formal and not too constrained by customs and etiquette. Siblings and close friends may use colloquialism in small talk. —Hla Min
Further Reading Cornyn, William Stewart, and D. Haigh Roop. Beginning Burmese. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1968. Okell, John. A Reference Grammar of Colloquial Burmese. London: Oxford University Press, 1969.
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Cambodian Americans History, People, and Culture Cambodian Americans are a fairly recent group in the United States. In the late 1960s, there was a small group of Cambodian international students at California State University, Long Beach, and in the early 1970s, there was a small contingency of Cambodian military personnel studying English at the Defense Language Institute in San Antonio, Texas. Most of these students were unable to return home. The Vietnam War had spread into Cambodia, and in 1975, the Communist Khmer Rouge regime, under the leadership of the notorious Pol Pot, overthrew the government and commenced a reign of terror. Cities were emptied, and the people were forced into rural areas to work as agricultural laborers under slavelike conditions. All institutions were shut down, including schools. The Khmer Rouge systematically executed former leaders and other members of the educated classes. Many more died of starvation and disease. By the time invasion from Vietnam in 1979 brought an end to Khmer Rouge rule, the Cambodian genocide had claimed the lives of between 1 and 3 million people—about one-third of the entire population. Over 100,000 Cambodians fled to the Thai border following the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Refugee camps were established by the United Nations, and over the next decade, Cambodians were allowed to resettle in other countries, primarily the United States. The first wave of Cambodian immigrants to the United States included the fortunate 4,600 Cambodians who managed to flee the country just prior to the 1975 Khmer Rouge takeover, and consisted mainly of former government leaders and those with close ties to the United States. The next waves took place following the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. The majority of these refugees were from the rural areas of Cambodia where there was less access to formal education. By 1990, 147,708 Cambodian refugees had resettled in the United States. U.S. relations with Cambodia were restored following UN-sponsored elections in 1993. Since then, efforts by Cambodian Americans to sponsor relatives left behind in Cambodia have resulted in some new immigrants to the United States. A small
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number of Cambodian immigrants have also arrived as spouses of Cambodian American and other U.S. citizens; as adopted children; and on their own on tourist, student, business, or missionary visas.
Adjusting to Life in America Most Cambodians arrived in the United States as impoverished political refugees who had experienced the trauma of war, genocide, and poor living conditions in refugee camps. Refugee resettlement was enabled by the federal Refugee Act of 1980, which included a domestic policy of refugee assistance through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). This included housing assistance, English as a second language courses, vocational training, health care, and financial support. Unfortunately, the federal resettlement program was disorganized and highly fragmented. Promised federal funds were drastically reduced and thus covered only a fraction of the cost faced by states, counties, cities, and institutions responsible for assisting with refugee resettlement. A number of churches and other charitable organizations were also involved in the sponsorship and support of Cambodian refugees. The ORR attempted to spread Cambodian refugees in cities across the United States so as not to overburden the institutions in any single area; however, secondary migration led to the formation of large Cambodian communities. Long Beach, with its small but established prewar Cambodian population, became a major draw, particularly through desires to reunite with family members already there, and to take advantage of California’s excellent weather and (then) generous welfare assistance programs. The rapid growth of the Long Beach Cambodian community was a concern to area leaders and refugee resettlement officials. The Khmer Guided Placement (KGP) program was created in 1979 to establish Cambodian communities by resettling refugees without family ties in twelve selected cities around the country: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Houston, Jacksonville, New York City, Phoenix, Richmond, and Rochester. The program also provided incentives for Cambodian families to leave Long Beach and take up residence in these alternative cities. The KGP program emphasized self-sufficiency through job training and placement, and thus was a great benefit to the 8,000 or so Cambodians who participated in the program. While there was some secondary migration away from the KGP sites, overall these cities became home to established medium-sized Cambodian communities. Cambodian Americans faced a wide range of challenges as they adjusted to life in the United States. These challenges included problems of lingering postwar trauma; schools that were ill-equipped to meet the unique cultural, academic, and linguistic needs of Cambodian refugee students; lack of needed social
Cambodian Americans: History, People, and Culture
services; gang involvement and conflicts with other ethnic minority gangs; early marriage; welfare dependency; and forced deportations of noncitizens over sometimes minor criminal offenses. Despite these challenges, overall the Cambodian American population has demonstrated tremendous resiliency in rebuilding their lives in the United States, adjusting to a new language and culture, while striving to maintain their own.
Current Demographic Trends According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2007 American Community Survey, there are approximately 247,487 Cambodian Americans in the United States (including 28,863 individuals of mixed race/ethnicity) who make up approximately .08 percent of the total U.S. population. The Cambodian American population is relatively young, with 33 percent under the age of 18, compared to 25 percent of the total U.S. population. While over half of Cambodian Americans (56 percent) were born outside of the United States, 34 percent of the foreign born have become naturalized U.S. citizens. Thus, nearly three-fourths of Cambodian Americans are U.S. citizens. There are Cambodian Americans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, however over 80 percent reside in just 10 states: California, Massachusetts, Washington, Pennsylvania, Texas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Virginia, New York, and Georgia. California alone accounts for 40 percent, and Massachusetts and Washington account for approximately 12 percent and 8 percent of the population respectively. Within these states, Cambodian Americans tend to cluster in specific cities and greater metropolitan areas and thus are able to maintain a sense of community. Long Beach, California, has the largest Cambodian population anywhere outside of Southeast Asia, with over 17,000 people. Lowell, Massachusetts, has the next largest population, with over 9,000 people. These cities have distinct neighborhoods with high concentrations of Cambodian American residents and local businesses including food markets, restaurants, music and video stores, clothing stores, photo studios, jewelry stores, beauty salons, medical and dental clinics, and auto mechanics, to name a few. In downtown Long Beach, a mile stretch along Anaheim Street has been officially dubbed Cambodia Town, though many refer to the area as Little Phnom Penh. In a rural area outside of Alvin, Texas, there is a cluster of Cambodian American homes in an area the locals refer to as the Khmer village. While Cambodian Americans have made tremendous economic progress since initial refugee resettlement, they continue to lag behind the total U.S. population averages, and behind most other Asian American populations. According to the 2007 American Community Survey, about 19 percent of Cambodian families live in
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poverty, compared to only 10 percent for the total U.S. population. The poverty rate is even higher for Cambodian American families with children under 18 years— 23 percent in comparison with about 15 percent for the total U.S. population. Median family income for Cambodian American families is $11,000 lower than that of the total U.S. population. Cambodian American households also have higher rates of government assistance, such as Supplemental Security Income, cash assistance, and food stamps, than the total U.S. population. While employment rates mirror the total U.S. population, Cambodian Americans tend to work in lower-paying jobs in factories, restaurants, hotels, and retail stores. Many also own and operate small markets and shops. Donut shops are a niche market among Cambodian business owners in several parts of the country. The Cambodian American population lags far behind the total U.S. population in educational attainment. While many Cambodian Americans have succeeded academically, the group as a whole has not done well. Cambodian refugee students experienced interruptions in their education in Cambodia due to the war and genocide, lacked access to quality education in the refugee camps, experienced war trauma, and faced tremendous challenges in learning English and adjusting to life in a new country. The 1.5 and second generations have also struggled academically. In “The New Californians: Comparative Research Findings on the Educational Progress of Immigrant Children,” a longitudinal study of immigrant youth in Southern California, Cambodian American students had among the highest rates of dropouts, the lowest scores on English proficiency and academic achievement tests, and the lowest career aspirations. According to the 2007 ACS, 38 percent of Cambodians (ages 25 and over) have less than a high school diploma, compared to only 16 percent for the total U.S. population. Only 11 percent of Cambodian Americans have completed a bachelor’s degree and only 3 percent have completed a graduate or professional degree, compared to 17 percent and 10 percent respectively for the total U.S. population.
Culture Despite the American education system and social factors that encourage cultural assimilation, Cambodian Americans have maintained a sense of community and work to preserve their culture in the United States. Cambodian Americans tend to maintain an intense interest in their home country. This is not surprising given their fairly recent immigration, and the fact that most still have family in Cambodia. Even younger Cambodian Americans born in the United States exhibit interest in Cambodia. Cambodian Americans frequently provide financial support to family members in Cambodia. There are active Cambodian political party chapters in several of the larger communities, and Cambodian politicians frequently visit the United States to gain support and raise funds. Thousands of Cambodian Americans
Cambodian Americans: History, People, and Culture
have returned to Cambodia to visit family, engage in business or politics, or to provide humanitarian assistance in rebuilding the country. Cambodian Americans of all ages are fans of the music and popular media from the country, and there are several Cambodian American artists producing both English and Khmer language media (music, movies, videos, karaoke, etc.). Cambodian restaurants in the larger communities typically offer live popular Khmer music on the weekends. Cambodian American musicians of both traditional and popular Khmer music perform in traditional Khmer wedding ceremonies and at large receptions at Cambodian restaurants or other facilities. Community concerts and parties frequently feature popular singers and comedians from Cambodia who tour the United States. Smaller communities without a local Khmer video and CD store typically have informal networks to sell, rent, or share Khmer-language media. The typical Cambodian home has a large collection of Khmer movies, karaoke, and music CDs, in addition to wall art related to Cambodia. Pictures of Angkor Wat, an ancient temple ruin symbolic of Cambodia’s past greatness, are especially popular. While parents and older community leaders lament what they see as the loss of (their idealized) traditional Khmer culture, Cambodian American youth forge unique cultural identities that are somewhat of a hybrid between Cambodian and American cultures—something many of the youth refer to as “Khmer Pride.” Cambodian Americans actively create space or places to “be Khmer.” Cambodian Buddhist temples played a central role in life in Cambodia, and Cambodian Americans have established more than 100 temples in at least 29 states. The monks play a vital role in Cambodian American communities in important ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, and the blessings of new homes and businesses. Cambodian Christians (most of whom converted in the refugee camps or after arrival to the United States) have established hundreds of churches and congregations throughout the United States of a variety of denominations. Over half of the states have active Cambodian community organizations. In addition, Cambodian student organizations are common at high schools and universities wherever Cambodian American students are enrolled. These temples, churches, community organizations, and school clubs host a wide range of social events that bring the community together. Many are also hosts of Khmer language classes and/or traditional dance groups. The largest social gatherings are the annual Khmer New Year Celebrations in mid-April. In the larger communities, these celebrations bring together more than 10,000 people over a two- to three-day period who wear traditional clothes; buy, sell, and eat special Khmer dishes; participate in religious ceremonies; play traditional and modern games; and enjoy entertainment that includes both traditional performances and new forms of Khmer song and dance created by Cambodian Americans. For example, at a recent celebration in Massachusetts,
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Cambodian American youth performed a dance combining the masks and signature theatrical movements of Hanuman (the monkey god from the Cambodian version of the Ramayana) with hip-hop music and dance. Long Beach recently added an annual parade down Anaheim Street as part of the New Year celebration. The Internet has emerged as a new virtual space for Cambodian Americans to be Khmer. Youth in Cambodia, the United States, and other countries are now interacting with each other online through social networking sites like YouTube and through online virtual Khmer communities. In mid-September 2009, there were over 145,000 videos on YouTube matching the keywords Khmer (116,700), Cambodia (61,300), or Cambodian (21,500). Hundreds of new videos are added each month. Cambodian youth in the United States and around the world share Khmer music videos, clips from Khmer movies and news reports, videos of community events and parties, home-produced videos, and video clips of daily life and interactions. While the latter are not necessarily always (or completely) in Khmer, they nonetheless are clearly marked as Cambodian. As an illustration of the popularity of YouTube among Cambodian Americans, a humorous video titled “How to Be Cambodian,” was produced by a Cambodian American student named Jim in Massachusetts for his Khmerlanguage class. The video pokes good-natured fun at their Khmer language and culture, and centers on teaching a clueless Cambodian American youth how to be Cambodian. Three years after its posting in June 2006 the video had been viewed 253,416 times, and generated 1,621 viewer comments, most of which appear to be from other Cambodian Americans. A more recent YouTube video titled “You know you’re Cambodian when . . . ” posted in February 2009 had generated over 25,000 views in its first seven months and generated over 560 comments. The video features a young Cambodian American woman, leader of a sketch comedy troupe in Chicago called Spring Roll Fever, who lists dozens of unique markers of Cambodian identity and culture in the United States. While meant to be humorous, each item rings true as testified by comments from Cambodian American viewers.
Conclusion Cambodian Americans are a small, recent, but vibrant group in the United States. Overcoming tragedies of war and genocide in their home country, they have successfully rebuilt their lives in their new country. Resisting assimilation pressures, Cambodian Americans maintain a strong sense of community, strive to maintain cultural traditions, and forge new unique identities within the spaces and places they have created to be Khmer. —Wayne E. Wright
Cambodian Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decorations
Further Reading Chan, Sucheng. Survivors: Cambodian Refugees in the United States. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004. Hein, Jeremy. Ethnic Origins: The Adaptation of Cambodian and Hmong Refugees in Four American Cities. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2006. Needham, Susan, and Karen Quintiliani. Cambodians in Long Beach (Images of America). Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2008. Rumbaut, Rube´n G. “The New Californians: Comparative Research Findings on the Educational Progress of Immigrant Children.” In R. G. Rumbaut and W. A. Cornelius, eds. California’s Immigrant Children: Theory, Research and Implications for Educational Policy. San Diego: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, 1995. Streed, Sarah. Leaving the House of Ghosts: Cambodian Refugees in the American Midwest. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2002. Wright, Wayne E. “Khmer as a Heritage Language in the United States: Historical Sketch, Current Realities, and Future Prospects.” Heritage Language Journal (in press).
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decorations Since the Cambodian genocide, Cambodian craftspeople are scarce, as the majority of them were murdered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. However, in years following the genocide, a movement was started to revive and preserve Cambodian crafts and folk art, but the results did not match the quality of the past. As opposed to crafting high-quality items made for the upper class, items today are more mundane and reflect items of everyday life. The artistic quality of Cambodian craft is absent. Jewelry making, stone and wood carving are the most practiced crafts. The typical Cambodian American home incorporates key elements of Cambodian life not only to assert their ethnic identity, but also to express nostalgia for their homeland. While specialty Cambodian crafts are not always readily available in many locations where Cambodians live, it is common for Cambodian American families to order them from abroad or from stores in cities where Cambodian American businesses are more available, such as Long Beach, California. Cambodian American homes pay homage to both the Buddhist way of life and various achievements in Cambodian culture. For Cambodian American Buddhist families, there are altars with incense, candles, and a statue of Buddha. Around the altar, there are also illustrated depictions of Buddha, showing various stages of his life. These images communicate to anyone who enters their home that they are Buddhists. There are also taped cloths or papers written in Sanskrit with
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Buddhist prayers or chants. These objects are believed to ward off evil spirits and offer protection to the people inside. Cambodian Americans will often pray for their ancestors at the altar, as a sign of respect, especially for those who died during the Khmer Rouge period. Home decorations and various pieces of handcrafted art and paintings show Cambodian Americans’ pride in their homeland. The living room will usually have large acrylic paintings of Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s great architectural achievement; the idyllic countryside; or apsara (the celestial nymphs and dancers on the walls of Angkor Wat). There are also wooden sculptures of the apsara, and oxen carts and homes on stilts that evoke a more peaceful time in pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. These works represent more than just nostalgia for Cambodia; they honor some of Cambodia’s greatest achievements in human civilization. This teaches Cambodian American youths to be proud of their heritage and history, albeit indirectly, through everyday things that are taken for granted in their homes. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Chhim, Sun-him. “Introduction to Cambodian Culture.” 2nd printing. San Diego: Multifunctional Resource Center, San Diego State University, 1989.
Children’s Folklore The folklore of Cambodia is revealed in children’s literature in the wonderful retelling of stories that leads to better understanding the nature of humankind. Unlike legends, there are various renderings of these Cambodian tales. However, the recent written versions have given more definite shape to the folklore. Three notable selections are Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit: A Folktale from Cambodia; Brother Rabbit: A Cambodian Tale; and Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella written by Jewell Reinhart Coburn. The first, Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit (1991), is by Cathy Spagnoli and Lina Mao Wall, who came to the United States in 1983 as a refugee from Cambodia. Judge Rabbit, a popular figure in Cambodian storytelling, is a gentle, selfconfident creature who is called upon to help people in need. In this tale, Judge Rabbit helps a young couple outwit a deceitful tree spirit. A young husband, at the king’s request, goes to battle, leaving his new wife and choosing honor
Cambodian Americans: Children’s Folklore
over love. In his absence the jealous spirit of a banyan tree takes on human form and pretends to be the young woman’s husband. All goes well until the woman’s husband returns. Who is the real husband? The shrewd Judge Rabbit exposes the tree spirit, and the grateful couple reunites. Woven throughout the story is the idea that honor and truth win out in the long run. The second tale is Brother Rabbit: A Cambodian Tale (1997), by Minfong Ho, Saphan Ros, and Jennifer Hewitson. Minfong Ho grew up in Burma, Thailand, and the United States but spent time in relief work along the Thai-Cambodian border in the 1980s gaining experience that led to writing Brother Rabbit as well as the novel The Clay Marble. In this story, mischievous Brother Rabbit tricks an enormous crocodile into ferrying him across the swiftly moving water to his feast. Soon after, Brother Rabbit outsmarts a market woman and an elephant mother and her child. But greater trouble awaits in the form of the angry, revenge-seeking crocodile. The “back and forth” between the deceiver and the deceived makes the story unpredictable and edgy yet playful. This story of insurgence in the animal kingdom may have been especially prized at a time when Cambodian farmers and villagers felt powerless and longed to turn the tables on the landlords, soldiers, and kings. The third story, Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella (1998), by Jewell Reinhart Coburn, is the Cambodian version of this universal tale. (Coburn also wrote Domitila: A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition and Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella.) Angkat, the obedient daughter of a fisherman, finds her position threatened when her widowed father marries a woman with a daughter, Kantok. To decide which girl will be number one in the family, the stepmother arranges a fishing contest that Angkat’s stepsister wins by cheating, relegating Angkat to a servant’s role. Angkat’s special friend, a magic fish she caught and freed, is killed by Kantok. Suddenly the radiant Spirit of Virtue appears and gives Angkat a pair of dainty golden slippers that eventually lead her to her prince and a royal wedding. The story takes an unexpected turn when Angkat’s jealous family lures her back home to murder her, but the Spirit of Virtue raises her from the dead, the family is punished, and Angkat and her prince live happily ever after. This tale, like most Cinderella stories, concludes with the truism that despite being unappreciated and condemned to serving others, as long as you are kind natured and a good person, your dreams will come true. —Bonnie Piller
Further Reading Coburn, Jewell. Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella. Walnut Creek, CA: Shens Books, 1998. Coker, Dolores Muga. The Asian Students in the Classroom. Education and Society, 1 (3), 1988.
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Clothes and Jewelry Obtaining traditional Cambodian jewelry and clothes may be difficult in the United States, but cities with large populations of Cambodian Americans have made it accessible. In Long Beach, California, the Cambodian American business boom has spread onto Anaheim Street, which is considered the mecca of Cambodian America. Countless blocks feature Cambodian-owned supermarkets, auto shops, video stores, and, of course, jewelry and fabric stores. These businesses cater to Cambodian Americans and their way of life. They also play a vital role in the preservation of Cambodian culture in the United States. Ethnic Cambodian clothes are colorful and complex. The sampot is considered the national garment of Cambodia. Historically, there were different types of clothes worn for different classes, such as sampot chang kben, for the middle and upper class. The typical sampot (sarong) is worn by the lower class. The krama is a checkered scarf, used fashionably or protection from the sun. The av pak, an embroidered silk blouse, has also recently come into fashion. Today, Cambodian Americans wear ethnic Cambodian style clothes for performances or social functions, such as ceremonies and festivals. Additionally, they are worn by brides during a Cambodian-style wedding. The production of silk items is very important in Cambodia. The hol, phamoung, sarong, and the scarf are all made of silk. Each Cambodian sampot is dyed and woven separately by hand, so that no two garments can look exactly the same. Each pattern is different for men and women. Sampot phamuong chorabap is a luxurious fabric that requires up to 22 needles for weaving. Some patterns include formal motifs. The Cambodian yellow silk is the most valued silk to use. The chorabap is often used for Cambodian classical dance outfits. Cambodian jewelry shops have grown in the past decade, as they specialize in Cambodian style jewelry. While jewelry signifies a person’s status, it is also given as part of the dowry in Cambodian weddings. Both the bride and groom are adorned with luxurious accessories during the traditional Cambodian wedding ceremony. Other pieces of jewelry, such as a necklace or ring, are often given as a blessing between parents and their children. Cambodian-style clothing and jewelry are not worn every day by Cambodian Americans. Clothes that are common in Cambodia, like the sarong, are considered
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special in Cambodian America, and thus are only worn on special occasions. Wearing traditional-style Cambodian clothes and jewelry is a powerful way for Cambodian American youth to connect with their Cambodian heritage. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Chhim, Sun-him. “Introduction to Cambodian Culture.” 2nd printing. San Diego: Multifunctional Resource Center, San Diego State University, 1989. Lee, Jonathan H. X., ed. Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall and Hunt Publishing Company, 2010.
Dance, Music, and Performance In the Cambodian genocide, nearly 2,000 years of Cambodian culture, arts, music, dance, and literature were wiped away by the Khmer Rouge. Today, Cambodian folk dance, music, and art are being preserved in the United States, as elders teach
Gloria Keo (left) and Samchay Anongthep perform the blessing dance during Cambodian New Year festivities in Long Beach, California, April 8, 2000. Long Beach is home to the largest Cambodian community in the United States. (AP Photo/Chris Lee)
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their children how to dance and sing. Both folk music and dance, as well as classical style music and dance, are being preserved and transmitted. At the same time, Cambodian Americans struggle with their own identity and solidarity, as they try to make a life for themselves as refugees in a new country. Today, Cambodian American performance groups are all nearly community based, focused on promoting and reviving Cambodian folk dance and music. They also educate the non-Cambodian public about Cambodian American culture and lifeways. These performances typically take place during Cambodian community social functions, such as festivals, weddings, and social gatherings. Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, founder of the Khmer Arts Academy, teaches Cambodian American girls and boys Cambodian classical dances. These dances are often performed at Cambodian festivals and ceremonies and, in more recent years, through collegiate cultural shows put on by Cambodian American students. The Khmer Arts Academy is a community organization that provides an after-school program for Cambodian American students, maintaining folk traditions that were almost destroyed. There are two types of Cambodian theater performances: bassac (theater of Chinese origin) and yike (folk theater). The bassac theater groups perform dance dramas about Buddhist tales, indigenous legends, modern romances, and satires. Originating from Siem Reap, the yike is a rural dance drama generally performed by amateurs and accompanied by drums and violins. Other forms of folklore dance include the coconut dance, the fishing dance, and the krap dance. Ramvong, a circle dance that was often performed in the countryside, is also performed at festivals and social functions, which is. The common music ensembles are kar (marriage orchestra), pinpeat (court), and mohori (entertainment). The kar utilizes instruments like the chapei (guitar) and tro khmer (three-stringed violin), while the raneat ek (wooden xylophone) and kongs (gongs) are used for pinpeat performances. Popular music is another form of Cambodian music, exemplified by Dengue Fever, a Los Angeles-based band that features Chhom Nimol, a popular karaoke singer from Cambodia. Dengue Fever uses Cambodian pop music and lyrics combined with psychedelic rock music to create a new type of sound. While the Khmer Rouge wanted to eliminate class differences by purging Cambodian society of traditional folk music, classical court dance, and the arts, these cultural expressions have survived in the United States, and are being preserved for generations to come. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Chhim, Sun-him. “Introduction to Cambodian Culture.” 2nd printing. San Diego: Multifunctional Resource Center, San Diego State University. 1989.
Cambodian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals Ebihara, May et al., eds. Cambodian Culture Since 1975: Homeland and Exile. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994. Lee, Jonathan H. X., ed. Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall and Hunt Publishing Company, 2010.
Dying and Death Rituals As the expression goes, “To be Khmer is to be Buddhist.” Cambodian American dying and death rituals are no exception, being largely informed by Buddhist principles and teachings. In Buddhism, human existence is understood to be cyclical, a phenomenon known as samsara, or the cycle of rebirth and death. Therefore, death is not an end in itself, but rather, an end to one cycle of life. For Cambodians, life is understood as birth, followed by the gradual decay of the body, illness, and old age, which ends with death and rebirth. This is the first teaching of the Four Noble Truths. There are two fundamental counterbalanced principles in Theravada Buddhism that can have a negative or positive effect on one’s life: karma and merit. Karma is accumulated through actions and thoughts, especially if it is based on intentional harming. The karmic debt that one accumulates over this current lifetime determines one’s future rebirth. But it is not absolute. Merit provides the counter-balance of karma. The most efficient way to earn merit is through supporting the community of monks and nuns. Merit is earned by distributing Buddhist doctrines, which potentially saves countless beings from a life of suffering. Merit is earned through good works. Like karma, it is obtained through physical and mental acts. Similar to the Catholic tradition of suffrages, merit transfer is a practice and doctrine that allows the living to intervene on behalf of the dead: to ease their suffering and time in hell. The transfer of merit is also an expression of the Buddhist principle of anatam (no-self) because it is a selfless act, whereby the fruits of one’s actions and resources are employed to profit and benefit others. According to Theravada Buddhist doctrines and Cambodian folk belief, one becomes a hungry ghost (Pali: petas) if one’s body is not properly cared for after death. Many Cambodians who died under Pol Pot’s regime were denied a proper burial. Hence, the hungry ghost spirits of the people who suffered and were killed haunt not only Cambodians in Cambodia but also Cambodians living in the United States. Many Khmers will perform merit transfer ceremonies (thvoeu bon) on behalf of their family members who died during the Cambodian genocide, to provide their deceased with comfort and the opportunity for a good rebirth.
Cambodian American Death Rituals In the Cambodian Buddhist tradition, when death occurs it is vital to perform rituals in the correct and proper order. Otherwise, it is believed, the deceased will not be
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able to move on to the next stage in samsara, rebirth. As a result, Cambodian Americans demand that they be allowed to perform rituals for their loved ones who recently passed. A Cambodian American family sued a funeral home in Georgia for $2 million, for prematurely cremating their deceased body before they were able to perform Buddhist funeral rituals. A Cambodian Buddhist monk is essential to the rituals because he performs the blessing ceremony at birth, as well as during death. A monk or a group of monks are invited to the home to recite Buddhist sutras. If the patient is dying, the monk or group of monks are invited to the person’s bedside to recite Buddhist sutras as a way to prepare him/her for the next realm. It is understood that at the moment of death, the person’s soul does not leave the body, but rather, lingers, which is why a monk is needed to calm the soul down. Living descendants are told not to cry as the recently departed might want to stay behind to comfort them. In Cambodia, surviving family members care for the dead body. The body is taken home to be washed and dressed. Monks are invited to come to the home on a daily basis to recite sutras after it is placed in the coffin. The body is left whole and complete: it is not embalmed and never dissected, as it is believed those practices will prevent the deceased person from having a good rebirth. The body is kept in the home for up to seven days. These practices are not observed in Cambodian America. Cambodia Americans have had to adapt and make concessions. Instead of caring for the body at home, they do so at a funeral home. Monks are invited to their home to recite sutras, especially in the deceased person’s bedroom, then invited to perform the rituals at the funeral home. The temporal aspect of it is also changed, as funeral rituals have to be performed right away, without taking seven full days. On the day of the funeral procession, Cambodian Americans will gather an achar (priest), Buddhist monks, members of the immediate family, and other mourners to accompany the coffin to the crematorium. In Cambodia the cremation would take place in the temple. Children of the deceased would shave their heads and wear white mourning clothes. However, in the United States, guests and extended family sometimes wear black. After cremation, the Buddhist ritual requires a funeral/remembrance ceremony to be held on the 7th or 100th day after death. It can be held at the temple or the home, but usually is held at the Buddhist temple, or wat. Buddhists cremate their bodies because it reinforces the impermanence of material things as well as symbolizing the separation of the soul from the physical body. After cremation, the ashes are collected and kept in a stupa in the temple compound. There it is believed that the deceased is close to Buddha, and may have a quicker chance at a better rebirth because the monks care for their soul. In Cambodian America, families more often keep the ashes at home than in Cambodia due to the lack of temples. However, Cambodia Americans will visit Thai, Lao, Burmese, and Chinese Buddhist temples if they are available in the community.
Cambodian Americans: Family and Community
Cambodian Americans try to hold to the funeral ritual traditions as best they can. Most often, the body is kept at the funeral home for three days, although some families try to keep it up to the seventh day. Given that the law in the United States does not allow the body to be brought home, some rituals have been omitted. Many rituals are performed at home or at the temple, while the body is at the funeral home. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Lee, Jonathan H. X. “Cambodian/Cambodian American Religiosity and Culture-Work.” In Jonathan H. X. Lee, ed. Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall and Hunt Publishing Company, 2010.
Family and Community In 1975, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge attempted to destroy the very core of Cambodian society: the family unit. Today, the family unit continues to be the basic building block of Cambodian communities in the United States. The family is the main social unit in Cambodian society: the relationships developed between parents and children remain the strongest of all social connections. Buddhist principles of compassion and nonviolence are central to Cambodian American socialization and moral education. Within the community, maintaining face is important because honor for oneself and one’s family is at stake. Parents whose children are out of control in public, or are committing vices, lose face as they are deemed to be “bad” parents. Conversely, children who show respect to their elders, do well in school, and are role models of success bring honor to their parents and family because it is understood that their parents taught them well. Even minor social misbehavior among children may result in their parents losing face, which is why acting properly in public is emphasized within the community. The typical Cambodian American family consists of parents, their unmarried children, and the grandparents. It is common for multiple generations to live within the same household. The family functions as a unit of production, especially when it comes to combining multiple incomes. Following the genocide, multiple extended families would live together and combine incomes to survive in the United States. Within the household, the wife is in charge of all matters within the domestic sphere, while the husband is in charge of matters outside. However, since they arrived as refugees, it became common for the women to work outside the home, all the while maintaining her duties as wife and mother. In Cambodian American families, parents are understood to be “first gods” or “gods of the house” when it comes to raising their children. It is believed that since
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children have a lot to learn and do not carry deep thoughts, it is up to their parents to teach their children certain responsibilities and proper behavior. In Cambodian culture, children have a lifelong debt to their parents, since their parents have made many sacrifices to raise and care for them. As they reach adulthood, children are expected to care for their parents, even after they have married and have families of their own. For Cambodian American children, it is said that daughters are harder to raise than sons, so girls are taught certain behaviors different from boys. The basic understanding of gender within Cambodian society is “kaunsrey mean tanahachroen,” which means that girls are naturally more emotional than boys and are less able to control their feelings. Through Chbabsrey (rules for girls), daughters learn that through their movements and presentation, they are not only to conceal their “femaleness,” but at the same time conduct themselves in a manner to attract a husband. Girls are expected to dress conservatively (tying their hair back and wearing long skirts) and help out with household chores. Chbabproh are rules for boys, where they are expected to be more outgoing (in contrast to girls) and “live outside the house.” They get reprimanded much more than girls, but at the same time, bear the responsibility of being able to care for the entire family as they get older. The Khmer Buddhist temple (wat) is the heart of the Cambodian American community, which is why Cambodian Americans have focused on temple building wherever they are. Besides the home, wat is the primary place where Cambodian American children will be socialized into the norms and values of Cambodian American society. Festivals and holidays, rituals and rites are all performed at the wat. Therefore, it becomes the center of community solidarity. It is the primary social institution that brings Cambodian Americans together, to renew relationships and strength networks. The Khmer Rouge attempted to transform Cambodia by destroy the tradition family structure and bond between parent and children. The new relationship would solely be between Angkar, “The Organization,” and the equal cadre/ comrade. Cambodian American families rely on the strong bonds of kin relations to make it in the United States. However, the family unit and the community was weakened because of the lack of social resources to provide for refugee families who arrived throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Welfare reform in the 1990s has caused even more pressure on the Cambodian American family unit and community. Families who made it to the United States were fragmented as members died in the Killing Fields, or got separated as a result of the chaos of war. The family unit within the Cambodian American community remains at risk. Many factors—poor educational opportunities, welfare reform, uneven resettlement patterns, and subpar living conditions in public housing—have resulted in weak Cambodian American communities. But there is hope, as some Cambodian
Cambodian Americans: Festivals and Holidays
American communities (e.g., Long Beach) have become vibrant and strong. The future of Cambodian America rests on the ability to strengthen the basic building block of Cambodian society—the family unit. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Chhim, Sun-him. “Introduction to Cambodian Culture.” 2nd printing. San Diego: Multifunctional Resource Center, San Diego State University, 1989. Lee, Jonathan H. X., ed. Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall and Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Smith-Henfer, Nancy. Khmer American: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Festivals and Holidays Cambodian festivals and holidays in the United States reinforce what it means to be Cambodian American. They serve as a time to unite families and communities, and affirm a shared cultural value and folkway of life as Cambodians living in the United States. While living in a new country requires adaptations and changes to cultural practices, Cambodian festivals and holidays are still closely tied to Khmer Buddhism, as they are celebrated here in the United States. The wat (temples) serves as a gathering space for the Cambodian American community to celebrate Khmer Buddhist festivals and holidays. The most significant festival in Khmer culture is Chual Chhnam Thmey (Khmer New Year, or literally, “Entering the New Year”). According to the Buddhist calendar, April marks the first month of the year. Cambodians celebrate the New Year for three days (generally April 13–15, but varies from year to year). On the first day, Sangkran Day, candles and incense sticks are lit and families pray at the altar moments before Theravada (ancestor spirit) arrives. On Vannaband Day, sand mounds are built around the pagoda, while Cambodians pray for prosperity and happiness. On the final day, Laeung Sak Day, multiple Cambodian families visit the temple to wash statues of Buddha. Younger Cambodians will wash the older members as a way to gain merit for themselves. Various games are played during the New Year such as Chol Chhoung, Bah Angkonh, Teanh Proat, Trot, as well as performing dances and holding modern dance parties. In Khmer culture, three Buddhist holidays are celebrated: in January, Meak Bochia (the commemoration of the last sermon of the Buddha); in April or May, Plaskh Bochia (the triple anniversary of Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and entry into nirvana); and in September, Prachum Ben, the third and longest Buddhist holiday, where offerings are made to the dead.
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Most of these festivals and holidays are celebrated within the home and the temple. However, since coming to the United States, the practices of these holidays and festivals have changed. For example, the Cambodian New Year Festival has become more much more than an event for Khmer Americans to celebrate Khmer culture with each other—it provides them a chance to build a prosperous and thriving community by extending the festival celebration from the temple to larger public venues, such as a recreational park. Cambodian vendors and businesses are able to sell Khmer goods and food, while local Khmer Americans perform classical dance and music, as well as more Western-influenced performances, such as hip-hop dances and rap. The Cambodian New Year celebration in Long Beach, California, recently began to include a parade featuring members from the local community such as local Cambodian American classical dance troupes, Cambodian American student organizations, other Southeast Asian organizations, and even members of the Long Beach City Council. The public celebration of Cambodian New Year makes it an “American” community festival. This reflects the degree and level of societal integration that Cambodian Americans have been able to develop within the last three and a half decades. Cambodian festivals and holidays not only bring Cambodian Americans together, but also the larger civic communities of multicultural America. Cambodian festivals and holidays reveal a way of life that is traditional as well as new. Within Cambodian America, festivals and holidays express the everyday importance of various periods and seasons. On the other hand, they reveal the new needs and temporal importance of Cambodians living in the United States. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Chhim, Sun-him. “Introduction to Cambodian Culture. 2nd printing.” San Diego: Multifunctional Resource Center, San Diego State University. 1989. Lee, Jonathan H. X., ed. Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall and Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Smith-Henfer, Nancy. Khmer American: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Folk Music Cambodian folk music in the United States is largely composed of instrumental orchestras, folk ensembles, and, most recently, modern pop/rock music. Traditional forms have been revived by Cambodian (Khmer) cultural centers, organizations, and institutes. The most common folk music genre includes popular
Cambodian Americans: Folk Music
Cambodian (Khmer) classical music performed in small or large ensembles. The pinpeat orchestras are used for puppet theater, dance dramas, and pantomimes. Oftentimes, the pinpeat music is reserved for daily rituals or religious ceremonies. The large ensembles consist of approximately 9 to 12 instruments, including roneats (xylophones), sralais (oboes), gongs, drums, and chings (cymbals). The small ensembles consist of 5 or 6 instruments of roneats, drums, sralai, and gongs. Another type of music is a secular form called mohori. It is primarily performed at folk dances, evening concerts, and royal banquets. Importantly, mohori is mainly played for entertainment value with songs about lullabies, relationships, and oral narratives. The type of instrumentation varies according to renditions, but mostly incorporates a dozen or so strings, xylophones, skin drums, harps, and flutes. A related type of mohori is mohori casai. This features ensembles with or without singing, and musical numbers involving cymbals, drums, harps, and violins before theatrical plays. A more modern type is mohori cha-nai, which combines traditional instruments with modern, electric (Western) instruments. Today, mohori cha-nai is used at royal banquets, theatrical plays, and karaoke establishments. Moreover, this genre was popularized by Cambodia’s Ros Sereysothea and Sinn Sisamouth from the 1950s to the 1970s. The Cambodian pop/rock music scene in the United States is chiefly produced and performed by Dengue Fever, a six-member band from Los Angeles, California. Zac and Ethan Holtzman formed the band in 2001 after a trip to Cambodia. The two brothers experimented with the psychedelic pop/rock of Cambodia’s Golden Era of music from the 1960s–1970s and sought a Cambodian singer (Chhom Nimol) in Long Beach, California, to join the band. Dengue Fever performs Cambodian classics and original material with a contemporary, surf-rock-psychedelic style. The group has released several albums. —Matthew J. Forss
Further Reading Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever. Web of Mimicry. WOM-012. CD. Dengue Fever. Electric Cambodia. Minky Records. CD. Dengue Fever. Escape from Dragon House. M80/The Birdman Recording Group. BRG-137. Dengue Fever. Sleepwalking Mekong. M80. M80-102. CD. Dengue Fever. Venus on Earth. M80. M80-101. CD.
Web Sites Khmer Cultural Center. “Mohowrri Ensembles.” Available from http://www .khmerculturalcenter.org/mohowrri.htm (accessed December 24, 2009). Khmer Cultural Center. “Pinpeat Ensembles.” Available from http://www.khmer culturalcenter.org/pinpeat.htm (accessed December 24, 2009).
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Foods and Foodways While Khmer cuisine has strong cultural influences from China, France, and India and shares common dishes with their neighbors Thailand and Vietnam, it remains a unique culinary experience of Asia. Within Cambodian America, the Khmer culinary experience has not changed, despite being transplanted to a new country. For Cambodian American refugees, Khmer food does more than provide memories of the homeland, it is also a form of preserving culture within the family, around the dinner table. At the heart of Khmer cuisine is the usage of spices. Spices are essential to Located in Tacoma, Washington, Mitapeap Khmer cooking, as they provide the is a restaurant featuring the Khmer complex and aromatic flavors to popu(Cambodian) cooking of husband and wife lar dishes like amok trey or somluah owners Tharath (left) and Sovanna Eang. korko. Lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, Trei chien with its salsa is pictured in the foreground, and loc lac at left. (AP Photo/The galangal, ginger, and turmeric are all News Tribune, Peter Haley) popular ingredients found in Khmer dishes. All these ingredients are usually ground and mixed to make kroeung, a spice and herb blended paste used as the foundation to make Khmer dishes. Kroeung is further categorized as royal kroeung (requiring additional herbs), individual kroeung (requiring additional ingredients and used for specific dishes), and color kroeung (green, red and yellow). Preparing kroeung is art itself, as it requires the freshest ingredients and a stone mortar and pestle to capture the right flavor. Since Cambodia is surrounded by multiple waterways (such as the Mekong River and Tonle Sap, or Great Lake), fish is also a main staple in Khmer cuisine. Derived from fish, prahok is a popular seasoning and condiment in Khmer cuisine. Prahok is a ground, salted, and fermented fish paste that is used as the base for multiple Khmer soups or served with raw vegetables and rice. It can easily be stored for as long as three years. Kapi is also another form of fermented paste, using shrimp instead of fish. While Cambodian American restaurants are slowly on the rise, authentic dishes are typically found within a Cambodian American household, whether is it served
Cambodian Americans: Heroes and Heroines
for a family meal or preparing for a Cambodian festival or holiday. Within Cambodian American restaurants, since Khmer cuisine draws its influences from multiple cultures, authentic Khmer dishes are rarer than the Chinese-, Thai- and Vietnamese-influenced dishes. These restaurants feature kuyteav, a popular Teochew/Chaozhou Chinese pork broth noodle soup brought in by Chinese immigrants to Cambodia. Somluar machu is the Khmer version of the Southern Vietnamese hot and sour soup canh chua. Khmer kari dishes are also directly influenced by Indian cuisine. Family-owned restaurant The Elephant Walk was opened in 1991 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Longteine “Nyep” de Monteiro and specializes in Cambodian and French cooking. The restaurant produced the first Cambodian American cookbook under the same title. Special food preparations are also made for festivals and holidays. Khmer-style BBQ is popular during celebrations, such as for Chaul Chnam Thmey (Khmer New Year). BBQ beef skewers (saiko ang) and picked vegetables (jroak) are a part of the array of foods served at celebrations and festivals. Kralan, a Khmer dessert served during the New Year festival as well, is a mixed steamed rice with beans and coconut milk stuffed inside a bamboo stick. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading De Monteiro, Longteine, and Katherine Neustadt. The Elephant Walk Cookbook: The Exciting World of Cambodian Cuisine from the Nationally Acclaimed Restaurant. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998.
Heroes and Heroines Cambodian American heroes and heroines play an important part in maintaining and preserving Cambodian folklife, cultures, and folk traditions in the United States. Cambodian Americans look to other Cambodian Americans who have become successful in their careers, but also to the everyday preservers of Cambodian culture life who dedicate their time to teaching Cambodian cultural traditions (e.g., folk dance and language) to Cambodian American youths. More importantly, many respect and honor the unsung heroes and heroines who survived the Cambodian genocide. Cambodian American youth who learn that their parents are direct survivors of the genocide use their elders’ trauma as inspiration to be good and successful. For bringing the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge’s Killing Fields to wide public attention, Dith Pran and Haing S. Ngor are Cambodian American heroes. Pran, a Cambodian photojournalist, is well known for being the subject of the film The Killing Fields (1984). Pran was born in Siem Reap and was the son of a government official. He taught himself English and was later hired by the U.S.
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Army and a British film crew as a translator. Following his escape from Cambodia, Pran became a photojournalist for the New York Times and established the Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, which worked on bringing the experiences of Cambodian genocide survivors to light. On March 30, 2008, Pran passed away from pancreatic cancer in New Jersey. Haing S. Ngor’s performance as Dith Pran in The Killing Fields earned him the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award in 1985, being one of only two nonprofessional actors to win the Oscar. Ngor was also a survivor himself. Prior to the genocide, Ngor was a trained surgeon and gynecologist. He was forced to conceal his medical skills and was later able to use them at the refugee camps in Thailand. Ngor was murdered by street gangs in the Chinatown enclave in Los Angeles in 1996. Following his death, the Dr. Haing S. Ngor Foundation was established in 1997 to raise money for Cambodian relief. He also wrote two books: Haing Ngor: A Cambodian Odyssey and Survival in the Killing Fields. For preserving Cambodian folk dances in the United States, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro is considered a modern-day Cambodian American heroine. She is a renowned choreographer and Cambodian classical dancer. As one of the first members of the graduating class of the Royal University of Fine Arts (following the Cambodian genocide), as well a graduate of UCLA’s World Arts and Culture department, she went on to establish the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach, California, which trains a new generation of dancers in the classic Cambodian dance form. Sopiline has also choreographed many works that have been performed in Asia and Europe and received tremendous support from multiple foundations, such as the National Heritage Foundation. Another Cambodian American heroine embodies a key character trait that Cambodians and Cambodian American cherish: human rights. Because the majority of Cambodians are Buddhist, nonviolence and nonsuffering are important goals of life. Hence, Somaly Mam, as a human rights activist fighting against sex trafficking, is rightly considered a heroine. As the founder of the Somaly Mam Foundation, Mam has received public and official support for working on the needs of sex trafficking victims. A victim herself in Cambodia, Mam was forced into a brothel at age 13 and was only allowed to leave when she became “too old” at age 18. Mam has been honored with multiple awards: the Roland Berger Human Dignity Award (November 2008), Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation (1998), as well as being one of eight flag bearers during the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Torino, Italy. Mam has also published a memoir on her experiences, The Road to Lost Innocence. Finally, because the majority of Cambodian Americans are Buddhist, monks, nuns, and pious lay Buddhists are automatically considered
Cambodian Americans: Identity
heroes and heroines within their community because they are reminders of the human potential for patience, loving kindness, and compassion. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Lee, Jonathan H. X., ed. Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall and Hunt Publishing Company, 2010.
Identity While the Cambodian American experience is often limited to first-generation experiences of survivors from the Cambodian genocide, the aftermath following Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge’s reign plays a significant role with the development of Cambodian American identity. A popular destination for Cambodian refugees following the Cambodian genocide was Long Beach, California, known as the largest Cambodian American community outside Cambodia. By 1980, the Cambodian population in Long Beach grew to 7,000, many of them directly resettled there. Prior to the influx of refugees from Cambodia, Long Beach, was already known to Cambodians due to a cultural exchange program between California State University, Long Beach between the 1950s and 1960s. Today, according to the 2000 census, there are a reported 17,396 Cambodian Americans in Long Beach—which is believed to be an underreported number due to language barriers and trust issues of government officials within the community. Cambodian Americans face more than just social and economic barriers while adjusting to a new life in the states: the memory of the genocide continues to live with the community. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression are key mental health issues affecting Cambodian refugees. Due to the traumatic experiences of the Cambodian genocide, Cambodian refugees have had much more difficulty acculturating in a new place. Symptoms include re-experiences of the traumatic event, detachment, and high anxiety levels. Refugees diagnosed with PTSD are more likely to have children who suffer from it as well. The children of Cambodian refugees also continue to face severe conditions, such as low levels of educational achievement and gang involvement. Because their refugee parents often work long hours away from home, there is little supervision of their children. Male youth are often believed to be associated with gangrelated activity. The reason for joining gangs is not just for fitting in, but also to assert masculinity and ethnic solidarity amongst Cambodian male youth against other gangs. The highest reported gang activity was during the 1980s and 1990s.
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Since March 2002, when a repatriation agreement was reached between Cambodia and the United States, more than 1,200 noncitizen felons (and former felons) who claimed Cambodian ancestry were subject to deportation. Khmer American youth were also treated as undesirable foreigners, and for those who were sent back to Cambodia, many of them had left their birth country at such a young age that they did not retain any memories. However, in the midst of the problematic issues the Cambodian American community suffers from, many aspects of Khmer culture have been transplanted from Cambodia to the United States. Khmer Refugees asserted the traditional values and beliefs they had in Cambodia. The major religion in Cambodia is Theravada Buddhism, and Khmer Americans continue to associate Khmer identity with it. In Massachusetts (as well as multiple Khmer ethnic enclaves), houses, former business or religious centers often served as the temple space for the Khmer monks to hold ceremonies and Khmer holidays (such as the Khmer New Year). While these are all issues discussed within Cambodian American studies, Cambodian American identity is not limited to these experiences. Cambodian Americans found great achievements through business opportunities, such as through the doughnut enterprise. Empowered by the experiences of the first generation, second-generation Cambodian Americans have expressed interest in creating awareness about their heritage and history, which is a development of their own identity. Cambodian culture has not just been transplanted in the United States, but there have been efforts in creating bicultural productions, such as through the efforts of rapper praCh Ly, who uses hip-hop and pinpeat music to give voice to the complexity and struggle of being Cambodian and American. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Chan, Sucheng. Survivors: Cambodian Refugees in the United States. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004. Chandler, David P. A History of Cambodia. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992. Ong, Aihwa. Buddha Is Hiding: Refugees, Citizenship, the New America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Smith-Henfer, Nancy. Khmer American: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
“The Killing Fields” On April 17, 1975, the Communist Khmer Rouge, headed by Pol Pot, defeated the American-backed Lon Nol government and entered Phnom Penh as victors. Their
Cambodian Americans: “The Killing Fields”
ideals were independence, peace, neutrality, nonalignment, and prosperity for the Cambodian people. The Khmer Rouge cadres were ethnic Khmer, and the war-weary populace welcomed them. The goal of the new regime was to initiate a social, cultural, and economic revolution that would bring about a racially pure, self-sufficient, and socially and economically egalitarian Khmer society, without any Western technology or aid. However, the revolution turned out to be based not on progressive social change, but on the eradication of the existing social system. The process began with the forced evacuation of all city dwellers to the countryside and the execution of professionals, educators, and students, The Killing Fields memorial filled with the who were perceived as having been skulls of Khmer Rouge victims, near Phnom “tainted” with Western ideas; also Penh, Cambodia. When Lon Nol's army surrendered in 1975, the Khmer Rouge executed were most monks, and unleashed a campaign to slaughter everyone government servants, police, and army considered part of the old society, killing personnel who had served Lon Nol. At estimated 1.5 to 2 million people. least 16,000 of the victims were tor- (R. Fox Photography/Dreamstime.com) tured before being killed at the infamous S-21 prison, a former high school in Phnom Penh. In the countryside, the evacuees were stripped of their previous social statuses and individual identities. Everyone became “comrades” and peasants. Separated into age-graded and sex-graded camps, their only job was to obey and serve the “Angka,” the high revolutionary organization governing the country. Forced into slave labor while being starved systematically, the victims, including children, were beaten and abused. Women were raped. Illness was rampant, but hospitals, like schools and Buddhist temples, had been transformed into torture centers. The jungles became the “Killing Fields” where thousands were forced to dig their own graves before execution. It is estimated that up to 1.6–2 million people had died from execution, starvation, and disease by the time Vietnamese Communists displaced the Khmer Rouge in January 1979. Thousands of traumatized victims, afraid of another Communist regime, fled their country in the first-ever exodus of Cambodian refugees. But it
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was another 30 years before the killers were brought to justice by a UN-sponsored Cambodian Genocidal Tribunal. The first defendant to be tried and convicted in 2009 was Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who had headed the S-21 prison. Four other Khmer Rouge leaders—Khieu Samphan, former head of state; Ieng Sary, foreign minister; his wife, Ieng Thirith, minister of Social Affairs; and Noun Chea, the movement’s chief ideologue, were still awaiting trial by the end of 2009. In the United States, Dr. Leakhena Nou, a medical sociologist of Cambodian origin at California State University, Long Beach, led a team of concerned volunteers, including law students and researchers, in a campaign to collect testimonies from survivors living around the United States to send to an international tribunal judging the four defendants, although it is not known if the testimonies would be used. Pol Pot died in 1998 without ever being tried. By 2009, his victims feared that most Khmer Rouge leaders would also die before facing justice, and that thousands more killers will escape unpunished because the judicial process was being manipulated by the current prime minister, Hun Sen, himself a former Khmer Rouge official. —Usha Welaratna
Further Reading Shawcross, William. Quality of Mercy: Cambodia, Holocaust, and Modern Conscience. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984. Welaratna, Usha. Beyond the Killing Fields: Voices of Nine Cambodian Survivors in America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1993.
Web Sites http://www.apa.nyu.edu (“Research” ASRIC). http://www.yale.edu/cgp/news.html.
Literature Since literature was banned during the Cambodian genocide, Cambodian literature did not develop until 1979, when published works began to appear abroad, such as in France and Thailand. However, a significant amount of literature was produced by Cambodian writers abroad, most notably in France. Following the fall of the Khmer Rouge, themes of the horrific life during the Cambodian genocide emerged as part of the new literacy movement in Cambodia and abroad. A notable organization is Cedoreck (Center for Documentation and Research on Khmer Civilization), which has published classical and modern Khmer literature, as well as the monthly journal Kaun Khmae, which contains short stories, mainly from Pech Sangwawann,
Cambodian Americans: Names and Name Giving
a member of Khmer Writers in Phnom Penh. In Thailand, Cambodian textbooks featuring works by refugees in the border camps were published. These works included sketches, poems, stories, and modern novels focusing on the memories of the Cambodian genocide. In the United States, a number of books have also been produced pertaining to the experiences of the Cambodian genocide. Some nonfiction works include Luong Ung’s memoirs First They Killed My Father and Lucky Child. Both deal with Ung’s family experiences while living in the labor camps, as well as their experiences adjusting to life as refugees in the United States. Young adult novels have also appeared, including Minfong Ho’s The Stone Goddess, about a young Cambodian classical dancer in training and her family’s life at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Lina Mao Wall and Cathy Spagnoli’s adapted Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit: A Folktale from Cambodia is an illustrated children’s book dealing with a husband and wife’s troubles with a tree spirit. In addition, Cambodian American student organizations also publish their own literary works; for example, UCLA’s United Khmer Students publish a literary journal. Khmer Girls in Action also published an anthology of poems and short stories, by and about Cambodian women. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Chhim, Sun-him. “Introduction to Cambodian Culture.” 2nd printing. San Diego: Multifunctional Resource Center, San Diego State University, 1989. Ebihara, May et al., eds. Cambodian Culture Since 1975: Homeland and Exile. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994.
Names and Name Giving Unlike Western names, Cambodian names begin with surname, followed by the given name. The surname is often taken from the father, but at times, names are given as a sign of favoritism amongst parents. For example, it is common for the first daughter to carry the first name of her father as her surname because she is his favorite. Another reason for naming is due to superstitions. Cambodians are superstitious, so if a bad incident were to take place during the birth of a child, a father would also give his first name as the given name of the child, as a means to protect him or her from future harm or bad omens. Cambodian names are chosen for more than just their meaning or for the sake of sounding elegant: they represent the ethnic heritage that parents want to pass down to their children. Cambodian names for women are generally images of beautiful and poetic objects, such as flowers, the moon, sun, or stars. Names for boys are generally virtuous. Buddhist monks also play a part in the naming of newborn
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Cambodians. The monks consider many elements when naming the child: date, time, season, year, and lineage, so that the child may meet great fortune in the future. Common Cambodian names and their meanings include: Males: Amara (deity), Heng (lucky), Kosal (Clever), Narith (masculine man), Piseth (superior), Rithy (powerful), Sambath (fortune), Sothearith (compassion), Vannak (having class), Vireak (absence of desire), Visoth (heavenly, pure) Females: Bopha (beautiful flower), Chamroeun (prosperity, also male), Chanlina (moonlight), Maly (flower blossom), Mony (precious stone), Sopheary (beautiful girl), Sovanarry (golden girl), Thyda (angelic girls), Vanna (golden) Among Cambodian American youths, many are given Cambodian names by their parents. Their Cambodian names remind them of their family’s history, and inform who they are as Cambodian Americans. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Lee, Jonathan H. X., ed. Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall and Hunt Publishing Company, 2010.
Narrative Folktales Oral literature has an important role in Cambodian American society: it represents Cambodia’s past before the genocide. Folktales that predate the 20th century were not recorded on paper and told orally to be carried on from generation to generation. They were told to pass on the norms and values and the meanings of famous Cambodian landmarks. Many folktales adapt plots from famous Indian stories such as the Ramayana. Many folktales are interpreted into Cambodian classical dance, such as Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso (The Goddess and the Giant). Some examples of popular folktales include “Vorvong and Sorvong,” about two princes who fell from power and, through various events, were able to gain back their status. Two hills in Kirirom National Park were named after the two brothers. The tale was also performed by the Royal Ballet of Cambodia in 2006. Considered the Cambodian version of Romeo and Juliet, “Tum Teav” tells the tragic love story between Tum, a young Buddhist monk, and Teav, a young Cambodian girl. While the two vow to marry each other, Teav’s mother wants her to marry the King and tricks her into attending the wedding ceremony. Tum, in an attempt to stop the marriage, gets killed after he appears drunk and kisses her in public. Following Tum, Teav commits suicide. The story has been adapted many times through film, plays, dance, and comic books.
Cambodian Americans: Proverbs and Maxims
The origin of thunder and lightning is told through Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso (the Goddess and the Giant). Moni Mekhala, a water and cloud goddess (apsara), was bestowed with the magic ball, after she and Ream Eyso (a storm spirit) competed with each other to obtain the sparkling object from their teacher. Ream Eyso received a magical axe as a consolation prize, but he still wanted the magical ball. The thunder and lightning represent the battle between Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso. After they battle, the rainy season comes in the midst of a dry season. The story is also a Cambodian classical dance. Since the majority of Cambodians and Cambodian Americans are Buddhist, the religious tales of the Buddha’s former lives, The Jataka Tales, are popular narratives that are told from elder to younger for many generations. The Jataka Tales teach Cambodian American children the meaning of being Buddhist, including the Buddhist ideals of compassion, nonharming (ahimsa), and forgiveness. The tales are commonly about humble poor folks who commit acts of compassion toward the Buddha (who is disguised as someone in need) wherein they are blessed by Buddha and saved from this world of cyclical suffering. These tales also show the Buddha in various life forms, the most popular tale being that of Buddha as a rabbit who saves a group of hungry travels by offering himself as food. What these tales of sacrifice communicate to Cambodian American children is that one is never too big or too small to live a life of compassion and nonharming. The Jataka Tales are so important and popular that they are made available at the Buddhist Temples for free. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Chandler, David P. A History of Cambodia. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992. Ebihara, May et al., eds. Cambodian Culture Since 1975: Homeland and Exile. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994. Shaw, Sarah, trans. The Jataka Tales: Birth Stories of the Bodhisatta. New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Proverbs and Maxims Cambodian proverbs and maxims are teachings that transmit Cambodian cultural norms, values, ethics, and lifeways to children within Cambodian American families and communities. Familiarity with Cambodian proverbs and maxims also reveals the wisdom and life experience of the speaker, which imbues him/her with social status. Proverbs appear in folktales, fairytales, Buddhist scriptures, epics novels, and poems. As such, they are part of the literary culture of Cambodia and Cambodia America. Cambodian proverbs and maxims can be categorized into
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several themes: (1) admired qualities, (2) undesirable qualities, (3) importance of tradition, (4) interpersonal relationships and status, (5) family, (6) Buddhism, and (7) language. Cambodian proverbs can also be classified into various categories: pheasit and sopheasit (correct speech), peak chas (elders’ sayings), peak bauran (ancient sayings), peak tumneay (traditional sayings), and putthaperasit/ putth tumneay (Buddhist sayings). Proverbs are meant to be used in everyday speech and are meant to be accessible to everyone of all ages and social status in the United States, as well as in Cambodia. Since flexibility is encouraged in Cambodian culture, proverbs communicate the importance of this trait in social relationships and situations. An important proverb is “Chaul steung tam bat chaul srok tam brates,” which translates as “Negotiate a river by following its bends; enter a country by following its customs.” The meaning of the quote stresses adaptability as to an important quality because life is full of unexpected moments and changes. On the other hand, being timid is considered an undesirable quality as shown in the following proverb, “Khmah krou kmean brachnha khmah brapuan kmean kaub,” which means “If you’re timid with your teacher, you won’t learn; if you’re timid with your wife, you won’t have children.” The proverb hinges that the individual should not be shy or hold him- or herself back because it will get in the way of meaningful social relationships, and by extension, the full potential for success in life. Many Cambodian proverbs focus on respect and nonjudgmentalism. Cambodian proverbs also honor history and life experience, as this proverb makes clear: “Kom ang uot atma tmah tamra brach preng neay,” which means “Don’t brag about yourself; you may be ashamed by traditional wisdom.” This refers to the importance of learning from past mistakes, as well as taking advice from elders that is often ignored. Another proverb, “Trok trok neak strok moel ngeay roloas kouth khcay mean ud mean phoan,” which means “The stupid person, scorned by neighbors, may suddenly become wealthy and wise.” The meaning of this proverb is that it is not smart to judge others on first impression. Cambodian proverbs also stress the importance of the Cambodian wife in the proverb “Min cheua peak srey as srauv pouch,” which means “If you do not listen to the advice of a woman, you will not receive any rice seed next year.” This teaches men to respect their wives, as they have the role of maintaining the household. Whether or not the wisdom of Cambodian proverbs and maxims remains vibrant in the Cambodian American community depends on their ability to maintain Khmer language. Younger-generation Cambodian Americans primarily use English, which may result in these teachings not being passed down for generations to come. These teachings may also represent a Cambodian past that may be the cause of intergenerational conflicts. Cambodian proverbs and maxims idealize
Cambodian Americans: Religion
key traits in Cambodian culture, such as compassion, modesty, and collective good, which contrast with American values of individuality, self-esteem, and pride. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Ebihara, May et al., eds. Cambodian Culture Since 1975: Homeland and Exile. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994.
Religion The Cambodian American religious landscape is primarily Buddhist, but the history of religion in Cambodia is diverse. Cambodian and Cambodian American religious culture is a blend of influences mainly from India, but also China. Therefore, it reflects an intermixing of elements from Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucian, Islamic, and indigenous beliefs that are embedded in religious practices and beliefs. Together, these influences have forged a distinctively Khmer faith that has sustained Cambodians through the war and genocide that nearly destroyed their nation in the last third of the 20th century and helped anchor diaspora communities around the world, including the largest—in the United States.
History of Cambodian Religions Historically, Hinduism (Siva and Vishnu Cults), and Buddhism have existed together in Cambodia from the 1st century BCE to the 14th century CE. Khmer religious expression finds still different influences coming from Islam and Vietnamese religions. For instance, Cambodian Muslims are descendants of the Chams, who migrated from central Vietnam after the final defeat of the kingdom of Champa by the Vietnamese in 1471.
Monks at the Khmer Buddhist Society in Seattle, Washington, 1994. (Dan Lamont/ Corbis)
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Cambodian Muslims adopted a fairly orthodox version of Sunni Islam and maintained links with other Muslim communities throughout Southeast Asia. There is also a small, heterodox Islam community, the Zahidin, who practice a form of Islam similar to the Muslim Chams of Vietnam, but who only pray once a week on Friday, and observe Ramadan only the first, middle, and last day of the month. Khmer Muslims represent a close-knit community, marrying only within their own faith community. Their total population is more than 300,000 in Cambodia, but much smaller in the United States.
Khmer Theravada Buddhism Theravada Buddhism (“the Way of the Elders”) is the dominant faith in Cambodia, having been the state religion since the 13th century, enduring through both French colonialism until the 1950s, and after, up until the 1970s Communist revolution under Pol Pot. The Khmer Rouge, as the Communists called themselves, ruthlessly attempted to remove religion from Cambodian life by destroying many temples and executing many of the sangha, or Buddhist community of monks and nuns. Most of the 3,600 temples that existed in Cambodia were destroyed, and fewer than 3,000 of the 50,000 monks survived the genocide. Not until 1979, following Vietnam’s occupation of the country, was religion allowed to be practiced publicly again. However, the rebuilding process relied heavily on Theravadian monks from Thailand. Khmer religion is best characterized as a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, indigenous folk, and Chinese beliefs and practices. However, most Khmer are Buddhist and hence share certain basic understandings and beliefs. The most central of these is the concept of karma (kam), the belief that one’s actions in previous lives and the merit (bon) that one has accumulated determine one’s current and future life situation. This is coupled with the notion of reincarnation, the belief that every individual is at a certain stage of the rebirth process. Many Khmer will invoke their understanding of karma to make sense of their current lives. According to Theravada Buddhism, life is ultimately characterized by unease (anicca), obfuscated by the impermanence of all things. The first of the Four Noble Truths, taught by the historical Buddha Siddhartha, envisions life as suffering (dukkha) that one is expected to endure because the suffering has an end.
Khmer Folk Religious Elements Khmer folk religion conceptualizes various spirits and souls that influence peoples’ lives—positively or negatively. Khmer believe that there is a guardian mother spirit, an “invisible mother” (me ba) who protects a baby during the early years of infancy, but who can also be potentially dangerous. The invisible mother is a “spirit mother” of the baby in a previous life, who watches over her baby with
Cambodian Americans: Religion
much love and affection during the early years of infancy. However, many Khmer elders express ambivalence toward the invisible mother because she is potentially dangerous if the baby is left alone. Central to Khmer understanding of life is the belief that there are many nonhuman life forms cohabiting with humans; some are benign while others are frightening. Spirits of locality (e.g., mountains and villages) are called qnak ta (“ancestral people”) and are relatively benign. Spirits of known or unknown deceased persons, ghosts of the dead (i.e, khmoc lan and bray), victims of murder, or babies who die at childbirth are potentially dangerous.
Buddhist Temples Cambodian Buddhist temples are a key cultural institution in the Cambodian American community. Early on in the development of these communities, because of a lack of financial resources to construct a community temple, many Khmers will construct a Buddhist shrine in their homes. Temples are considered important sites not only for moral education and children’s socialization, but also for rituals, including weddings, blessings, exorcisms, and funerals. When available, a monk is the preferred officiate for a ritual; however, a religious layperson (achaa) may step in to perform a ritual in lieu of a monk. The scarcity of Khmer Buddhist monks remains a big obstacle to the establishment of Khmer Buddhist temples among various communities in the diaspora. This is not to suggest that Khmer American communities are never able to produce the necessary capital to finance the construction of a temple. For instance, in 1984, about 800 Khmers in Portland, Maine, established a nonprofit organization, the Watt Samaki “Unity Temple,” to raise funds for the purchase and construction of a temple. Since immigrating to the United States, Khmer Buddhist communities have been successful in establishing and building nearly 40 temples nationwide, in Long Beach and Stockton, California; Seattle and Tacoma, Washington; Lowell, Massachusetts; Jacksonville, Florida; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Silver Spring, Maryland—to name a few places. Several of these temples were once home to Christian congregations, which says much about religious pluralism in contemporary America. Cambodian temple building comes with a potential backlash from xenophobic neighbors who invoke zoning laws and regulations in attempts to stop the building of temples in their neighborhoods. For example, in Silver Spring, Maryland in 2008, neighbors counted cars and kept detailed records and photos of people visiting the temple during festival celebrations. The Maryland State Supreme Court denied the group, then known as the Khmer Buddhist Society, a permit to build a temple on Newtown Hilltop. Afterwards, the Newtown Zoning Board presented the Khmer Buddhist Society with a “cease all religious services and festivals permanently” order (The Hartford Courant). As with Lao, Vietnamese, Sikh, and
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Chinese Americans, rebuilding temples and other religious institutions is a fundamental aspect of Cambodian American religious work because it affirms the community’s ethnic, religious, and cultural identity. Religious institutions and the ritual spheres are important social spaces in the adaptation to a completely new society.
Belief and Practice in the United States Khmer Buddhism in the United States plays a huge role in the socialization and moral education of younger Khmer Americans. The majority of Khmer Americans identify themselves as Buddhists, to the extent that ethnic and religious identities are deeply entwined. In Cambodia, Buddhist temples are places where young people, especially boys, learn moral lessons and proper respect toward elders. In the United States, many Khmer elders attribute the immorality among young Khmer Americans to the scarcity of trained Khmer monks and the shortage of temples. The life and narrative of the historical Buddha is a popular folklore in Khmer families. Adapting to American culture, Khmer American children frequently enjoy watching Bernardo Bertolucci’s film Little Buddha (1993), starring Keanu Reeves. Many Khmers will perform merit transfer ceremonies on behalf of their family members who died under Pol Pot, to provide their deceased with comfort and chances for a good rebirth. In Buddhism, karma chains all living creatures in the endless cycles of reincarnation and suffering. Merit is the counterweight of karma, and may be gained primarily by supporting the community of monks and nuns, or by assisting the needy, or by meditating on compassion and peace. Merit is also transferable. Hence, the living may perform rituals and offerings to earn merit, which may then be transferred to their beloved to assist them in the afterlife and in getting reborn into the human realm. When available, a monk is preferred; however, a lay religious person may agree to perform the necessary rituals. Most Khmer jointly worship and perform rituals important in both Buddhism and folk traditions. There is no tension, no struggle for membership, between Theravada Buddhism and spirits in folk belief; many times one will find shrines to local tree spirits in front of Buddhist temples, or shrines to ancestral people around a Buddhist temple. In the United States, in Khmer American communities, Buddhist temples become repositories of Khmer culture, brokers in cultural adaptation, and centers of community solidarity and Khmer identity. —Kanara Ty See also: Pan Asian Americans: Siddhartha Gautama.
Further Reading Cadge, Wendy. Heartwood: The First Generation of Theravada Buddhism in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.
Cambodian Americans: Rites of Passage Hamilton, Elizabeth. “A Battle Over Rites and Rights: Buddhists Fight Newtown’s Order.” The Hartford Courant, July 19, 2008. Lee, Jonathan H. X. “Cambodian American Religion.” In Huping Ling and Allan Austin, eds. Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2010. Lee, Jonathan H. X. “Pilgrimage of the Spirit: Connecting with My Ancestors.” The Review of Vietnamese Studies 2(1) (2002). Mortland, Carol A. “Khmer Buddhists in the United States: Ultimate Questions.” In May Ebihara, Carol Mortland, and Judy Ledgerwood, eds. Cambodian Culture since 1975: Homeland and Exile. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994. Smith-Hefner, Nancy J. Khmer American: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Rites of Passage Cambodian and Cambodian American folk beliefs and folklore are expressed in rites of passages and rituals. These rituals emphasize traditional social values that help to shape Cambodian American cultural identity and community in the context of the United States. In Cambodian American culture, the wedding ceremony serves as a visible marker reinforcing the importance of marriage and family kinship. Marriage acts as a symbol of status amongst Cambodian/Cambodian American families. Marriage could raise the status of either the groom’s or bride’s family, depending on the reputation of families of both parties. Marriage acts as a indicator of social identity for both the groom and bride, since they are public displays of both masculinity (the groom being able to support a family) and femininity (the bride’s virtue). In the United States, the Cambodian wedding ceremony may be shorter, but the amount of time and money spent on preparation and on the actual day of the ceremony are quite demanding due to the elaborate nature of the event. The groom’s family takes care of the cost of the wedding through the bridewealth (a sum of money usually negotiated between the two families), as well as providing gifts (consisting of alcohol, food, and clothing) and finally, the jewelry to be first given at the engagement. The at-home ceremony could cost between $2,000 and $5,000, while the banquet could cost between $6,000 and $10,000. On the other hand, the bride’s family organizes the wedding, including hiring photographers and videographers, reserving the restaurant for the banquet, hiring Cambodian American traditional bands and modern rock bands, and making food preparations for the guests. All organized into a single day, the Cambodian American wedding ceremony takes place in the morning at the bridal home, while the reception follows at a Cambodian American restaurant
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later at night. An initial investigation of both the bride and groom usually takes place and initiated by both sides of the family, who inquire through their network of family and friends to see if both the bride and groom have good standing (not showing any past of deviant behavior). Following the initial meeting between the two families, an engagement ceremony takes place, in which the groom brings many gifts to the bride’s family. This ceremony is held to pay homage to the ancestors of both parties. Bangskaul, the ceremony for the dead, offerings are made to Khmer Buddhist monks through food, housewares, and even appliances, to be accepted on behalf of the deceased. The items are “transferred” to their descendants as a form of merit making or blessing upon the living. A Bangskaul prayer is also recited by the Buddhist monks who relay the message to the living about their own deaths in the future, as well as to remember the dead. The ceremony can last up to a week, depending on the family’s income. Cambodian Americans often cremate their deceased family members, wash the remaining ashes in coconut juice, and place it in an urn for safekeeping. One hundred days after this ceremony, a second remembrance ceremony is held. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Chhim, Sun-him. “Introduction to Cambodian Culture.” 2nd printing. San Diego: Multifunctional Resource Center, San Diego State University. 1989. Lee, Jonathan H. X., ed. Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall and Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Smith-Henfer, Nancy. Khmer American: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos Cambodian American social etiquette, customs, superstitions, and taboos reveal aspects of Cambodian cultural values, norms, and ethics. One of the main values expressed in Cambodian American social etiquette is respect for elders. Their life experience and wisdom is honored when children defer to elders at the dinner table, or pour them water and massage their feet. Cambodian American social etiquette and customs communicate the degree of relations and social status between and among people. Social etiquette and customs are different depending on one’s social status and age. For example, while western greetings have been adopted by Cambodian Americans, they also still use traditional Cambodian greetings. A traditional greeting is sampeah,
Cambodian Americans: Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions
where the hands are brought together as if to do a prayer, along with a bow. Depending on the other party, the bow could also be lower and the hands are brought higher, especially if they are older. The first to offer sampeah is one with lower social status. When speaking and meeting people, proper honorifics are always used, especially for youth to address the older members of the community, followed by the first name. Lok is an honorific used for a man, while lok srey is used for a woman. Children are taught social etiquette, so it signifies to other Cambodians that they came from a good upbringing, also reflecting on their parents’ character. Additionally, younger Cambodian Americans will refer to older males as either pu (uncle) or bong proh (older brother). Younger Cambodia Americans would address older females as ming (auntie) or bong srei (older sisters). Superstitions and taboos in Cambodian culture reflect the importance of core Buddhist beliefs within the Cambodian American way of life. Merit making and having “good karma” are both very important to Cambodians as a means to ensure a pleasant, peaceful life. A major taboo in Cambodian culture is easily transgressed by westerners—namely, touching someone’s head. In American culture, adults are fond of patting children on their heads, which is a taboo if it is a Cambodian American child. The head represents the location of the human soul, hence it must be cared for properly. The feet are also considered an impure part of the body, so it is taboo to point your feet at a person while sleeping. Cambodians are also expected to keep a calm demeanor and not show emotion, whether it be sadness or anger. Within gender roles, women are also expected to remain virgins until marriage and not engage in premarital sex. Cambodian American social etiquette and customs are still very strong within Cambodian American communities. Even though second-generation Cambodian Americans feel they are “American,” they are literate in various forms of Cambodian social etiquette and customs. On the other hand, superstitions and taboos may be harder to maintain as Cambodian American youths learn more science and the logic of the scientific method of investigation in schools. But Cambodian Americans may still practice them, as cultural superstitions and taboos are powerful and hard to ignore. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Ebihara, May et al., eds. Cambodian Culture Since 1975: Homeland and Exile. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994. Smith-Henfer, Nancy. Khmer American: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
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Traditional Medicine and Healing Arriving in a new country and having to deal with acculturation issues as refugees, Cambodian Americans may be reluctant to put their faith in Western medicine because of the exercised control over their minds and bodies. Coming to the United States, traditional Cambodian medicine was also brought over, including many home remedies. The indigenous practitioner, or kruu, is the individual who specializes in Cambodian traditional healing and medicine. However, if a kruu is not available, it is common for certain family members to perform these traditional healing practices themselves. More often, Cambodian Americans will employ both Western and traditional health practices for dealing with illnesses. Cambodian Americans believe that illness can be attributed to the imbalance in their bodies, as well as having spiritual causes, which is rooted in Buddhist metaphysics. The “wind illness,” is understood to be an imbalance in the body associated with natural wind. Since the “bad wind” enters the body to create an imbalance, the traditional healing practices come into use. Traditional healing and medicine are used to remove the bad wind, so that the body is healthy in mind, body, and spirit. One common folk practice is to cover one’s body well, so as to avoid being penetrated by bad wind that may cause illness. Hence, many Cambodian elders, in Cambodia and the United States, will stay inside their homes on windy days. Two common Cambodian healing practices are choup and choup kchall. Choup is used to heal headaches, fevers, and other forms of body ache. A covered candle placed on the forehead is used to help circulate the blood flow toward the site of the pain, to help alleviate the stress on the area. Depending on the pain, the candle can be left between a few minutes and an hour. A red bruise will appear where the candle was left. Choup kchall is also used to treat body pain, especially with fever, to lower the body temperature. The method, known as “coining,” is very common. It uses a coin to rub against the backbone with a heat rub (a type of balm). This remedy also produces red bruises, like the choup method. Early on, many caring public professionals (e.g., elementary school teachers) thought Cambodian American children were being abused as they showed up at school with bruises all over their backs. However, it was later discovered that their parents, typically their grandmother or mother, performed this traditional healing practice on them out of love and care. There are also some practices not commonly done in the United States. Oyt pleung (moxibustion) is used to treat gastrointestinal illnesses. The moxi, a cottonlike substance, is rubbed over the abdomen and lighted with an incense stick. It also often leaves a burn scar over the treated area and is generally used to treat any abdominal pain. The moxi also uses herbs and roots from the kapok tree. On the other hand, some practices are still considered part of traditional medicine, even though they may be more common in the United States, and have become
Cambodian Americans: Urban Legends
part of the alternative medicine movement. Chap sah seah (massage and acupuncture) is used for both relaxation and the relief of pain. There are some practices used specifically for women and adolescent girls. Chipon (steaming) is used before a mother goes into labor as well as to improve a woman’s complexion. The woman stands over a pot of hot water (mixed with herbs) and allows her face to absorb the steam. Another practice for postpartum women is placing a charcoal burner under her bed, known as “mother roasting.” Signs of menstrual irregularities for adolescent girls are classified as “weak blood.” In these cases, girls are advised to eat hot foods to improve their blood flow. There are also forms of religious objects that Cambodian Americans use to ward off evil spirits associated with illnesses. Amulets with words written in Pali, Buddhist pendants on a gold chain, or braided knotted strings are all examples. They are all believed to hold spiritual power, and are blessed during chants performed by Buddhist monks. Yuan (magical pictures or words) and Buddhist images are often seen in Cambodian American homes as a means to protect the family from any spirits. They are usually seen on altars or over doors. Cambodian traditional healing traditions and medicine are important among first-generation Cambodian American immigrants. One important question for future study is whether or not they will continue among second and subsequent generations. —Kanara Ty
Further Reading Frye, Barbara A. “Cultural Themes in Health-Care Decision Making among Cambodian Refugee Women.” In Journal of Community Health Nursing 8(1) (1991): 33–44. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Ong, Aihwa. “Making the Biopolitical Subject: Cambodian Immigrants, Refugee Medicine and Cultural Citizenship in California.” Social Science & Medicine 40(9) (May 1995): 1243–57. Sargent, Carolyn, and John Marcucci. “Aspects of Khmer Medicine among Refugees in Urban America.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 16(1) (November, 1984). Blackwell Publishing.
Urban Legends There are several urban legends within the Cambodian American communities that circulate with some regularity. One popular one is that former Khmer Rouge cadres who are responsible for killing millions of Cambodians during the genocide are living in Cambodian American communities in Long Beach, California; Seattle, Washington; or Lowell, Massachusetts. These cadres are distinct because of their bloodshot eyes. Other urban tales describe wild Cambodian Americans
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possessed by multiple spirits because they are guilty of cannibalism, which was a result of the hunger and starvation they experienced under the Khmer Rouge. Urban tales of cannibalism are also found in Vietnamese boat people tales, in which, to stay alive while searching for refuge in the open sea, some boat people ate dying or near dying passengers. On March 22, 2002, Cambodia and the United States entered into a repatriation agreement. The agreement broadly established that Cambodia would fully cooperate in the repatriation of their own nationals from the United States. The Cambodian American community, and some 1,400 young men and women who had been ordered deported to Cambodia, for the first time faced the prospect of the forced return of family members to the country that they had fled just three decades earlier. Changes in immigration laws in 1996 greatly impacted the Cambodian American community. Making matters worse was the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, which made the U.S. government leery of all noncitizens. Before 1996, judges had discretion in deportation cases; after 1996, the policy was draconian and judges no longer had discretion. Cambodian refugees who maintained their permanent alien status and did not become naturalized citizens were particularly at risk. Many refugees did not become naturalized citizens because of language issues. Younger Cambodian Americans who committed petty crimes while teenagers were targets of the new policy. Immigration reform made deportation mandatory for all legal permanent residents who are sentenced to a year or more for aggravated felonies, “moral turpitude,” or use of controlled substances. Judges had no discretion in individual cases, and could not consider prison experience, rehabilitation, attitude, behavior, ties to family, and length of time living in the United States. Cambodian Americans are most concerned that the repatriated Cambodian Americans may face serious human rights abuses such as imprisonment or torture. At a minimum, most of them have limited knowledge of Cambodia and its social norms. They would be going there with little or no family support, and many would be leaving behind most if not all of their immediate families. Many of the repatriated Cambodian Americans have limited Khmer language skills, and most are illiterate in written Khmer. Once again, these children of Cambodian refugees will have to adapt to an unfamiliar culture and will relive their parents’ experiences of coming to a place they have little knowledge of. This has caused a lot of heartbreak for families who have lost so much in their lifetimes and now face the loss of more loved ones. News of the importance of becoming a naturalized citizen and the fear of being deported back to Cambodia spread far and wide. Many older Cambodian Americans quickly tried to learn enough English to learn basic American civics for the naturalization examine. The process was so stressful, and seemingly hopeless, that
Cambodian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
some committed suicide, or became depressed, which made their post-traumatic stress disorder more acute. Although the deportation of Cambodian Americans is not legend, as it is actually happening at this moment, the number of deportees described in the tales is higher than the actual number of Cambodian Americans who have been repatriated. It seems that almost all Cambodian Americans know someone who has been deported. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Grabias, David, and Nicole Newnham, directors. Sentenced Home. 2006. DVD. Lee, Jonathan H. X. ed. Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall and Hunt Publishing Company, 2010.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Khmer (or Cambodian), the national language of Cambodia, is spoken by over 13.6 million people worldwide. This includes 182,374 speakers in the United States, according to the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS). Khmer has its own unique script and holds the world record as the language with the largest alphabet. English proficiency is relatively high among the population as most foreignborn Cambodian Americans (57 percent of the population) have been in the United States for over 20 years, and 33 percent are under the age of 18 and mostly born in the United States. Despite high levels of English, Cambodian Americans of all ages use Khmer widely. About 81 percent of Cambodian Americans speak Khmer at home. In California, home to 40 percent of Cambodian Americans, 14,515 K-12 students were identified as Khmer speakers in 2008, 46 percent of whom were classified as limited English proficient. Thus, Khmer remains a dominant language of most Cambodian American homes. Three-fourths of Cambodian Americans live in close proximity across 15 major metropolitan areas. Khmer is widely used at temples, churches, community organizations, restaurants and businesses within Cambodian American communities. In larger communities, there are Khmer-language television channels, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and frequent cultural events. Even in smaller communities, Cambodian Americans meet for social events and to maintain their language through Khmer-language music and movies and by speaking with family members and friends on the telephone. While Khmer is still widely used in the United States, there are generational differences and clear signs of language shift toward English. There are relatively few new immigrants from Cambodia. Typically, only older members of the first
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generation of Cambodian Americans are fully proficient in speaking Khmer (though many are illiterate). The 19 percent of English-only Cambodian Americans are most likely school-aged students born and/or raised in the United States. Cambodian American parents and community leaders have long expressed concern about rapid language loss even among members of the 1.5 generation. This and subsequent generations have had limited opportunities to receive formal Khmer language instruction given the closures of schools during the Cambodian genocide, the limited education programs in the refugee camps, and the lack of Khmer bilingual programs in U.S. schools. While nearly all Cambodian Americans codeswitch between Khmer and English and now speak an American-influenced variety of Khmer that differs somewhat from standard varieties spoken in Cambodia, members of the younger generations tend to speak a variety of Khmer that is highly influenced by English and produce utterances that rely heavily on English vocabulary as substitutes for unknown Khmer words. Parents are often embarrassed when their children speak Khmer to older speakers and fail to use the proper forms of address and verbs that indicate respect and placement within social hierarchies. Some Cambodian American youth in inner cities, particularly those involved in gangs, have even adopted the speech patterns of nonstandard varieties of English spoken by other neighborhood youth. Khmer language loss is of great concern to Cambodian Americans who believe that “to be Khmer is to speak Khmer.” Parents associate their children’s loss of Khmer as synonymous with losing their Khmer identity and culture. While young Cambodian American are forging a new identity for themselves that does not necessarily require full proficiency in Khmer, they tend to use a wide range of Khmer words and phrases as markers of their “Khmer pride.” In the few places where Khmer-language classes are available, students are typically eager to take them. Most young Cambodian Americans are fans of popular Khmer music and videos. Even though most cannot read or write in Khmer, they have created ways to communicate in Khmer via e-mail, text messaging, and in online social networking forums by writing it phonetically using the English alphabet. Despite the lack of standardization, the messages are fairly simple to read and understand for those who can speak Khmer and read English. This phenomenon is now present on many popular Khmer karaoke DVDs where phoneticized lyrics appear underneath the Khmer text, clearly for the purposes of accommodating young Cambodian American fans who cannot read the Khmer script but want to sing along. Despite the lack of formal opportunities Cambodian American youth have to develop and maintain their native language, the Khmer language will likely continue to be used in one form or another given its close association with Cambodian American cultural identity, and the need and desire to network socially with other Khmer speakers in Cambodia and around the world. —Wayne E. Wright
Cambodian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
Further Reading Smith-Hefner, Nancy J. Khmer America: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999. Smith-Hefner, Nancy J. “Language and Identity in the Education of Boston-Area Khmer.” Anthropology & Education Quarterly 21 (1990): 250–68. Wright, Wayne E. “Khmer as a Heritage Language in the United States: Historical Sketch, Current Realities, and Future Prospects.” Heritage Language Journal (2010). Wright, Wayne E. “The Situation of the Khmer Language in the United States.” In John T. Tsuchida, Juan M. Benitez, and Dean S. Toji, eds. Education, Youth, Leadership, Labor: Asian Pacific American and Latino Perspectives. Long Beach: Center for Asian Pacific American Studies, California State University, Long Beach, 2007. Wright, Wayne E. “What English-Only Really Means: A Study of the Implementation of California Language Policy with Cambodian American Students.” International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 7(1) (2004): 1–23.
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Chinese Americans History, People, and Culture “Chinese Americans” refers to inhabitants of the United States of ethnic Chinese ancestry. This term is most commonly attributed to people from the People’s Republic of China, although it also includes people of Chinese heritage from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, and Southeast Asia. Chinese Americans are one of the oldest Asian American immigrant groups, with large-scale immigration to the United States dating to the mid-19th century. Although they were among the first Asian Americans, the Chinese Exclusion Acts of 1882, and subsequent immigration policies, restricted Chinese immigration flows until it was repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act, which permitted Chinese nationals already residing in the country to become naturalized citizens. Large-scale Chinese immigration did not occur until the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, when laws limiting immigration on the basis of race or nationality were lifted. Today, immigration continues to draw new groups of Chinese Americans, who coexist alongside established communities of second-, third-, and fourth-generation members. Together, new and established Chinese Americans represent the largest group of Asian Americans at 3.54 million individuals.
Origins and Demographics While there is evidence to suggest Chinese immigration to the United States in the 18th century, until 1848 the numbers were small and sporadic. Poor social conditions, heavy taxation, famine, and natural disasters in South China in the late 18th and early 19th centuries led to migration to neighboring Southeast Asian countries. When news of the California Gold Rush of 1848 reached Chinese shores, hopeful men primarily from coastal Guangdong Province shifted their attentions to the American West Coast to seek their fortunes in gold mining. Further demand for Chinese labor surged with the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, attracting tens of thousands of manual workers known as “coolies.” Immigration policies first instituted in the late 19th century and continuing into
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the mid-20th century based on fears of a “yellow peril” from China and the East, restricted the number of Chinese allowed into the country, prohibited naturalization, and confined them to Chinatowns and ethnic ghettos. Many resorted to entering the country illegally by assuming false identities as “paper sons” of Chinese American citizens. It was not until the passage of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 that many immigration quotas were lifted, allowing for a new wave of Chinese immigrants. Hailing from Taiwan and Hong Kong, they came for educational training. In the late 1970s, ethnic Chinese from Southeast Asia sought refuge from political instability at home. Later in the 1980s when the Chinese government lifted its own outbound migration policies, the next wave of migrants arrived from Mainland China seeking economic opportunity. It remains the country of origin of most new Chinese Americans today. Chinese American communities exist throughout the country, but are concentrated in California, New York, Texas, and Hawaii. Large communities can be found in the greater Los Angeles region, New York City, Houston, and the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
Classification The term “Chinese Americans” refers to individuals of ethnic Chinese heritage. It suggests origins from the People’s Republic of China, although it includes ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Macau, and Southeast Asia. The U.S. Census Bureau classifies Chinese Americans under the wider label of “Asian Americans.” Colloquially, Chinese Americans may call themselves huaqiao or huaren, meaning overseas Chinese. While there is diversity in the national origins of Chinese Americans, the culture of Chinese Americans is dominated by that of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Within the community, distinctions are made reflecting the tensions between new immigrants and established residents, and foreign-born and American-born citizens. Established residents derogatorily call new immigrants “F.O.B.,” or “fresh off the boat.” American born individuals are referred to as “ABC,” American-born Chinese. This term carries a negative connotation when used by foreign-born elders to refer to their Americanized children and grandchildren. Similar terms also include jook sing (bamboo shoot), banana, and Twinkie. These images suggest that an individual is yellow on the outside and Chinese in appearance, but white and Americanized on the inside.
Religion, Language, Culture China is home to several world religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Islam. As such, Chinese Americans practice many different religions, but within Chinese America, the most dominant are practitioners of Chinese Buddhism and Christianity. Yet many Chinese Americans do not participate in organized worship
Chinese Americans: History, People, and Culture
and practice a mixture of Chinese Buddhim, Taoism, Confucianism, and folk traditions known as “popular religion.” This is especially true when examining religious practice in a Chinese or Chinese American household. These practices include the maintenance of a family altar and visits to ancestral graves, shrines, and temples on certain anniversary dates and holidays. The primary languages used by Chinese Americans are Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. Many also speak regional dialects of Chinese, including Taishanese, once the dominant language of American Chinatowns until the 1980s when 70 percent of migrants originated from the area surrounding Taishan city in Guangdong Province, China. After Spanish, Chinese is the most widely spoken non-English language in households across the United States. An estimated 2.5 million people over the age of five speak Chinese at home. Many new immigrants encourage their children and grandchildren to speak Chinese by using it at home and by sending their children to after-school or weekend classes at “Chinese school,” where they are taught oral and written Chinese. The culture of Chinese Americans is in a constant state of change, and derives its influences from the United States and the different countries of origin, especially Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Many trends and fashions from Asia have been adopted in the United States, including Taiwanese boba pearl tea and the crossover success of film stars like Jackie Chan, Zhang Ziyi, Chow Yun Fat, and Jet Li. An active Chinese-language press reporting on Chinese and American issues, the availability of television shows by satellite, music, and other forms of media have enabled Chinese Americans to stay up-to-date with trends in Asia. However, many second and subsequent generations of Chinese Americans often have fewer ties to Asia than their first-generation counterparts. Many have limited or no knowledge of the Chinese language and little contact with Chinese culture.
Economics and Politics Chinese Americans can be classified into two socioeconomic groups: those working in manual or unskilled labor and those in white-collar professions. Many new migrants are less educated and work in manual or unskilled labor. Most work in the restaurant industry selling Chinese food to American customers. Wealthier and better-educated immigrants came to the United States under student or professional visas. Many have become middle- and upper-middle-class professionals, working in medicine, computing, and technology. This split in demographics is further reflected in the statistics on Chinese Americans. Bachelor’s degrees are held by 48 percent of the community, while 52 percent of Chinese Americans are employed in management, professional, and related occupations. Home ownership among Chinese Americans is 58.4 percent. Despite socioeconomic
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differences, education is highly valued across the Chinese American community, and many encourage their children to pursue secondary and tertiary education as means to a secure financial future. Chinese American involvement in the political system was limited until the 20th century. The earliest Chinese Americans had no political voice and no rights to citizenship by naturalization. In the 1930s, the Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance and other organizations fought for Chinese American civil rights. Later, in the 1960s, they were also involved in the civil rights movement. Today, the demographic differences in the community are also reflected in political involvement. Many of the better-educated and wealthier Chinese Americans are active in the political process and contribute to political campaigns. Some have become officials in local, state, and the federal government. However, many poorer and less educated Chinese Americans remain detached from the American political system. Political outreach programs have targeted them to become involved in the government process.
Relations with China and Integration into American Society Early 19th- and 20th-century Chinese migrants were expected to provide financial support to relatives in the homeland. This practice continues today among some new immigrants, but many second and subsequent generations of Chinese Americans do not follow this practice as socioeconomic conditions in both the United States and in Asia have changed. While remittances have become less common, many new migrants continue to stay in touch with Chinese political and cultural life by watching the news and reading newspapers. However, many second and subsequent generations of Chinese Americans have less political interest in China and other countries of origin, as they see the United States as their homeland. Overall, Chinese Americans tend to favor American presidents who have actively promoted diplomatic relations with China. Former presidents Nixon and Clinton, and current President Obama, have been praised for their work in strengthening bilateral American-Chinese ties. Chinese American integration into American society has faced many barriers. While some Chinese Americans have established themselves and achieved their own versions of the “American dream” of home ownership, a comfortable family life, and financial stability, discrimination has prevented many from achieving personal and career goals. Historically, Chinese immigrants were prevented from owning land and acquiring citizenship through naturalization. While there are no such laws today, there are still unofficial barriers to success. A “bamboo ceiling” prevents many Chinese Americans from reaching upper levels of management, and they are underrepresented in certain industries. Portrayals of Chinese Americans in the media have also drawn upon racist and stereotypical caricatures, such
Chinese Americans: History, People, and Culture
as the evil Fu Manchu, domineering dragon lady, and submissive butterfly, or have passed over Chinese American actors by casting Caucasians in “yellowface” roles.
Chinese American Organizations and Notable Chinese Americans Chinese American organizations have been an important part of social and civic life. Village and lineage associations called tongxianghui dominated early Chinese American life. These organizations provided newcomers with a place to stay, offered a place to collect mail and catch up on gossip, arranged travel back to China, and even secured credit, loans, and job connections. The most powerful of these organizations were the huiguan. Tongs, fraternal secret societies, offered similar services to huiguan, though they differed in their use of violence in conflicts and connection to illegal activities. Tongxianghui, huiguan, and tongs still exist today, although their influence has diminished as the number of social services for new immigrants has increased. Aside from village- and lineage-based organizations, other groups have established themselves to support Chinese American interests. They include the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), Committee of 100, Chinese American Citizens Alliance (CACA), and the Chinese Historical Society of America. Professional associations have also served to advocate the interests of Chinese Americans in industry and the workplace. Notable groups are the Chinese American Medical Society, Chinese American Physicians Society (CAPS), Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), and the Chinese American Chemical Society. Prominent Chinese Americans can be found in all fields, including but not limited to academia, the arts and entertainment, sports, business, and politics. A cursory list of famous persons includes Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan, novelists whose works have been published worldwide. Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam Memorial, and I. M. Pei, best known for the Louvre pyramid, have distinguished themselves in architecture. Bruce Lee, martial artist and actor, popularized martial arts among a worldwide audience. In sports, Olympic medalist figure skater Michelle Kwan became a household name in the 1990s and remains a celebrated athlete. Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!, helped revolutionize the way we use the Internet.
Chinese American Folklore Chinese American folklore draws on Chinese history, traditions, literature, myths, music, and other cultural forms. It is often combined with American cultural beliefs to form a hybrid tradition. Chinese American folklore explores both negative and positive themes, ranging from loss, bitterness, and struggle to success, acceptance, and achieving the American dream. These themes have been
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reinterpreted and recast into modern forms and through popular work by authors Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Lawrence Yip, and Frank Chin, and in the films Eat a Bowl of Tea and The Joy Luck Club. These themes are also expressed in dance, art, music, food, and other cultural forms that reflect both Eastern and Western cultural heritages. —Willa Zhen
Further Reading Chang, Iris. The Chinese in America: A Narrative History. New York: Viking, 2003. Kwong, Peter, and Dusanka Miscevic. Chinese America: The Untold Story of America’s Oldest New Community. New York: New Press, 2005. Lau, Estelle T. Paper Families: Identity, Immigration Administration, and Chinese Exclusion, Politics, History, and Culture. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006. Pfaelzer, Jean. Driven Out: The Forgotten War against Chinese Americans. New York: Random House, 2007. Tsai, Shih-shan Henry. The Chinese Experience in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.
Web Site “Becoming American: The Chinese Experience.” Public Affairs Television, Inc.: http:// www.pbs.org/becomingamerican.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Although the Chinese who came to the United States in the mid-19th century were predominantly from Guangdong Province, they brought with them a variety of folk traditions pertaining to gods, ghosts, and ancestors. Many of these folk beliefs and complementary customs were maintained until around the turn of the 20th century when Chinese became more acculturated, or adapted to American cultural traditions. Since the Immigration Law of 1965, which allowed an insurgence of ethnic Chinese from China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, there has been a revival of traditional Chinese beliefs and practices as illustrated through funerary and periodic rites and other forms of worship and/or respect. When considering the vast array of god, ghost, and ancestor beliefs and rituals from these different geographical areas and historical periods, generational differences must also be recognized, particularly when the children of immigrants enter the United States school system, and when ethnic Chinese are fully exposed to Christianity. The essence of the traditional Chinese belief system is the idea that there is a relationship between gods, ghosts, and ancestors and human beings, and that the
Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
latter have a responsibility to perform appropriate rituals such as food, prayer, and incense offerings for gods and ancestors to receive blessings of health and prosperity from them. More precisely, it is when prescribed rituals are performed by descendants that ancestors become gods and therefore have the power to bless or hurt living family members just as other manifestations of gods do. If there are no descendants or if family members neglect these rituals, ancestors become ghosts, or gui, those restless and unhappy souls who seek attention or revenge by harming the living. In addition to offerings, an assortment of propitiation rituals have been created to prevent these uncared-for ancestors, as well as those who have died violently, or unmarried, and who also become ghosts, for protection. In addition to the ancestors who are believed to become deified with the performance of the appropriate rituals is an enormous body of other gods in this Chinese folk syncretism, or the harmonious coexistence of different traditions, who are also capable of helping humans and who therefore also require ritual offerings. Many are associated with Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, while other gods, who may have been historical figures, personifications of nature, fictional beings, or individuals who illustrate special powers, are also in the mix. Choice gods of the above-described assortment are respected and/or worshipped in contemporary temples in cities such as New York and Houston, just as they were in the 19th-century Chinese “joss houses,” or places where private worship occurs. Ancestor veneration altars are also in many ethnic Chinese homes, although generational differences indicate that there are variations in belief: while some maintain the traditional belief that the living can influence gods to give them a better life through ritual offerings, others participate in them out of filial respect or custom. Other modifications of tradition in the context of the United States are the following: the Chinese system of belief prior to World War II incorporates Protestantism; instead of bones or corpses being sent back to China, these ancestor remains are being brought to the United States to be buried; San Francisco Chinese American funerals often incorporate the American Green Street Brass Band; Christianity is the largest institutional religion of ethnic Chinese: while Protestants are not permitted to practice ancestor veneration, Catholics have a liturgy for it. —Beverly J. Butcher See also: Chinese Americans: Confucian Traditions; Domestic Religious Practices; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Taiwanese American Religious Temples; Taoism.
Further Reading Butcher, Beverly J. Chinese and Chinese American Ancestor Veneration in the Catholic Church, 635 AD to the Present. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2010. Chung, Sue Fawn, and Priscilla Wegars. Chinese American Death Rituals: Respecting the Ancestors. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2005.
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Arts and Crafts The Chinese and Chinese American communities are partial to colorful and lively arts and crafts. Traditional Chinese arts and crafts in Chinese contexts are employed to bring harmony and auspicious energy into one’s living space. Popular forms of arts and crafts include Chinese brush paintings, Chinese paper cuttings, woodblocks, flower arrangements, and pottery. The use of Chinese characters is central to most Chinese forms of arts and crafts, as auspicious words are used to transform real time and space into a more harmonious and fortunate place. During Chinese Lunar New Year, the character fu, meaning fortune or happiness, is written on red paper using Chinese calligraphy and hung on doorways. This is still commonly practiced by Chinese American families. Unless someone is literate in Chinese, it is typical for American-born Chinese Americans to purchase this craft from Chinese shops. In some instances, the buyer does not know the meaning of this character, but does know that it is generally something positive, and that pasting it on the doors is a customary thing to do. Chinese arts and crafts are employed to summons good fortune for the possessor of the material artifacts. Most of the arts and crafts used to do this are red in color. In paintings, mostly watercolor, peonies and hibiscus are drawn to symbolize good fortune, fame, and riches. To the Chinese and Chinese Americans, red is the color of life, which correlates with summer and represents the element of fire. Amulets are a popular form of arts and crafts. Many Chinese American drivers will place amulets, typically with religious figures like the Buddha or Guanyin, or with auspicious characters for long life and safety, in their car as a way to keep them safe. Hanging papers, rectangular sheets with Chinese characters communicating long-standing Chinese values of filial piety, social harmony, and family solidarity, and of course material riches. For example, a rectangular paper hanging during Chinese Lunar New Year would read “Gongxi facai,” meaning “Congratulations, and may you be prosperous.” It is common to see these rectangular paper hangings
Chinese Americans: Bok Kai Temple and Parade
in Chinese restaurants in the United States, as they all have messages that bring the owner success in business. In paintings and woodblocks, flowers and planets are popular. The “Four Noble” plants are plum blossom, chrysanthemum, orchid, and bamboo. The bamboo represents the virtue of modesty; the plum blossom’s five petals represent the Five Gods of Luck; chrysanthemums are a symbol of long life; and the orchid represents a beautiful woman’s breath. Most Chinese arts and crafts in Chinese America will maintain the tradition of featuring Chinese zodiac animal symbolism, the most popular being the dragon. The Chinese dragon is a benign creature, unlike the western dragon, which is to be feared. Fish, yu, are also popular in Chinese arts and crafts because its character sounds like “abundance” and “affluence.” Therefore, the fish symbolizes wealth. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Chinese Calligraphy; Chinese Zodiac; Home Decoration.
Further Reading Knapp, Ronald. China’s Living Houses: Folk Beliefs, Symbols, and Household Ornamentation. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Bok Kai Temple and Parade Early Chinese immigrants built the Bok Kai Temple in 1879 in Marysville, California, because Bok Kai protected his devotees from floods and provided them with bountiful water for farming. The highlight of the annual festival is the Bok Kai Parade and the “firing of the bomb.” This parade, produced annually for the past 130 years, is the oldest ongoing parade in California. Today, among the descendants of first-generation Chinese American immigrants of Marysville and the larger non-Chinese populations, the history and identity of one god enshrined in what is commonly referred to as the Bok Kai Temple is an example of localized Chinese American innovation. The temple’s Chinese name is North Creek Temple (Beichi miao). However, the commonly used unofficial English name is Bok Kai Temple. The referent Bok Kai, generally referred to and understood to be the main god of the Bok Kai Temple, has another meaning. Bok in standardized Cantonese romanization should be pronounced and spelled bak, meaning north. Ka refers to a creek or mountain stream. Hence, one very probable meaning of Bok Kai reflects its actual location—at the northern end of the creek, which Beichi miao implies. However, another possible source for Bok Kai comes from Beidi, where di is pronounced in Cantonese as dai, meaning emperor. In this case, Bok Kai could possibly refer to the Cantonese pronunciation
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of Beidi, as Bak dai, meaning Emperor of the North (also known as Zhenwu, the True Warrior). If the temple is explicitly dedicated to the Emperor of the North, it might have been called, in Cantonese, Bakdai miu. Since the temple, in Chinese, is called Beichi miao, it reflects its literal location on the northern end of what used to be a creek (now the Northern bank of the Yuba River). The double meaning in Bok Kai speaks to the process of Americanization, whereby the name Bok Kai has been absorbed into the fabric of the Chinese American cultural sphere. This is a direct result of Chinese American culture work as communicated in publications on the temple, its gods, and its history.
Folktale of “Bok Kai” The True Warrior (Zhenwu), otherwise known as “Bok Kai” in Marysville, in a previous existence was a butcher who was also a very devoted son. In his later years, the burden of having killed and butchered so many living things began to weigh heavily upon his conscience, and he wished to put down his cleaver and quit his grisly trade. But he was afraid that if he merely cast his cleaver aside, someone else might use it once again to slaughter living creatures. He was also afraid that someone might accidentally injure himself by stepping on it. He therefore cut open his own stomach, pulled out his bowels, and used them to wrap up his cleaver. He then threw this bundle into the river where it could not again be used to harm any living thing. Guanyin observed this behavior and was moved to compassion. Therefore, she led the butcher’s soul to the Western Paradise. There he became a Buddha. Later on, his stomach and bowels that he had cast into the river turned into monsters. His stomach became a great black turtle, and his bowels turned into a huge black snake. These monsters overturned and sank many boats on the river and drowned many people. When the butcher, now entitled the Emperor of the Dark Heavens, heard about what was going on, he descended to earth and conquered the turtle and the snake. This is why he is always pictured with his feet trampling upon a turtle and a snake. The Emperor of the North is venerated as a powerful exorcist and superior military general. But in the town of Marysville, the emphasis is on his ability to control floods. As Arthur Tom said, “I grew up thinking he was the god of floods, which is why Marysville has not had a flood since the temple was constructed.”
Bok Kai Parade The Bok Kai Parade is, today, a civic community festival celebrating diversity and Chinese American culture. It is held on the third weekend of every March. The Year of the Tiger in 2010 marked its 130th year celebration. The parade begins with cracking of fireworks and pounding of drums. Accompanying the Golden Dragon are lion dancers, martial arts performers, floats, fire trucks, antique cars, school marching bands, and local community organizations. The parade includes
Chinese Americans: Children’s Folk Songs
participants from all over the San Francisco Bay Area, in addition to visitors from Asia (i.e., Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China). —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Seaman, Gray. Journey to the North: An Ethnohistorical Analysis and Annotated Translation of the Chinese Folk Novel Pei-yu-chi. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.
Web Sites Bok Kai Festival Web page: http://www.bokkaifestival.com/history/index.htm. Bok Kai Temple Web page: http://www.bokkaitemple.org/.
Children’s Folk Songs There is a plethora of Chinese children folk songs that are sung in Chinese American households, especially among immigrant Chinese American families. Moreover, Chinese children’s folk songs are taught to Chinese American children who attend Chinese language schools on the weekends as they are dyadic and used to teach Chinese linguistic sounds, numbers, morals, and values. Chinese children’s folk songs can be sung in Mandarin, Cantonese, or other Chinese dialects. They are taught in preschool and elementary schools throughout cultural China. The song “12345,” or “Yi er san si wu,” teaches children how to count up to five. 12345; Climb the mountain to catch the tiger; Couldn’t catch a tiger; Caught a small squirrel instead; How many squirrels? Let me count. Count them forward, count them backward; 12345. This song, “Little Kitten Wets the Bed” (“Xiao mao niao chuang”), is a children’s tale about bedwetting. Kitten wets the bed. Kitten has wet the bed. Kitten is embarrassed, Takes a blanket and lays it on the bed.
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Little dog came in and says: “Oh, where is that stink coming from?” Ah, this is the cause. Kitten, kitten, Shame! Shame! Shame! Kitten cries—waah! One of the most popular Chinese children’s folk song is “Two Tigers” (“Liang zhi laohu.”). Two Tigers Two Tigers Run so fast Run so fast One does not have eyes (sometimes switched with “no ears”) One does not have a tail Very strange Very strange Most popular during the 1960s and 1970s, “Find a Friend” (“Zhao peng you”) is now a favorite in kindergarten in Chinese-language schools in cultural China. Find, find, find a friend, I have found my best friend. Give a greeting, shake your hand, You are my best friend, Farewell. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Folklore in Children’s Literature.
Further Reading Jeng, Trio Jan, and Selina Yoon. Sing’n Learn Chinese: Introduce Chinese with Favorite Children’s Songs. Cincinnati: Master Communications, 2004. Mao, Cindy, and Ma Baolin. Sing Chinese: Popular Children’s Songs and Lullabies. South San Francisco: China Books & Periodicals, 1996.
Chin, Vincent (1955–1982) Vincent Chin is best remembered as the victim of an anti-Asian hate crime, which sparked national public outrage by Asian Americans. According to several different accounts, in June 1982, Chin was killed in Highland Park, near Detroit,
Chinese Americans: Chin, Vincent (1955–1982)
Michigan, by two white men, Ronald Ebens and Ebens’s stepson Michael Nitz. Chin worked as an industrial draftsman at Efficient Engineering, an automotive supplier, and weekends as a waiter at Golden Star restaurant. Engaged to be married on June 27, 1982, he spent an evening out with his friends to celebrate his approaching wedding day. On June 19, Chin and his friends were taunted by Ebens and Nitz at the Fancy Pants strip club, and a fight broke out. Ebens claimed that Chin punched Ebens without provocation, despite witnesses testifying that Ebens, a recently laid-off automobile plant worker, yelled, “It’s because of you little motherfuckers that we’re out of work.” Ebens and Nitz had mistaken Chin for Japanese, and Chin became a perfect target for aggression for auto jobs lost to Japan during the early 1980s as well as Nitz’s earlier 1979 layoff from Chrysler. Ebens, as a foreman, and Nitz worked at the local Warren Truck Assembly Plant for Chrysler. Witnesses claimed that Nitz shoved Chin and then Chin shoved back. The fight ensued and ended with Ebens and Nitz on the floor, with Nitz suffering a cut on his head caused by a thrown chair. After being thrown out, witnesses then claimed that Robert Siroskey, a friend of Chin’s, returned to apologize for the group, explaining that Chin had been drinking during his bachelor’s party. While Chin and his friends waited outside for Siroskey, Chin allegedly taunted Ebens to continue the fight in the parking lot. Ebens and Nitz then went to their car, took out a baseball bat from their trunk, and returned to the parking lot. Chin and his friends saw Ebens and Nitz and attempted to escape. Ebens and Nitz searched the area for 20 to 30 minutes and finally found Chin outside of a McDonald’s restaurant. The altercation ensued with Nitz pinning back Chin’s arms and Ebens repeatedly hitting Chin on the head, chest, and knees with the baseball bat. Two off-duty police officers came across the scene and arrested Ebens and Nitz. Chin was taken to Henry Ford Hospital, where he slipped into a coma. Four days later, on June 23, 1982, Chin died. Ebens and Nitz were arrested and their case went to trial, where they were tried for second-degree murder. Through plea-bargaining, the charges were reduced to manslaughter. However, Ebens and Nitz served no jail time, were given three years’ probation and a fine of $3,000 each plus $780 in court fees. Judge Kaufman justified his ruling by explaining that in Michigan, punishment should fit the individual and not the crime, and because both men had no prior criminal record, were respectably employed, longtime residents of the area, he did not perceive them to be any future threat. Kaufman’s verdict and reasoning infuriated many people, especially Asian Americans in the area. A community group, American Citizens for Justice formed to ensure that Chin’s family and friends would see justice done. They demanded a retrial and asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a possible violation of Chin’s civil rights. After a series of retrials through federal grand jury, U.S. district court, federal appeals court and a final retrial in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ebens and Nitz were acquitted of all charges, without spending a day in jail.
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Chin’s case was a rallying point for the Asian American community. Despite many different and partial accounts of the incident, Vincent Chin’s death and the galvanizing effect it had on Asian American Movement has now become a part of the narrative of the struggle for equality, justice, and civil rights for Asian Americans. Chin’s death is commonly retold in Asian American studies classes as a perfect example of an anti-Asian hate crime perpetrated by white criminals who were not brought to justice through the U.S. legal system. As such, it serves to build race consciousness in Asian American college students. Ironically, this generation of Asian American college students was born during the time of Chin’s death and is too young to remember the lenient rulings for Ebens and Nitz. As a result, the retelling of Chin’s death as an Asian American atrocity occurs mainly through the documentary Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1987), by filmmakers Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Pena. Only a few written accounts, in addition to the one by Helen Zia (2000), a founding member of American Citizens for Justice, exist. Thus, even without specific historical accuracy and detail, Chin’s story has become a standard part of the discourse regarding the continuing need for Asian American social justice activism. —Dawn Lee Tu
Further Reading Chan, Espiritu. Asian Americans: An Interpretive History. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1991, 176–78. Choy, Christine, and Renee Tajima-Pen˜a, directors. Who Killed Vincent Chin? 1987. DVD. Zia, Helen. Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of a People. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.
Web Site Wei, William. “An American Hate Crime: The Murder of Vincent Chin.” Teaching Tolerance Web Site: http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_hate.jsp?id=552.
Chinatown Chinatowns in the United States are urban ethnic folk communities found in every major city and composed of Americans of Chinese ancestry and ethnic Chinese immigrants from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. These enclaves of residences, retail areas, places of worship, and often tourism, originated in the mid19th century with the arrival of Chinese laborers and some merchants from Guangdong Province. These sojourners, men who planned to return home after making their fortune, came to work in the gold mines, on transcontinental railroads, and farms largely in response to racism and the Chinese need for a community where
Chinese Americans: Chinatown
Gateway to Chinatown in San Francisco, California. (Alan Levine)
language and cultural traditions are shared. Some of the oldest and largest Chinatowns are those in Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. The folklore exhibited in Chinatowns is subject to the “twin laws of folklore” as defined by the scholar Barre Toelken: that of conservatism and dynamism. The conservative expression of folk traditions are largely those of the home country that remain unchanged in a new environment. Dynamic expressions of folklore are those that demonstrate change or transformation often under the influence of specific individuals in different historical and geographical circumstances. Urban and rural Chinatowns, the latter of which existed in the early mining and railroad communities, had few families largely due to a series of discriminatory laws, particularly the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, that restricted Chinese immigration. This gender imbalance began to be rectified with the War Bride Act of 1945 and later with the Immigration Law of 1965 that increased entry quotas for individuals from the Eastern Hemisphere. The more isolated and self sufficient pre-1965 Chinatowns especially allowed conservative Chinese values to be expressed through the following: Guangdong Province food traditions; opium smoking (outlawed in 1909); the sending of bones or corpses back to China based on the folk belief that souls wander endlessly in the afterlife if not buried where
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descendants live; the formation of traditional associations based on family name and region in China. These folk groups, particularly the overarching and powerful Consolidated Chinese Benevolent Association, which helped immigrants find homes and jobs, also perpetuated the traditional festivities and rituals of important holidays such as those of Chinese New Year, with parades including lion and dragon dances, and Qing Ming, or Clear and Bright Festival, during which families respect their ancestors at gravesites. In contrast, the creation of the Miss Chinatown Pageant in the 1950s reflects the changing composition of this community and is evidence of the dynamism of folklore: genres change or are invented as the needs and status of the folk change. This adaptation of the Euro American Miss America Pageant reflects the changing worldview of ethnic Chinese in Chinatowns, many of whom are American citizens and an integral part of the mainstream society. Other folklore examples that reflect the changing population composition of post-1965 urban Chinatowns include ethnic Chinese restaurants and stores serving food from Guangdong Province and from all other areas of China as well as Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines; instead of bones being sent back to China, as was the case in the early history of this community, bones are being sent from China to the United States where descendants can better honor and respect the memory of ancestors. This change of burial location illustrates the perpetuation of tradition and also the dynamic change of it due to a transfer of citizenship. —Beverly J. Butcher
Further Reading Rohe, Randall. “Chinese Camps and Chinatowns: Chinese Mining Settlements in the North American West.” In Josephine Lee, Imogene L. Lim, and Yuko Matsukawa, eds. Re/collecting Early Asian America: Essays in Cultural History. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. Toelken, Barre. The Dynamics of Folklore. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1996. Tsai, Henry. The Chinese in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986. Wong, Bernard P. Chinatown: Economic Adaptation and Ethnic Identity of the Chinese. New York: CBS College Publishing, 1982. Yeh, Chiou-ling. “Contesting Identities: Youth Rebellion in San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Festivals, 1953–1969.” In Susie Lan Cassel, ed. The Chinese in America: A History from Gold Mountain to the New Millennium. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002.
Chinatown Ghost Stories Chinatown ghost stories are a part of Chinese American oral folklore where ghosts are used as central characters in a story. These stories are categorized as, “Chinatown” because all stories not only take place in Chinatown but also contain
Chinese Americans: Chinatown Ghost Stories
elements of Chinatown’s unique and long history. Chinatown ghost stories should not be confused with Chinese ghost stories as the latter have a history that goes back to ancient China. Chinatown ghost stories are considered Chinese American. These stories reflect people of Chinese descent living in America: their history, culture, personality, experience, and way of life. Chinatown ghost stories were never formally written down and may be classified as “ghostlore,” a combination of the words ghost stories and folklore. The earliest contemporary usage of the term was by Elliot J. Gorn in his essay “Black Spirits: The Ghostlore of Afro American Slaves.” Slave owners, who took advantage of African supernatural beliefs, used these ghostly tales to terrorize slaves and keep them submissive. The Chinese community, much like the slaves, also has very strong supernatural beliefs. There is a strong belief that spirits of one’s ancestors control one’s fate, and it is crucial that one never anger them. The fact that these stories were never written down plays a crucial role in their development and is a reflection of the Chinatown community. Early Chinatown was made up of immigrants who were illiterate or possessed limited formal education. Ghost stories were, and are, one way immigrants use stories to communicate their history, traditions, beliefs, and life experiences. Many of these stories are passed down in two different ways, from the older generation to the younger generation and within the younger generation themselves. The stories also have two different purposes. When told by the older generation to the younger, the stories are primarily used as cautionary tales. These stories instill fear in children and young adults not only about the supernatural but also about the dangers of living human beings. Since parents cannot supervise their children all the time, ghost stories are used as a form of babysitting when their children step out of the house. Usually, children in Chinatown ghost stories encounter a ghost. A few stories are also used to share a bit of Chinese American history, touching on the railroads, Chinatown brothels, and popular longtime organizations like the YMCA. Although stories told within the younger generation are the same cautionary tales told by the older generation, their purpose is slightly different. Unbeknownst to the younger generation, they are spreading the cautionary tales amongst their peers, but the stories are used mainly for entertainment purposes. Chinatown ghost stories are still being circulated within the Chinese American community, whether used for cautionary or entertainment purposes. As members of the Chinatown community start moving outside of Chinatown and into the suburbs, the stories move with them, spreading the tales to an audience who did not grow up in Chinatown. Chinatown ghost stories are folklore unique to the Chinese American experience. An oral tradition that transmits Chinese and Chinese American culture, history, worldviews, and religiosity, it is also entertaining.
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“Disappearing Lady” Robert’s mother always warned him and his younger brother to never go to the movie theaters without her. She warns that gangsters often hang out in movie theaters, assaulting people and raping women. One day, Robert and his friends decide to skip school and watch a movie at the Great Star movie theater. He does not even think about his mother’s warning. Robert and his friends pay for their tickets and scatter for seats throughout the theater. With no girls around, the boys do not want to sit too close to each other. When the movie ends, one of Robert’s friends, Steve, is behaving strangely. He is asking everyone where is the lady. Robert and his friends do not know what he is talking about. Steve tells them that halfway into the movie, he stands up to let a woman into his row and she sits down right next to him. He thinks this is strange because attendance in the theater is sparse. He feels her presence next to him the whole time. When the movie ends, he stands up to let her by, but the woman is not there anymore. She could not have walked to the other side of the row because he would have seen her walk down the long row of seats. Steve is not the type to play jokes on people, and that day he looked sincere and genuinely scared. After that incident, he does not hang around the group anymore.
“Deadly Waters” One night Mike and Sean sneak into the Chinatown YMCA through an open window to go swimming in the pool. They have snuck into the YMCA after hours on numerous occasions and have never been caught. They fool around in the pool when Mike starts to struggle in the water. Sean tries to help him but being a kid himself, he can’t and by the time help arrives, Mike has already drowned. Ever since the drowning, people say that when little kids swim in the pool by themselves, they would feel a hand grab their leg and pull them down. This is why parents always warn their kids about swimming in the YMCA pool. —Alice Tam See also: Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit.
Further Reading Davidson, Hilda R. Ellis, and W. M. S. Russell, eds. The Folklore of Ghosts. Cambridge, UK: D. S. Brewer, 1980. Driver, Nick. “Old Chinatown’s Deep, Dark Secrets.” San Francisco Examiner, April 18, 2002. Eberhard, Wolfram. “A Study of Ghost Stories from Taiwan and San Francisco.” Asian Folklore Studies 32 (1971): 1–26. Emmons, Charles F. Chinese Ghosts and ESP: A Study of Paranormal Beliefs and Experiences. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1982.
Chinese Americans: Chinatown Opera Theaters Grant, Glen. Chicken Skin Tales: 49 Favorite Ghost Stories from Hawaii. Honolulu: Mutual Publishing, 1998. Shioya, Tara. “Chinatown Ghost Story.” SF Weekly, December 11–17, 1996.
Chinatown Opera Theaters For Chinese American communities, Chinese opera theaters were a significant cultural space, offering performances of Cantonese opera, the genre of Chinese opera popular in the Pearl River Delta, the region from which the majority of Chinese immigrants came. These theaters created an important stage for the representation of folk stories, legends, and cultural traditions through song, instrumental music, drama, acrobat, and spectacles. Because Cantonese opera troupe’s existence in the United States can be traced back 150 years to the mid-1800s, these opera performances have long been an important element of the community and served its people as a source of folklore, in songs, poetry, rhyme, dance, etc. As such, the opera performances worked in significant ways to facilitate the transmission of elements of characters, stories, symbols and visual motifs of the folklore and legends. Following in the footsteps of Chinese immigrants, Chinese opera troupes arrived in the United States as early as 1852 and performed in cities, villages, and even mining camps. Hong Fook Tong was the first opera troupe known to have staged a professional performance in the United States. From this point and continuing all through the 19th century, San Francisco had a long list of Chinese opera theaters, some of which ran concurrently and several of which were even on the same blocks or streets. (Jackson Street was known in the 1870s as a theater street.) These theaters included Hing Chuen Yuen (Royal Chinese Theater), Luk Suhn Fung Company (Oriental Academy of Music), Quan San Yoke Theater (Gem of Mount Quan), Look Sun Fung (Peacock Theater), Yee Quan Ying (Grand Theater), Wing Ti Ping Company, etc. In New York City, the last two decades of the 19th century also saw the opening of its own Chinese theater, the Swin Tien Lo Company on Doyer Street. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, Chinese opera theaters gradually declined, as the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act set in and subsequent laws became more stringent. For more than a decade the opera troupes and performers, not being one of the five classes exempted from Chinese Exclusion Laws, were not allowed to enter U.S. territory. Regular staging of opera performances halted, and the community relied on performances by amateurs and scattered professionals to fulfill the need for such cultural expression. In the late 1910s, through the intervention of merchants and the convenience offered by lively opera performance circuits in the Chinatowns of Cuba and Canada, the U.S. opera theaters
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were able to reestablish their physical space in multiple Chinatowns, and performers and troupes again gradually were brought back to the United States. The 1920s saw a renaissance of Chinese opera theaters in the US, offering nightly performances all year around, though still under the numerous constraints imposed by the Immigration Bureau. Despite these obstacles and the government’s apparent hostility, Chinese theaters prospered. In San Francisco, from 1922 on, two theaters were established consecutively (the Mandarin Theater and the Great China Theater), each with its modern new purposebuilt theaters. The two theaters created vibrant scenes and engaged in a steep competition well into the 1930s. In the mid-1920s, New York City had two Chinese opera theaters (Le Qian Qiu theater and Jock Min On theater) opening within a year of each other. They merged as Yong Ni Shang Theater, later named as Grande Street Theater. Another theater, Kue Hing Company, was set up in Honolulu and served as a popular stopping point for performers during their trans-Pacific voyage. As Chinese theaters in large cities prospered, the lively circuit of Cantonese opera performance grew to closely link together most Chinese communities in the Americas. Individual or groups of itinerant performers traveled from city to city, so Chinese theaters began to appear in cities such as Boston, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, and Los Angeles. However, as the Great Depression hit and entertainment media such as radio and movies diversified the means of entertainment in Chinatowns, the opera theaters began a general decline and eventually ceased to operate at full scale around the 1940s, after which time professional performances were staged only occasionally. From the 1950s, aside from occasional professional performances, Cantonese opera continued in two important ways in Chinese communities: through popular Cantonese opera films in Chinatown theaters, and through amateur opera clubs in the communities that continued to sing and perform. (In San Francisco, the Great China Theater on 636 Jackson Street was turned into a movie theater, and was renamed Great Star Theater in the 1960s; it showed both Chinese-language films and Chinese opera.) In addition, many of the opera stars such as actresses Mu Dan Su and Kwan Ying Lin of the theaters’ prosperous years also returned to the Chinatown community after 1965, and contributed to the continuation of the opera tradition. All through the history of Chinatown theaters in the United States, in particular the extraordinarily vibrant renaissance of the 1920s to 1940s, Chinese opera theaters constituted an important locale where a body of Chinese myths and cultural beliefs, legends of famous historical or fictional figures, epic stories, and favorite folklores was produced, conveyed, and reconstructed. Many Cantonese operas were based on familiar stories and myths, and in these earlier years were performed without the use of scripts. The performance practice relied on a master of storytelling, jiangxi shiye, who was responsible for devising a story outline for which archetypal scenes were strung together. The master would orally convey
Chinese Americans: Chinatown Opera Theaters
the story and the sequences of scenes to the performers, all of whom were familiar with archetypal scenes. Afterwards the performers would process the drama among themselves, an activity called du xi, by talking through the bridges connecting the archetypal scenes or other more intricate parts. Then the performers would be ready to stage the performance. Backstage, a placard presenting the story outline would be fixed on the wall near the entryway to the stage, indicating the scene titles, the aria types, dramatic actions, music, percussion, stage props, and so on. Onstage, the singers performed extemporaneously lyrics and music according to the scenario, and communicated using discreet codes such as hand gestures with fellow performers and accompanying musicians. Although some scripts began to be written and used for performances from the 1930s on, the improvisational nature and oral tradition of Cantonese opera performances remained: the performers were often at liberty to depart from the scripted lines to elaborate or respond to the audiences, and a placard of the opera outline was still posted backstage. In fact, the theaters’ capability to feature itinerant performers frequently in the 1920s and to offer different operas every evening in all-year-round performances were due largely to this performance practice that relied heavily on oral tradition and improvisations. Equally important were the familiarity of the folk stories, legends, and characters to both the performers and the audiences. For centuries, Chinese opera served as a source of information, legend, or even arbiter of moral standards for its audience; and the regional genre, Cantonese opera, was no exception. It enacted familiar stories and legends in the form of dramatic spectacles, musical expressions, or comic skits for the purpose of enjoyment, entertainment, social satire, or even moral advice. Through the music, speech, songs, rhymes, costumes, dances, acrobatics, and dramatic acts of Chinese opera, these traditional stories, moral beliefs, and fantastical tales permeated the Chinese community, encompassing different groups, generations, and classes, and sometimes even going beyond its border as well. Collectively, then, the familiar folklore figures, legends, and historical stories of the opera stages/films came to form an important representation of cultural memory for the Chinese American community. Because the reconstructing of these stories in opera productions relied emphatically on improvisations, the plurality of these stories and histories was immense. The variants are endless. Nevertheless, certain key elements and characteristic plots or figures were retained and are easily recognizable. In particular, through the more stable elements in Cantonese opera, such as face painting, wardrobe and costumes, and role types of certain legendary characters, the opera performance came to embody the standard interpretation and representation of these folklore figures or even gods and goddess. The tangible visual images often came to represent the stories. An image of Fa Mu Lan, for example, conveys the legend about this woman warrior, as well as the loyalty, courage, and filial piety that she came to represent in Confucian society. Her armor of complex layers (padded
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fabric covered with metal studs), complete with the traditional four flags behind the shoulder and a headpiece with a crest of red furry balls on the crown (the many moving parts increase the movements in battle scenes), symbolize the dignified female. During performances, the different representations of the same operatic/ legendary characters constituted the important part of the enjoyment of the audiences who relearned each time from the reconstruction of the same characters and figures on stages. Furthermore, the folk stories as represented on these opera stages were retold and reenacted with newer details at homes, schools or other public space outside of the theaters. Through the musical and dramatic entertainment, therefore, Chinatown opera theaters offered the opportunity for the community to share in, as well as negotiate their own perspectives in recollecting this vast repertoire of folk religious figures, stories, and legends. Legendary and fictionalized figures such as the male warrior Guan Gong, goddess Nuwa, goddess Guan Yin, lady of the moon Chang Er, female warrior Fa Mulan, and Monkey King Sun Wu Kong were an important staple on the stages of Cantonese opera performance. Guan Gong represented a warrior of loyalty and righteousness. His majestic image—the red face and long lush bear, completed with headpiece and body armor—was likely derived from opera stage. On the other hand, Chang Er, with her floating sleeves and long dress, represented well the story of her immortal yet lonely existence up in the moon palace. Her selfsacrifice of swallowing the immortal pill (stolen from goddess Xi Wang Mu) to thwart the secret plan of her husband Hou Yi (a merciless tyrant seeking immortality) sends her flying to the moon, where she is doomed to the frigid and high palace. On each Moon Festival (celebrated on August 15th of the Chinese Lunar Calendar), she is said to be seen pacing back and forth on the moon. In addition, well-known stories such as the Legend of White Snake, Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh, Exile of Su Wu, Cai Wen Ji’s Return to Han, Dream of the Red Chamber, and others formed the basis of many titles in Cantonese opera. Seldom, though, were these lengthy stories performed in full. Rather, portions extracted from them were produced, or scripted, as stand-alone opera, allowing much freedom in the shaping and reconstructing of the familiar stories and characters. A famous Cantonese opera based on the Legend of White Snake from the Song dynasty focuses on the latter part of the story of Lady White Snake, who has taken on the human form of a beautiful woman. She falls in love with a young scholar, Xu Xian, and bears his son, even though such love is forbidden. A monk, Fahai, intervenes and causes Lady White Snake to be jailed eternally under the Leifeng pagoda. Her redemption comes only when her son, Xu Shi-Lin, after having gotten first place in the national exam, returns to the pagoda to pay his mother respect. With the son’s integrity, the spell on Lady White Snake is broken and the mother and son reunite. Highlights of this opera are the heart-wrenching songs sung by Lady White Snake
Chinese Americans: Chinatown Opera Theaters
and her son. This popular tale existed in countless variants. The opera’s version nevertheless enacts various essential components common to many Chinese folk stories, such as the non-human/demon/ghost/spirit (white snake), the strict division of human and supernatural worlds (transgression ensuring punitive measures), the conflict between the desire for the freedom of love and the laws that forbid it, the eminence bestowed on scholars getting the foremost prize in national examination (key turning points of the stories), the quintessential redemption through filial piety (only way to change the heart of an enraged god), the ultimate happiness of family reuniting, etc. This famous myth of Lady White Snake is also linked to the Duanwu Holiday (Dragon Boat Festival), celebrated on May 5th of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Throughout the centuries, the holiday is observed in part by the customary use of specific liquor and herbs to dispel nonhuman/demon/ghost/spirit. Even to this day, the history of Chinatown opera theaters contributes to the shared cultural memory and identity of the Chinese American community. The stories and legends performed on stages, as well as promulgated, shared, changed, and retold by many, form a discursive reconstruction of the cultural memory. In these situations, the vernacular-style performances of Cantonese opera elicit lively responses to the ways in which they bring to life these folk stories. Because many stories are associated with holidays and festivals, children and youngsters would hear them during those months year after year, sometimes together with the staged Cantonese opera performances of the legends, and other times with similar reconstructions of the tales by others or even themselves. The storytelling, the visual images of the familiar historical or mythical figures, or even their sonic characteristics and body movement in this discursive reconstruction are often inseparable from their operatic representation. It is in this sense that these folklore and stories, as interpreted through the operas, has come to shape the cultural imagination of Chinese Americans from generation to generation. The second generation of Chinese Americans easily found themselves growing up hearing recurring themes shared by cultural stories and legends, both through their family and in the community. Not surprisingly, the folklores, mythology, and legendary figures that populated Cantonese opera theater stages constitute recurring themes in the fictions and plays by Chinese American writers such as Amy Tan, Frank Chin, Maxine Hong Kingston, David Henry Hwang, and David Wong Loui. As a pointed example, Kingston’s mother and grandmother’s love for Chinese opera nurtured her own taste for the operas and the stories, and her work such as Tripmaster Monkey and Woman Warrior weave in and rework these folk stories and characters. These Chinese American authors’ work in their unique ways construct the retelling and remaking of these essential folklores in Chinese culture, in whole, in partial aspects, or in spirit. Furthermore, contemporary operas written by Asian Americans also draw heavily on the images, stories, figures, or even musical elements of the Chinese
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opera tradition and storylines. These included Jason Hwang’s The Floating Box, A Story in Chinatown, Tan Dun’s The Tea: A Mirror of Soul, Stewart Wallace and Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and more recently Zhou Long’s Madame White Snake. To the extent that the recent reconstructions of these folk stories and figures are themselves interpretations of the folklores by recent Chinese Americans, they reflect significantly the minds and perspectives of the late 20th century, as well as the ways in which the stories’ recollection might have been narrated or continue to be made active in the contemporary Chinese American community as mediated through opera. —Nancy Yunhwa Rao See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Ethnomusicology and Folklore; Chinese Americans: Folk Dances and Performances; Folk Music; Hong Fook Tong; Mythological and Legendary Deities.
Further Reading Duchesne, Isabelle. ed. Red Boat on the Canal: Cantonese Opera in New York Chinatown. New York: Museum of Chinese in the Americas, 2000. Lei, Daphne. Operatic China: Staging Chinese Identity across the Pacific. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Moon, Krystyn. Yellowface: Creating the Chinese in American Popular Music and Performance, 1850s–1920s. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005. Rao, Nancy Yunhwa. “The Color of Music Heritage: Chinese America in American UltraModern Music.” Journal of Asian American Studies 12 (2009): 83–119. Rao, Nancy Yunhwa. “Racial Essence and Historical Invisibility: Chinese Opera in New York, 1930.” Cambridge Opera Journal 12(2) (2000): 135–62. Rao, Nancy Yunhwa. “Songs of the Exclusion Era: New York’s Cantonese Opera Theaters in the 1920s.” American Music 20/4 (2002): 399–444. Riddle, Ronald. Flying Dragons, Flowing Streams: Music in the Life of San Francisco’s Chinese. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983. Yung, Bell. Cantonese Opera: Performance as Creative Process. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Zheng, Su. Claiming Diaspora: Music, Transnationalism, and Cultural Politics in Asian/ Chinese America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Chinese Calligraphy Throughout Chinese history, calligraphy has been regarded as a dynamic and expressive art form. In Chinese writing each script or character represents a specific thing or idea in nature with a particular structure and form. Thus, each
Chinese Americans: Chinese Calligraphy
character is an image or picture and Chinese writing a visual language or symbol to be recognized as such. Knowledgeable viewers of Chinese calligraphy discern where, when, and how an artist moved the direction of the brush through the thickness of the line, amount of ink used, and change from one character to the next. For many Chinese artists the one tool relied on the most is the brush. Mastery over the use of the brush in calligraphy offers artists both creativity and versatility when composing pictorial writings and compositions. While there are some basic brushwork categories in Chinese calligraphy, including, center brush, side brush, turning brush, rolling brush, and folding brush, there are endless possibilities of lines, dots, hooks, and strokes artists can produce in Chinese calligraphy. These variations allow artists to use the brush in more nuanced and inflective ways, encouraging greater personal and reflective creations. Originally enjoyed and practiced by the literati elite of China, calligraphy today is considered a popular art form. In recent times there have been many calligraphy competitions and exhibitions in China and the United States. Chinese Americans have started calligraphy schools and classes that help to promote and maintain their Chinese cultural heritage and traditions. There are many master calligraphers, originally born in China, and now living, practicing, and teaching the art of Chinese calligraphy in the United States. While these artists continue to explore the rich history and heritage of a uniquely Asian art form, they also play with and rework characters and symbols in new and evocative forms and combinations. Brushwork, however, still lies at the center of contemporary calligraphy practice, and it has been noted that calligraphy produced today has taken on a more cursive appearance. And many Chinese American calligraphers still get their brushes and other materials such as ink and seal stones from China. During New Year celebrations and other ritual occasions, Chinese American families, businesses, and schools bring out calligraphy banners and scrolls as part of spiritual, religious, and cultural beliefs. This practice is seen in Chinatowns and at Chinese festivals. It both honors and reinforces cultural tradition and perpetuation of Chinese calligraphy in the modern day. Many Chinese American calligraphers combine traditional techniques of calligraphy with Western influences and ideas of space and design to create truly contemporary and innovative works. Their work is reflective of broader issues of assimilation of the Chinese into mainstream American culture, while also carving out an identity and culture that is uniquely Chinese American. —Rory I.P. Padeken See also: Chinese Americans: Arts and Crafts.
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Further Reading Da-Wei, Kwo. Chinese Brushwork: Its History, Aesthetics, and Techniques. Totowa, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun & Co., 1981. Ng, So Kam. Brushstrokes: Styles and Techniques of Chinese Painting. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 1992. Sun, Shirley, and Sue Yung Li et al., eds. The Living Brush: Four Masters. San Francisco: The Asian American Cultural Exchange, 1997. Zhang, Yiguo. Brushed Voices: Calligraphy in Contemporary China. New York: Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, 1998.
Chinese Martial Arts The popularity of Chinese martial arts in the United States is largely related to the enduring popularity of Hong Kong kung fu movies in the United States since the 1970s. Martial arts films from China are often referred to as “kung fu movies,” or “wire-fu” if extensive wire work is performed for special effects, and are still best known as part of the tradition of kung fu theater. During the 1970s, there were a number of dubbed imports, including Five Fingers of Death, Bruce Lee’s Fists of Fury, and The Chinese Connection. Martial artists and actors such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan have continued the appeal of movies of this genre. Two decades later (2000), Ang Lee brought the second major surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West by directing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In the North American market, where audiences generally spurn subtitled movies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever in North America, and was the first foreign-language film to break the US $100 million mark in box office receipts. At the worldwide box office, it earned over US $200 million, including US $128 million in the North American market. The popularity of the martial arts has led to the formation of many amateur associations, and there are frequent tournaments held on a local, regional, and even national basis. Competitors often travel from one to another, frequently receiving for their efforts nothing other than satisfaction. The popularity of the martial arts has further been reinforced by its self-defense function, emphasis on meditation, and health benefits. Regarding self-defense, martial arts impart extraordinarily effective fighting skills, and therefore could be useful against many forms of attack. Meditation is reflected in the word “qi/chi” in martial arts. Chi is a status of unified body and spirit. Martial artists emphasize that physical movement is designed to free the mind, and it should happen spontaneously. Regarding health effects, martial arts help promote health through correct breathing. Martial exercise encourages practitioners to develop correct breathing to achieve the Chinese emphasis upon the circulation of chi to all body parts,
Chinese Americans: Chinese Martial Arts
much as acupuncture theory teaches. Thus, many Americans are attracted by the health benefits of martial arts. They believe martial arts training may be associated with greater strength and bone mineral density, lower body fat in females, and blunt the acute stress response to physical and mental stimuli. In martial arts practice, there are a structure, good fellowship, and the development of a certain appreciation for elements of an alien culture. Most of all there is a strong sense of accomplishment. The resulting self-confidence is only partly attributable to physical satisfaction; there may also be a men- Chinese American man practicing tai chi (taiqi ) in a square in tal state that imparts a Chinatown, Chicago, Illinois. (Andy Sack) sense of well-being. Martial arts training has improved the behaviors of youngsters, including juvenile delinquents, who showed decreased aggressiveness, lowered anxiety, and increased self-esteem. In summary, Chinese martial arts have much to offer American practitioners in terms of self-defense, meditation, health benefits, and self-satisfaction. —Hui Huang See also: Chinese Americans: Lee, Bruce (1940–1973).
Further Reading Penrod, H. Social Psychology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983. Trulson, M. E. “Martial Arts Training: A Novel ‘Cure’ for Juvenile Delinquency.” Human Relations 39 (1986): 1131–40.
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Chinese Zodiac Chinese Zodiac is a form of astrology in East Asia that assigns 12 animals numerical symbols based on circulations of lunar year periods. Every 12-year cycle is represented by the zodiac of 12 animal signs in an order of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. Each of the animal signs lasts for an entire year and repeats every 12th year. And each is a symbolic archetype and represents a specific behavioral psychology. Usually, each sign is a balanced mixture of positive and negative attributes. People are perceived as possessing the unique type of personality or characteristics of the animal symbol controlling the year they were born. For each animal sign, the associated characteristics are as follow: • Rat: Charming, passionate, determined, tenacious, intelligent, attractive, seductive, charismatic, practical, protective, individualists, perfectionists, expansive, hardworking; can be manipulative, selfish, obstinate, critical, over-ambitious, ruthless, intolerant, scheming. • Ox: Responsible, dependable, honest, caring, sincere, intelligent, industrious, practical; but also inflexible, possessive, dogmatic, gullible, stubborn. • Tiger: Warm-hearted, brave, confident, energetic, faithful, attractive, yet moody, reckless, hot-headed, impulsive, opinionated, rebellious. • Rabbit: Sensitive, tactful, well-mannered, artistic, diplomatic; but may not be able to thrive in competitive or aggressive environments; can be indecisive, naive, timid, gullible. • Dragon: Symbol of power and wealth; noble, ambitious, dignified, charismatic; at the same time can be ruthless, violent, judgmental, arrogant, dogmatic despotic, intolerant, demanding. • Snake: The most enigmatic of the zodiac animals; wise, charming, logical, intelligent, creative, compassionate, but also critical, snobbish, calculating, distrustful. • Horse: Lovable, witty, free-spirited, charming, attractive, enthusiastic, independent; also childish, defiant, selfish, gullible, quick-tempered. • Ram: Creative, empathetic, generous, compliant, romantic; also can be selfpitying, crude, capricious, indecisive, insecure, gullible. • Monkey: Inventive, versatile, humorous, generous, witty, lively, independent; also can be manipulative, egotistical, capricious, vain, reckless. • Rooster: Observant, loyal, brave, resilient and tenacious but can also be quite self-absorbed, pretentious, overly romantic.
Chinese Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
• Dog: Loyal, honest, straightforward, responsible and fair; at the same time can be cynical, pessimistic, judgmental. • Pig: honest, straightforward, patient, protective and trustworthy; also possessive, shy, greedy, materialistic, overly sensitive, self-indulgent, childish, quick-tempered. The roots of the Chinese zodiac are deeply planted in the classical philosophy of Confucius (Kongzi) and Lao Tse (Laozi) as well as countless legends in Chinese mythology. The animals of the Chinese zodiac had emerged in embryonic form by the Qin (221–206 BCE) and Han (206 BCE–220 CE) dynasties at the latest and were originally used to designate the hours of a day corresponding to Twelve Earthly Branches. The ethnic groups in northern China first used animals for the years and spread such practice from there to central China years later. Having been a core part of Chinese culture, the Chinese zodiac is also used in other Asian countries or communities that have been under the cultural influence of China, such as Korea, Japan, Vietnam, etc., while some of the animals in the zodiac may differ by country. People like and worship the zodiac animals in the hope of having favorable fates. Today, the Chinese zodiac still exerts great influence on many aspects of people’s everyday lives. For example, people are reminded of being careful and taking precautions against mishaps during their “fate year.” The correlated customs and habits have continued to be a part of ordinary Chinese good wishes. —Zhilin Tang
Further Reading Wu, Shelly. Chinese Astrology: Exploring the Eastern Zodiac. Franklin Lakes, NJ: The Career Press, 2005. Zhang, Fang. Animal Symbolism of the Chinese Zodiac. Beijing: Foreign Language Press, 1999.
Web Site Chinese Zodiac Web Site: http://www.chineseanimalsigns.com.
Clothes and Jewelry Although today’s Chinese Americans do not usually wear distinctive ethnic clothes in daily life, it is not uncommon to see qipao during special occasions, or even in big Chinese restaurants. Qipao, better known in the West by its Cantonese name, cheongsam, is a close-fitting, one-piece female dress. It is famous for
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accentuating the figure of women. Traditionally qipao are long, usually floorlength or foot-length, but the hemline of modern versions has risen to kneelength or above. It is almost always fastened up the right front side. Qipao’s main characteristics also include a high mandarin collar and a long skirt slit up to the knee. It is usually made of silk or cotton, padded in winter for warmth. Although its historical origin can be traced back to Qing dynasty when the Manchu ruled China, modern qipao only began gaining popularity in Shanghai since the 1920s. After Shanghai was taken over by the Communist Party in 1949, many Shanghai tailors emigrated to Hong Kong and brought the fashion to the region, where it remains popular. Most early Chinese immigrants in the United States were from Hong Kong or Canton, a province neighboring Hong Kong; as they migrated to the United States, they also brought the fashion of qipao. Qipao uniforms are common at big Chinese restaurants that serve Cantonesestyle food, especially in American cities with large Chinese population. They are usually only worn by receptionists, but not waitresses due to qipao’s restrictive nature. It is also common for brides to wear a red qipao for a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony and reception. Therefore, the qipao is also called mandarin gown or mandarin dress. For Chinese Americans, the best jewelry that goes with qipao are made of jade and yellow gold, not diamonds (although they do buy diamonds). Chinese jade is a fine, skillfully carved, beautiful stone with rich luster. It is usually of various shades of green, white, red, and purple. Jade symbolizes eternity, nobility, perfection, and moral integrity. It is also considered as auspicious, so a common belief among Chinese is that wearing jade can protect people from misfortune and bring good luck. Jade is usually made into bangles, pendants, or ring stones. Jade is viewed as an ideal gift for engagement, wedding, and childbirth, so purchasing, wearing, and giving jade jewelry is very common among Chinese Americans. In terms of gold, it may be an overstatement that Chinese are only interested in 24-karat yellow gold, but the truth is that gold jewelry below 24 karat is considered much less formal and precious among Chinese. One reason is that buying gold jewelry is not only for self-accessorizing; it is also traditionally deemed an investment and a sign of wealth. Therefore, it is common for parents or close relatives to give a young couple 24-karat yellow gold jewelry as a wedding gift. Some Chinese also give newborn babies gold or silver jewelry, usually in the form of bracelets or anklets, for his/her one-month celebration. —Jing Li
Chinese Americans: Confucian Traditions
Further Reading Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
Web Site “Destiny, the Culture of China: Design Arts”: http://library.thinkquest.org/20443/ g_jade.html.
Confucian Traditions Confucian is the predominant philosophy throughout most of Chinese history. Its influence still exists in modern China, and spreads abroad through migration. Chinese Americans usually do not express Confucian values in an explicit way. There are not many explicit ceremonial activities or formal Confucian programs in Chinese American communities. However, although traditional forms of Confucian practice are rare, Confucian tradition still serves the underlying inspiration for Chinese Americans’ daily life. The most obvious example is their emphasis on education. Confucians believe children should be ingrained with a lifelong respect for knowledge, wisdom, intelligence, and love for learning. Many Chinese American families uphold this cultural value. Parents consider providing children with education as their primary responsibility. They believe that education helps elevate the individual and all family members to a higher social position. Chinese American parents view education as a way to prepare people to fulfill their duties toward family and the larger society, and children are obligated to achieve academic success in order to do so. The second indicator of Confucian belief are the strong family values in Chinese American families. As compared with mainstream American values, Chinese Americans put emphasis on the family unit rather than individual interests. According to Confucian philosophy, family is regarded as the fundamental unit of a society. The family is also the central focus of an individual’s life and generates loyalty, mutual obligation, cooperation, interdependence, and reciprocity. Each individual typically views him- or herself as integral to family oneness and strives consistently to promote the family’s welfare, harmony, and reputation. Family-oriented cultural values are manifested in filial piety and family hierarchical structure. Filial piety has been described as a simultaneous mental state and behavioral code. Underlying components of this trait include reverence for elders, ancestors, and the past; unquestioning obedience or subordination to parents; and concern for parents’ needs and the desire to please and comfort them. To earn obedience from children also requires parents to play a responsible role, which means educating them to be socialized individuals who understand and accept their social obligations.
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Maintaining harmony is also emphasized in Confucian philosophy. Overall harmony is maintained through an individual’s efforts to achieve intrapsychic harmony, interpersonal harmony, and harmony with nature and time. To promote family and social harmony, individuals should avoid direct confrontation, conform to rules of propriety, and recognize and respect (i.e., “give face to”) others. Cultural behaviors based on these guiding principles that show politeness, tact, and gentleness in interpersonal interactions are highly regarded. Confucian cultures do not simply attempt to teach children obedience to an authority figure. Rather, children are socialized to achieve early mastery of impulse control, rather than being subject to strict discipline and punishment, as is typical of authoritarian parenting in American culture. In summary, although the scholarly tradition of Confucianism lacks institutional infrastructure in Chinese American communities, its values are primarily nurtured through families, social relationships, and all aspects of education. —Hui Huang See also: Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Domestic Religious Practices; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Taoism; Taiwanese American Religious Temples.
Further Reading Yang, Fenggang. Chinese Christians in America: Conversion, Assimilation, and Adhesive Identity. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999. Yao, Xinzhong. An Introduction to Confucianism. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Domestic Religious Practices The religious life of Chinese American people is characterized by great diversity, reflecting the heterogeneity of Chinese immigrants who have come to the United States from various societies in several waves. Amid the cultural pluralism of Chinese American communities, three religious traditions have become dominant: Christianity is the most practiced institutional religion, Buddhism the second. The third, traditional Chinese folk religions, has also revived since the late 1970s. The history of Chinese Christianity in the United States is almost as long as that of Chinese immigration. Many Chinese Americans were favorably disposed to Protestantism as a resource for Chinese national progress. Meanwhile, conservative Christianity has served for the immigrant Chinese as a good match for their cherished social-ethical values. The Chinese Christian Churches help American-born Chinese (ABC) children to maintain a Chinese cultural identity while facilitating their assimilation into American society through Sunday school
Chinese Americans: Domestic Religious Practices
classes and fellowship activities. Generally, the Chinese Christian Church provides favorable environment for ABCs to learn the Chinese language and traditional values that are perceived as compatible with their evangelical Christian beliefs, including respecting parents, older people, and those in authority; preserving harmonious relationships; being modest; etc. Chinese Buddhism in organized forms appeared in the United States along with the coming of the new, post-1965 immigrants. After arriving in the United States, some lay believers of orthodox Buddhism gathered together to socialize and to exchange experiences of learning the Buddha dharma. Before long, such layinitiated Chinese Buddhist groups began to emerge in the 1950s and have grown to between 120 and 150 Chinese Buddhism groups by the end of the 1990s. Most of the Chinese Buddhist groups in the United States are ecumenical with other major Buddhist traditions. Chinese Buddhists commonly practice both Chan and Pure Land Buddhism and frequently adopt Tian Tai and other traditions as well. While Chinese Buddhism continues to serve primarily Chinese immigrants, some well-established temples are also making efforts to cross ethnic boundaries, proselytizing especially Euro-Americans. Along with the three major religiocultural traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, China has many syncretic sects and localized folk religions. When the first wave of Chinese immigrants came to the American West Coast in the mid19th century, they brought along their familiar gods and saints and established many temples. These temples are commonly referred to as “joss houses,” which means houses of gods. Over the course of history, hundreds of joss houses were built and then soon abandoned. However, traditional Chinese folk religion, which worships a syncretic variety of Gods with many festivals throughout the year, has been revived since the 1970s. Many Chinese folk religious temples are built and open every day. Individuals of any backgrounds may come to the temple to pray, conduct a divination in front of a god, etc. Important gatherings are organized based on the Chinese traditional calendar system, such as the Chinese New Year, the Moon festival, and the birthdays of Kuan Yin, Buddha, and other gods. Besides these temples, some Chinese also maintain tablets of ancestors and altars of gods at home, observe feng shui, consult fortune-tellers, conduct divination, and practice qigong, all of which can be regarded a part of the traditional Chinese folk religion. Chinese American religions have become increasingly diverse, which has played and will continue to play a significant role in Chinese immigrants’ identity construction. —Zhilin Tang See also: Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Confucian Traditions; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Taiwanese American Religious Temples; Taoism.
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Further Reading Yang, Fenggang. “Religious Diversity among the Chinese in America.” In Pyong Gap Min and Jung Ha Kim, eds. Religions in Asian America: Building Faith Communities, New York: AltaMira Press, 2002. Yoo, David K. New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Donald Duk (Frank Chin) (1991) Controversial writer-activist Frank Chin’s first novel, Donald Duk (1991), retreads a central concern in his works: excoriating the hegemonic discourse that propagates the “racial castration” of Asian American men. Taking to particular task the invidious stereotypes imposed on Asians by mainstream America, Chin enunciates the importance of foregrounding Asian heroic heritage within Asian America as a way to reclaim masculinity (or subjectivity) for its men. Interposed in the coming-of-age-tale of the eponymous protagonist is Donald Duk’s aim to showcase “the heroic dimensions” of Chinese American history even as it exposes how emasculation came to characterize that history (Richardson 1999, 57). Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the 15 days of Chinese New Year celebration, the novel features 12-year-old Donald, who hates everything Chinese about himself, especially his name, which relegates him to the nonthreatening and inarticulate “barebutt cartoon duck” (Chin 1991, 7). His father, King Duk, and Uncle Donald serve as wise and powerful teachers who try to elucidate to this young Chinatown boy that white hegemony has conspired to “turn [him] into some kind of engineer of hate for everything Chinese” (Chin 1991, 23). However, Donald continues to parrot assimilationist rhetoric, which culminates in his aspirations to be “the Chinese Fred Astaire,” who epitomizes conservative, mainstream values (Goldstein-Shirley 2000). Young Donald is only able to discard his misguided reiteration of the dominant ideology and fully embrace his ethnic heritage when he reconnects with his cultural roots via a series of vivid dreams of the legendary Kwan Kung, who appears as the foreman of the Chinese laborers on the Central Pacific Railroad; as a result of his dreams, the Chinese are no longer “they” to Donald but become “we” (Chin 1991, 138). Immortalized as the “god of fighters, blighters, and writers” in Chinese folklore, Kwan Kung, for Chin, is the mainstay of the Chinese “real” (Chin 1991, 27) and through his encounters with the heroic Kwan Kung, Donald gains the courage to confront his teacher, Mr. Meanwright, who falsely characterizes the Chinese as “passive and noncompetitive.” As if to spur him on, a costumed Kwan Kung bursts into the classroom at this climactic moment to inaugurate the Chinese New Year. Grinning at the astonished Mr. Meanwright, the newly racially self-confident Donald wishes him “Goong hay fot choy (Happy New Year)” (Chin 1991, 153).
Chinese Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
Though not without its limitations—in particular, Chin’s imagination of authentic Asian American culture as “notably androcentric, if not misogynistic” (Goldstein-Shirley)—Donald Duk is considered a “small masterpiece” in the Asian American literary canon for underscoring how the linkages forged between Chinese mythology and Asian American history contribute constructively to the identity formation of an Asian American (male) subject. As King Duk claims, it is important to “add on, instead of giving anything up” and “including America in everything else they know [which] makes them stronger” (Chin 1991, 42). In his celebration of the Asian heroic tradition, Donald is distinct from (and is perhaps an evolved version of) Chin’s earlier protagonists. Elaine H. Kim has observed that Chin’s earlier male characters tend to “flail out at the emasculating effects of oppression, but accept [their] oppressors’ definition of ‘masculinity.’ The result is [Chin’s] unresolved tension between contempt and desire to fight for his Asian American characters.” If Chin’s earlier works tend to “revel in masochistic self-loathing” stemming from racial castration, Donald Duk diverges from this self-destructive approach and young Donald comes to represent Chin’s new concept of Asian American male subjects who, by gaining access to the heroic traditions of the Chinese “real” and embracing its martial view of the world, are able to move beyond social indoctrination that breeds self-loathing within them. —Hyeyurn Chung See also: Chinese Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Chin, Frank. Donald Duk. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1991. Fung, Eileen Chia-Ching. “ ‘To Eat the Flesh of His Dead Mother’: Hunger, Masculinity, and Nationalism in Frank Chin’s Donald Duk.”origin of monosyllabic or short Chinese names In Carol M. Counihan, ed. Food in the USA: A Reader. New York: Routledge, 2002. Goldstein-Shirley, David. “ ‘The Dragon Is a Lantern’: Frank Chin’s Counter-Hegemonic Donald Duk.” 49th Parallel: An Interdisciplinary Journal of North American Studies 6 (2000). Kim, Elaine H. “Frank Chin: The Chinatown Cowboy and His Backtalk.” Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of Contemporary Thought 20 (1978): 78–91. Richardson, Susan B. “The Lessons of Donald Duk.” MELUS 24(4) (1999): 57–76.
Dying and Death Rituals For the traditional Chinese, death is the main life-passage event, surpassing births and marriages. It is by dying that one can extend one’s life as an ancestor; and
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Chinese American funeral ritual in Los Angeles, California. Family and friends presented food and paper models of houses and servants for the deceased, ensuring her needs and comfort in the spirit world. (Jonathan H. X. Lee)
funerals provide the ritual means for this transformation. In the United States, a Chinese funeral typically is structured into three main parts: the visitation, the formal service, and the burial. The visitation, which usually occurs on the evening before a funeral, is when family and friends keep the corpse company and perform their last rituals of caring, such as placing burial goods in the casket. Though Christianity and Western customs dominate most Chinese American funerals today, a few traditional features persist that express some of the Chinese concepts of death and the afterlife. These concepts include (1) death pollution, (2) multiple aspects of the soul, (3) the spirit world mirroring the physical one, (4) reciprocity and exchange between the living and spirits, and (5) family continuity. Death pollution has two aspects: the passive pollution of the decaying corpse, and the active pollution of the deceased’s volatile and confused spirit. Both are considered dangerous, evil, unclean, and anything associated with them should be respectfully feared, avoided, and managed with countering talismans and rituals. Mortuary features dealing with pollution are in the form of (1) visual and audible announcements; (2) prophylactic elements that deflect, absorb, or counter
Chinese Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
death pollution; (3) the use of fire and water for purification; and (4) rituals to manage and give placement to the deceased’s spirit. Together, they safeguard the living. Off-white or natural-fibered mourning clothes are worn by the immediate family to indicate their close relationship and polluting contact with the deceased. The clothes’ lack of color pigmentation represents the lifelessness and putrefaction of the corpse (as opposed to black or dark blue, which are the colors of mourning and sadness worn by distant relatives and friends). Placards or cloth banners carried in the funeral procession announce the identity of the deceased and his or her family. In the United States, where death often occurs in hospitals and the corpse is handled by a mortuary, pollution precautions are limited to the funeral and burial, and are observed selectively by the family, and often as a nod to tradition. Some Chinese families (usually the first generation in America), don off-white mourning clothes as a tradition during the funeral, though dark Western clothes are more frequently worn. In major American Chinatowns such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York (to a limited extent) where funeral processions are permitted as a tradition, a Western brass band (10 to 12 musicians) may be hired, and on occasion, a traditional Chinese funeral band, to provide music to announce the presence of a corpse, to entice the deceased’s spirit to stay close, and to add significance to the occasion. The funeral of a prominent person may include two or three brass bands to mark status and prestige. The Western band marches at the front of the procession; the Chinese band sits in the back of a pickup truck. The family and their entourage may elect to walk in the procession (the tradition in China), though most typically ride in limousines. In front of the hearse, in lieu of name placards or banners, may be a “picture car” in which a large wreathed photograph of the deceased is propped up in the convertible or the back of a pickup truck to inform the community of who died. The most common prophylactic custom is the giving out of li shi (Cantonese) or hung bao (Mandarin)—money wrapped in red paper by the deceased’s family to give to their relatives and friends in attendance. Also known as “lucky money,” the red color (symbolizing life) counters death; and the money should be spent on something sweet to remind the living of the sweetness of life. Along with the red li shi, some families give a white (symbolizing death) li shi containing a coin and a piece of candy. The metal coin absorbs death airs (and therefore should be spent immediately); and the confection removes the bitterness of death. The giving of li shi is the most common funerary custom in the United States. According to some shamanic and Taoist beliefs, blood from a sacrificial chicken is sometimes squirted around the grave to safeguard it once the corpse is buried. A symbol of the life force and with a red color indicative of good luck,
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blood is a potent ritual offering to the new ancestors that seals its spirit in the grave, imbuing it with continued life in the spirit world. Metal weapons such as a sword may also be wielded by the shaman to fend off evil spirits at the grave during the burial. Certain plants are believed to deflect the bad luck from death pollution. A piece of bamboo, or a pomelo leaf, or pine sprigs may be placed in the pocket of mourners and then discarded after a funeral. Pomelo or kaffir lime leaves are sometimes placed in the water used to wash the mourners’ faces, hands, and legs prior to entering the home (followed by a complete bath). The use of such protective plant talismans varies according to regional customs and personal beliefs. Along with water, fire is also used to cleanse and purify a person exposed to death pollution. Members of the deceased’s immediate family may burn their off-white mourning clothes, or step over a small fire to purify themselves from evil airs before entering the home after the funeral. Traditionally, anything to do with the corpse or funeral is considered bad luck and should be discarded or destroyed. Rituals that serve to keep the deceased’s spirit close to the corpse are critical until the spirit is safely situated in the grave. Until then, the mourning family is responsible for controlling the active pollution of a potentially dangerous spirit that poses a threat to the community. Wailing, food offerings, the aroma of incense, spirit flags, and music all keep the spirit attracted to remain nearby and are used extensively from the time of death until the corpse’s burial. Wailing by the family begins at death to create a mournful mood and to invoke the spirit to return to the body because it is missed. Offerings of food and incense are immediately placed by the corpse to feed the spirit and to communicate with it. A spirit flag—a bamboo staff topped by frilly, white paper-enwrapped loops attached with a dangling paper plaque naming the deceased—designed to “catch” the spirit is placed on the coffin. The eldest son (the main mourner) may be seen carrying the spirit flag and a giant incense stick during the procession along with a funeral band to keep the spirit entertained and in tow, and to alert passersby of an approaching corpse. Cheap mock paper money is tossed out during the procession by assistants to distract malicious wandering hungry ghosts that are jealous of the ritually welltended spirit of the deceased to tempt it to join them. This cheap mock money is made of thin, off-white paper with curved slits cut in it. When it is tossed, the hungry ghosts chase after it and slip through the curved slits. Since ghosts are known to travel only in straight lines, the ghosts become disoriented and are diverted away from the funeral cortege. This tradition, called mai lu, or “buying the road” (Mandarin), has its counterpart in imperial China when beggars would block the road to bribe the passersby, who would then toss a handful of cheap copper coins to disperse the beggars and clear the road for passage. Depending on the particular belief system, the number of soul aspects the Chinese believe in may vary. But basically, there are three soul aspects: one is
Chinese Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
imbued in the name tablet placed on the family altar or in a temple (why offerings are made there); one travels through hell and then resides in paradise; and one is placed in the grave (why offerings are also placed there). Unless the spirit is ritually situated, it may not go to paradise, and there would be no designated locale for “feeding” it with offerings, thereby dooming it as a wandering, hungry ghost. In the Chinese cosmos, the spirit world mirrors the material one; and spirits require the same sustenance as the living. Hence offerings of food are placed at the grave, and mock money and the paper replicas of goods needed for a comfortable life are burned there for the deceased’s spirit. These goods may include a house, car, cell phone, chests of clothes and accessories, mountains of silver and gold, servants, boom boxes, mahjong sets, computers, and even Viagra. The spirit receives the essences of the food; and the value of the mock money and the paper goods is transmitted by smoke. Since corrupt bureaucrats demanding bribes rule the spirit world as they do that of the living, mock money is both burned (plain spirit money, gold and silver ingot papers) and placed in the casket (hell bank notes, gold and silver ingot papers) for such use in the spirit world, and a silver coin is placed between the corpse’s lips to pay the guardian of the death realm. To maintain a balance in matters concerning death and spirits, precautions are taken through monetary exchanges to neutralize pollution danger. Money is paid for services for the dead, and li shi is given to mourners. Spirit relationships are maintained through give-and-take transactions; and offerings to ancestors are expected to be reciprocated with prosperous blessings for the lineage. This is one reason why a family will spare no expense for a funeral, and why visits to the grave to make offerings are regular family affairs. As among living people, the relationships between the living and spirits are maintained through reciprocal exchanges and gift-giving. Special festivals such as ching ming in the spring and chung yung in the fall are major “grave cleaning” occasions for visiting family graves, cleaning them, and paying respects (bowing three times) to the dead with offerings of incense, flowers, food, drink, and the burning of mock money. In the United States, ching ming is the more popular festival, and is well observed as a Chinese memorial day. Chinese cemeteries, and some non-Chinese ones in areas with a large Chinese demographic, will organize programs and Buddhist or Taoist ceremonies, and provide refreshments. The Chinese family consists of both living and dead members who continue to have an interactive, sustaining relationship. Funerals provide the ritual opportunity to create a beneficent ancestor who will protect the present family and its future members. Life and longevity elements at funerals refer to the long life and perpetuity of the lineage. Traditional Chinese burial clothes embroidered with longevity symbols (the crane, evergreen pines, the calligraphic symbol for longevity, etc.) signify an ancestor-to-be whose long life has produced sons who
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have had sons to extend the patrilineage (family lineage reckoned through the males). Family caring and respect are demonstrated with the “blanket ceremony,” a ritual common on mainland America in which family members place lengths of fabric on the deceased during the wake or visitation. The color significances and symbolic explanations of the blankets vary. In San Francisco, for example, the eldest son and his wife place a white blanket (for death) on the dead parent, followed by a red one (for life). Subsequent blankets offered by the other children may be of any color, print, or number. In Boston, the red blanket is placed first; in New York, the first blanket for a deceased male is white or cream colored, while a female receives a pink one. The second blanket is always red, then any color or print after that. Whenever a mourner approaches the casket, he bows to the deceased. If he makes adjustments to the corpse or places goods in the casket, he bows again after performing the task. In the traditional Chinese family, the Confucian order of patrilineal authority begins with the father, followed by the sons in order of seniority, and then the mother and daughters in order of seniority. At funerals, this order determines who the chief mourner will be to lead the processions and to perform the rituals. Lineage perpetuity is highly valued, and the number of generations propagated by the deceased is shown off as a measure of a successful life. Each surviving generation may be represented by different-colored hair bows or sashes. While the color coding may vary according to individual and regional preferences, widows tend to wear white, daughters wear blue, and grandchildren and great grandchildren wear green for fertility and their future propagation of the family. Good fortune for the family lineage may be insured with feng shui—a geomantic pseudoscience that believes the earth is a living entity with veins of positive energy running through it. A feng shui-determined grave calculated to be on or near such a vein will empower the hard bones of the ancestor and be transmitted to the lineage. In recent years, Chinese immigrants in the United States have been able to realize their culture’s mortuary ideals in a country with more economic opportunity and land. Many cemeteries have developed feng shui-designed memorial gardens to cater to Confucian traditions. With political instability, limited land and the push for cremation, and real estate developments using burial grounds in their ancestral homelands, there is a trend of Chinese families transporting their family corpses to their new home in the United States. While burial in one’s natal place is a traditional ideal, it is also important for a family to remain together in death as they were while alive. Full-body ground burials are still preferred over cremation since an aspect of the soul resides at the grave; and because one’s life (and body) is a gift from one’s ancestors that one
Chinese Americans: Fa Mu Lan
should not disrespectfully destroy: one came into the world as a whole body and should leave the world in the same way. —Linda Sun Crowder
Further Reading Crowder, Linda Sun. “The Chinese Mortuary Tradition in San Francisco Chinatown.” In Sue Fawn Chung and Priscilla Wegars, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals: Respecting the Ancestors. New York: AltaMira Press, 2005. Crowder, Linda Sun. Mortuary Practices and the Construction of Chinatown Identity. PhD dissertation, University of Hawaii, 2002. Crowder, Linda Sun. “The Taoist (Chinese) Way of Death.” In Clifton D. Bryant, ed. Handbook of Death and Dying. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2003.
Fa Mu Lan Fa Mu Lan is a Chinese American folk heroine who became familiar to many English speakers as a result of Maxine Hong Kingston’s best-selling book The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts (1976). Kingston’s work draws inspiration from the legendary Chinese character, commonly known as Hua Mulan among Chinese speakers. This heroine has a long tradition and remains well known in China. It is believed that the poem “Ballad of Mulan” (ca. fourth–sixth century CE) is the earliest written account of her legend. The basic storyline portrays how, to save her father from going to war, the daughter Mulan impersonates a young man, joins the army, and serves her country for years. After her troops’ triumph, Mulan turns down the official rank and welfare bestowed on her and returns home to her womanly life. Kingston’s writing transforms Mulan into a Chinese American heroine. Published as a memoir, her controversial work adapts the Chinese folk story that the narrator acquired through her mother’s “talk-story” and recounts how the narrator constructs her identity as she comes of age. Instead of literally translating the Chinese legend, Kingston rewrites Mulan into a Chinese American woman warrior whose image is enriched by a bicultural legacy and a conscious female empowerment. Kingston’s book has appealed to many readers and has had far-reaching influence on Asian American communities. Her reconfigured heroine Fa Mu Lan has incurred debate among readers and scholars about cultural authenticity. For example, Chinese American writer Frank Chin has criticized Kingston’s rewriting as a distortion of the “real” Chinese folktale. The enduring critical pen war between Chin and Kingston, along with their supporters, has become a historical milestone in Asian American studies. The debate reflects a number of the critical issues that have helped shape Asian American literary studies and continue to influence the emerging field of Asian American folklore.
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Originating in Chinese folklore, the character of Fa Mu Lan also has appeared in a number of picture books for children in the United States. Disney Studio’s animated features Mulan (1998) and Mulan II (2005) have further expanded the heroine’s fame and introduced her to an international audience. Her story has become an important part of Chinese American folklore and continues to play a significant role in Asian American literature. —Lan Dong See also: Chinese Americans: Heroes and Heroines; Kingston, Maxine Hong (1940–).
Further Reading Chin, Frank. “Come All Ye Asian American Writers of the Real and the Fake.” In Jeffery Paul Chan et al., eds. The Big Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature. New York: Meridian, 1991. Dong, Lan “Writing Chinese America into Words and Images: Storytelling and Retelling of The Song of Mu Lan.” The Lion and the Unicorn 30(2) (2006): 218–33. Frankel, Hans, trans. “Mu-lan.” In Hans Frankel. The Flowering Plum and the Palace Lady: Interpretations of Chinese Poetry. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1976. Wong, Sau-ling Cynthia, ed. Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: A Casebook. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Family and Community Chinese Americans are the oldest ethnic group of Asian origin in the United States. Dating back to the middle of the 19th century, a large number of Chinese men from Guangdong (Canton) Province in Mainland China migrated to work in Hawaii and the U.S. mainland, particularly the West Coast, as contract labor in the plantation economy, the mining industry, the construction of transcontinental railroads, and woolen mills, in the hope of sojourning for a short time and eventually returning to their homeland with fortune and glory. The majority of these immigrants left behind their wives and children, and sent remittances to support their relatives. As a result, split household arrangements across the borders were characteristic of family life in the Chinese community. Following the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, many Chinese migrant laborers gave up their sojourners’ dreams and returned to their home country. Some other Chinese opted to stay because of a lack of financial means for a return journey or out of fear that they would lose face if they returned home without accumulating wealth. These people were forced to live in urban enclaves that developed into Chinatowns along the West Coast. As early as the 1840s, the first Chinatown across the United States was established in San Francisco. There were still other Chinese immigrants who relocated to the East Coast to seek
Chinese Americans: Family and Community
opportunities for making a living. Over the course of more than 60 years of legal exclusion, the sex ratio of the Chinese American population was skewed, with a considerably larger proportion of men. Consequently, the Chinese American community remained a bachelor’s society where working-class men were separated from their families in their homeland and isolated from other social groups in the new land. Since the revocation of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943 and the subsequent reforms of immigration laws, especially the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, the Chinese American population has increased substantially. New Chinese immigrants are diverse in terms of place of origin, dialect, and socioeconomic background. Geographically, they come from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and many other Chinese communities around the world such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Linguistically, new Chinese immigrants speak a variety of dialects, including Mandarin-Chinese, Cantonese, Chaozhouness, Hokkienese, Hakka and Shanghainess. While some Chinese immigrants arrive with few educational and financial resources and gravitate toward low-skilled, low-paying jobs in the new country, many new immigrants come with high levels of education, professional skills, and financial capital that enable them to be employed in whitecollar occupations or become entrepreneurs in the United States. Recent Chinese immigrants continue to cluster in metropolitan areas along the East and West Coasts. Among cities with a population over 100,000, New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have the largest Chinese American populations. Within each metropolitan region, historical Chinese enclaves in inner cities, such as Old Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles City, continue to receive immigrants, but they are no longer the only centers of initial settlement. The majority of new Chinese immigrants, especially those highly educated and professional middle class, move into suburban neighborhoods outside traditional immigrant gateway cities immediately after they arrive. For example, since the end of World War II, small suburban cities in the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles, have witnessed an influx of Chinese immigrants, which contributes to the cultural diversity and economic development in this area. Contemporary Chinese American life has been greatly shaped by family immigration which turns Chinese America from a bachelor’s society into a family community. After the immigration reforms in the mid-1960s, many Chinese immigrants arrived as nuclear families. A large proportion of new immigrants who were immediate relatives of U.S. citizens came through family unification. One consequence of this pattern of immigration is that since the 1980s, the previously unbalanced sex ratio of the Chinese American population has been pushed in the opposite direction, with women outnumbering men. Today’s Chinese American families have distinctive characteristics, including low rates of divorce, low rates of juvenile delinquency, retention of Chinese values, the use of Mandarin or a Chinese dialect at home, and female subordination.
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This bustling community has played an important role in shaping America’s multicultural dynamics. —Xiaoxin Zeng
Further Reading Glenn, Evelyn Nakano, and Stacey G. H. Yap. “Chinese American Families.” In Ronald L. Taylor, ed. Minority Families in the United States: A Multicultural Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1998. Tong, Benson. The Chinese Americans. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2003. Zhou, Min. Contemporary Chinese America: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transformation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.
Web Site “Chinatown San Francisco”: http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/ (accessed September 2009).
Feng Shui/Geomancy In Chinese culture, feng shui, or geomancy, is a body of knowledge used to select and adjust building and gravesites. There are many schools of feng shui practice, but all have a common goal: to strategically align the living and the dead with the cosmos. For public spaces, such alignment is believed to protect the community from calamity, and would bring prosperity to all. For homes and gravesites, proper alignments ensure prosperity of the residents (and their descendants) in all aspects of life. While feng shui embodies a generally Taoist worldview, it is rarely associated with religious institutions or taken as motivation for establishing formal religious affiliations or practices. Among Chinese Americans, levels of adherence to feng shui rules also vary greatly. Some hire professional feng shui consultants to oversee every aspect of their residential, office, and gravesite projects. Others take precautions with small, commonsense feng shui tips that circulate in their families and among friends. Still others consider these rules merely superstitious and unscientific. There are many schools of feng shui, and most professional consultants use a combination from three major approaches: compass, form, and ritual. The compass approach involves aligning between the residents’ astrological signs and the directions of the site, with meticulous calculations to help residents identify optimal direction that a site should face, and the arrangement of specific functional spaces within the site. For a home, a feng shui consultant who uses the compass approach is able to provide a precise grid of where major entrances and stairs should be, and also the best locations for master bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and ancestral altar. For a grave, the consultant finds the direction that the gravestone should face to bring most blessings upon the descendants of the deceased.
Chinese Americans: Festivals and Holidays
The form approach focuses on observing physical characteristics of the landscape. It determines the energetic quality of a site by looking at the shapes and positions of hills, valleys, and watercourses around it. Shapes of geographical features are corresponded with yin-yang and five elements categories, and an ideal site has features that match with the residents’ astrological signs. Finally, when structural alterations are not enough or not possible, the ritual approach is used to energetically transform a site so that it can be beneficial for the residents even without an astrological match of directions and forms. This approach is also an important last resort when a place is believed to be haunted or brings about misfortune. In the Chinese American community, compass and form approaches are widely used by religious and nonreligious feng shui consultants alike, and accepted by antisuperstition skeptics for being statistical and mathematical. On the other hand, the ritualistic approach is practiced mostly by religious specialists such as Taoist and other folk ritual masters, whose religious training requires them to cultivate themselves physically and psychically for safe and effective ritual performances. However, it was the ritual approach that first crossed ethnic boundaries and became the basis for the Americanized feng shui popularized by mainstream media. —Emily S. Wu See also: Chinese Americans: Home Decoration.
Further Reading Bruun, Ole. An Introduction to Feng Shui. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Festivals and Holidays While most Chinese Americans share a wide variety of secular and nonsecular celebrations with other Americans, many also participate in various festivals and holidays that are unique either to their Chinese heritage or to their transnational identities. Although not considered public holidays, some of these celebrations have become popularized and are visible on a national level. Others remain less recognized or celebrated only on a local level. The most famous Chinese holiday celebrated within the United States is the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, which commences on the first day of the first lunar month (corresponding to the end of January or beginning of February in the Gregorian calendar). The dates of the celebration accord with the same festival as it is celebrated in Mainland China and within the Chinese diaspora. With over fifty percent of U.S.-born Chinese Americans living in New York or
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California, New Year celebrations in these states are particularly large, especially in cities such as New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Traditional activities celebrated—all of which according to Chinese myth and custom are presumed to contribute to the luck and prosperity of the New Year—broadly consist of eating special foods, burning firecrackers, wearing red clothing, participating in parades and dances, and gifting money and other items to one another. In the Chinese American context, however, these celebrations are often in some way connected to local cultural surroundings. In Los Angeles, for example, Chinese New Year has included hip-hop performance. In New York, where Koreatown and Chinatown weave together in the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens, many Koreans and Korean Americans join together in the Chinese New Year Lunar Parade. The Lantern Festival symbolizes the end of the Chinese New Year. While not widely celebrated in the United States, this festival is found in various Chinatown locations, including that of San Francisco, where brightly colored lanterns form part of a large, illuminated nighttime parade. The tradition in San Francisco dates back to the 1860s, and is today often broadcast on television. Other Chinese festivals celebrated on a smaller scale within Chinese American communities and Chinatowns across the United States include the Qingming Festival, a day devoted to remembering and worshiping ancestors; and the Mid-Autumn Festival, a day connected to celebration of the harvest moon. The fifth day of the fifth lunar month (occurring in June) marks the celebration of the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, a public holiday in China and widely shared festival within Chinese American and American communities of the United States. The complex history of this festival relates both to Chinese legends and to ritual activities associated with protecting harvests and avoiding disasters. In the United States, it is celebrated in many locations across the country. Aside from the cultural aspects of the festival, the competitive emphasis on the racing of dragon boats has become an important part of the event’s American tradition. While acting as a means through which young Chinese Americans are educated on topics of their heritage, festivals and holidays celebrated within the Chinese American community have also contributed to the vibrancy that defines American culture as a whole. —Anna M. Hennessey
Further Reading A Portrait of Chinese America: A National Demographic and Social Profile of Chinese Americans. The Asian American Studies Program, University of Maryland and the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), 2008. Lau, Frederick. “Serenading the Ancestors: Chinese Qingming Festival in Honolulu.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 26 (2004): 128–143. Louie, Andrea. “Re-Territorializing Transnationalism: Chinese Americans and the Chinese Motherland.” American Ethnologist 27(3) (2000): 645–669.
Chinese Americans: Folk Dances and Performances
Children in New York's Chinatown take part in a lion dance, performed to chase out evil spirits, during Lunar New Year, February 10, 2002. (AP Photo/Graham Morrison)
Yeh, Chiou-ling. Making an American Festival: Chinese New Year in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. Zhuang Kongshao, producer/director. The Dragon Boat Festival. 1992. VHS.
Web Site Chinese New Year. Chinese American Museum http://www.camla.org.
Folk Dances and Performances One of the most popular and recognizable Chinese folk dances and performances among Chinese American and American audiences is the lion dance. Performed primarily during Lunar New Year celebrations and other ritual occasions, including birthdays, the lion dance stands as a symbol of fortune and luck in Chinese culture. Many lion dances are performed in Chinatowns and in communities with large Chinese American populations. In the mid- to late 19th century in the United States, most notably San Francisco and New York, the lion dance was performed for a primarily Chinese audience and served to strengthen cultural bonds within the immigrant Chinese community. Today, young Chinese Americans are encouraged by parents and elders to participate in lion dancing and other ritual performances as a way to connect to and
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learn about their cultural history, heritage, and traditions. Increasingly, lion dancing is performed at festivals and celebrations where the audience is largely nonChinese. While mainstream American audiences embrace the lion dance as a celebration of multiculturalism, for Chinese Americans the lion dance is a recognizable art form that most can understand and relate to. Other traditional Chinese folk dances are also performed at theaters, cultural festivals, and celebrations. Some of these dances include nuo and yangge. Nuo dance has become a very popular form of dance and entertainment. One of the oldest forms of Chinese folk dance, nuo dance was originally performed to cast away evil and harmful spirits. Now it is performed on a variety of occasions. During the start of the spring festival, on the first day of the first lunar month, yangge is usually performed. Yangge dancers wearing red silk waistbands beat drums while leaping through the air. Since the Chinese began immigrating to the United States in the 19th century, Chinese theater has been a constant form of artistic and creative performance in Chinese American culture. In its earliest days Chinese theater was performed exclusively in Chinatowns. However, like Chinese American theater of today, Chinese actors performed both for Chinese and mainstream American audiences. Today, Chinese theater classes and workshops are offered, and plays and traditional and contemporary Chinese operas are performed for a variety of audiences. —Rory I.P. Padeken See also: Chinese Americans: Chinatown Opera Theaters; Folk Music; Hong Fook Tong.
Further Reading Freeland, David. Automats, Taxi Dances, and Vaudeville: Excavating Manhattan’s Lost Places of Leisure. New York: New York University Press, 2009. Lee, Anthony W. Picturing Chinatown: Art and Orientalism in San Francisco. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. Yeh, Chiou-Ling. Making an American Festival: Chinese New Year in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.
Folk Music Chinese Americans represent the largest Asian American population. In addition to China, the Chinese diaspora includes Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau. Approximately 3 to 4 million Chinese Americans live throughout the United States, though the largest populations live in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Washington, DC., Seattle, Philadelphia, Dallas, Portland, and San Diego. It is surprising, then, that Chinese American folk
Chinese Americans: Folk Music
music is largely absent from its popular culture. Instead, Chinese American folk music borrows the classical music styles and instrumentation of Europe. A number of cultural organizations are devoted to Chinese American music and traditions, including the notable Chinese Music Society of North America and Chinese Performing Artists of America. The North American Guqin Association is directed by Wang Fei and celebrates the guqin, a seven-stringed plucked zither with Chinese historical roots dating back 5,000 years. Additionally, Chinese strings, plucked lutes, woodwinds, drums, and other instruments made out of clay, stone, and gourds are popular in folk and orchestral ensembles. However, most Chinese folk music productions in the United States are reserved for holiday celebrations, New Year’s parties, weddings, colleges/universities, and community cultural events. Notably, traditional Chinese folk music tends to maintain musical autonomy, while resisting Western (American) rhythms and melodies. The most popular Chinese American folk musician today is French-born and American-based cello master Yo-Yo Ma. Importantly, his music reflects a classical European approach, with a mix of other music styles from the United States, Central Asia, and South America. A Grammy Award winner, Yo-Yo Ma has produced more than 70 albums and currently performs with the Silk Road Ensemble, a collective of musicians from dozens of countries. The influence of classical music is linked with early Chinese court orchestras and ensembles. This is evidenced by the modest number of popular Chinese American musicians proficient in violin, piano, and, to a lesser extent, guitar. Styles range from classical and jazz to folk and alternative. Singer-songwriter Vienna Teng is a California-based musician who incorporates guitar, piano, chamber pop, and a cappella singing styles. Dawn Xiana Moon is another singer-songwriter that mixes folk and pop styles but sings in Mandarin, English, and French. Sophie Yan is an award-winning classical pianist based in New York. Francis Wong is a saxophonist, erhu (two-string fiddle) player, and central figure in the Asian American free-jazz movement. Jason Kao Hwang is a cross-cultural performer on violin. The most popular Chinese American pop singer is Texas-based Evonne Hsu, who has won numerous awards and produced nine albums since 2002. Chinese American rap and hip-hop music represents a small segment of the Chinese American folk music continuum. The Pennsylvania-based Mountain Brothers were a hip-hop act from 1991–2003. Jin is a rap artist from New York. The only other popular hip-hop artist is Florida’s SouthStar. The Chinese American rap and hip-hop produced during the 1990s and early 2000s was followed by a significant musical downturn by 2009, with little Chinese American rap and hip-hop music in production. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Chinese Americans: Chinatown Opera Theaters; Hong Fook Tong.
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Web Sites Chinese Music Society of North America. “The Chinese Classical Orchestra”: http:// www.chinesemusic.net/concert_lecture_info.php (accessed January 1, 2010). Chinese Performing Artists of America (CPAA). Available from http://www .chineseperformingarts.org/artists_directors1.html (accessed January 1, 2010). North American Guqin Association. Wang Fei. Available from http://www.chineseculture .net/wangfei/guqincd.html (accessed January 1, 2010).
Folklore in Children’s Literature In addition to Eurocentric folklore, there are two other types of folklore that can be found in Chinese American children’s picture books. The first originates from China, and the second has its roots in Chinese America. Chinese folklore has been translated and retold often in English storybooks, sometimes by Chinese American writers like Laurence Yep and Ed Young. Among the most popular Chinese stories published for American children is the story of Mulan. As with other Chinese folklore, her legend has been translated verbatim into English as well as adapted and retold variously from the original Chinese “Ballad of Mulan” (4th–6th century CE). So-called Chinese folklore created by American writers has questionable authenticity. A children’s short story by Palmer Cox entitled “The Curious Case of Ah-Top” (1898) describes how the top, a toy, got its name from a Chinese man named Ah-Top. Tikki Tikki Tembo (1968) is a story retold by Arlene Mosel about the origin of monosyllabic or short Chinese names. Another author, David Bouchard, explains two Chinese holidays. In The Dragon New Year (1999), a Chinese American grandmother tells her granddaughter a New Year origin story in which an evil sea dragon kills a young man, and whose mother seeks revenge and learns from Buddha how to defeat the dragon. In The Mermaid’s Muse (1999), a Chinese American grandmother tells her grandson the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival that involves an intimate friendship between poet-scholarminister Qu Yuan and a beautiful mermaid who is a sea dragon in disguise. A common literary technique among children’s storywriters is to insert Chinese folklore into an American setting by creating a Chinese American storyteller, usually an immigrant elder, whose function is to educate the United States about China. These stories serve as cultural ambassadors, with no character development on the part of the narrator. They also provide Chinese cultural maintenance and transmission for American-born Chinese children who have supposedly “lost their roots” in the United States. In these stories, Chinese
Chinese Americans: Folklore in Children’s Literature
folklore becomes Chinese American by its transnational association with a Chinese American setting. Folklore that is uniquely Chinese American can be found in origin stories that have been published for children to historically explain Chinese America. Dragon Parade (1993), by Steven A. Chin, fictionalizes the first Chinese New Year celebration and parade in the United States, if not the world. Norman Ah Sing’s Pie Biter (1983), by Ruthanne Lum McCunn, recounts how pie was introduced to China by a Chinese American laborer named Hoi. The Story of Chinaman’s Hat (1990), by Dean Howell, tells how a Hawaiian tourist attraction got its name from Lick Bean, who floated from Xinhui, China. Also explaining Chinese American origins are a few biographical picture books depicting legendary figures. Allen Say’s picture book El Chino (1996) shows how Arizona-born Bong Way “Billy” Wong became Spain’s first matador of Chinese descent; Ken Mochizuki’s Be Water, My Friend (2006) describes the early years of San Francisco-born Bruce Lee before his martial arts and acting days; and Paula Yoo’s Shining Star (2009) tells the story of Los Angeles-born Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first major Chinese American actress. Chinese Americans have more presence in stories about America’s railroads. Coolies (2001), by Yin, begins with a Chinese American grandmother practicing the ancestral rituals of the Qing Ming Festival with her grandson, and in doing so, narrates the family’s history from China to the United States. By extension this becomes an origin story of Chinese American workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad during the 1860s. There are also two ghost stories based on the railroad experience: The Iron Moonhunter (1977) by Kathleen Chang and Ghost Train (1996) by Paul Yee, where ghosts of Chinese American railroad workers recall their oppression. These storybooks contribute to making Chinese Americans an integral part of America’s railroad folklore. Fairy tales have also been published with Chinese American characters. Grace Lin wrote and illustrated The Red Thread (2007) to explain the adoption of Chinese girls in the United States. The story begins with the Caucasian adoptive parents telling their Chinese daughter that “once upon a time,” a Caucasian king and queen found their Chinese princess by following a red thread to China and they “lived happily ever after.” In The Prince and the Li Hing Mui (1998), Sandi Takayama adapts Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea” and has a Pacific Islander princess test a Chinese commoner. Instead of a pea, she places under the stack of mattresses a Chinese preserved plum known as li hing mu” (the Zhongshan dialectal pronunciation for lu¨xing mei). Folklore that originated from China and is deemed the ancestral heritage of Chinese America serves as a cultural ambassador and transmitter but has varying degrees of authenticity in its transference. Folklore that is based on the Chinese American experience transmits stories that may not come from the oral tradition
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of the community, but it is uniquely rooted in the United States. Together, the two bodies of stories provide a glimpse into Chinese American folklore that has been mostly ignored and unpublished in American children’s literature. —Lorraine Dong See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Folklore and Children’s Literature; Chinese Americans: Chinatown Ghost Stories; Fa Mu Lan; Narrative Folktale.
Further Reading Cai, Mingshui. “Images of Chinese and Chinese Americans Mirrored in Picture Books.” Children’s Literature in Education 25:3 (1994): 169–91. Dong, Lorraine. “Mulan Leaves China.” At 40: Asian American Studies @ San Francisco State. Ed. Asian American Studies Department, San Francisco State University. San Francisco: Asian American Studies Department, San Francisco State University, 2009. Yokota, Junko, and Ann Bates. “Asian American Literature: Voices and Images of Authenticity.” In Darwin L. Henderson and Jill P. May, eds. Exploring Culturally Diverse Literature for Children and Adolescents: Learning to Listen in New Ways. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.
Foods and Foodways The foodways of China are exceptionally diverse, varying dramatically by region, ethnicity, and class, and so are the foods Chinese immigrants and their descendants eat in the United States. Overseas Chinese hail from many areas in China and bring to their new homes cuisines that have evolved over centuries of interaction with local ecologies. In the United States, these cooking traditions are transformed by cultural exchange among the Chinese, other immigrants, and Americans. Through these interactions, the Chinese assimilate new foodstuffs and cooking techniques into their foodways while preserving traditional culinary concepts and folk values related to the preparation and consumption of food, like the balance of hot and cold food elements. Wherever the Chinese settled, they found ways to procure foods of their homeland. In the 1850s, the Chinese started coming to the United States in large numbers and over the next half-century built trade networks across the country and Pacific Ocean. Import firms moved Chinese foodstuffs like rice, soy sauce, and preserved vegetables, meats, and fruits from southern China to remote towns on the western frontier. Chinese fishermen supplied fresh fish and shellfish to coastal settlements and sent dried seafood inland. These items were expensive, rare, and, hence, used sparingly by 19th-century Chinese immigrants. Mainly they counted on local Chinese farmers to supply the bulk of their diet. Small-scale,
Chinese Americans: Foods and Foodways
labor-intensive farms grew traditional vegetables and fruits and a variety of New World crops. Settlers in rural areas also foraged and hunted. Early immigrants were compelled by financial and environmental reasons to eat new foods, in addition to the traditional foods they could buy or grow. Chinese restaurants crossed the Pacific with the Chinese. The earliest ones date to the 1850s and were small, informal dining rooms that served simple Cantonese dishes. Clubhouses and boarding houses similarly fed their residents. As Chinese communities grew in size and wealth, restaurants became places to find elaborate and extravagant meals. The best restaurants imported expensive ingredients and furniture from China and were the preferred venues for the celebration of Chinese holidays, births, and weddings. The average restaurant, whose dishes and decorations were more modest, attracted both Chinese and non-Chinese clienteles, and were the forerunners of Chinese American restaurants. Around World War I, some eateries started offering on their menus American dishes like roast turkey alongside traditional ones. While these businesses did not cater to the Chinese per se, they exposed the Chinese working in them to foods other people ate. Today, Chinese Americans eat cuisines of many nations and patronize both traditional and fusion Chinese restaurants. Traditional Chinese foodways are far easier to maintain nowadays thanks to technological improvements in food transportation and preservation. Industrialization has made it possible to produce standardized foodstuffs cheaply and en masse, which are then distributed via modern highways, waterways, and airways. Chinese farms, once powered by manual labor, are now mechanized and employ the methods of corporate farms for the storage and selling of their produce. Large Chinese supermarkets exist in all major cities. Despite these benefits, rare or regionally unique ingredients are difficult to find in much of the United States, which forces Chinese immigrants to find substitutes. —Heather R. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Fortune Cookie.
Further Reading Anderson, E. N., and Wang, Chun-Hua. “Changing Foodways of Chinese Immigrants in Southern California.” Annals of the Chinese Historical Society of the Pacific Northwest 3 (1985): 63–69. Diehl, Michael, Jennifer A. Waters, and J. Homer Thiel. “Acculturation and the Composition of the Diet of Tucson’s Overseas Chinese Gardeners at the Turn of the Century.” Historical Archeology 32(4) (1998): 19–33. Libby, Gary. “Historical Notes on Chinese Restaurants in Portland, Maine.” Chinese America: History and Perspectives (2006): 47–56. Porterfield, W.M. “The Principal Chinese Vegetables Foods and Plants of Chinatown Markets.” Economic Botany 5(1) (1951): 3–37.
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Fortune Cookie Almost every Chinese restaurant in the United States serves their customers fortune cookies: light yellow, sweet, crisp, folded cookies of a curved shape. Each one contains a fortune, a strip of paper with a message. Diners are so accustomed to this tradition that it is rare to finish a Chinese meal in the United States without a fortune cookie. However, few Americans know that fortune cookies are not Chinese. Actually the fortune cookie was not introduced to China until 1990s and at that time it was advertised as “Genuine American Fortune Cookies.” So where are fortune cookies from? Who invented them? Unfortunately, their exact history is unknown, but a couple of facts are certain: fortune cookies are an American invention, and they originated in California. However, further questions of who invented them and where remain a matter of debate. Many people have claimed that their family invented or introduced the fortune cookie. One popular account is that a Chinese immigrant, David Jung, the founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Company, invented the fortune cookie in Los Angeles in 1918. It has been said that he made the cookies with a message of inspirational scripture inside and passed them out to the poor on the street. Another story is that they were introduced by a Japanese immigrant named Makoto Hagiwara, the designer of the famous Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. According to Erik Sumiharu Hagiwara-Nagata, the great-great-grandchild of Hagiwara, the fortune cookie originated in Japan as a savory confection, and was introduced by his family and changed to a sweetened cookie. Although counterintuitive, the theory that fortune cookies are originally from Japan has gained support from a researcher in Japan, Yasuko Nakamachi. Trained in folklore and history in Kanagawa University, she has provided historical evidence that confections with an undeniable resemblance to fortune cookies date back decades before the first reports of American fortune cookies. However, Ms. Nakamachi is uncertain how they turned into a Chinese restaurant specialty. It is true that before World War II many Japanese immigrants in California did own Chinese restaurants that served Americanized Chinese food, possibly including fortune cookies. But during World War II, when all Japanese Americans were rounded up and sent to the internment camps, Chinese-owned manufacturers may have taken over the production of fortune cookies and sold them to Chinese restaurants. That is probably when people began to forget the linkage between fortune cookies and the Japanese. Fortune cookies were handmade using chopsticks until late 1960s. Edward Louie, the founder of the Lotus Fortune Cookie Company, invented the first
Chinese Americans: Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan
fortune cookie folding machine in San Francisco. Nowadays, some 3 billion fortune cookies are produced each year, almost all in the United States. Wonton Food, based in Brooklyn, is the largest fortune cookie manufacturer in the world. Although early fortunes featured biblical sayings, today’s messages are much less serious. They are usually mystifying and sometimes funny, including, among other things, sage advice, recommended lottery numbers, Chinese-language studying notes, and smiley faces. —Jing Li See also: Chinese Americans: Foods and Foodways.
Web Sites Brunner, Borgna. “The History of the Fortune Cookie”: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/ fortunecookies.html. “Fortune Cookie History”: http://www.chinese-fortune-cookie.com/fortune-cookie -history.html. Lee, Jennifer 8. “Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie.” The New York Times, January 16, 2008. Available online at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/ dining/16fort.html (accessed April 9, 2009). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_cookie - cite_ref-Nagata_1-0Nagata, Erik. “A Brief History of the Fortune Cookie”: http://www.hanascape.com/aboutus/fortunecookie/ index.html.
Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan are well-known Asian male characters in the early to mid-20th century whose stories are of importance in the studies of Orientalism and Asian American folklore. Being portrayed as an evil genius who personifies the Asian threat, the Fu Manchu character in British literature preceded his film and television embodiment in the United States. In 1913, British writer Sax Rohmer (pseudonym of Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, 1883–1959) published The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu in London, which was published as The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu in New York in the same year and later was adapted into a film by Rowland V. Lee and released by Paramount Pictures in 1929. From 1913 to 1959, Rohmer continued to publish novels and novellas that featured the villainous doctor. These works won Rohmer prestige both in Britain and abroad and introduced the vicious and mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu to a broad readership. A number of his works were adapted into films from the 1920s to the 1960s. In 1956, a television series based on the character of Fu Manchu was created. Through these literary and media
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incarnations, Fu Manchu became a popular Asian character who embodies evilness. Charlie Chan was the main character in American writer Earl Derr Biggers’s (1884–1933) mystery novel series published between 1925 and 1933, beginning with The House without a Key (1925). Charlie Chan attracted much attention from general readers and audiences as a result of Biggers’s works as well as many film, television, and comic series based on his writing between the 1930s and 1940s. Perceived as a contravention of Fu Manchu, the detective Charlie Chan symbolizes the tamed and desexualized Asian man who has been assimilated. Edward Said’s groundbreaking work Orientalism (1979) questions the demarcation between the Orient and the Occident as discursive constructions. According to Said, the concepts of Orient and Orientalism are social constructs invented, standardized, and reiterated by the European and American ideology. The characters of Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan, both creations of the Occident, reflect Orientalism in American popular culture and films in the 20th century. Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan respectively represent the two major stereotypes of Asian men in British and American imagination: on the one hand, the notorious villain who endangers Euro-American society and embodies evil spirit and actions; and on the other hand, the docile, emasculated detective who has been domesticated to serve the mainstream. —Lan Dong See also: Pan Asian Americans: Orientalism and Folklore.
Further Reading Chen, Tina. “Dissecting the ‘Devil Doctor’: Stereotypes and Sensationalism in Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu.” In Josephine Lee, Imogene Lim, and Yuko Matsukawa, eds. Re/Collecting Early Asian America: Essays in Cultural History. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. Cohen, Michael. “The Detective as Other: The Detective versus the Other.” In Kathleen Gregory Klein, ed. Diversity and Detective Fiction. Bowling Green, OH: Popular, 1999. Lahusen, Thomas. “Dr. Fu Manchu in Harbin: Cinema and Moviegoer of the 1930s.” The South Atlantic Quarterly 99(1) (2000): 143–61. Rzepka, Charles J. “Race, Region, Rule: Genre and the Case of Charlie Chan.” PMLA 122 (5) (2007): 1463–81.
Guandi The Chinese god Guandi, also known as Guangong or Guan Yu, is popularly venerated as a patron of literature, wealth, and business throughout China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and in the Chinese diaspora, although his history is also linked to
Chinese Americans: Guandi
war. Chinese immigrants, since the 1800s, have brought with them the veneration of Guandi to the United States. Today, the legend of Guandi is part of new multimedia video games and comics, which allows many American-born, second- and subsequent-generation Chinese Americans to know about him. For example, a majority of Chinese-owned businesses have a Guandi altar in the front of their shops to promote a flourishing business.
Guandi’s Tale and Its Source Prior to Guandi’s deification, he was a historical figure named Yunchang, who lived from 162–220 CE. The legendary account of his life and apotheosis is given in the Sanguo zhi (History of the Three Kingdoms), and in the novel Sanguo zhi tongsu yanyi (The Romance of the Three Kingdoms). The novel is about events and heroes at the end of the Han dynasty when central control was weak and military and civil leaders jockeyed for power. Guandi was born in Shansi province and lived during a period of chaos, of shifting allegiances and of military unrest when the country was temporarily separated into Three Kingdoms, each headed by a self-styled emperor. Guandi’s story starts in 184 CE, when prefects and governors throughout China called for volunteers to fight against the Yellow Turbans. The Yellow Turbans, who believed in the imminent beginning of the new world in 184 CE gathered in a massive rebellion of 360,000 that engulfed the entire country except for the southwestern province of Sichuan. They believed that the “blue heaven” of the Han was dead and the “yellow heaven” of Great Peace was at hand, and they shook the Han dynasty to its foundations. Symbolizing this color change, they donned yellow kerchiefs, which gave them their name. Three men—Guan Yu, Liu Bei, and Zhang Fei—happened to meet and discovered that they were united in a common purpose; consequently they decided to become blood brothers and pledged their loyalties to one another. From the very first moment, Guan Yu commanded respect and was seen to personify integrity—even though he was an outlaw. He had killed a local official and the official’s uncle on behalf of his neighbor’s daughter, who was distressed because she was about to be taken in as their concubine. Guan Yu had to flee after the murder, and his only way out was through the Tongguan mountain pass. Fearing he would be recognized, he stopped by a mountain stream and washed his face; there he noticed that his face had turned red due to the mineral deposits in the water. From this tale comes Guandi’s characteristic iconography of a red face. When in 189 CE the reigning emperor died without leaving a direct heir, a succession of warlords ascended the throne and proclaimed themselves emperor. The last of these was Cao Cao, the most efficient and ruthless of them all. In one year he rose from being a minister without a base or an army to being a general with both. Cao Cao succeeded in getting 300,000 Yellow Turbans to surrender to him,
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after which he organized a disciplined army and became a power to be reckoned with, establishing the Kingdom of Wei in central China. Since Guan Yu had proven himself at arms time and again with his sword “Black Dragon” and his horse “Red Hare,” his skills were wanted by Cao Cao. Eventually, Cao Cao captured Guan Yu, who agreed to submit on three conditions, the most important of which was that he be able to rejoin Liu Bei if he heard news that his blood brother was still alive. The conditions were accepted, but Cao Cao attempted to compromise Guan Yu in a hundred little ways. He allocated Guan Yu the same quarters as Liu Bei’s wife and concubines, who had also been captured, but Guan Yu deflected this trap by standing outside their door the entire night holding a candle. Cao Cao promoted Guan Yu to the rank of general, and presented him with many beautiful serving girls and presents of gold and silk. Cao Cao’s efforts to compromise Guan Yu were unavailing. When news of Liu Bei reached Guan Yu, he left everything he had been given by Cao and, taking his sisters-in-law and his own body of personal guards, forced his way through six mountain passes. Key to Guan Yu’s character is that throughout this entire episode with Cao, he showed such a fine appreciation of his duties that even Cao could not feel he had been deserted. In fact, it was Cao who, upon receiving Guan Yu’s head, ordered a wooden body to be fashioned to fit the head and full military honors to be accorded him in burial. Guandi is worshipped not for his might but because he is the embodiment of “right action,” of integrity, bravery, righteousness, and loyalty, all key Confucian traits. He functions as a protector from all forms of evil. Guandi’s story is one of the most illustrious examples of a historical man’s deification. Guandi’s cult was co-opted by the state; he received numerous promotions in rank and title starting in 1102, when the Song Emperor Huizong adopted him and promoted him to duke in the official religion. In 1128, Emperor Gaozong promoted him to prince, and in 1594 Ming Emperor Shenzong, finally granted him title of di, “god” in his eight-character title of Xietian huguo zhongyi dadi (“The Loyal and Grand God Who Assists Heaven and Protects the State”). In 1813, Emperor Renzong promoted him to military emperor for personally preventing his assassination. After the Taiping Rebellion had been successfully stamped out in1864, the Qing dynasty added the title of fuzi (“teacher”), thus elevating Guandi to the rank equal to that of Confucius. Guandi’s deification began forty years after his death and reached its culmination nearly 1,400 years later. Today Guandi’s martial aspects survive in the use of his image in promoting social stability and corporation. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Chinatown Opera Theaters; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion.
Chinese Americans: Ha Jin (1956–)
Further Reading Adler, Joseph. Chinese Religions. London: Routledge, 2002. Lee, Jonathan H. X. Auburn’s Joss House: Preserving the Past for the Future (The Auburn Chinese Ling Ying Association House). Auburn: Published by the Auburn Joss House Museum and Chinese History Center, 2004.
Ha Jin (1956–) Ha Jin is the pen name of the contemporary Chinese writer Xuefei Jin, who has had a prolific and successful career in the United States as a poet, short story writer, and novelist. His fiction has won the Hemmingway/PEN, Flannery O’Connor, Townsend, and Asian American Literary Awards, as well as three Pushcart Prizes. Waiting (1999), his most commercially successful novel, a bittersweet love story about a doctor who waits 18 years to marry, garnered both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the National Book Award for Fiction. Jin was born on February 21, 1956, in the city of Jinzhou in Liaoning province to Danlin Jin, an officer of the People’s Liberation Army, and Yuanfen Zhao. He was nine years old when the Cultural Revolution began, and his family, like many in China, suffered at the hands of the Red Guard. While his father’s position afforded the family some protection, Jin’s experiences during the formative years of his childhood and adolescence made strong impressions on him. Jin revisits these memories in his writing. Much of his work takes place during the unstable and turbulent period in Chinese history between 1960 and 1990. In the preface to his first collection of poems, Between Silences: A Voice from China (1990), Jin writes that he not only describes events of the Cultural Revolution but “speak[s] for those unfortunate people who suffered, endured or perished at the bottom of life and who created the history and at the same time were fooled or ruined by it.” Jin delves into folk experiences and the memories of common people to recover the voices and lives sacrificed to Maoist China. His writing shows the disruptive changes to everyday life in villages and towns, and the struggle to live within the oppressive confines of party ideology. Recently, Jin has turned to narrating the experiences of exiles and immigrants in the United States. A Free Life (2007) covers 10 years in the life of Nan Wu, a Chinese graduate student who decides to stay in the United States. Wu’s experiences echo the author’s. Like Wu, Jin held menial jobs during his graduate studies and chose to forgo a privileged position in China to start anew in the United States. In his fiction, Jin probes the perils and promises of the American life that the title of this novel suggests. A Free Life signals Jin’s transition from being a Chinese
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writer in exile to a Chinese American writer, though Jin has couched earlier explorations of the immigrant experience within responses to Maoist China. An immigrant writing in his adopted language of English, Jin locates himself within the literary tradition set up by Joseph Conrad and Vladimir Nabokov. Jin decided to write exclusively in English after moving to the United States. He had taught himself English by listening to the radio as a young adult in China and studied English literature at two Chinese universities, though the transition was nonetheless excruciating for him, “[I]t was like having a blood transfusion, like you were changing your blood.” Reviewers praise his spare and evocative prose. Jin writes about the challenges and advantages of being a nonnative speaker in a collection of nonfiction essays. —Heather R. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Shan, Te-tsing. “In the Ocean of Words: An Interview with Ha Jin.” Tamkang Review 38(2) (2008): 135–57. Smith, Wendy. “Coming to America.” Publishers Weekly, September 17, 2007: 29–30. Zhou, Xiaojing. “Writing Otherwise Than as a ‘Native Informant’: Ha Jin’s Poetry.” In Shirley Lim, John Blair Gamber, Stephen Hong Sohn, and Gina Valentino, eds. Transnational Asian American Literature: Sites and Transits. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006.
Heroes and Heroines Chinese immigration to the United States began in the early 1840s. Over the years, many notable Chinese Americans have become legends in the landscape of Chinese American heroes and heroines. They include writers (Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, David Henry Hwang), musicians (Yo-Yo Ma), scholars (Him Mark Lai), scientists (12th United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu), athletes (Michelle Kwan), Hollywood celebrities (Bruce Lee, Lucy Liu), and historical figures (Chinese gold miners). The stories of Chinese American heroes and heroines are important for Chinese American youth because they serve as role models of personal courage; perseverance; resourcefulness; optimism, and a belief in oneself, in particular, a belief that being Chinese and American is normal. Chinese deities Guandi, Guanyin, and Tianhou/Mazu are examples of mythological heroes and heroines whose morals and ethics have inspired generations of Chinese people. The legendary tale of Fa Mu Lan (Hua Mulan) is also popular, especially among Chinese American girls who find inspiration in her courage and devotion to her family, in particular to her father.
Chinese Americans: Home Decoration
Some people become heroes posthumously, like Vincent Chin (1955–1982). Chin was brutally murdered in June 1982 in Detroit by two white men, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, who mistook him for a Japanese. Ebens and Nitz blamed him for the competition that resulted in them losing their jobs in the auto industry. The violent killing of Chin motivated many Chinese Americans to become politically active, especially in the area of civil rights. Today, Evan Low is a rising Chinese American hero. In 2006, he was elected to the Campbell, California, City Council. In 2009, at the age of 23, Low made national headlines and history when he became the first Chinese American, openly gay mayor of Campbell, a suburban community of 40,000 residents in the heart of Silicon Valley. Low attended De Anza Community College and received an associate’s degree in liberal arts, then transferred to San Jose State University and received a bachelor of arts degree in political science. From there, he went on to the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and graduated from the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program. Even though Low received hate mail regarding his sexuality and ethnic background during the campaign, he did not consider his sexual identity as his biggest obstacle to winning, but rather his age. His hate mail included comments such as “We don’t want gays in our communities” or “We want American interests, not Chinese interests.” According to Low, these comments were puzzling because he is a fifth-generation Californian, which makes him more native to this country and state than many of his fellow council members. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Fa Mu Lan; Guandi; Tianhou/Mazu.
Web Site Chinese American Heroes: http://www.chineseamericanheroes.org/.
Home Decoration With more than 150 years of history in the United States, and new Chinese immigrants still arriving, the category “Chinese American” embodies a wide range of life experiences, socioeconomic positions, religious, spiritual, or ideological inclinations, and self-identities among other aspects of human existence. In terms of how Chinese Americans decorate their homes, the most important factors are individual preferences and sense of aesthetics, and whether one chooses to express his or her Chinese American identity through culture-specific interior designs and decorations. Chinese American homes designed with no trace of Chinese cultural influences are just as commonplace as ones that strictly follow Chinese feng shui
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rules and are decorated with Chinese cultural items and icons. Most Chinese American homes are somewhere between the two extremes. Chinese feng shui, or geomancy, is a system of knowledge that aims to ensure that a place of residence, work, or burial is most beneficial for the people who occupy it. Depending on the style or school of feng shui, meticulous astrological measurements and calculations are often done by a feng shui professional. A home that follows proper feng shui rules should bring emotional stability, financial and interpersonal prosperity, and good health to its residents. Specific arrangements of the interior space, structural alterations, and precise placements of assigned objects are almost always necessary to make a home feng shui-appropriate. Many Chinese American households do not find it necessary to hire a feng shui professional, but simple tips for placement of furniture are often followed. In terms of interior arrangements of a home, kitchen, bathroom(s), and the altar for ancestral tablet and deities (if there is one) generally receive the most attention. Households that celebrate their Chinese heritage display decorations with favorable meanings, most popularly traditional scrolls of Chinese paintings and calligraphies. The paintings have positive themes such as prosperity, beauty, and tranquility. Calligraphies are often of auspicious poems or meaningful quotes from classical texts, and in some Christian Chinese households, Bible quotes. Traditional Chinese-style vases and statues are also common decoration items. Since most Chinese festivities include lavish feasts, Chinese American homes often have a large dining table for social gatherings around food. Some homes have a large round table with horizontal rotating tray on top for more convenient sharing of food dishes. Mahjong, a popular Chinese block game, is often played during festive occasions if not on regular days as well. Households that frequently host this four-player game often have a special square table for it, and sometimes even a designated room. For Lunar New Year, Chinese homes traditionally have new red-colored banners by the sides and/or on top of the front door. The side banners are two propitious phrases that rhyme and match in tones and meanings, while the top banner usually consists of a short phrase or even a single character that signifies the coming of spring or desire for more wealth and fortune. These banners are rarely seen in Chinese American houses in the suburbs, but are still popular in the Chinatowns. —Emily S. Wu See also: Chinese Americans: Feng Shui/Geomancy.
Further Reading Too, Lillian. Lillian Too’s 365 Feng Shui Tips: A Tip a Day to Get You Auspiciously through the Year. Kuala Lumpur: Konsep Books, 2004.
Chinese Americans: Hong Fook Tong
Hong Fook Tong Hong Fook Tong, also called Tong Hook Tong or Hong Took Tong, is the first legitimate Chinese theatrical troupe to stage full-scale Chinese opera performances— Cantonese opera, in particular—in the United States. The troupe, from the Guangdong province in China, arrived at San Francisco in 1952 and premiered at the American Theater on Sansome Street on October 18. The occasion also marked the first time that Liu Guo Da Feng Xiang (The Joint Investiture of a Prime Minister by Six Warlords), a folkloric ritual opera played as pre-opening show for any significant, festive occasions, was staged in the United States. The opera, featuring a large cast and displaying elaborate acrobatic acts, would be performed hundreds of times before the century’s end. Its staging aims to ask for blessings from the deities and bring good luck to the theater, events, community, etc. It has become an important part of the performing tradition in the Chinese American community. The newspaper Alta California, which included many reports and advertisements of the troupe, noted that it consisted of 123 performers, including singers, musicians, and stagehands, as well as extraordinarily elaborate folk costumes. Merchants in Guangzhou City reportedly paid £2,000 (one Chinese yuan was equivalent to $288 USD in 1952) for the expenses of the troupe. On December 23, 1952, the troupe moved to a theater of its own construction on Dupont Street, the New Chinese Theater, and performed there until the following March, giving two daily performances— 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., seven days a week. It was very popular among both Chinese and other Americans. In March, the troupe sold its theater and was contracted by American impresarios to perform in New York City. A reduced group of performers went on the steamship Corter, bound via Panama for New York. Yet upon arrival in New York City, the troupe found the sponsors had backed out and itself in deep debt for the passage, the beginning of a series of disasters. Though the troupe was soon booked to perform at Niblo’s Garden on May 20, the ticket price was as low as fifty cents. Their performances proved too alien for the New York audiences, who were more accustomed to the highly Westernized staging of Chinese music theater, and the show folded after only a week. Critics praised the acrobatic movements, fighting scenes, and gorgeous costumes, but they made little attempt to understand the art and were dismissive about the performance, music, and singing. Though another performance was staged at the Castle Garden on July 4, the troupe was not successful and was again cheated by the impresario. The troupe dissolved quickly, and the performers had to rely on charity to leave New York. Though the troupe flopped disastrously at the end, it nevertheless constitutes the beginning of professional Chinese opera troupes in the US. Through
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these opera performances, much Chinese folklore was presented onstage, and over the years became part of the community’s identity. —Nancy Yunhwa Rao See also: Chinese Americans: Chinatown Opera Theaters.
Further Reading Lei, Daphne P. Operatic China: Staging Chinese Identity across the Pacific. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Moon, Krystyn R. Yellowface: Creating the Chinese in American Popular Music and Performance, 1850s–1920s. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005. Riddle, Ronald. Flying Dragons, Flowing Streams: Music in the Life of San Francisco’s Chinese. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983. Rodecape, Lois. “Celestial Drama in the Golden Hills: The Chinese Theater in California, 1849–1869.” California Historical Society Quarterly 23(2) (June 1944): 97–116. Wei Tchen, John Kuo. New York before Chinatown: Orientalism and the Shaping of American Culture, 1776–1882. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.
Identity Although contemporary Chinese Americans are predominantly first-generation immigrants, approximately 25 percent are U.S.-born or U.S.-raised children of immigrant parents. The majority of them have grown up in two-parent nuclear families, with only a small number raised in extended families or transnational families. Exposed to two different, sometimes even conflicting, cultures, these Chinese Americans are torn between being Chinese and being American. Chinese immigrant families play an important role in socializing the younger generation into Chinese values, moral norms, and social customs. In these households, immigrant parents expect their children to behave in accordance with Confucian philosophy, which emphasizes filial piety, discipline, and hard work. Many Chinese immigrants attach great importance to children’s educational and occupational achievements, and expect them to move up socioeconomically through persistent efforts, with the hope that their next generation will bring honor to the family and take care of them in old age. Failure to live up to the cultural expectations is attributed to individual reasons, such as laziness, a lack of selfdiscipline, and being excessively Americanized or Westernized. Chinese ethnic communities with a variety of social and cultural institutions have also shaped young Chinese Americans’ knowledge of the Chinese language, traditional customs, and social etiquettes. These communities provide them opportunities to interact with other people of Chinese ancestry, get involved in a Chinese-speaking environment, have access to ethnic food and music, and engage in festive celebrations
Chinese Americans: Identity
and religious activities. In many ethnic neighborhoods, Chinese-language schools or programs have been established to serve as a socializing agent that teaches Chinese Americans their linguistic and cultural heritage. In Chinese-concentrated suburban cities outside historical immigrant gateway cities such as New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, children of upper-middle or middle-class immigrant parents can participate in tutoring and extracurricular programs organized and sponsored by Chinese American enterprises and private businesses. Despite the various institutional forces that raise the ethnic consciousness of Chinese Americans, there are also a myriad of venues by which they are oriented toward the host culture in the United States. One is through formal schooling and informal connections formed with their peers. Many Chinese American children go to school side-by-side with other racial and ethnic groups, especially non-Hispanic whites. Through interethnic interactions, these children acquire English-language proficiency, and learn culturally coded ways of living in the United States. For example, they have embraced individualism, and articulated a desire to express themselves and make their own choice, which deviates from the Confucian values their parents may hold that stress the importance of families and communities over individuals, and the necessary suppression of individual desires and sacrifices for the greater good of society. However, structural barriers also exist in U.S. society that prevent U.S.-born or U.S.-raised Chinese Americans from assimilating fully into the mainstream culture. The stereotypical representation of Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans as a model minority artificially enlarges racial differences between social groups, heightens people’s consciousness of race-based divisions, and provokes the resentment of other racial minority groups against Asian Americans. When Chinese American children reach adolescence, their peers from a different racial group, who previously accepted them, may reject them and exclude them from their groups. As Chinese Americans start to seek employment, they feel the full force of institutional racism, because many occupational opportunities that are open to non-Hispanic whites may be blocked for them. With multiple institutional forces that operate simultaneously to pull in or push out the younger generation of Chinese Americans, they find themselves in the ongoing process of defining who they are as they interact with other people inside and outside Chinese ethnic groups. As a result, they have developed a continuum of identities, ranging from a complete identification with mainstream EuroAmerica to an adherence to the panethnic Asian identity. This process of selfdefinition is full of conflicts and reconciliations. Navigating two different worlds, Chinese American children and youths have already noted that there is a cultural gap between themselves and their immigrant parents, which has translated into intergenerational conflicts and arguments over some issues, such as consumption behavior, dating, and education. Some of the children and youths choose to withdraw from school or alienate themselves from ethnic networks to rebel against
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their parents. Ethnic resources are essential for reducing the pain they feel of intergenerational tensions. For instance, tutoring programs available in Chinese ethnic communities can create an environment where Chinese American children relate to each other, engage in ethnic activities, and talk about each other’s problem. —Xiaoxin Zeng
Further Reading Tong, Benson. The Chinese Americans. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2003. Tung, May Pao-may. Chinese Americans and Their Immigrant Parents: Conflict, Identity, and Values. Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Press, 2000. Zhou, Min. Contemporary Chinese America: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transformation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.
Kingston, Maxine Hong (1940–) Maxine Hong Kingston is one of the most influential Asian American writers. Born of Chinese descent on October 27, 1940, she is well known for writing about the Chinese American experience through the vehicles of Chinese folklore and family history. Her prominent awards include the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction for The Woman Warrior and the National Book Award for Nonfiction for China Men. Her writing challenges the boundary between imagination and reality, seamlessly blending folklore, history, and biography. Traditional stories are often adopted as a source of empowerment in Kingston’s books. She is also active in promoting peace, which has become a major theme for her later books. The Woman Warrior, which has engendered much debate on cultural authenticity among Asian American writers, is a mixture of stories of women in Kingston’s family and Kingston’s Author Maxine Hong Kingston sits in her own version of Chinese folklore. She meditation room at home in Oakland, coined the word “talk-story” to describe California, 2001. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Chinese Americans: Kingston, Maxine Hong (1940–)
her mother’s storytelling, a significant influence as she was growing up. In her writing, Chinese lore and American reality are fused, and retelling family history and Chinese folklore in her own words becomes a way to build her identity and to find her voice. The book’s title story, based on the folk legend of the woman warrior Fa Mu Lan, is retold as a woman’s liberation story. China Men (1980) is composed of stories of male members of Kingston’s family, retelling traditional Chinese stories with metaphorical twists within the book’s context of immigration. Male characters in the book are silent, losing their voice as they are disenfranchised. Kingston is clearly the storyteller, imagining and narrating her father and grandfathers’ stories. As in The Woman Warrior, folklore plays an important role in illustrating the condition of her family as immigrants to the United States, as well as their effort to gain their voice. Kingston’s first fiction work, Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book (1989), relates the adventures of Chinese American college graduate Wittman Ah Sing in the San Francisco area during the 1960s, seeking to produce a stage show of his own. One backdrop story of the novel is the Chinese myth of the Monkey King, with whom Wittman identifies. The book is profuse with allusions to American pop culture, western literature, and Chinese tradition, and it is from a mixture of all these elements that Wittman produces his own show in the end. The Fifth Book of Peace (2003) again challenges the categorical line between fiction and nonfiction. The four parts, “Fire,” “Paper,” “Water,” and “Earth,” combining fictional and nonfictional narrative, in turn lead the narrator to the writing of her own Book of Peace, the idea of which is based on the Three Lost Books of Peace in China, a myth she has created herself. History, folklore, biography, and myth are all utilized to create Kingston’s own language of peace. Avalokitesvara (Kuan Yin, or Bodhisattva of Compassionate Listening,), who functions as the narrator in Tripmaster Monkey and Kingston’s The Fourth Book of Peace, here is a spiritual power that Kingston, as a writer on peace, frequently invokes. The story of Fa Mu Lan is again rewritten here, from a war story to a homecoming story, a story for peace. Kingston’s creative use of traditional lore has generally been well received and appreciated by readers and critics, with some exceptions, such as Asian American writer Frank Chin and critic Sheng-mei Ma. —Hongmei Sun See also: Chinese Americans: Fa Mu Lan; Identity; Literature and Folklore; The Monkey King (Sun Wukong); Narrative Folktale.
Further Reading Chin, Frank. “Come All Ye Asian American Writers of the Real and the Fake.” In The Big Aiiieeeee! New York: Meridian, 1991, 1–92.
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Lee, Bruce (1940–1973) Bruce Lee was born in Chinatown, San Francisco, on November 27, 1940. His father was one of the leading Cantonese opera actors at the time and on a U.S. tour when Lee was born. As an infant, Lee appeared in his first U.S. film, Golden Gate Girl (1941). At the age of three months, his family moved back to Hong Kong, where Lee was frequently cast in films as a juvenile delinquent. Because of gang involvement, Lee received training in Wing Chun. He eventually won the 1957 High School Boxing Championship, as well as the 1958 Hong Kong Cha-Cha Championship. At 18, Lee was sent to live in the United States. He finished high school in Seattle and studied philosophy and drama at the University of Washington. In 1959, Lee opened his first martial arts school, and in 1964, he relocated to Oakland, cofounding a second school. This is when he developed his own technique called Jeet Kune Do, or “Way of the Intercepting First”—a blend of kung fu and philosophy—which he began teaching instead of traditional martial arts. Lee attracted attention from Hollywood when he appeared in the International Karate Championships; he was soon cast as the sidekick Kato in the television series The Green Hornet (1966–67). After the show was cancelled, Lee pitched his own television series to Warner Bros. titled The Warrior, in which he would star as a Shaolin monk in the Wild West. However, because of studio fears that a Chinese leading man would not be embraced by the American public, Lee’s concept was retooled as Kung Fu, starring David Carradine. Frustrated by this experience, Lee moved back to Hong Kong in 1971. There he starred in two films that broke Asian box-office records with Fists of Fury [U.S.] and The Chinese Connection [U.S.]. Lee used this success to form his own production company, and he coproduced, directed, wrote, and starred in his next film, Return of the Dragon [U.S.]. Lee’s following film, Enter the Dragon (1973), was the first joint venture between Hong Kong- and U.S.-based production companies, and it became an international hit. Tragically, he died six days before the film’s release on July 20, 1973. Though the mysterious circumstances of his death have long been debated, the official cause was listed as swelling of the brain caused by an allergic reaction to a headache medication. At the time, Lee had been working on a film called Game of Death, which was pieced together and released in 1978.
Chinese Americans: Lin, Maya Ying (1959–)
After Lee’s death, his films gained a large cult following, and he became a global pop culture icon. Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. A fictionalized biopic, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, appeared in 1993. On November 26, 2005, the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina honored Lee with a statue as a symbol of peace. The following day, Lee was remembered in Hong Kong with a bronze statue to mark his 65th birthday. —Terry K. Park See also: Chinese Americans: Chinese Martial Arts.
Further Reading Chan, Jachinson. “Bruce Lee: A Sexualized Object of Desire.” Chinese American Masculinities: From Fu Manchu to Bruce Lee. New York: Routledge, 2001. Nguyen, Mimi Thi. “Bruce Lee I Love You: Discourses of Race and Masculinity in the Queer Superstardom of JJ Chinois.” Alien Encounters: Popular Culture in Asian America. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007. Prashad, Vijay. “Kung Fusion: Organize the ’Hood Under I-Ching Banners.” In Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity. Boston: Beach Press, 2002.
Lin, Maya Ying (1959–) Maya Ying Lin is a Chinese American architect and artist who is most noted for winning the design contest for the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC., as a 21-year-old Yale undergraduate student. While Lin’s success might be held up as evidence of Asian “model minority” achievement, the protests that arose against the choosing of a woman of Asian descent to design the Vietnam memorial uniquely highlight the limitations of the model minority theory. Maya Lin was born on October 5, 1959, in Athens, Ohio, the daughter of Chinese artists who fled Shanghai, China. Her parents were Ohio State humanity professors, and Maya and her brother grew up in this academic milieu. Lin’s upbringing was sheltered; she was not aware of the 1960s civil rights movement that was engulfing the country during her childhood. Consequently, she did not understand the ramifications of an Asian American winning a design contest for a war located in Asia. The design contest was open only to U.S. citizens and drew 1,421 applicants, including famous artists and architects. Lin serendipitously decided to submit her undergraduate architecture class’s final project as an entry for the contest. Lin entered the blind contest to design a memorial that was to honor the more than 58,000 Americans who died fighting in Southeast Asia. Her simple one-story black v-shaped design listed the names
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of soldiers who died in chronological order and was selected as the design winner. Maya Lin could not predict that her design would catapult her into a national debate among politicians, activists, veterans, art critics, and reporters. A small, politically connected veteran’s group spearheaded a movement to select another design for the monument. This group argued that the black design of the memorial connoted disrespect for the Vietnam veterans. Additionally, her Asian American background became conflated with Vietnam and many objected to her design on those grounds, calling her “gook.” However, many civilians and veterans supported her design. Eventually a compromise was made by adding a large bronze statue of three soldiers and a flag to the monument. Today, Lin’s Vietnam monument is emulated in many cities and dramatically affects visitors, often beginning a healing process for Vietnam veterans. Maya Lin’s subsequent accomplishments include the 1989 civil rights monument commemorating the 1955–1956 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. In 1989, Lin designed two landscape commissions for a Peace Chapel at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and a topiary design for a Charlotte, North Carolina, Coliseum. In 1990, she designed a memorial to honor the presence of women at Yale University. She also designed a sculpture for the Glietsman Foundation in Malibu, California, that honors people who fight for social change. She was also elected to be an Alumni Fellow of the Yale Corporation. In 2000, Lin was the architect for the Confluence project, an outdoor installation in Washington State. A 2000 documentary based on her life and career, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, won an Academy award. —Jenny Banh
Further Reading Lashnits, Tom. Maya Lin. Asian Americans of Achievement. New York: Chelsea House Publications, 2007. Lin, Maya Y. Boundaries. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Lin, Maya Y. Topologies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998. Mock, Freida Lee, director. Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision. 2000. DVD.
Literature and Folklore Once upon a time, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a group of young Chinese American writers searching for their literary ancestors—Asian American writers who had come before them, writing in English about the experience of being Asian in America, and who had left a legacy in print. Unable to locate this legacy with the help of English professors who knew nothing about it, these writers first found each other, then began to search through used bookstores for everything they could find.
Chinese Americans: Literature and Folklore
The folklore of the group that came to be known as the Aiiieeeee! Boys— after their seminal anthology of Asian American literature, Aiiieeeee! (1974)—mirrors that of Chinese heroic folklores such as the Water Margin and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in particular the Oath of the Peach Garden. Led by the larger-than-life playwright, novelist, and critic Frank Chin (who some have likened to the redfaced Chinese god of war and literature, Guan Gung), Chinese American novelists Shawn Wong (Homebase, 1979), and Jeffrey Paul Chan (Eat Everything Before You Die, 2004), working with Japanese American poet Lawson Inada, brought to light the English-Chinese Phrasebook, written by Wong Sam and Associates (distributed as a survival manual during the time of the gold rush Shawn Wong, the author of Homebase and American Knees, co-editor of Aiiieeeee! and by Wells Fargo), and Louis Chu’s Eat a The Big Aiiieeeee!, and one of the founders of Bowl of Tea (1961). They also validated Asian American literature and literary studies. Eurasian writers Edith Maude Eaton (Mary Randlett) (a.k.a. Sui Sin Far, 1865–1914)—who is credited with coining the term “Chinese American,” Han Suyin (A ManySplendoured Thing, 1952), and Diana Chang (Frontiers of Love, 1956). Along the way, they also critiqued those whose writing had previously provided what little was known of Chinese America, such as those Chin excoriates as Christian confessionalist autobiographers: Pardee Lowe (Father and Glorious Descendent, 1943), Jade Snow Wong (Fifth Chinese Daughter, 1945), and novelist C. Y Lee (Flower Drum Song, 1957—later made into a popular musical, a movie, and recently remade into theater by playwright David Henry Hwang). The folklore of Chinese American literature centers on what is seen as a genderbased battle royal between Frank Chin and The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts (1975) author Maxine Hong Kingston, each with their seconds (respectively, Shawn Wong and Jeff Chan; Shirley Geok-lin Lim and Elaine Kim). This gender divide lasted over a decade (from the early ’80s to late ’90s), and deeply colored Asian American literary scholarship. It might even have shaped some of the creative writing produced by Chinese Americans during this time, including, for example, Kingston’s second memoir, China Men (1980), and
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her first novel Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book (1989), which has been interpreted as finely capturing the legend of Frank Chin. Chinese American literature in its early years was often centered on life in Chinatown and generational conflicts between foreign-born parents and American-born children (otherwise known as ABCs, or American-born Chinese, which is also the title of Gene Yang’s 2006 graphic novel). Such works, in addition to those mentioned above, include Laurence Yep’s young adult novel Child of the Owl (1990), Frank Chin’s Donald Duk (1991) (and his 1972 play “Chickencoop Chinaman”), FaeMynne Ng’s Bone (1996), and even the much-disputed Amy Tan novel The Joy Luck Club (1989). The newly developing folkways of practitioners of Chinese American literature move outside the confines of these earlier paradigms, including the development of genre fictions such as romance (Kim Wong Keltner’s Buddha Baby, 2005 and The Dim Sum of All Things, 2004); science fiction and fantasy (Laurence Yep’s Dragon series, S. P. Somtow’s Starship and Haiku, 1981, and William F. Wu’s Robot City and Robots in Time series); comic books and graphic novels (Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese, 2008, Lela Lee’s Angry Little Girls series, Keith Chow’s Secret Identities anthology, 2009); and detective fiction (Ed Lin’s Robert Chow series, Henry Chang’s Chinatown Beat, 2007). Even as the folklore of the Chinese American literary gender-wars fades, other Chinese American writers are exploring mixed race identity (Sigrid Nunez’s A Feather on the Breath of God, 1994; Gish Jen’s Who’s Irish?, 2000; Kip Fulbeck’s Paper Bullets, 2001; Patricia Caho’s Mambo Peligroso, 2006; May-Lee Chai’s Hapa Girl, 2008; and Shawna Yang Ryan’s Water Ghosts, 2009), and Asian American panethnicity (Shawn Wong’s American Knees, 1996). —Wei Ming Dariotis See also: Chinese Americans: Fa Mu Lan; Folklore in Children’s Literature; Kingston, Maxine Hong (1940–); The Monkey King (Sun Wukong); Narrative Folktale.
Further Reading Chang, Joan Chiung-Heui. Transforming Chinese American Literature: A Study of History, Sexuality, and Ethnicity. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 2000. Ling, Amy. Between Worlds: Women Writers of Chinese Ancestry. New York: Teachers College Press, 1990. Yin, Xiao-huang. Chinese American Literature since the 1850s. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006.
M. Butterfly M. Butterfly is David Henry Hwang’s 1988 Tony Award-winning play satirizing Puccini’s popular 1904 Western opera, Madama Butterfly, by addressing issues
Chinese Americans: M. Butterfly
of orientalism, imperialism, and racism. Additionally, the play deliberately lampoons the real-life espionage case in which a French diplomat, Bernard Boursicot, finds out that his longtime lover, Shi Pei Pu, a “female” Chinese opera singer lover, is actually a man. Act one opens in the present time in a Paris prison cell, where Rene Gallimard recalls the time in the 1960s where he worked in the Beijing embassy. Gallimard reminiscences on the plot of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which centers on the clandestine relationship between an unattractive, dim-witted American soldier, B. F. Pinkerton, and a 15-year-old Japanese girl, Cio Cio San (Butterfly). Pinkerton, stationed in Japan, buys Butterfly for 60 cents and tells his comrade that “Oriental girls like to be treated poorly.” Gallimard laments Pinkerton’s treatment of Butterfly, whom the soldier leaves to marry an American woman. Upon hearing the news that Pinkerton has remarried, Butterfly commits suicide. Gallimard recounts this story to the Chinese opera singer Song Liling, who plays Butterfly in the opera, telling Song that he likes the opera for its tragedy. Song scoffs at him and says the opera is one of the West’s favorite fantasies of a submissive Oriental woman and a cruel white man. Song asks what if the roles were reversed, if it was a story of a blonde homecoming queen who falls in love with a short and callous Japanese businessman who marries her and then leaves her to go back to Japan? If this homecoming queen then killed herself upon hearing that the Japanese businessman had remarried, would not, Song asks Gallimard, people view this woman as a deranged idiot. Yet, when an “Oriental” kills herself for a Westerner, it is “poetic.” A physical love affair ensues between Gallimard and Song, who, unknown to Gallimard, is really a man and a Chinese spy sent to gather information about French activities in Vietnam. Gallimard, oblivious to Song’s male gender, passes many French secrets to Song over the years. He then returns to France and Song is sent to a Chinese reeducation camp for actors. Years later, Song goes to France to look for Gallimard to possibly gather more information. Gallimard divorces his wife, Helga, to reunite with Song. In France, both are eventually arrested for espionage. The final act, set in a courthouse in Paris in 1968, opens with Song being interrogated by the French judge, who asks how Gallimard could not know he was a man. Song states that Gallimard thought he was a woman because he, like the West, will never know anything about the East, including something basic like gender. To the West, the East is a place of fantasy. The de´nouement of the play is Gallimard dressing like Butterfly and committing suicide upon the realization that his perfect woman was actually just a fantasy. —Jenny Banh See also: Chinese Americans: Chinatown Opera Theaters.
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Further Reading Cronenberg, David, director. M. Butterfly. 1993. DVD. Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. New York: NAL Penguin Inc., 1989. Puccini, Giacomo. Madama Butterfly (opera). 1904. Wadler, Joyce. Liaison. New York: Penguin Putnam Publishers, 1993. Wadler, Joyce. Liaison. “The True Story of M. Butterfly; The Spy Who Fell in Love with a Shadow.” The New York Times, August 15, 1993.
The Monkey King (Sun Wukong) One of the most celebrated heroes in Asian American folklore, the Monkey King is known for such supernatural abilities as shape-shifting, cloud-traveling, and demon-fighting. The main character in the 16th-century Chinese classical novel Journey to the West, Sun Wukong is the monkey disciple of the monk Tripitaka, helping his master on the way to the “Western Heaven” (India) in search of sacred scripture. Born a nameless stone monkey, he has taken up multiple roles in his life, including the Handsome Monkey King, the Great Sage Equal of Heaven, Traveling Monk, and finally the Buddha Victorious in Strife. A trickster figure in the earlier stage of his life, challenging all possible boundaries and earning fame among demons, he later becomes a loyal follower of Tripitaka and a brave demon fighter. Thus he is rightly remembered both as a troublemaker and a character with multiple identities and conflicting selves. The Monkey King’s historical popularity in China has continued to the present and remained strong even as his stories being carried over to the United States. Ed Young’s graphic book Monkey King uses collage-style images to retell the episode of the Monkey King’s confrontation with Buddha, introducing to young readers the monkey’s stories as a Chinese cultural tradition. In many Chinese American narratives, however, the Monkey King’s stories take on new forms. Maxine Hong Kingston’s Tripmaster Monkey, for instance, uses the Monkey King as a trope to relate the story of a fifth-generation Chinese American, Wittman Ah Sing. Referring to himself as “the present-day U.S.A. incarnation of the King of the Monkeys” (Kingston, 1989, 33), Wittman resembles the Monkey King in multiple senses. Manifesting many personas in one, he struggles with integrating the Chinese culture and American culture that are both parts of his heritage. Often caught in contradictions between cultures in his life, or between his identities, Wittman presents himself as a troublemaker like the Monkey King, challenging limits that he finds confining. The narrative voice also constantly associates Wittman with the Monkey King. Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese adapts the Monkey King myth by emphasizing the notion of transformation. In this illustrated book, transformation is both
Chinese Americans: Mythological and Legendary Deities
a major theme and a feature of the book’s format. Not only are the three narrative lines of the book linked together through the concept of transformation, but the book’s three parts are also transformations of one another. The first part illustrates an Americanized Monkey King story, in which the simian hero is subjugated by a Judeo-Christian God Tze-yo-tzuh instead of Buddha. In doing so, the author creates an Asian American mythology that serves as a foundation upon which the protagonist Jin’s story is built. In another storyline, Jin practices transformation in giving up his Chinese tradition and embracing entirely the American culture, only to learn from the Monkey King himself that such self-abnegation can never give him real freedom. The image of the Monkey King is also invoked in the third narrative line of the book, which focuses on the racist representation of the Chinese as an ethnic minority in American society. Other examples of Chinese American creative works using the Monkey King theme are Fred Ho’s Monkey Orchestra and its music production Monkey: Part One and Monkey: Part Two, and stage productions such as Last of the Sun’s by Ma-yi Theater Company and Monkey King in America: Day Jobs, Opera Dreams by Chinese Theater Works. The myth of the Monkey King continues to be an enduring component of Asian American culture. As an icon of transformation representing mobility, hybridity, migration, and spiritual journey, he is more than just a hero who has mastered multiple magical techniques. Instead, he becomes a trope frequently adopted by Asian American writers in representing Asian American identity. —Hongmei Sun See also: Chinese Americans: Heroes and Heroines; Kingston, Maxine Hong (1940–).
Further Reading Kingston, Maxine Hong. Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book. New York: Knopf, 1989. Wu, Cheng’en. The Journey to the West. Translated by Anthony C. Yu. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977–1983. Yang, Gene Leun. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006. Young, Ed. Monkey King. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.
Mythological and Legendary Deities Mythology and legend are served as spiritual food to meet people’s spiritual needs. People are in need of mythology to reflect their ideologies and traditions. For Chinese Americans, mythology also represents the need to establish identity through becoming aware of Chinese culture. It also symbolizes humanity’s desire to comprehend abstract concepts such as life and death. That is why many mythologies
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answer similar questions about the origin of the universe, the origin of humankind, what occurs after death, and so forth. However, each culture has different answers to these questions, which enhances its cultural values and establishes a cultural identity. Unlike most American schoolchildren, who are mainly familiar with Greek and Norse mythologies, Chinese American children usually are also told of Chinese mythologies and legends at home. Chinese American parents, especially those who are interested in maintaining children’s ethnic heritage, often tell traditional stories and legends at bedtime. The most popular mythologies and legends include “The Four Dragons,” “Nu Wa Makes People and Mends a Nu Wa was mending the sky. Originally drawn Hole in the Sky,” “The Ten Suns,” in the 17th century by Xiao Yuncong. (Yang Lihui, Deming An, Jessica Anderson “Foolish Old Man,” “Monkey King,” Turner. Handbook of Chinese Mythology, and “Hua Mu Lan.” “The Four Drag2005) ons” tells about four dragons of different colors (the Long Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, the Black Dragon, and the Pearl Dragon) who defy the Jade Emperor to bring food and water to the Chinese people. When they are punished for their defiance, they become the four major rivers in China. “Nu Wa Makes People and Mends a Hole in the Sky” describes a Chinese goddess with a human head and body but a snake’s tail who creates the Chinese people with mud. After the sky is broken following the battle between the God of Fire and the God of Water, Nu Wa melts together various kinds of colored stones to patch up the sky. “The Ten Suns” is about heroic archer Hou Yi, who shoots and kills 9 of the 10 suns in the sky to save the Chinese people from fiery extinction. In “Foolish Old Man,” the title character gathers his family to level two mountains in front of his house. In response to a wise old man’s criticism, he insists on the possibility of removing mountains with the efforts of several generations. Moved by the foolish old man’s determination, the Jade Emperor moves the two mountains for him. This story’s lesson is about remaining firm and indomitable and not stopping until one reaches one’s goal. “Monkey King” tells the story of Sun Wu-kung, one of the major characters in the classic tale “Journey to the West.” He develops vast powers and knows the
Chinese Americans: Names and Name Giving
ways of 72 transformations. As a bodyguard for a holy monk traveling from China to the Western Heaven to receive scriptures from Buddha, he keeps watch over the monk for nearly the entire journey, becoming his disciple, along with Chu PaChieh, the Sha Monk, and the Dragon Horse. He faces many monsters, some of which were former allies from his own monstrous past. Finally the scriptures were recovered, and Sun Wu-Kung is made the Buddha of Victory through Strife. In “Hua Mulan,” the title character is a heroine who disguises herself as a man and takes her father’s place in an all-male army. Appointed as a general due to her intelligence, she leads her troops to victory after several years’ battle. Fa Mu Lan’s story was also filmed by Disney in 1998, which brought her name to a wider audience. —Hui Huang See also: Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Confucian Traditions; Domestic Religious Practices; The Monkey King (Sun Wukong); Religion; Taiwanese American Religious Temples; Taoism.
Further Reading Chamberlain, Jonathan. Chinese Gods: An Introduction to Chinese Folk Religion. Hong Kong: Blacksmith Books, 2009. Giddens, Sandra, and Owen Giddens. Chinese Mythology. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. 2006.
Names and Name Giving Throughout Chinese history, a person’s full name has taken the standard format of two to four characters. The first one (occasionally two) character(s) identifies the family or clan name(s), and the given name follows. Some clans assign a character to each generation, and the generational name follows the family name but precedes the given name. Therefore, a typical Chinese full name takes the form of: (family name) (generational name) (given name) or (family name) (given name). Although some parents and families name their children by choosing characters with favorable meanings or nice sounds, it is also common to consult an astrologer and choose characters that have components and number of strokes that are the most auspicious matches to each child’s astrological signs. In the Chinese American context, names are complicated, most profoundly but not exclusively, by historical recording errors that resulted from miscommunications during immigration, lack of standardized system of transliteration from Chinese to English, and the general European American convention of naming. Many early Chinese immigrants, who were predominantly laborers and merchants with no prior training in English or the American customs, had recorded
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Chinese Americans: Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant (Honolulu)
names that were random renderings by the customs officers, and frequently with their given names in place of their family names. Many Chinese American families descended from these early Chinese immigrants continued to use their ancestor’s erroneously assigned family name. Besides the random rendering, Chinese from various regions of the world use different conventions to transliterate Chinese names. Furthermore, the numerous Chinese dialects have different pronunciations for characters, resulting in various transliterations for each family name. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Chinese were legally and systemically discriminated against, some Chinese Americans also chose to change their family names into similar-sounding Anglo last names. Examples are Lewis or Louis for Chinese family names Lui/Lei, and Chandler for Chin by a pioneer family in St. Helena, California. Over the course of 150 years of their presence in the United States, Chinese Americans created unique naming strategies to accommodate the European American naming convention while celebrating their Chinese heritage. While many Chinese Americans have Chinese names that follow the Chinese convention, everyone also has an English name for official documents, which may or may not directly correspond to their names in Chinese. Some Chinese Americans simply transliterate their Chinese names, few directly with family names first, while the majority anglicize by placing their family names at the end. Others choose a common Anglo American given name, such as Jennifer or Patrick, followed by the family name, and use that as their English name for the record. Still others choose Anglo American given names that sound similar to their Chinese given names; for example, Eileen or Irene for Chinese given name Ai-ling. In recent decades, it has become increasingly popular for Chinese Americans to have both common Anglo and transliterated Chinese given names, although it is still more common to have the family name last. —Emily S. Wu
Further Reading Louie, Emma Woo. Chinese American Names: Tradition and Transition. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 1998.
Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant (Honolulu) The Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant in Honolulu, Hawaii, is an annual chain of festivities surrounding Chinese New Year that began in 1950. Organized by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to stimulate Chinatown commerce and create a modern, prodemocracy image of Chinese Americans while showcasing traditional Chinese culture, the festival was designed to attract broad appeal. Over the years,
Chinese Americans: Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant (Honolulu)
it has included parades, exhibits, demonstrations, contests, and concerts for things Chinese (arts, crafts, martial arts, cooking, cultural performances, fashion); and various sport tournaments, etc. The Kick-Off Reception, the “Night in Chinatown” street fair, and the Narcissus Queen’s Coronation Ball and Goodwill Tour to China are highlights, but the core feature around which the festival was organized remains the Narcissus Queen Pageant. The festival was created during a time when the Hawaii Chinese community felt threatened by the ascension of the Japanese into island politics, disturbed by the derogatory Cold War image of Mao’s communist China, troubled by Chinatown’s commercial decline, and self-conscious of their invisibility as an ethnic group. By repackaging a traditionally family-centered celebration of the Chinese lunar New Year into a modern ethnic spectacle, its organizers proactively steered the public gaze on the Chinese presence as traditional yet progressive, and established a distinctive Chinese American identity. The two key symbols consciously selected to link the past with the present into a Chinese American representation were the narcissus flower and the Narcissus Queen. A spring flower popular in Canton and Fujian provinces and imported yearly to the islands for the festival, the narcissus was interpreted to symbolize the hope and prosperity of the Chinese renaissance in Hawaii. Its white, fragrant, delicate blossom emerging from a bulb evoked a positive image of purity, elegance, and rarity; and by association projected the Chinese community as a loyal, peace-loving, upstanding, but stably rooted contributor to Hawaii’s future. The other symbol that personified this duality of Chinese tradition with American modernity was the Narcissus Queen. To draw a crowd and assure sufficient fund-raising, the first Narcissus Festival was jump-started by a beauty contest with swimsuit competition. Contestants had to speak Chinese, be full-blooded Chinese, and demonstrate a talent. By displaying female bodies in a way that was antithetical to Chinese tradition and framing them in an American institution (a beauty pageant), Chinese women were shown to be progressive, contemporary Americans of Chinese ethnicity (blood quantum) and culture (language fluency). To engage more participants and to better represent the increasingly diverse Chinese community, the blood quantum (the degree of ancestry for a member of a racial or ethnic group) for contestants was reduced to 50 percent in the mid1990s. Contestants are judged on their speech, poise, talent, beauty, personality, and wit—attributes for success as a goodwill ambassador for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese community. Because the Narcissus Queen solely represents the Hawaii Chinese community, the pageant is a locally contained one and not a forerunner for national pageants such as Miss Chinatown USA (the Miss Chinatown Hawaii pageant produces a candidate for this competition). —Linda Sun Crowder
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Further Reading Goo, Miri, interview by author, Honolulu, Hawaii, 23 April 2009. Li, Jinzhao. “Constructing Chinese America in Hawaii: The Narcissus Festival, Ethnic Identity, and Community Transformation, 1949–2005.” PhD dissertation, University of Hawaii, 2005.
Web Site “Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii Narcissus Festival.” 2009. http:// www.narcissusfestival.com.
Narrative Folktale Storytelling is not just an essential form of folklore, disseminating cultural knowledge and social experience from generation to generation; it is also an important process of identity construction for such marginalized social groups as Asian Americans. Many Chinese American writers resort to the writing of narrative folktales as a foundation for fighting back with their own voice against the stereotypical representation of this ethnic group by the dominating discourse in the United States. In Chinese American literature, storytelling often plays a central role in maintaining family history and cultural memory, as well as in establishing individual and social identity. The debates between Maxine Hong Kingston and Frank Chin mark a significant event related to storytelling and retelling in Asian American literary history. Frank Chin’s 1991 article “Come All Ye Asian American Writers of the Real and the Fake” has sparked polarizing disputes in Asian American communities, leading to earnest discussions on such topics as “cultural authenticity.” The debates between the two Chinese American writers, both well known for their works that retell Chinese folktales, focus on whether Chinese American writers have the right to appropriate Chinese folklore in their own light to represent their American experiences; or, by extension, what constitutes being Chinese American. Maintaining that myth and folklore are immutable and unchanging, Chin charges that Chinese American writers such as Kingston, David Henry Hwang, and Amy Tan “fake” Chinese traditions and “perpetuate” racist stereotypes, while those who side with Kingston react strongly, emphasizing the importance of telling new stories for new experiences. Although never achieving agreement on the “correct” way of storytelling and retelling, the debates themselves underscore the significance of narrative folktales in writing about the experience and identity of the Asian American. Most of Kingston’s books have storytelling as a theme. In The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts, she develops the term “talk-story” to refer to her mother’s storytelling, which constitutes an essential part of her experience growing up. Besides recording folktales, the book is also an evidence of herself
Chinese Americans: Paper Sons/Paper Daughters
being a “storytalker,” weaving together traditional stories with her own. Her other book, Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book, refers to her retelling of Chinese folktales as outright “faking” and to the book itself as a “fake book.” Relating storytelling to improvisation in jazz performance, the book conveys a positive view of improvisation and revision in storytelling. Popular Chinese American folktales being told and retold include Fa Mulan, the Monkey King, Kuan-yin (the Goddess of Compassion), Kwan Kung, Yue Fei, the kitchen god, ghost stories, etc. Significantly, the heroes and heroines in these folktales tend to share one common feature—border crossing. They are tricksters, liminal figures whose boundary-challenging qualities are consistent with the selfrepresentation of the Chinese American. —Hongmei Sun See also: Chinese Americans: Donald Duk (Frank Chin); Fa Mu Lan; Kingston, Maxine Hong (1940–); The Monkey King (Sun Wukong); Tan, Amy (1952–).
Further Reading Chin, Frank. “Come All Ye Asian American Writers of the Real and the Fake.” The Big Aiiieeeee! New York: Meridian, 1991, 1–92. Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: A Girlhood among Ghosts. New York: Vintage, 1976. Yep, Laurence. The Rainbow People. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
Paper Sons/Paper Daughters Due to exclusionary immigration laws, the majority of Chinese men in America believed they would never be able to bring their wives and/or family to America. However, on April 18, 1906, that changed. Early that morning an earthquake shook San Francisco. Fires broke out and destroyed much of the city along with the municipal records. Without records, the Chinese living in the United States could claim they were born here and thus were citizens who could sponsor their wives and children to the United States. Before the earthquake and fire, the number of Chinese women remained around five percent or less of the total Chinese population. In 1900, there were 4,522 Chinese women living in the United States. After the earthquake and fire, Chinese women began arriving in much larger numbers: in 1910, 219 women arrived; in 1915, the number was 356; in 1920, 573; in 1922, 1,050; by 1924, 1,893. In the years 1907–1925, roughly 10,000 Chinese women came to the United States. A 1924 immigration act stopped the inflow of Chinese women by prohibiting entry of immigrants who were ineligible to become citizens, and also instituted a permanent quota that gave preference to immigrants from certain parts of Europe.
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Meanwhile, Chinese sons were also entering the United States. U.S. law stipulates that children of American-born citizens are automatically granted citizenship status, even if the parents were born in foreign countries. These Chinese children of self-proclaimed American-born Chinese fathers were legally allowed to enter the United States. Many actual sons and daughters came; others were imposters known as “paper sons” or “paper daughters.” Immigration officials knew about these pretenders and did not trust that all Chinese women were wives of Chinese American men, so they were detained at Angel Island. Angel Island is the largest island in the San Francisco Bay. Nearly 300,000 immigrants passed through Angel Island Immigration Station during its heydays. The station’s goal was first to exclude the entry of Chinese, then the entry of Japanese, Koreans, Indians, and other Asian immigrants. While detained on Angel Island, real sons and paper sons, along with mothers and wives, were asked a series of questions to determine whether the kin relationship was real or fake. Questions included: What is your mother’s name? What kind of feet does she have? Had your father any brothers or sisters? What are their names? What’s the name of your father’s or husband’s native village? How long has he been away? How many floors did your house have? On what floor did you live? What feast did you celebrate? Who attended the celebration? —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Lee, Erika. At America’s Gates: Chinese Immigration During the Exclusion Era, 1882– 1943. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003. Pan, Erica Y. Z. The Impact of the 1906 Earthquake on San Francisco’s Chinatown. San Francisco: Peter Lang, 1995.
Proverbs and Maxims The Chinese are very fond of proverbs (yanyu) and maxims (geyan). Any student learning Chinese would need to learn many of these proverbs and maxims as they are expressed in idioms (chengyu) and are still commonly used in modern Chinese, in all forms of writing and spoken speech. The majority of Chinese proverbs and maxims have religious origins: Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist. As such, Chinese proverbs and maxims carry messages of moral and/or philosophical teachings. The use of animals is also very common; for example, the horse typically represents strength and endurance, while the fish represents wealth. Chinese Americans who grow up with immigrant parents may hear these expressions, such as “Easy come, easy go,” in their homes. Confucian proverbs are the preferred sayings in Chinese and Chinese American families. Chinese
Chinese Americans: Qing Ming
parents, if they are not well educated, will say these proverbs, without knowing that they are from the Analects of Confucius, although the majority are aware of its origins: “Forgive and forget”; “Life is half spent before we know what it is.” Popular Confucian proverbs focus on family solidarity and harmony, such as “If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.” Or “Within the four seas, all men are brothers.” There are many proverbs and maxims that focus on the wisdom that comes with age and life experience. For example, “Over a long distance, one learns about the strength of one’s horse; over a long period of time, one get to know what’s in one’s heart.” There are some Chinese proverbs and maxims that have become so well known that few know their origin is Chinese. For example, “A journey of a thousand li begins with a single step.” (This is typically worded as “A great journey begins with a single step.”) Chinese proverbs and maxims represent the accumulated wisdom of the Chinese people acquired through life experiences. They are also an important way to store knowledge from China’s ancient civilization. Learning Chinese proverbs and maxims thus yields a deeper cultural understanding of Chinese civilization. For Chinese Americans, mostly immigrant and first-generation Chinese Americans, the wisdom of Chinese proverbs and maxims play a central part in their cultural understanding and development. For second- and subsequent-generation Chinese Americans, they most likely appear only in Chinese fortune cookies. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Rohsenow, John S. ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002.
Qing Ming Qing Ming is the Chinese spring grave cleaning festival when families visit their ancestral tombs, clean and renovate them, and make ritual offerings. Qing Ming literally means “clear” and “bright.” Qing Ming occurs 106 days after the winter solstice, and is the only Chinese holiday based on the solar cycle. Today, April 5 is generally recognized as Qing Ming. As a community and family festival, Qing Ming celebrates the continuation of kinship ties. At the community level, clan villages in China would honor their real and mythical founding ancestors and prominent members. Individual families would pay respect to their lineage forebears. In contemporary America, many Chinese families of varying religious beliefs continue to visit the graves of their
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departed relatives. For some, Qing Ming is observed more as a memorial occasion traditional to their culture than one of ancestor reverence for spirit remunerations. Group-organized, public Qing Ming celebrations are prevalent in communities where there is a large, tradition-conscious Chinese population or a prominent Chinatown, such as in San Francisco or Honolulu. Their Chinese or Chinatown Chambers of Commerce and Chinese cultural centers have kept Qing Ming publicly alive as a Chinese cultural tradition. Individual Chinese families throughout the United States often bring grass clippers, brushes, and buckets of water to first clean the family graves, clearing them of overgrown weeds and debris. Then offerings are made in combinations of the following: fresh or artificial flowers, red candles, incense sticks, firecrackers, paper replicas of money and/or goods (burned in a large can), and food. Typical food offerings include whole fruit, steamed buns, roast pork, a whole boiled chicken, a bowl of rice, or other favorite foods of the deceased, all arranged on paper plates. Food offerings may be left at the grave, offered up first to the spirits before eating it at a graveside picnic or taken away to be eaten elsewhere. The typical beverage offerings are tea and liquor in cups of three (or cans of soda), placed above the food and closest to the headstone. Personal mementoes are sometimes left at the grave such as stuffed animals, cigarettes, toy pinwheels, or disposable cassette players playing Buddhist chants. After the offerings are laid out or are burning, the bai san (the three bows of respect) may be performed. The family may place a rock or clump of earth atop the headstone to signify that the grave has been visited and acknowledgment paid to the earth god. Sometimes strips of colored paper or yellow ribbons are left on the headstone anchored by a rock or tied to sticks and stuck into the grave to prevent any mischievous, wandering ghosts from partaking of the offerings. Contemporary Qing Ming observances include accessing the Internet to pay virtual respect to the dead at distant graves. In cyberspace, graves can be cleaned, the dead may receive offerings, the bai san bows may be performed, and the living can fulfill their filial obligations. —Linda Sun Crowder
Further Reading Berkowitz, Morris, Frederick P. Brandauer, and John H. Reed. Folk Religion in an Urban Setting: A Study of Hakka Villagers in Transition. Tao Fong Shan, New Territories: Christian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture, 1969. Crowder, Linda Sun. Mortuary Practices and the Construction of Chinatown Identity. PhD dissertation, University of Hawaii, 2002. Gong, Rosemary. Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide to Chinese American Celebrations and Culture. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Thompson, Laurence. Chinese Religion: An Introduction. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1996.
Chinese Americans: Religion
Religion Chinese are known for their tradition of praying to different gods for different purposes, which is therefore considered polytheistic. Researchers report the Chinese religions as a mixture of local folklore, superstition, and magical belief systems. For example, China has been an agricultural society, and thus, they have worshiped and offered sacrifices to the local gods of the land. Moreover, the Chinese religious traditions developed as a product of village agricultural life, and as a result, they include a combination of ancestral religion, sacrifice, and divination. The three predominant religious strains are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and each plays a vital role in community and family life, which are the foundation of Chinese society. However, in Chinese American communities, there is a trend of increasing percentage of Christians, which is related to the collapse of traditional culture in Mainland China. Events like the May 4th Movement of 1919 and the Cultural Revolution targeted Chinese cultural heritage and removed traditional culture from Chinese society. Deprived of cultural traditions, Chinese in both Mainland China and United States seek alternate meaning systems. Traveling abroad from the home country, first-generation Chinese Americans show an urgent need for religion. National Public Radio/Kaiser/Kennedy School’s Immigration Survey (2004) found that immigrants are more likely than nonimmigrants to say one must believe in God to be part of American society (47 percent and 22 percent, respectively). In addition to religious guidance, such faith-based communities often provide ethnic, cultural, and linguistic reinforcement, along with a protective refuge. Aware of immigrants’ characteristics, churches in local communities put emphasis on the development of social services, which meet the needs of immigrants, to attract more members. Churches usually provide a lot of congregational opportunities and social services such as language training and computer training. For example, Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation in New York City has created organizations that provide many social service programs. Attendants of these activities indicate that they chose certain churches based on these programs. Some parents show up in churches to get their children signed up for summer camp or after-school programs. Some stay after the programs to become members, while others do not. In addition to benefitting from the social services, first-generation Chinese Americans find religious activities help them build up social network. Despite their strong valuation of family, first-generation Chinese Americans feel weak family support due to the absence of immediate family members. The small social network and limited resources in the immigrant community can worsen the sense of social exclusion that Asian elderly face in managing their everyday issues. First-generation Chinese Americans generally underscore the importance of being
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part of a community, especially at an advanced age. Moreover, they recognize the importance of acceptance and shared religious affiliation with members of their own family. This process allows them to establish another framework for coping strategies involving social support provided and received within the context of their family and faith-based community. Being Christian is even more common among younger-generation Chinese Americans. Some are sent to Catholic schools and church-run day camps when they are growing up. Parents who do this are not necessarily attracted to the religion itself, but rather because of they believe that the religion or association with Christians can provide certain benefits for both education and social services. Moreover, unlike first-generation Chinese Americans who live in Chinatown, younger Chinese Americans no longer grow up isolated from the larger American society. On the contrary, they grow up in American culture and fully immersed in “white America.” One of the consequences of residence in U.S. suburbs and of their adaptation to American society is that Chinese young people grow up detached from Chinese culture and identity. This factor plays an important role in their increased receptivity to the Chinese Christian community. Since they may feel estranged from both their Caucasian peers and first-generation Chinese Americans, they are motivated to build up their own spiritual community, which is usually a Chinese Christian community. The acceptance of Christianity is also due to its compatibility with the conservative social values of Chinese Americans. Influenced by Confucian philosophy, younger generation Chinese Americans still have a conservative predisposition. Most Chinese college students had never engaged in premarital sexual intercourse, and their level of sexual experience is different from those reported by studies of non-Chinese Americans. Attending college, Chinese Americans come into contact with a large number of other people from similar background. No longer trying to fit in as they may have had to do in high school, Chinese American in college more explicitly seek their ethnic identity. Some wish to interact with other Chinese Americans, which sometimes takes the form of following other Chinese Americans to the Chinese Christian group on campus. Regardless of their particular religion, Chinese Americans express their spirituality and follow their religion in a variety of ways. Spirituality and religion provide effective coping strategies for Chinese American of both the first and subsequent generations. —Hui Huang See also: Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Confucian Traditions; Domestic Religious Practices; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Taiwanese American Religious Temples; Taoism.
Chinese Americans: Rites of Passage
Further Reading Huang, Weishan. “The Making of a Promised Land: Religious Responses to Gentrification and Neighborhood Ethnic Diversity.” Cross Currents. 58(3) (2008): 441–55. Huang, K., and L. Uba. “Premarital Sexual Behavior among Chinese College Students in the United States.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 21 (1992): 227–40. Jung, Marshall. Chinese American Family Therapy: A New Model for Clinicians. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998. Levitt, Peggy, and Nina G. Schiller. “Conceptualizing Simultaneity: A Transnational Social Field Perspective on Society.” International Migration Review 38 (2004): 1002–39.
Web Site National Public Radio/Kaiser/Kennedy School. “Immigration Survey.” 2004. http:// www.npr.org/news/specials/polls/2004/immigration (accessed March 14, 2010).
Rites of Passage Different cultures around the world mark the most important stages of human life with “rites of passage,” or events that signify the passage from one phase of life to another. Birth, departure from childhood, leaving home, marriage, and death are some examples of major events in the human experience around which the various societies of the world practice rites of passage. While many Chinese Americans often practice rites of passage associated with their own traditional culture, a variety of rites connected to American culture are also preserved within Chinese American communities of the United States. For Chinese Americans, rites of passage connected to birth often involve the practice of traditional Chinese customs. Chinese American women, for example, might partake in a celebration called manyue or “full month,” a festive event marking the first full month both of the newborn baby’s life and the woman’s life after the birth. Having spent the month after the birth restoring and balancing her body’s yin and yang—something she does through diet and other practices related to her health (e.g., staying indoors, not bathing or not washing to protect and revitalize her body), the woman joins her family in the celebration of her baby’s life. During the traditional Chinese setting of manyue, the family eats noodles, which symbolize long life. Gifts are given to the baby. However, Chinese Americans often celebrate this rite of passage at a restaurant, where they may eat a wide variety of foods, including some non-Chinese dishes.
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An important rite of passage for many Chinese American schoolchildren is the commencement of Chinese school at an early age. At as young an age as four years old, Chinese American children from across the United States partake in the institution of these schools, where they are taught Chinese language and heritage classes. Chinese American parents are often quite serious in their hopes that their children will become familiarized with Chinese language, history, culture, and tradition before the onset of their adolescent years. In American culture, teenagers often celebrate the social rite of passage to adulthood when they leave the home, which typically occurs at age 18. But for Chinese American children, departure from the home is not necessarily the point at which children are considered by their parents to become adults. Instead, as is more broadly the case in Asian American culture, parents are more likely to perceive of their children as having successfully made this passage to adulthood once their children are financially independent or have begun families of their own. Marriage as a rite of passage represents a social union of two people. In the context of a Chinese American marriage, however, customs from both China and the United States are also brought together during the wedding ceremony. The ceremony might be performed in both Chinese and English, for example, or the bride could change her dress up to three times during the ceremony: from a tea ceremony outfit early on, to the white dress customary in an American wedding, and finally to the qipao, or cocktail dress that is traditional to her Chinese heritage. When it comes to their wedding gifts, couples might decide to have their guests bring red envelopes of money, as is the custom in Asian culture. Alternatively, they might follow the American custom and have a gift registry, or they might request that the guests decide for themselves upon the form of gift giving to use. In addition to the fusing of Chinese and American cultures that are found in these marriages, further layers of culture, race, religion, and ethnicity are often blended when Chinese Americans marry non-Chinese Americans. The event of the funeral marks the rite of passage of death in many cultures. Funerary practices in Chinese American culture often include religious rituals found in China and in other traditional Asian cultures. However, while Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian rituals are common, elements of Christianity or another non-Asian religion might also become part of the Chinese American funeral. In accord with funerary practices traditional to China, family elders gather at the funeral home to organize the ceremony. A last meal is sometimes prepared for the deceased and placed next to the open casket, and incense is often burned at the gravesite. Finally, as is the case in China, a shrine containing both a picture of the deceased and other worldly objects is often erected at his or her home. —Anna M. Hennessey
Chinese Americans: Social Etiquette and Customs
Further Reading Chung, Sue Fawn, and Priscilla Wegars, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals: Respecting the Ancestors. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2005. Ho, Sally S. “Chinese School Can Be a Tedious but Rewarding Rite of Passage.” Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2009. See http://www.articles.chicagotribune.com. Loh, Barbara. “Doing the Month and the Full Month Party: Chinese Birth Traditions in America.” In Rites of Passage in America (A Traveling Exhibition Organized by The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies June 22, 1992—January 2, 1995). Philadelphia: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, (unpublished account from 1986). National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). Understanding Cultural Issues in Death. NASP Resources online at http://www.nasponline.org, 2003. Sakugawa, Yumi. “An Asian American Wedding.” Pacific Citizen: News and Information for the Asian American Community. See http://www.pacificcitizen.org, 2009. Wang, Frances Kai-Hwa. Asian American Rites of Passage: You Know You’ve Become an Adult When . . . See IMDiversity Inc. indiversity.com, 2010.
Social Etiquette and Customs For Chinese Americans, greeting is an important part of social life and has special codes to be observed. When two people are introduced to each other on formal occasions, shaking hands is a common and appropriate way of greeting. They also use verbal greetings, such as “Nihao” (“Hello” in mandarin Chinese), or, more formally, “Jiandao nin hen rongxing” (“It’s a great honor to meet you”). If one of them is superior in social status, slight bowing, as an expression of respect, is often used by the subordinate while they are shaking hands. In business situations, they may exchange business cards following hand-shaking. However, Chinese Americans today tend to simply nod or smile as a way to greet each other when they meet for the first time in informal situations. The greeting principles are different for people who have already known each other. A popular way of greeting between friends or acquaintances is asking “Have you eaten yet?” This inquiry is more an expression of the speaker’s kind concern about the listener’s well-being than a real question or an invitation to a meal. It is a functional equivalent to the American greeting “How are you doing?” Oftentimes, the listener will respond with a “yes,” even if in reality he or she hasn’t eaten anything in the past few hours and is feeling hungry. When Chinese Americans are invited to dinner, there are some unwritten rules they follow to avoid social awkwardness. It’s customary for Chinese Americans to bring gifts when they visit a friend’s home for a dining invitation. Gift-giving is an expression of generosity, appreciation of the invitation, and respect for the
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host’s family. A gift is usually given immediately after the guest enters the friend’s home. The host and hostess will often accept the gift with polite and pretended hesitance, commenting that the guest shouldn’t have taken the trouble to bring a gift for a simple, homemade meal. This response is a sign of the host and hostess’s modesty about the meal, which is usually very well prepared, and their appreciation of the guest’s friendliness and generosity. There are a wide range of acceptable gifts. For close friends or relatives, food is a good and safe choice. Fresh fruit, wine, tea, cigarette, candy, cookies, fried black mushroom, and dried shrimp are all considered appropriate. In situations of family parties, fresh seafood or a cooked dish is also appreciated. In comparison, gifts for business friends and distant acquaintances are more formal. They are selected based on the host’s social status, life circumstances, and interests. A gift is often wrapped in red or golden colors. The host or hostess is not supposed to open it in the presence of the guest. Despite the long history of migration and settlement, Chinese Americans preserve the tradition of celebrating Chinese New Year commonly known as the Spring Festival, the most important holiday in a year. Falling between mid-January and the end of February, the Spring Festival is a time to recognize the accomplishments in the passing year and make resolutions for the coming year. Its celebration involves the themes of food and people. Families gather to have a big feast on the Eve of Chinese New Year. They eat dishes that have symbolic meanings of good fortune, longevity, prosperity, happiness, and so on. For example, a whole fish is a preferred dish for many Chinese Americans, because it has the pronunciation that is reminiscent of abundance in Mandarin Chinese. It’s important for the family to keep the fish head and tail intact to symbolize that they will have more than sufficient food and wealth in the coming year. Many first-generation Chinese Americans also watch the variety program organized by China Central TV Station on the Internet and through cable. They enjoy the moment when their family, together with billions of Chinese who are celebrating the holiday and watching the TV show, count down the seconds leading to the arrival of the New Year. Preparations for the New Year start well before the Eve. When the holiday is approaching, Chinese Americans go shopping for food, clothing, home decorations, and gifts for relatives and friends. It’s customary for them to clean their homes before the Eve, signaling that they sweep away the bad fortune of the old year and welcome the good luck in the new year. To prepare for the Chinese New Year, it is also crucial for adults to get ready little red envelopes with money as gifts for children of their families and friends. These red envelopes are given out on the Eve, the New Year, or the following few days. Many Chinese communities across the United States organize a variety of activities to collectively celebrate the New Year. These activities include a parade with
Chinese Americans: Taiwanese American Religious Temples
lion dancing and kung fu performance, flower markets, concerts, ballets, basketball games, Miss Chinatown Pageants, English competitions, etc. With its unique cultural customs, Chinese America makes significant contributions to America’s multiculturalism. —Xiaoxin Zeng
Further Reading Gong, Rosemary. Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide to Chinese American Celebrations and Culture. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.
Web Site “Chinatown San Francisco”: http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/(accessed April 2010).
Taiwanese American Religious Temples Although the “Taiwanese American” can be subsumed in the category of “Chinese American,” there are various Taiwanese ethnic groups (Hakka, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and other Fujianese “Taiwanese”) to distinguish from the “mainlanders” who fled to Taiwan in the wake of the Communist victory. Hence, the cultural, social, economic, and political background of the Taiwanese makes their experience different from other Chinese immigrants. Taiwanese American immigrants arrive in the United States armed with increasing technology and wealth, Taiwanese nationals lived across ocean and nation, markedly changing their experience in the United States. The experience of religion in mainland Chinese versus Taiwanese societies was drastically different; Taiwan fostered religious communities, rituals, and temples, benefiting from the great wealth produced during the 1970s and 1980s. On the other hand, programs of socialist state secularization marked the religious experience in China, which only recently has been able to appear in public as “religion.” The majority of Taiwanese Americans practice Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and folk religious traditions. Some will identity strictly as Buddhist, such as Ciji volunteers, but this does not mean that they will not visit Taoist temples. Confucian morals and ethics are transmitted primarily through the home, expressed in relationships between elder and young. Taiwanese American religious life in contemporary America is unique in that it is transforming due to the forces of globalization and modernization. The shifting composition and trend in Chinese emigration to the United States—in terms of establishing a transnational citizenry and, by extension, a transnational community between Taiwan and the
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Chinese Americans: Taiwanese American Religious Temples
Entry gate to Hsi Lai Temple, a Taiwanese Buddhist monastery located in Los Angeles, California. (Le Do/Dreamstime.com)
United States—is reflected in the establishment of uniquely global Taiwanese religious communities. These communities have also adapted to American civic culture and society in offering social and medical services to the broader communities in which they operate. Taiwanese Buddhist organizations and temples from Taiwan have enjoyed rapid global growth in recent years. The Hsi Lai Temple, the largest Buddhist monastery in North America, completed in 1988 at a cost of $26 million, is situated on 15 acres of a hillside at Hacienda Heights in Los Angeles, near “Little Taipei,” a rapidly growing community populated by mostly Taiwanese Americans. Hsi Lai is a satellite community of the mother temple, Foguangshan “Buddha Light Mountain,” located at Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong) in southern Taiwan. Foguangshan was founded by Master Xingyun, the 48th patriarch of the Linzhi School of Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Foguangshan has branches across the United States located in Denver, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, as well as in other major cities worldwide. Hsi Lai Temple has also established the Hsi Lai University, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees. Another global Buddhist organization has left an influential footprint in the American religious landscape, the Tzu Chi Compassion Relief Society
Chinese Americans: Taiwanese American Religious Temples
(Ciji Gongdehui), a worldwide network with centers throughout Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and North America. The headquarters of Ciji in the United States is located within Los Angeles proper, in a predominantly Chinese-immigrant community of Monrovia. Ciji has established itself in the new American religious landscape through the promotion of social services, primarily through its free clinic program. Dharma Master Zhengyan, along with a group of 30 followers, founded Ciji in Hualian, Taiwan in 1966. Currently, Ciji is the largest civil organization in Taiwan. In 1993, the Ciji Foundation established its Free Clinic in Alhambra, California. The clinic is a general health care facility providing medical assistance to financially disadvantaged residents in Los Angeles. It incorporates traditional Chinese healing with western medicine and Buddhist philosophies of compassion to serve clients without regard to age, sex, race, class, or religious affiliation. In addition to these two major global Taiwanese Buddhist communities, there is Zhuangyen Monastery located at Carmel, New York, and serving New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Another major center is the Jade Buddha Temple associated with the Texas Buddhist Association in Houston, Texas. Taiwanese Taoist or Buddho-Taoist temples have also appeared in the American religious landscape. The Empress of the Heaven, Goddess of the Sea, known in Taiwan as “Mazu”—an affectionate kinship term denoting “Granny,” otherwise known as Tianhou—is the most popular female object of devotion within Taiwanese communities. The first Tianhou/Mazu temple was, not surprisingly, founded in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1852, as immigrants who landed there immediately wanted to give thanks to her for safely guiding their ships on the arduous threeweek journey across the Pacific Ocean. Today, Tianhou/Mazu travels to the United States by plane. She is no longer solely venerated as a sea goddess: she is protector of women and children, listener of prayers and illnesses, giver of prosperity, and protector of family and community. In 1986, the growing Taiwanese community established the Ma-tsu Temple U.S.A. with links to the mother temple in Beigang, Taiwan. From the beginning, the Ma-tsu Temple U.S.A. has adapted to American civic culture by participating in the annual San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade, which also doubles as the traditional celestial inspection tour to be performed later on her birthday. Taiwanese temples will differ from other Chinese temples found in the United States in that they will house other deities, popular to people from Taiwan, such as Qingshui Zushi, who is popularly venerated in San-hsia north of Taipei. The Taiwanese Christian community is also vibrant. Christianity came to Taiwan in the 17th century with the Europeans, the Dutch introducing Protestantism and the Portuguese introducing Catholicism. Compared to Taiwan, a larger percentage of Taiwanese Americans attend churches in the United States, perhaps because many of the educated Taiwanese immigrants were Christian even before immigration. In the United States, Taiwanese Christian communities are places for religious fellowship, as well as Taiwanese solidarity.
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Chinese Americans: Tan, Amy (1952–)
Taiwanese Americans will celebrate and observe all the major Chinese festivals and holidays, such as Chinese New Year, Spring and Autumn Festival, and the Lantern Festival. During Chingming (Tomb Sweeping festival) Taiwanese Americans will travel back to Taiwan to visit the graves and tombs of their ancestors. However, there are some festivals that are unique to Taiwanese religiosity. For example, since the Empress of Heaven is a major cult in Taiwan, her birthday celebrated in March calls for big fanfare in the United States at local temples where she is enshrined, such as the Ma-tsu Temple U.S.A. Taiwanese Americans, like other Chinese Americans, will also practice feng shui, the science of placing things in the home and in business sittings to enhance wealth. Taiwanese Americans will also frequent fortune-tellers during Chinese New Year. Grandmothers and mothers will burn incense in the morning and in the evening at their home altar for the health and well-being of their family. Taiwanese Americans and their religions, like their identity, are increasingly global and transnational in scope, utilizing the latest technology—the Internet— to establish imagined communities across borders and oceans. Taiwanese Americans find fertile ground in the pluralistic religious landscape of the United States to transplant their religions while creatively adapting to their new life. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Confucian Traditions; Domestic Religious Practices; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Taoism; Tianhou/ Mazu.
Further Reading Huang, Chieng-Yu Julia, and Robert P. Weller. “Merit and Mothering: Women and Social Welfare in Taiwanese Buddhism.” The Journal of Asian Studies 57(2) (1998): 379–96. Lin, Irene. “Journey to the Far West: Chinese Buddhism in America.” Amerasia Journal 22(1) (1996). Ng, Franklin. The Taiwanese Americans: The New Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Yang, Fenggang. “Religious Diversity among the Chinese in America.” In Pyong Gap Min and Jung Ha Kim, eds. Religions in Asian America: Building Faith Communities. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002.
Tan, Amy (1952–) Born February 19, 1952, Amy Tan is one of the most popular and controversial Asian American writers. Chinese folklore and popular belief are strongly present in her books, a repeating theme of which is the mother-daughter relationship. Her books have often been commercially successful, some having been adapted for film, animated series, and the stage. Tan’s work has been honored on numerous
Chinese Americans: Tan, Amy (1952–)
occasions, including the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award, the Commonwealth Gold Award, American Library Association’s Notable Books, New York Times Notable Books, an Emmy Award, among others. Storytelling and folklore are always important components of Tan’s fiction. Her stories often concern the development of the mother-daughter relationship, from the daughter’s lack of understanding of the mother to her eventual embrace of the mother’s knowledge and belief. This transition is typically achieved through storytelling or writing of the mother. Reading or listening to the mother’s story, the daughter arrives at a better understanding of her culture, empowered to face her own problems. In Tan’s fiction, the mother’s story is full of folkloric elements, including Chinese customs and values, folk beliefs, feng shui, myths, legends, fables and ghost lore, as well as oral history. Tan’s first and most representative novel, The Joy Luck Club (1989), focuses on four pairs of mothers and daughters. The novel contains 16 interrelated short stories, organized like a mahjong game. The stories also begin at a mahjong game, their juxtaposition resembling the tension and harmony between each side of the game, each being told from the first person’s point of view. In the end, the pairs of daughters and mothers arrive at effective communication. Tan’s other fiction includes The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991), The Hundred Secret Senses (1995), The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001), and Saving Fish from Drowning (2005). Her nonfiction book, The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings (2003), includes autobiographical short pieces. She has also written two children’s books, collaborating with Gretchen Schields: The Moon Lady (1992) and Sagwa: The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994). These picture books showcase Chinese tradition to children in the United States. Critical reception of Tan has been predominantly positive, with some exceptions. Critics such as Sheng-mei Ma argue that Tan has earned her success among white middle-class readers by reenacting Orientalist fantasies of American mainstream thought, and Ruth Maxey criticizes Tan for presenting China as an imagined Orientalist homeland. —Hongmei Sun See also: Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Literature and Folklore; Narrative Folktale.
Further Reading Ma, Sheng-mei. “ ‘Chinese and Dogs’ in Amy Tan’s The Hundred Secret Senses: Ethnicizing the Primitive a la New Age.” Melus 26(1) (2001): 29–44. Maxey, Ruth. “ ‘The East Is Where Things Begin’: Writing the Ancestral Homeland in Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston.” Orbis Litterarum 60(1) (2005): 1–15. Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1989. Tan, Amy. The Hundred Secret Senses. Audiobook read by Amy Tan. Dove Audio, 1995.
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Web Site Amy Tan Home Page: http://www.amytan.net.
Taoism Taoism refers both to a Chinese system of thought and to one of the four major religions of China (with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Chinese popular religion). In philosophy, Taoism stems largely from the Tao-Te-Ching, a text traditionally ascribed to Lao Tzu. Tao is defined as the way the universe functions and the path taken by natural events. It is characterized by spontaneous creativity and by regular alternations of phenomena (such as day following night) that proceed without effort. The ideal state of being, fully attainable only by mystical contemplation, is simplicity and freedom from desire, comparable to that of an infant or an “uncarved block.” In religious history, Taoism appropriated earlier interest and belief in alchemy and the search for the elixir of life and the philosopher’s stone. Alchemists like Ko Hung believed that the most direct means to attain immortality is to ingest potable gold and other elixirs. Ko also recommended a wide range of techniques designed to lengthen the life span. By gathering herbs, undertaking long fasts and periods of purification, and engaging in breathing exercises and gymnastics, a person could aid the circulation and union of qi (chi) and qing (ching), the vital life-forces pervading the universe, but often obstructed in one’s body. By the 5th century, Taoism was a fully developed religious system with many features adopted from Mahayana Buddhism, offering emotional religious satisfaction to those who found the largely ethical system of Confucianism inadequate. Taoism developed a large pantheon, monastic orders, and lay masters. Taoism was imported to United States by Chinese immigrants. Soon after the first Chinese arrived to participate in California’s gold rush, they constructed several temples in San Francisco. The earliest of these were the Kong Chow Temple and Tin Hou Temple, both built in the early 1850s. By the early 1880s, dozens of such temples could be found in San Francisco and other Chinatowns, and hundreds of roadside shrines were scattered throughout the West. Worshipping either the Jade Emperor or Kuan Yin, Chinese Americans have tended to be less concerned with maintaining some abstract doctrinal consistency than with establishing a secure relationship with a particular deity who could offer advice and protection. It becomes unclear whether these early Chinese American Taoism establishments should be regarded as representing Taoist or folk tradition. Departing from the ritualistic orientation, Taoism in current Chinese American communities focuses on health and fitness. The emphasis now is on Tai Chi
Chinese Americans: Tianhou/Mazu
Chuan, massage, visualization meditation, and other forms of Chi Kung to align oneself with the rhythms of Tao, thereby promoting one’s physical, mental, and spiritual health. The new Taoist organizations usually have a large non-Chinese following. In some Taoism centers, not only the students, but even the teachers are Euro-American. Few Taoist organizations still keep ritual traditions. One of the exceptions is the American Daoist & Buddhist Association (ATBA), which provides members a variety of rites and services, such as performing religious ceremonies and cosmic renewal rituals. Taoism also influences Chinese Americans through fortune-telling, including astrology, I Ching, and mediumship. Introverted Chinese American sometimes treat fortune-tellers as psychotherapists. —Hui Huang See also: Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Confucian Traditions; Domestic Religious Practices; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Taiwanese American Religious Temples.
Further Reading Komjathy, Louis. “Tracing the Contours of Daoism in North America.” In Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 8(2) (2004). The Pluralism Project. Introduction to Taoism. 2009. http://pluralism.org/files/wrgb/ taoism/OCG_Taoism_Introduction.pdf (accessed March 9, 2010).
Tianhou/Mazu Tianhou/Mazu is popularly venerated as the Empress of Heaven but also as the Goddess of the Sea. The early Chinese pioneers traveled across the Pacific Ocean in little wooden junks, and on those junks there was an altar to Tianhou. If they were lucky and landed on the shores of the California coast, they immediately gave thanks to her for safely guiding their junks to the United States. Hence, she is commonly enshrined in historic Chinese temples throughout California, in Weaverville, Oroville, and Marysville to name a few. In addition, new temples are being established in the newer ethnic Chinese communities in Los Angeles and San Francisco. How a village girl became the Empress of Heaven is also a very popular religious folktale in Chinese American communities, especially in Taiwanese American communities. She is the highest-ranking female deity in the vast and patriarchal Chinese folk pantheon. In Taiwan and Fujian, Tianhou is popularly known as Mazu/Mazupo. The goddess Tianhou/Mazu ranks second only to the Buddhist Bodhisattva Guanyin as a female object of popular devotion throughout cities and villages of China’s coastal provinces.
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The cult of Tianhou is based on the worship of a maiden named Lin Moniang (“Miss Lin, the Silent One”) who is said to have lived from 960–987 CE on the island of Meizhou in the Minnanese Putian district of Fujian province. There are numerous myths and legends surrounding her life, but the most widely held belief largely conforms to the same outline. Miss Lin was born on the 23rd day of the third lunar month in 960 CE into a pious family, variously described as humble fisherfolk or as local gentry. Her father is frequently identified as a virtuous but low-ranking Confucian official. She is described as having one to four brothers, and sometimes even as many as five sisters. The Bodhisattva Guanyin, who gave her mother a magic pill, made her conception possible. In another version, Guanyin of the South Sea (Nanhai Guanyin) visited her mother in a dream and gave her an utpala, or blue lotus, to swallow, and 14 months later she gave birth to Lin Moniang. From the first, Miss Lin demonstrated herself to be unique. As a baby she had been mute, not making any sounds or even a little cry during the first few months of her mortal life, which is why her family named her the “Silent One.” As a young girl, she was credited with several special qualities, with a wide range of special traits and skills for someone her age. By the age of five, she was said to have been inspired by an image of Guanyin, and to have been able to recite the Guanyin jing; by age eight she was credited with being well versed in the Confucian classics. By the age of ten, Miss Lin set her heart on the Buddha and began studying the sutras and the practice of meditation, which was unusual for someone her age. Hence, by eleven she was renowned for her knowledge of the principal Buddhist sutras. Her manners were impeccable, her demeanor graceful; she carried herself with dignity to the extent that no one dared to question her. So by the age of 13, after acquiring a noble and fair reputation as a young virtuous girl, to no one’s surprise she found favor among the religious figures of her village. Then one day, she was accepted as an inspired disciple under the tutelage of a religious master Xuantong who frequently visited her family. The master said to Tianhou, “You, being born with a heart full of compassion and good virtue, are destined to be the savior of the mortals.” Thereupon, he became her teacher in Taoist inner alchemy and practices, in addition to Buddhist meditation. Many years later, through her perseverance and sacrifice, Tianhou gained incredible spiritual insight and powers, which she gladly used in the service of others, out of her innate sense of compassion. Two core events occurred in her legendary life. First, by age 16, while playing with a group of friends by an old water well, she encountered a Taoist fairy or old water spirit. The friends immediately fled upon seeing the fairy except Miss Lin, who knelt down and greeted the fairy with sincere respect. Afterwards, the fairy presented her with a bronze talisman/charm and disappeared. Soon after, Miss Lin used the charm to exorcise evil spirits, heal diseases, help others
Chinese Americans: Tianhou/Mazu
whenever possible, and perform many shamanic tasks. More importantly, from that day on, she had magical powers that enabled her spirit to travel outside her body, a special talent that she would invoke many times as a mortal before her apotheosis as an immortal goddess. The second core incident occurred later on, when Miss Lin seemed to have fallen asleep or become entranced at her weaving loom. While in this state of dream (or trance), her spirit drifted far out to sea, saving her father and brother (or brothers) in a capsized boat amidst a violent storm. In a number of versions, she was unable to save one of her brothers. In other versions, it was her father she was unable to save, due to her mother calling her back to waking-life in the midst of her rescue. As a result, Lin Moniang was inconsolable. When the survivors subsequently returned to port with vivid recollections of having seen or heard her in the storm, her reputation as a miracle worker spread to neighboring villages along the Fujian coast. The process by which Miss Lin transformed from mortal girl, to goddess, to the Empress of Heaven is a seemingly straightforward one. Miss Lin’s dedication in helping her family and others (in addition to the state) in perilous situations, especially while at sea, coupled with her many magical powers, earned her the respect, support, and devotion of her early believers, and continues to do so. There are contemporary tales of the Goddess of the Sea, Empress of Heaven, safeguarding her devotees from natural disasters such as seasonal droughts, but her good works do not end there; modern tales depict her shielding her devotees from American bombs during World War II. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Pan Asian Americans: Avalokitesvara; Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Confucian Traditions; Domestic Religious Practices; Mythological and Legendary Deities; Religion; Taiwanese American Religious Temples; Taoism.
Further Reading Bosco, Joseph, and Puay-peng Ho. Temples of the Empress of Heaven. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1999. Lee, Jonathan H. X. “Contemporary Chinese-American Religious Life.” In James Miller, ed. Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2006. Lee, Jonathan H. X.“Journey to the West: Tianhou in San Francisco.” MA thesis, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, 2002. Nyitray, Vivian-Lee. “Becoming the Empress of Heaven: The Life and Bureaucratic Career of Tianhou/Mazu.” In Elisabeth Bernard and Beverly Moon, eds. Goddesses Who Rule. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
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Jars containing herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, Chinatown, San Francisco, California. (iStockPhoto.com)
Traditional Medicine and Healing From classic Chinese texts on medicine, healing, and bodily cultivations, it is clear that there had always been competing medical paradigms, and a rich pluralism of healing approaches. A common foundational theory of correspondence, which assumes that all things in the universe share one common set of principles, effectively connects the human body to the general conditions of the cosmos, and also between different dimensions of human existence. Traditionally, a person in ultimate good health is understood as having perfect balance in his or her personal microcosm, which is evidenced by alignment and synchronization with the universal macrocosm. The ultimate health is a goal rather than the norm, and can only be attained by few through physical, moral, and spiritual cultivations. Early Chinese immigrant to the United States brought homeland medicine with them. Chinese herbal shops have always been important elements of Chinatowns across the United States, and recent archeological excavation of an early Chinese
Chinese Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
settlement in San Jose, California, found an herbal shop that dated back to as early as the 1850s. To this day, even with access to a wide range of health care options, many Chinese Americans include season-appropriate herbal soups in their regular diets to prevent illnesses. Acupuncture (insertion of needles into therapeutic points on the body) is another popular modality. Initially only practiced behind closed doors in the Chinese communities, acupuncture and the traditional Chinese medical theories eventually crossed ethnic boundaries. Starting in the 1970s, traditional Chinese medicine became increasingly recognized as alternative and complementary to Western biomedicine, first by state legislatures, health insurance companies, biomedical health care providers and institutions, and finally by the National Institute of Health. Today, most states require three to four years of training in accredited professional programs and national or state certification or license to legally practice acupuncture. A licensed acupuncturist can use many other Chinese medical modalities, such as moxibustion (point heat treatment with mugwort), cupping, and other manual techniques. About half of the licensed practitioners of Chinese medicine in the United States are not Chinese ethnics, although Chinese Americans still predominantly prefer practitioners who are ethnically Chinese. Qigong healing and cultivation are also popular in the Chinese American community. Exercises to cultivate the bodily qi (or chi, usually translated as “vital energy”) improve the practitioner’s own state of physical and emotional health, and with some training, might also be able to heal others. There are many styles of qigong, with a wide range of techniques for cultivation and healing. Lastly, Taoist and folk ritual healings are occasionally utilized when other medical treatments fail. Ritual healings are usually not advertised commercially, and are only found through personal connections. Ritual healers often have other day jobs, and may or may not demand fees for their services. These moonlighting ritualists treat extremely complicated or terminal illnesses that are believed to be caused by karmic entanglement or spirit possession. Common strategies in this category range from ceremonial rituals, to healing while channeling deities, to the use of magical medicine and blessed talismans. —Emily S. Wu
Further Reading Barnes, Linda L. “American Acupuncture and Efficacy: Meanings and Their Points of Insertion.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 19(3) (2005): 239. Zhan, Mei. “Does It Take a Miracle? Negotiating Knowledges, Identities and Communities of Traditional Chinese Medicine.” Cultural Anthropology 16(4) (2001): 453–80.
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Chinese Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Since a large proportion of Chinese Americans are foreign-born, about 83 percent speak a language other than English at home. Among various Chinese dialects, Cantonese has been the most widely spoken. Historically, Chinese American communities were settled primarily by Cantonese-speaking immigrants from southern China, and Cantonese were thus typically the lingua franca of these communities. More recently, immigrants from both Mainland China and Taiwan flow into U.S., boosting the population of Mandarin speakers. As a result, Mandarin is increasingly one of the main languages among Chinese Americans. In New York City, for example, although Mandarin is spoken as a native language among only 10 percent of Chinese speakers, it is used as a secondary dialect among the greatest number of them and is on its way to replacing Cantonese as their lingua franca. In addition, the immigration from Fujian is creating an increasingly large number of Min speakers. Wu Chinese, a Chinese language previously unheard of in the United States, is now spoken by a minority of recent Chinese immigrants, who hail from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. For Chinese Americans who grow up in U.S., parents also try to teach their children Chinese. Parents’ intention to keep the heritage language is based on a variety of reasons: pride in Chinese cultural ancestry, desire for easy communication within family and relatives in China, and the perception that Chinese will be a very useful language as China’s economic strength increases. In Chinese American families with first-generation immigrants, children usually need to help parents to do translation between Chinese and English. These children are known as language brokers. Research suggests that children of immigrants’ perceptions of the language brokering experience vary greatly—from feeling a sense of efficacy (e.g., feeling proud, helpful, and useful) to feeling a sense of burden (e.g., feeling embarrassed, burdened, and uncomfortable) as language brokers. Although some children are able to learn or maintain their Chinese language through participating in cultural activities outside school, many other children gradually lose their native language or never become fluent in their parents’ native tongue. Especially when children or adults lose their native language, it is often the words that describe more complicated thoughts and emotions that are the first to go. The more meaningful and deeper personal communication is becoming endangered, and thus, alienation appears to occur between those who maintain fluency in the native language and those who do not. The manners of Chinese American vary with their culture values. Currently, there are mainly three types of values: traditional Chinese values, bicultural values, and Americanized values. Families with traditional Chinese values are mostly from an agricultural background, and immigrated at old age. Some of them live in Chinatowns with little or no contact with American society. Traditional Chinese value
Chinese Americans: Vernacular Overseas Chinese Architecture
emphasize harmonious interpersonal relationships, interdependence, and mutual obligation or loyalty for achieving a state of peaceful coexistence with family and others. In behaviors, they adopt more collaborative interaction, and avoid being aggressive. Families with bicultural values are usually middle or upper class, with parents who are professional, English-speaking, and quite Westernized like their children. They are able to integrate Chinese and American cultures without much confusion. Families with American values consist of parents and children who are all born and raised in the United States. Some of these families have been built up by interracial marriages. English is their communication language at home. They tend to adopt a much more individualistic, competitive, and egalitarian manner. —Hui Huang
Further Reading Hsu, Francis L. K. The Challenge of the American Dream: The Chinese in the United States. New York: Wadsworth, 1971. MacCallum, Robert, and James Austin. “Applications of Structural Equation Modeling in Psychological Research.” Annual Review of Psychology 51 (2000): 201–26. Tse, Lucy. “Language Brokering among Latino Adolescents: Prevalence, Attitudes, and School Performance.” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 17 (1995): 180–93.
Vernacular Overseas Chinese Architecture Chinese architectural heritage and practice dates at least as far into history as the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), and was formalized during the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE) in a manual for master craftsmen. Exterior form gives little information about the purpose or function of the basic Chinese nonresidential building. It may be a temple of the Buddhist, Taoist, or Confucian traditions, or more commonly, a combination of the three. The structure could also be a clan or family temple; a scholar’s refuge; an official’s yamun (equivalent to an office building); or a village study hall. Roof ridges, coping ends, and gable walls are often decorated as well. Decorative motifs reflected various folktales, customs, and symbolism. Support of the very heavy roof is borne on vertical round or squared wooden (usually cedar) posts set on a stone base. A proportioned bay or space between these columns is topped with connecting beams. Interior transverse beams of descending size are held up by paired queenposts, terminating with a single king post under the roof ridge. Wood parts are often rounded, and may be plain or decorated with carvings and painted designs. They are held together with intricate joinery, without the use of nails or other hardware. Tight-fitting wood elements contributed to earthquake resistance. Beams support purlins and stringers upon which the clay tiles are hung or laid. Support and structure of the roof are clearly
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visible from the interior, which is usually one large open space. Or non-weightbearing walls or dividers were built of fine-grained grey fired brick, usually to define three smaller rooms or altar spaces. Large overhanging eaves are supported by the dou gung bracket. The notched column top (dou) supports beams (gung) set at right angles. This intricate system of cantilevered beams of increasing length is usually most visible at the corners as they support the familiar upturned curved swallowtail roof endings. In far smaller number are buildings using weight-bearing brick end walls, where beams of a gabled roof are set directly into the masonry. These tile-topped walls often have unique decorated tops, which are determined by symbolism, region, or clan origin. These temples, as well as family homes, are laid out to surround one or more open air courtyards. Bayed walls and windows face the inner courtyard, but there are no window openings in the brick wall that faces the street. Symbolic ornamentation— painted, bas relief stucco, or carved—depict floral, animal, or legendary humans and scenes, and can be set onto beams, roof ridges, walls, and interior screens. These traditions are a fundamental part of Chinese culture, and familiar to the migrant Chinese. There are three distinct phases in the application of these traditions as used in overseas Chinese communities—an initial immigrant phase, a second eclectic Chinatown period, and the recent practice of authentic reproduction.
Immigrant Architecture The early Chinese immigrants only knew about the regional variation of this heritage in his own province, usually Kwantung (Guangdong) or Fukien (Fujian). The vast majority of first-generation immigrants were peasant class who came as laborers and rarely understood the finer points of their architectural folk heritage. First-generation sojourners were concerned primarily with housing, and used dormitory or western-style wood-framed boardinghouses. Most never brought a wife or family. Men from the same village or clan in China worked together in the mines, gold fields, or along the railroads. When they determined to form a stable community, the construction of a temple or clan hall was of top priority. Whether they pooled their collective knowledge of their homeland vernacular building techniques or commissioned a master craftsman or carpenter from China, temples were built according to the time-tested provincial formula, but with local construction materials and techniques. Surviving examples show an imitation of Chinese floor plans, gable walls, and shingled tile roofs. It was as close as the migrants and their children could manage, knowing that this building was their community identity, even though built of pine, lath-and-plaster, or common brick.
Chinese Americans: Vernacular Overseas Chinese Architecture
Very few houses or commercial buildings were constructed with any Chinese design elements.
Eclectic or “Chinatown” Architecture Second- and third-generation Chinese became more urban, but were usually confined to a specific district within a city. There they built commercial shophouses, with a shopfront on the street level and living quarters either behind or above the business, whether it be a laundry, restaurant, grocery, or professional offices. These buildings were an eclectic mixture of early 20th century western building structures ornamented with some element from their traditional clan or village heritage—typically a pseudo roof edge with glazed tiles set in the Chinese pattern, with a swallowtail at the end. Or perhaps a Chinese window shape such as an octagon or round “moongate.” Glazed ceramic roof tiles and sculptural floral or animal roof parts were imported from the kilns at Shek wan (Shiwan). These handmade clay figurines of folk heroes often depicted tales from Cantonese opera. Stuccoed ornaments might be attached to iron-beamed brick office blocks. Any building of more than two stories should be considered nonauthentic, yet may have a Chinese appearance due to carved or painted signboards with large characters, Chinese-style window framing, shape, or lattice-work; or have a facade with a motif resembling dou gung bracketing. As the Chinese became more experienced at business, they realized the commercial potential of creating a “destination” Chinatown business district, identifiable through these architectural motifs attached to commercial buildings constructed with local methods and materials, meeting current building codes. Although there are several well-established Chinatowns around the world, that of San Francisco is architecturally noteworthy. It was intentionally and specifically rebuilt from the ruins of the 1906 earthquake, established in a specific area of the grid street pattern, and featured three- and four-storied shophouses and commercial blocks. These were fronted with a bewildering assembly of Chinese and late Victorian Italianate motifs in gilded wood, plaster, and paint. As architects became less familiar with the southern Chinese styles of the original Chinese settlers, more motifs from the Imperial or Northern style were also used, especially double roofing and the Northern style of bracketing. Construction continued to become ever more elaborate and even whimsical until the financial collapse of the early 1930s. To a lesser degree, this phenomenon appeared in many small towns and cities to identify a Chinese business well into the 1960s.
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Authentic Architecture With improved relations between China and much of the Western world has come a renewed interest in all things Chinese. Especially since the time of Deng Xiao Peng, scholarly cooperation and political relationships have led to joint projects, ventures, and sister city partnerships. Full-scale examples of researched authentic temples and gardens have appeared in several western cities. The academic and architectural study of classic Ming dynasty buildings has inspired the funding and construction of genuine replicas. These new structures look like the originals as much as possible, although they may be constructed of earthquake-resistant metal reinforcements, and contain other masked modifications to satisfy contemporary building codes. —David G. Kohl
Further Reading Knapp, Ronald. China’s Traditional Rural Architecture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986. Knapp, Ronald. China’s Vernacular Architecture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989. Kohl, David. Chinese Architecture in the Straits Settlements. Kuala Lumpur: Heinemann, 1986. Williams, C. A. S. Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs. Reprint ed. New York: Dover, 1976.
Yin and Yang One of the most widely recognized symbols of Chinese thought is the taiji (Great Extreme or Ultimate Principle), Taoist image of a circle divided into two swirling semicircular shapes equally composed of black and white parts. The symbol, most likely created during China’s medieval period but deriving from the philosophical traditions of ancient China, visually represents an interdependent cosmological relationship at work between two primary, opposing forces of the world known as “yin” and “yang.” According to Chinese thought, these two forces are responsible for the creation of all elements in the world. The philosophy of yin and yang is complex and continues to permeate many levels of Chinese culture today. In the United States, cultural practices related to this yin-yang philosophy are also maintained within the Chinese American community. The Chinese characters for “yin” and “yang” originally referred to the two different sides of a hill. According to ancient Chinese tradition, a hill could exist in a state of either shade (yin) or sun (yang), depending on the changing position of the sun in the sky. As is manifest in the black and white shapes of the taiji symbol, early references to yin and yang describe a binary system in which two elements
Chinese Americans: Yin and Yang
constantly transform or become one another. In the Chinese classic the I Ching, or Book of Changes, which significantly predates the creation of the taiji image and is thought to have originated in writings of the third millennium BCE, yin and yang appear as sets of lines, known as hexagrams. With broken lines representative of yin and solid lines representative of yang, the six lines of each hexagram in the I Ching represent a changing situation in the world. The I Ching’s hexagrams form a complex system of meanings, all of which are based on the two opposing yet complementary forces of yin and yang. Influential in various religious traditions in China, such as Taoism and Confucianism, the I Ching has also been utilized in Chinese American and other Chinese diasporic contexts. Using the I Ching and other theories of yin and yang, Chinese American culture has incorporated traditional Chinese thought into its manner of approaching a variety of cultural practices within the United States. In medicine, for example, many Chinese Americans have devised alternative techniques to those found in standard Western medicine in the treatment of illness. Colleges and schools in America that are devoted to an understanding of Chinese medicine now provide education to a diverse American community, teaching how yin and yang circulate within the human body and the world. Similarly, contemporary Chinese American authors such as Grace Young have written extensively about Chinese food, explaining the importance of yin and yang in this context. Yang details the categories of yin, or “cold,” foods, and yang, or “hot,” foods, describing how a proper diet depends on balance between the two. Highly influential in areas of acupuncture, architecture, and martial arts, theories of yin and yang have become integral to the way that many Chinese Americans live their lives within the broader mainstream culture of the United States. —Anna M. Hennessey
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Further Reading Barnes, Linda L., and Susan Starr Sered. Religion and Healing in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Barrow, Terence, and Charles Alfred Speed Williams. Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs: A Comprehensive Handbook on Symbolism in Chinese Art Through the Ages. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 2006. Feng, Charles. “Merging Chinese Traditional Medicine into the American Health System.” Journal of Young Investigators 6 (2002), http://www.jyi.org. Liu, Haiming, “The Resilience of Ethnic Culture: Chinese Herbalists in the American Medical Profession.” Journal of Asian American Studies 1(2) (June 1998): 173–91. Miller, James. Daoism: A Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications, 2003. Robinet, Isabelle. Taoism: Growth of a Religion. Trans. Phyllis Brooks. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997. Young, Grace. The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Filipino Americans History, People, and Culture In the United States, Filipino Americans are the second largest Asian American group. The 2007 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey reported that 3.1 million Americans are of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans come from diverse cultural backgrounds that encompass different ethnicities, religions, socioeconomic classes, and professions. While some Filipinos immigrated to the United States due to political reasons, others came for better economic opportunities. Many Filipino Americans today live in California, Illinois, New York, Nevada, and Hawaii, but they have also found home in other parts of the United States, even in the South. As Filipino Americans continue to grow in numbers in the United States, different Filipino American communities have emerged that help maintain Filipino traditions and practices. While Filipino Americans maintain traditions and practices from the Philippines, most adapt well to U.S. culture.
History: Filipino Diaspora in the United States In 1587, the earliest recorded Filipino presence was when mariners under Spanish command landed in Morro Bay, California. Permanent Filipino settlers in the United States arrived in the 1800s because they wanted to escape from Spanish galleons for being forced to perform arduous duties. Their escape resulted in settlements primarily in Louisiana. In 1883, a Harper’s Weekly journalist reported that Filipino fishermen were living in the bayous of Louisiana. When the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain in 1898, Filipinos started to arrive in the continental U.S. and Hawaii to work or go to school. While virtually all Filipinos intended to return to the Philippines, many of them decided to stay permanently in the United States due to the significant need for agriculture laborers. At the time, since the Philippines became a colony of the United States, it was feasible for Filipinos to immigrate to the United States to fill the need for agriculture laborers, especially for sugar, tobacco, and coffee plantations. In particular, the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association (HSPA)
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recruited Filipinos to work as sugar plantation workers, which resulted in early mass migration of Filipinos as early as 1906 to work at these jobs, which were previously dominated by Japanese immigrants. By 1932, approximately 70 percent of sugar plantation workers were comprised of Filipino immigrants. Between 1909 and 1934, the HSPA imported 118,556 Filipino workers (mostly men and a few women and children who came from northern Luzon province in the Philippines) into Hawaii. When most of these Filipino workers decided to stay in Hawaii, despite horrible working conditions and poor wages, they established communities all over Hawaii. Before World War II, there were more Filipinos settling in Hawaii than in the continental U.S. By the 1940s, many of the Filipinos in Hawaii migrated to the mainland U.S. working in agriculture in the Pacific Coast as seasonal workers. As American colonial educational administrators were developing a public school system in the Philippines, they also encouraged a select few Filipinos to study in the United States as a way to bind “current and future Filipino leaders to the American colonial administration” (Posadas 1999, 16). So, unlike Filipinos who immigrated to Hawaii as plantation workers, most Filipino Americans who came to the U.S. mainland were students. While many Filipino immigrants who came to study in the United States were able to complete their studies successfully, they faced discrimination as they searched for job opportunities. During the 1930s, state legislatures from California, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and other states passed statutes that would prevent interracial marriage between “white” and “Mongolian” people. Filipinos also faced other forms of discrimination in the United States before World War II. Despite the fact that Filipinos could migrate anywhere in the United States, they were not allowed to become U.S. citizens. Therefore, even if Filipino immigrants had lived in the United States for many years and had U.S.-born children, they were not eligible to become naturalized citizens. In 1934, the Tydings-McDuffie Act restricted immigration from the Philippines with a set quota of 50 people per year. When the Philippines became independent from the United States in 1946, like other Asians, they were not permitted entry into the United States, although Hawaiian sugar planters could allow Filipinos to enter the islands if they could demonstrate a need for such labor. The outbreak of World War II lessened the hostility against Filipinos. For instance, the Selective Service allowed Filipinos to serve in the U.S. Army even though they were not citizens. On July 2, 1946, the Luce-Celler Bill permitted the naturalization of all remaining Filipinos in the United States. A year later, 10,764 Filipinos became citizens. In 1952, the McCarran-Walter Act provided family reunification to Filipinos who are U.S. citizens (native born or naturalized) even beyond the quota of 100 Filipinos who were allowed entry into the United States every year. Perhaps the major change to Filipino immigration came in 1965 with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which eliminated national origins
Filipino Americans: History, People, and Culture
quotas, relieved occupational shortages (specifically health care professionals), and achieved family reunification. Ten years after the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, more than 230,000 Filipinos immigrated to the United States, which doubled the 1960 population. In the years after the enactment of the Immigration Act of 1990, Filipino immigrants continued to come to the United States mainly for family-sponsored and employment-based categories, making them the second-largest immigrant group after the Mexicans.
Filipino Americans: Fragmented Identities in the United States Filipino Americans today live in different parts of the United States. While one out of every four live in Southern California, others live in metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Seattle, Washington, DC., and Hawaii. For Filipino Americans who were born and raised in the Philippines, many have major ties or loyalties to particular regions, provinces, and towns. Many Filipino Americans tend to carry their affiliations in the Philippines to their new home in the United States, establishing “Little Manilas” in major U.S. cities. The fact that they come from diverse cultural backgrounds makes it difficult to categorize all Filipino Americans as the same since they have multiple identities, such as having Spanish, American, and/or Chinese ancestry. They also have diverse names, languages, religions, and socioeconomic status. Because of 300 years of Spanish colonial rule, for instance, many Filipino Americans have Spanish surnames (e.g., Lopez). It is typical for some Filipino Americans to be mixed with Spanish ancestry. The U.S. colonization of the Philippines and the United States’ continued presence in the Philippines also inspired Anglicized naming practices. Therefore, many Filipino Americans have first and middle names that are common in Western countries like the United States. In addition to Spanish and American influences, the Chinese also made an impact on Filipino American naming practices. As the Chinese immigrated to the Philippines for trading since the 1500s, a lot of Filipino Americans today also have Chinese ethnic background. Thus, a lot of Chinese Filipino Americans have Chinese and/or Anglicized names mixed with their Chinese or Filipino surnames; for example, “John Patrick Reyes Chua.” While there are different cultural influences in Filipino Americans’ naming practices, many of them have names considered indigenous to Filipino culture (e.g., Macapagal, the maiden name of the current Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo). As for languages spoken, many Filipino Americans are bilingual; they normally speak Tagalog or another Filipino dialect and English. Even though some Filipino Americans were born and raised in the Philippines, they too grew up bilingual since the educational system in the Philippines typically conducts instruction in Tagalog and English. Therefore, unlike other immigrants who have to learn
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English as a second language, many Filipinos can acculturate well into U.S. society. However, due to a lack of formal education, some Filipinos have to become proficient in the English language when they arrive in the United States. Ethnic Chinese can also speak the Minnan or Fujian dialect in addition to Tagalog and English. Since the Philippines was colonized by Spain, Filipino Americans in general can speak or understand a little bit of Spanish, too. The Spanish colonization of the Philippines also resulted in the majority of Filipino Americans becoming Roman Catholic or Christian, although some of them who are ethnic Chinese tend to be Buddhist or Taoist. Other Filipino Americans, especially those who grew up in the southern province of the Philippines, tend to be Muslim. Like other cultures, there are also Filipino Americans who are atheist and agnostic. When it comes to class, most Filipino Americans tend to fall under the middleclass category perhaps because they have some of the highest educational attainment rates in the United States. For example, 90.8 percent of all Filipino Americans over the age 25 have a high school degree and 47.9 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher, figures comparable to other Asian American groups. Because of their diverse educational levels, many Filipino Americans enter different professions, especially those that have shortages in the United States, such as education, health care, and information technology. While Filipino Americans have done well educationally and professionally, they have faced discrimination in the United States. For instance, World War II Filipino veterans who served in the U.S. military were long denied benefits for their service. It was not until 2009 that those who served as soldiers or guerrilla members recognized by the United States were eligible to receive benefits. Another example of discrimination can be seen in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in the United States, which resulted in the scrutiny of Filipino Americans for having possible links to the Philippine extremist Islamic group Abu Sayyaf.
Filipino American Cultures: Traditions and Practices in Diaspora For centuries, Filipino Americans have made the United States their new home. They have managed to maintain their Filipino culture while adjusting and adapting to the U.S. way of life. Like many other Asian American families, Filipino American families tend to value collectivism, which places higher priority on the family members’ needs as opposed to individual needs. However, many Filipino American families today are perhaps more individualistic by nature due to the influence of U.S. culture. Nevertheless, combining both collectivistic and individualistic cultural influences, Filipino American families in general are still tight knit, tending to live together and to do a lot of things together.
Filipino Americans: History, People, and Culture
Because Filipino Americans are generally sociable, they are fond of celebrating Filipino cultural traditions and practices. For example, Filipino Americans like to celebrate birthdays, graduations, baptisms, noche buena (Christmas Eve dinner), and other major holidays and celebrations. With these festivities, Filipino Americans usually have major feasts with family and friends. Typical foods served during holidays and cultural celebrations are influenced by Spanish, Chinese, Malay, and other ethnic foods: adobo (stewed beef, pork, or chicken), lumpia (egg rolls), pancit (noodles), lechon (roasted pig), and grilled fish. In addition to family celebrations of different holidays, Filipino Americans also celebrate their culture in street fairs and festivals, such as during the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May and the Philippine Declaration of Independence in June in different Filipino American communities. Many Filipino American festivities also involve traditional dances, such as tinikling (bamboo dance) and singkil (Muslim Filipino court dance). Filipino American youth also tend to enjoy hip-hop and other contemporary American music. As Filipino Americans continue to mark their presence in the U.S. culture, they have made tremendous impact in uniting Filipino Americans with the creation of Filipino American media. For example, there have been numerous Filipino American newspapers available in print in different U.S. metropolitan areas. These newspapers and other print and online media address different issues that are of interest to the Filipino American community: news in the Philippines, Filipino and Filipino American celebrities, immigration topics, Filipino American local festivities, foods, among other topics. Some publications also discuss issues of Filipino American identity. Because of globalization, immigration, and diaspora, Filipino Americans have different cultural histories that could make it even harder to define who and what constitutes “Filipino American.” In particular, for those Filipino Americans who live in diaspora, their identities will only continue to become fragmented and fluid, which will have an impact in redefining Filipino America in the years to come. —Richie Neil Hao
Further Reading Bankston, III, Carl L. “Filipino Americans.” In Pyong Gap Min, ed. Asian Americans: Contemporary Trends and Issues. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2006. Bonus, Rick. Locating Filipino Americans: Ethnicity and the Cultural Politics of Space. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000. Espiritu, Yen Le. Filipino American Lives. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995. Posadas, Barbara M. The Filipino Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. Vergara, Jr., Benito M. Pinoy Capital: The Filipino Nation in Daly City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.
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Web Site Maze, Rick. Senate Puts Filipino Vet Pensions in Stimulus [Online, January 29, 2009]. Army Times Web Site http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/01/military_filipinoscouts _stimulus_012909w/.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit In general, Filipino Americans tend to show a great deal of deference and respect for elders, especially departed grand/parents and ancient cultural and national heroes and heroines, as well as magical and mythological figures and entities in their folklore. They have a long and proud history of migration to the Americas. Some Filipino American settlements, such as the historic Filipino fishing community in Louisiana, date back to the early Spanish colonial period, with its Galleon Trade links that interconnected and brought together the Philippines and Mexico. After the founding of the United States, which colonized the Philippines (1898–1946), however, many more Filipinos have to come to work and make their homes in the United States. Many, even those who are practicing Catholics, Protestants, or Muslims, perform ritual offerings, in various religious guises, for the peaceful repose of departed souls and to appease restless ghosts who might otherwise hover to haunt the living. It is common for Catholic Filipino Americans to celebrate the feast days of patron saints, who often may represent distant ancestral villages, by holding lavish fiestas that bring together family and friends. On All Souls Day, or the Day of the Dead (November 1 and 2), they feast at burial sites of departed loved ones, offering them the choicest foods and delicacies. These ritual ceremonies are similar to those of Chinese Filipinos/Chinese Filipino Americans who are Buddhist and Confucian and practice ancestral veneration, accordingly. Buddhism and Confucianism dictate that a soul becomes a ghost if not properly taken care of by the living. The relationship between the living and the dead is close and mutual. Care for the dead directly translates into protection, health, and harmony for the living. Conversely, the dead bring misfortune, illness, and disharmony to the living who do not take care of their dead properly. Chinese Filipino American families celebrate the Ghost Festival on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month, and Qing Ming Festival, or “Clear and Bright Festival.” The Ghost Festival provides rituals and offerings for all dead, while Qing Ming is only for one’s immediate ancestors. Family travel home and visit the gravesite together. They make offerings of foods and share a meal at the gravesite, telling stories of the dead. This provides the younger folks an occasion to learn about their ancestors through oral histories and to build family solidarity. In addition, there are restless and unappeased spirits (anitos) of deceased ancestors and nature spirits (diwatas) afloat in Filipino America. Having migrated to the
Filipino Americans: Arts and Crafts
United States from Southeast Asia, many Filipino Americans continue to share cultural ties with ancient India and China. For example, some of their ancient mythological spirits and deities bear resemblance to Hindu gods and goddesses such as Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity, referred to in the Philippines as Lakambini, which translates as noble princess of honor and fame. Lakampati or Lakan Bacor, one of the Filipino names for the guardian spirit watching over agricultural fertility, plays the same role in village life as the gentle but fierce fighting dragon-like Barong of ritual Balinese theater, who defeats Rangda, the Hindu queen of witches and harbinger of sickness and famine. Her Filipino shape-shifting sisters, colloquially referred to as Aswangs, are halfheaded female viscera suckers, with bulging eyes and lolling tongues, who fly by night searching for victims, especially pregnant mothers and infants, who they followed to Filipino America, where Filipinos continue to wear sacred amulets and make ritual offerings and prayers to ward them off. Filipino Americans come from ethnically and linguistically diverse cultural backgrounds. Many are devout Christians, having been indoctrinated long ago by Spanish Catholicism or American Protestantism; others, especially from Mindanao in the southern Philippines, are fervent practitioners of the Islamic faith. Still, they all incorporate within their respective religious orientations a deeper connection to the ancient Filipino belief system that respects nature. —Kathleen M. Nadeau
Further Reading Menez, Herminia. Explorations in Philippine Folklore. Manila: Ateneo de Manila Press, 1996. Nadeau, Kathleen. “Gender and Vampires: Aswangs in Southeast Asia” In Marilen Abesamis and Josefa Francisco, eds. Quilted Sightings: A Women and Gender Studies Reader. Quezon City: Women and Gender Institute, Miriam College, 2006, 53–66. Ramos, Maximo D. The Aswang Complex in Philippine Folklore. Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House, 1990.
Arts and Crafts Folk arts and crafts of Filipino America have primarily developed as a method to continue folk art traditions and celebrations of the Philippines. At the turn of the 20th century, early Filipino immigrants in Hawaii and the United States formed community associations to protect and promote their cultural interests and improve relations between non-Filipinos and Filipinos. Events sponsored by Filipino community clubs provided an outlet for folk artists and crafters to practice their diverse arts in a supportive setting.
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Cultural events, or fiestas, feature participants dressing in elaborate traditional costumes from different regions of the Philippines as well as different eras of Philippine history. Folk crafters specializing in working with textiles sew and embellish clothing worn by participants and performers. Examples include clothing favored by upper-class Filipinos during the Spanish occupation of the archipelago such as Maria Clara dresses worn by women and girls, complete with long skirts, pina cloth blouses with bell-shaped sleeves, and embroidered shawls. Men wear barong tagalog shirts made of embroidered pina cloth and dark pants. Mestiza dresses with butterfly-wing shaped sleeves and adorned with elaborate beadwork are often crafted in addition to clothing associated with peasant workers of 17th- and 18th-century Philippines. Clothing associated with indigenous groups such as the Bontoc and Ifugao, as well as clothing worn by the Moro tribes of the southern Philippines are often crafted for performance purposes. Jewelry fashioned with beads, carved from wood, and formed with metals such as gold and silver can also be found at these events. In addition to folk dancing, folk singers perform traditional ballads accompanied by guitarists and accordion players, and events are made more festive with the inclusion of banners, paper and fresh floral arrangements, and other decorations meant to evoke the atmosphere found in traditional festivals in the Philippines. Foods such as pancit, adobo, lumpia, bibinka, and lechon are often prepared and served buffet-style in a fashion reminiscent of Filipino festivals, and may appear with other displays of common fruits and vegetables presented on wooden platters carved in typical Filipino style. Woodcarvers use teak, cedar, and other woods common in the United States to replicate the containers and utensils often found in Filipino homes in previous centuries. Containers can be simple with rounded corners and thick sides, or elaborate, depicting scenes from daily Filipino life like rice planting and harvesting, folk dancing, or bahay kubo, nipa hut dwellings built on stilts. In recent years, increased interest in the indigenous practices of lesser-known Philippine tribes has resulted in the incorporation of indigenous designs into crafted objects. Babayin and other Filipino writing systems are often employed to decorate contemporary jewelry and are featured in tattoo designs. Weaving patterns and colors favored by Philippine tribes are used to decorate musical instruments, purses and bags, hair ornaments and t-shirts, and even bumper stickers. In addition, Filipino Americans of mixed heritage will often combine tribal and urban designs with designs from Europe, Native America, Black America, and other ethnic cultures to create folk art unique to their experience. Folk craft skills are often shared with children at Filipino American fiestas, special school events, and workshops at Filipino community centers. At Christmastime, children are taught a simple method of creating parol lanterns out of wood and tissue paper. Chimes made of string and shells are another easy project for
Filipino Americans: Balikbayan Boxes
children that could be given as gifts. Older children can be taught weaving, wood carving, painting, and the making of toys such as yo-yo’s and sipa balls. Skills learned at these events are easily transferred to more complicated craft projects such as costuming and event decoration. —Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor
Further Reading Cordova, Dorothy. Filipinos in Puget Sound. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2009. Cordova, Fred. Filipinos: Forgotten Asian Americans. Demonstration Project for Asian Americans, 1983.
Web Site Filipino American National Historic Society: http://www.fanhs-national.org/.
Balikbayan Boxes Balikbayan boxes are cardboard containers used by Filipinos in the diaspora for transporting in-kind remittances to the Philippines. This material practice in Filipino American daily life also functions to sustain cultural, social, and spiritual ties among the diasporic community. In this way, balikbayan boxes are both literal and symbolic transmitters of Filipino folklore. Derived from the Tagalog words for “return” (balik) and “home” (bayan), balikbayan refers to a Filipino who returns to the Philippines, temporarily or permanently, after living abroad. As such, balikbayan boxes may enter the Philippines on the heels of balikbayans themselves, whether as checked-in airplane baggage or, in the common case of Filipino seafarers, as ship cargo. More frequently, however, balikbayan boxes are sent “back home” to the Philippines from a location overseas. Some scholars interpret the practice of sending a balikbayan box as a synecdochical act of homecoming, whereby donors, in lieu of their physical presence, bestow goods on loved ones. Contents, the frequency of remitting a balikbayan box, and for what occasion, if any, vary according to socioeconomic circumstances as well as personal attitudes toward remittances on both sides. The most commonly shipped items are everyday provisions such as canned goods and nonperishable foods, new and used clothes and shoes, toiletries and medicine, linens, electronics, and school supplies. Particularly popular are brands that have become synonymous with Western quality (Nike and Nestle´, for instance) even if the goods are actually mass-manufactured elsewhere. The canned meat product Spam is often cited by Filipinos as a classic balikbayan box item.
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Balikbayan boxes prove more convenient and economical than traditional mailing systems. Whether by surface or air, sending is kept at a low-cost freight rate, regardless of a box’s weight, value, or ultimate destination within the Philippines. Measuring between three and six cubic feet, the box is constructed from a strong corrugated fiberboard usually preprinted with the name and logo of a select shipping company. Most balikbayan box shippers offer door-to-door service that sees a parcel from its sender’s home to its recipient’s hands. Paperwork rarely requires more than an inventory list and a bill of lading. Commercialized balikbayan box sending first took off in the United States during the 1980s. Johnny Air Cargo in New York and Forex Cargo in Washington, DC., are just two of the numerous mom-and-pop-scale immigrant enterprises that have grown into transnational networks of freight forwarders, shippers, distributors, and money transfer agencies. Today balikbayan box sending is practiced the world over, especially in cities with sizable communities of overseas Filipino workers. The systematic dispatching of in-kind remittances is not unique to Filipinos, though no other population seems to rival the level of industrialization seen in the Philippine diaspora. Balikbayan box sending follows a custom of gift giving that is integral to Filipino culture, with its emphasis on nurturing family ties and providing for the less fortunate. While most senders and recipients interpret the box as a symbol of generosity, some critics deride the custom. This reading sees balikbayans and their boxes as symptomatic of a postcolonial mentality, one that imports a Western lifestyle at the expense of exporting and exploiting the homeland’s most valuable resource: Filipino citizens. Popular culture has touched on such issues in Pinoy rock band the Eraserheads’ song “Balikbayan Box,” Filipino-American comedian Rex Navarette’s skit “Death of a Manila Folder,” and Filipino director Mes de Guzman’s film Balikbayan Box. —Karina Hof See also: Filipino Americans: Igorot Balikbayans.
Further Reading Alburo, Jade. “Boxed In or Out? Balikbayan Boxes as Metaphors for Filipino American (Dis)Location.” Ethnologies 27(2) (2005): 137–57. Okamura, Jonathan Y. “Transnational Migration and the Global Filipino Diaspora.” JCAS Symposium Series 10 (2000): 107–25. Rafael, Vicente L. “ ‘Your Grief Is Our Gossip.’ ” In White Love and Other Events in Filipino History. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000. Tabios, Eileen R. “A Long Distance Love.” In Post Bling Bling. Chicago: Moria, 2005.
Filipino Americans: Beauty Pageants
Beauty Pageants Filipino American beauty pageants are events that publicly display Filipino participants, to be judged on physical beauty and characteristics such as talent, poise, and service to community. If participants meet or exceed judges’ criteria, they are designated “beauty queens,” awarded crowns and prizes, and bestowed with titles that identify them as official representatives of a Filipino or Filipino American organization or region. Pageants are usually competitions between female contestants, organized by Filipino American associations that take place in halls or ballrooms. Pageant events often include postceremony activities, such as ballroom dancing, karaoke, and/or raffles. Fraternal organizations, or lodges, organized the earliest Filipino American beauty pageants in the 1920s. These were probably influenced by Philippine Catholic festivals, but they were truly American inventions. Lodges organized and sponsored beauty contests to gather and entertain Filipino Americans, and to raise money for their groups, and/or particular causes (through ticket sales to audience members). Along with dances, pageants were the primary source of revenue for lodges, and eagerly anticipated social events in Filipino American communities. Beauty pageants remain popular among Filipino Americans today, and have since been exported to the Philippines, where they have become a national obsession. Today, pageants are highlights of many Philippine barrio fiestas (town celebrations), and delegates to international competitions like Miss Universe are considered celebrities and national heroes. In the United States, most pageants have remained local endeavors, employed by Filipino American associations to build community, and fund-raise for organizational projects and charities. Nearly all pageants assemble large audiences to watch contestants display their bodies (in gowns and swimsuits), respond to judges’ questions, and perform a talent. Queens are selected by judges, who are often respected members of the community. Although pageants are ostensibly appearance and talent competitions, winners are usually contestants whose sponsors raised the most money through ticket sales. Funds from ticket sales are primarily used for subsidizing other association activities, and supporting organizations that benefit U.S. and Philippine Filipinos. During her “reign,” a queen is obliged to serve as her pageant organizers’ ambassador at local community events (including other pageants), and sometimes in the Philippines. Among non-Filipinos, queens are expected to represent Filipinos’ success and contributions in the United States. Filipino American pageants have been subject to criticism from those who argue that such events objectify women, reproduce colonial mentalities, and promote
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unhealthy preoccupations with appearance and performing hegemonic femininity, rather than development of one’s personality, intelligence, and abilities. At the same time, on rare occasions, pageants have been used to demand attention to wider political concerns. For example, during a 1971 San Diego pageant, three contestants used the question-and-answer period to urge community members to address poverty, inequality, the Vietnam War, and anti-Filipino discrimination in the United States. This inspired leaders of various community associations to form an organization to undertake such issues. Similarly, some United States and Philippine gay men have reappropriated pageants as public spaces for claiming and celebrating their freedom of expression, in spite of opposition by others in the community. —Evelyn I. Rodriquez See also: Filipino Americans: Beauty Standards.
Further Reading Bonus, Rick. “Palengke Politics and Beauty Pageants in Filipino Community Centers.” In Locating Filipino Americas: Ethnicity and the Cultural Politics of Space. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000. Manalansan IV, Martin F. “ ‘To Play With the World’: The Pageantry of Identities.” In Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003. McFerson, Hazel M. “Filipino Identity and Self-Image in Historical Perspective.” In Hazel M. McFerson, ed. Mixed Blessing: The Impact of the American Colonial Experience on Politics and Society in the Philippines. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002. Root, Maria P. P. “Contemporary Mixed Race Filipino Americans: Fighting Colonized Identities.” In Maria P. P. Root, ed. Filipino Americas: Transformation and Identity, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1997.
Beauty Standards Filipino American standards of beauty deem light skin, high nasal bridges, straight hair, and thinness as most attractive and desirable. Such ideals have been transplanted from the Philippines, where notions of beauty have been molded by centuries of Western occupation and influence. Early Philippine folktales reveal that indigenous beauty standards were different. For example, in “Malakas at Maganda,” the first man and woman (named “Beautiful One”) are described as bronze-skinned. In an Ifugao legend describing the creation of different human races, the god Kabunian shapes a man out of clay, places him in his oven, but leaves the man in so long that he is burnt. Kabunian tries again, but then takes the man out before he is fully baked. Kabunian tries a
Filipino Americans: Beauty Standards
third time, and watches the oven carefully, so the final man bakes to a perfect brown. Both these tales reveal that precolonial Filipinos idealized native physical features and valued brown skin. Under Spanish rule, this changed. Indigenous looks were degraded, and a foreign look came to be prized. This was due in large part to the institutionalization of Spanish castas. Within this system, only Spaniards could hold the highest positions in society; mestizos had some opportunities for administrative work; Chinese were restricted to merchant work; and natives qualified only for menial labor. This linked lighter skin with privilege, intelligence, and goodness. Conversely, it tied darker skin to insignificance, ignorance, and immorality. Associations between color, ethnicity, class, and status were effectively internalized by Filipino colonials, then reinforced under U.S. rule, especially because American-run schools and institutions upheld all things American as exemplary. This colonial mentality might have influenced the invention of the modern legend explaining why Filipinos have flat noses. According to this story, when God summoned different races to receive noses, Filipinos first ignored God. They finally came, but had to accept noses that had been trampled on, since they arrived late. Here, it is suggested that Filipinos’ undesirable physical features are a consequence of irresponsibility and lack of respect toward God. Fetishization of European looks endures in the Philippines, and has been assumed by many Filipino Americans. This can be seen in the prevalence of mestizo and light-skinned Filipino celebrities, and in the popularity of skin-whitening products, “hair re-bonding” (a chemical procedure to straighten hair), diet products, and rhinoplasty, especially in the Philippines. In the Philippines and the United States, this is also evidenced in common disparagement of native characteristics, such as tan skin and broad noses. Some Filipino Americans, however, are challenging colonial ideas of beauty. Inspired by other Americans of color to reject Eurocentric norms of appearance and behavior, Filipino American nationalists are reclaiming brown skin and other indigenous features as beautiful. This appears to be having some influence in the Philippines. For example, in a radical departure from usual portrayals of beauty, the April 2008 issue of the Philippine fashion magazine Preview photographed four of the country’s most famous actresses, tanned, for the cover, and for a pictorial declaring, “Filipinas are beautiful.” —Evelyn I. Rodriquez See also: Filipino Americans: Beauty Pageants; Mestizaje.
Further Reading Rondilla, Joanne L., and Paul R. Spickard. Is Lighter Better? Skin-Tone Discrimination Among Asian Americans. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007.
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Bulosan, Carlos (1911–1956) Carlos Bulosan was a Filipino migrant worker, labor union activist and leader, poet, novelist who advocated for the rights of Filipinos in the United States. Bulosan was born on November 2, 1911, in Binalonan, Pangasinan, Philippines, to a farmer and his wife who lost their land by usury and became landless peasants. Bulosan arrived in Seattle in 1930 during the Great Depression and at a time when Filipinos were becoming the target for racist discrimination and exclusion. He died in September 1956, in Seattle. In the United States, Carlos Bulosan was exposed to the suffering of his Filipino countrymen, not only experiencing the harsh, itinerant physical labor they endured in the salmon canneries in Alaska in the summer; in the agricultural industry in the fall and in late spring; and in the service sector as busboys, waiters, and dishwashers in the cold winter months; but also encountering the virulent racism and violence inflicted on Filipino settlers who inhabited a liminal, indeterminate state as colonial subjects but not citizens. The oppression and inequality that he faced precipitated his involvement in union organizing, becoming associated with the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA) and the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO), and the Cannery Workers’ Union in Seattle. His commitment to the Filipino workers’ plight in the United States and labor politics compelled him to publish and edit a bimonthly workers’ magazine called The New Tide that not only reported the inequities but also brought him into contact with writers such as Richard Wright, William Carlos Williams, and Louis Adamic and fellow Filipino writer Jose Garcia Villa. He also wrote for the ILWU Local 37 yearbook, Philippine Commonwealth Times and other newspapers in the Stockton-Salinas, California, areas. Because of his poor health, Bulosan wasn’t suited for fieldwork. When he lived with his brother Aurelio in Los Angeles, Bulosan spent his time reading and writing at the Los Angeles Public Library, devouring the works of Whitman, Steinbeck, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Pound, Tagore, Rizal, and Gandhi, among others. His publication of The New Tide captured the attention of the writer Sanora Babb and her sister Dorothy and Poetry editor Harriet Monroe, who published his poems “Biography” and “Needing No Time” in 1937 and “Letter in Exile” in 1942. The status of Filipinos slightly improved after the Depression when the United States entered World War II, marking a turning point for Bulosan as a writer. In 1942, he published two volumes of poetry, Letter from America and Chorus for America. A year later, he published The Voice of Bataan, which was broadcast overseas by the U.S. Office of War Information. He continued to contribute to numerous magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar, The New Yorker, The Saturday Evening Post, The New Republic. In 1946, he published the novel for which he would be most famous:
Filipino Americans: Children’s and Folk Songs
America Is in the Heart. In America Is in the Heart, Bulosan reminisced about his childhood in his native Philippines, recounted his migration to the United States, and illuminated to a wider audience the working masses’ struggles for justice and equality. Along with his posthumously published follow-up collection of stories The Philippines Is in the Heart, Bulosan not only intersects class, race, nation, and gender in his narratives but also constructs a Filipino American subjectivity. —Paul Ocampo See also: Filipino Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Espiritu, Augusto. “Suffering and Passion: Carlos Bulosan.” In Five Faces of Exile. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005. Evangelista, Susan. Carlos Bulosan and His Poetry. Seattle: University of Washington, 1985. San Juan, E. Carlos Bulosan and the Imagination of the Class Struggle. Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1972. San Juan, E. On Becoming Filipino. Philadelphia: Temple University, 1995.
Children’s and Folk Songs The pre-Hispanic folklore in the Philippines started out as an oral tradition. Epics and stories were sung by elders or village leaders every night. This was the only way tribes passed on the stories from generation to generation. In addition to the stories chanted by the elderly members of the community, singing during an occasion was practiced by everyone. Villagers had songs for the planting and harvesting of their crops, weddings, funerals, war, peace pacts, or daily activities. The children’s and folk songs in the Philippines describe everyday life, nature, courtship, or lullabies. These are offshoots of the oral traditions of early inhabitants who chanted during planting or harvest times, weddings or funerals or ceremonies involving the community. There are representative children’s and folk songs in every region of the Philippines, and these songs are usually taught in elementary schools. The Philippines has several ethnolinguistic groups and approximately 170 languages; thus, the children’s and folk songs are varied not only in content but also in language. When Filipinos migrated to the United States, they brought along these songs and chants, which are still familiar to the present generation. The popular folk songs that are still sung or known (at least the tune) by most Filipino Americans are also considered children songs. In the Filipino folk literature context, children’s songs are categorized as a type of folk song.
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The following are popular children’s and folk songs from the various ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines: “Bahay Kubo” (House of Nipa, or Nipa Hut) which tells about the various plants and vegetables in the yard of the nipa hut; “Sitsiritsit Alibangbang” (Hey, Hey, Butterfly) which is about a woman threatening a store-owner; “Leron, Leron Sinta” (Leron, Leron My Love) that tells about the fate of a man named Leron when he climbed a papaya tree; “Paruparong Bukid” (Butterfly Field) describes a woman who is likened to a butterfly; and “Magtanim ay di Biro” (Planting Rice Is Not a Joke), which relates the difficulty of planting rice. These songs are all in Tagalog and originated in the Southern part of Luzon, where most Tagalog-speaking communities, such as the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Manila, and Quezon, are located. Another well-known children’s/folk song is “Atin Cu Pung Singsing” (I Have a Ring), which is in Kapampangan and has its origin in the province of Pampanga. It tells about the anguish the owner felt when a valuable ring was lost. “Dandansoy,” originating in the Visayas Area and in the Visayan language, is about the ritual of coconut/palm wine drinking. “Pamulinawen” and “Manang Biday” (Sister Biday) are in Ilocano, and originated in the Northern Luzon area that includes Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Cagayan. “Pamulinawen” is a courtship song, as is “Manang Biday,” for a woman named Biday. Filipino Americans continue the oral tradition of transference of these songs as they are still recognizable by the younger generation. Modern versions of Filipino folk songs continue to flourish to this day. Filipino artists like Joey Ayala, Grace Nono, Bayang Barrios, and Pinikpikan have reinvented and remade Filipino folk songs to be more accessible and enjoyable to the present generation. —Elaine L. Jorque-Augustine
Further Reading Leandicho-Lopez, Mellie. A Handbook of Philippine Folklore. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2008.
Web Site Filipino Folk Songs as part of the Philippine Culture and Identity [Online, March 2009] Philippine Travel Guide Web Site: http://www.philippine-travel-guide.com/filipino -folk-songs.html.
Clothes and Jewelry The Philippines has several tribal communities that thrived even before the Spanish conquistadors landed in Cebu in 1521. These communities have values and traditions as well as unique clothing that represent their pride and identity. The clothing and jewelry in every region vary by color, make, components, and
Filipino Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
design. They represent the wearer’s heritage and region. There are several traditional types of clothing found in the Philippines. Each item of clothing reflects the people’s culture as well as the climate in which they were made. Today, traditional clothing and jewelry are still essential to Filipinos, particularly during celebrations like weddings, special occasions like inaugurations, or fiestas (feast days). Although the official costumes of the Philippines are the barong (dress shirt) for men and the baro at saya (dress and skirt), sometimes called the Maria Clara dress (named after a character from Jose Rizal’s novels) or the terno (matching dress) for women, there are several other traditional clothes like the pata- Mahalaya Tintiangco-Cubales and Gezelin dyong (wrap skirt) and malong (tube Cantuba pose in traditional Philippine clothing at the 2009 Pistahan Festival in skirt) from southern Philippines. The barong and the baro are pri- San Francisco, California. (Allyson marily made of pin˜a (pineapple) fiber, Tintiangco-Cubales) and the saya is usually a hand-woven skirt. The patadyong is made of hand-woven fabric typically derived from cotton. The two have been influenced by the Spanish colonial era and resulted from a fusion of Spanish and Filipino elements, but the most indigenous among the clothes is the patadyong. This garment is worn by people in all three major island groups (Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao). Although this skirt is considered daily wear since it is comfortable and light, more and more Filipino women wear it on special occasions because it is made of colorful woven fabric. Tribes in the different regions in the Philippines all have some type of jewelry to accentuate their dresses or to show their wealth and standing in the community. Wearing jewelry is an integral part of the Filipino wardrobe. As in most societies, the jewelry they wear is valued for its rarity. The jewelry is mostly beads, seashells, nuts, or bones. Today, the most popular jewelry worn by Filipino and Filipino American women are strands of pearls. Wearing pearls had originated from the pre-Spanish Malay settlers who migrated from the South Asia. These pearls can either be freshwater or from the sea. They also vary in color, size, and shape. Muslim women from Southern Philippines also wear strands of pearls particularly on their heads rather than around the neck. Earrings, bracelets, and
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brooches are among the common types of jewelry in silver and are popular with women as well as men. The traditional Filipino clothes and jewelry show the craftsmanship of the Filipino as reflected in the intricate embroidery and designs they have. Filipino Americans continue to practice the wearing of the traditional Filipino garments and jewelry to showcase their national pride and heritage. Most Filipino American brides and grooms of today prefer to wear the baro’t saya and the barong, or their modernized versions, for their wedding. —Elaine L. Jorque-Augustine
Further Reading Pastor-Roces, Marian. Sinaunang Habi: Philippine Ancestral Weave. Manila: A.D. Coseteng, 1991.Villegas, Ramon. Kayamanan: The Philippine Jewelry Tradition. Manila: Central Bank of the Philippines, 1983.
Web Site Ilio, Ken. Tapestry: Philippines Textile. Tribung Pinoy Web Site: http://www.tribo.org/ textiles (accessed January 2009).
Debutantes Debutantes, or “debuts,” are coming-of-age celebrations for Filipinas who are turning 18. Traditional debutantes “present” up to two dozen young women, or debutantes, the year of their 18th birthday. Such events are often annual cotillions organized by a community association. Since the 1980s, debuts for individual girls, organized by the debutante and her family, have become common. No one is certain how or why debuts came into practice among Filipinos, although some have surmised that the custom was transferred to the Philippines by Spanish settlers. Today, debuts are usually exclusively celebrated by upperclass families in the Philippines; however, in the United States, the custom has become popular among Filipinos of all socioeconomic classes. Debuts are generally imagined as formal, elaborately planned, and expensive events. And while the majority of group cotillions are costly, ceremonious, and take at least one year to plan, smaller-scale debuts for single debutantes have been organized quickly, at home, and on modest budgets. In spite of broad variation among debuts, most include common elements. Most perceptibly, all debuts are designated as special, and as helping to publicly acknowledge a Filipina’s entry into life as a dalaga (young, unmarried lady). Regal dress for the debutante (a wedding-like gown, for many), an exceptional
Filipino Americans: Debutantes
venue, and a lavish meal usually aid in distinguishing a debut from the debutante’s other birthday celebrations. Many debut programs also include a formal presentation of the debutante (or debutantes), performance of a choreographed and rehearsed waltz, presentation of “roses and candles,” an official blessing, and a banquet, followed by music and dancing for all. During the debutante’s presentation, she is often accompanied by a male peer, or escort; during larger-scale debuts, the debutante might also be attended by a “court” of 9 to 18 other young-adult couples, usually her closest friends and kin. Typically, the debutante, her escort, and her court have spent considerable time (at least a month) learning and practicing the waltz that is performed. “Roses” are 9 to 18 males of significance to the celebrant, who each offer her a single-stem rose and then dance with her. “Candles” are the Roses’ female counterparts; they each announce a birthday wish for the debutante, then light a candle on her birthday cake. Before what is usually an opulent dinner and exuberant party, a prayer expressing thanks for the debutante’s childhood and hope for her successful adulthood is often offered by a respected adult; if clergy have been invited, they might offer this blessing. Debuts have been subject to numerous criticisms, especially by Filipino Americans themselves. Because large debuts can cost families thousands of dollars, they have been accused of promoting unhealthy materialism and imprudent spending. Because debuts are believed to have originally been a Spanish custom, they have been charged with helping perpetuate Filipinos’ colonial mentalities. And, because they encourage Filipina women to be chaste, obedient, and to perform a hegemonic form of femininity, debutantes have been accused of being antifeminist. At the same time, many former debutantes report that organizing their debut helped them learn financial-management skills, increased their knowledge of, and pride in, Filipino culture; and empowered them to seek upward mobility for themselves and their families, and to find ways to help advance their ethnic communities. This is because, as practiced in the United States, debutantes have often been exceptional vehicles for exposing and transmitting family and ethnic histories, practices, and values; for inspiring young Filipinas’ self-esteem and leadership; and for helping Filipino families publicly establish and assert their fitness for full legal and cultural belonging in the United States. —Evelyn I. Rodriquez
Further Reading Cajayon, Gene, et al. The Debut: The Making of a Filipino American Film. Santa Cruz, CA: Tulitos Press, 2001. Rodriguez, Evelyn I. Coming of Age: Identities and Transformations in Filipina American Debutantes and Mexican American Quincean˜eras. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2010.
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Dying and Death Rituals Dying and death rituals performed by Filipino Americans reflect cultural values of family, community, piety, and adaptability retained after the many waves of immigration to the United States. Individuals are regarded first in relation to their family, and it is the individual’s family who primarily organizes and performs the dying and death rituals designed to acknowledge the individual’s importance in the family. In addition, by opening these rituals to others, the Filipino American community and its subgroups are given a chance to recognize and memorialize the individual and his or her contributions to the community. If a death is imminent but not immediate, an individual’s family will contact family and friends who they feel will want to visit the dying person. Visitors may live in close proximity to the dying individual or may be closely related, such as a parent, sibling, child, or grandchild, and who may be willing and able to travel to the person. These visits are not only to pay respects to the dying individual but also to offer emotional and material support to the family as they grieve. It is not uncommon for out-of-town visitors to prepare meals, run errands, or provide respite care for short periods of time. Since many Filipino Americans belong to religious organizations, it is also common for family and visitors to share a time of prayer with the dying person. If the individual is Roman Catholic, a priest will be contacted to provide the sacrament of last rites. The priest will likely be associated with the medical facility where the dying individual is being cared for or from the individual’s own parish. In the case of terminal illness, Filipino American families may decide to bring the dying person home, often at the request of the individual who wishes to die where he or she is most comfortable. However, in cases where end-of-illness requires specialized care, dying individuals may be transferred from home to a care facility. Close family members and friends will congregate at the facility to provide support to the individual and other family members. By gathering together, family members have the opportunity to discuss the details of the impending death rituals while strengthening filial bonds. Death rituals vary within the Filipino American community usually due to religious practices. Among Roman Catholics, a nine-day prayer ritual called a Rosary Novena is begun the day the individual dies. Catholics present at the individual’s death will gather together at his or her deathbed and pray a sequence of prayers associated with a particular period of Jesus Christ’s life according to the Bible. At the end of the rosary, prayers requesting mercy for the soul of the deceased are also recited. This prayer ritual continues daily for nine consecutive days, and the funeral is timed to correspond closely with the
Filipino Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
last day of the Rosary Novena. The rosary is also performed at key intervals after the individual’s death: 40 days after death, when the individual is believed to enter Heaven, and one year after death, when family and friends reiterate the importance of the individual in their personal and collective memories. The memorial held one year after death is called Babang Luksa, literally “drop the veil,” and typically family members who have worn black while in mourning will change their clothes to everyday colors and styles. Often families who do not attend Mass regularly will fall back on Catholic traditions at the time of death. Protestant Filipino Americans perform simpler death rituals, preferring to focus on the individual’s comfort in death and support of the individual’s family. A minister associated with the individual’s church may be called to lead a prayer or give a reading from the Bible when death is imminent; however, most families will wait until after death to contact their minister. Arrangements for a memorial either at the church or funeral home will be discussed with the minister, and the focus of the memorial is usually to celebrate the individual’s life. Memorials tend to be more lighthearted than the Catholic memorials, which can be more somber and extend over many days. Both Catholic and Protestant Filipino Americans have adopted the more practical aspects of death rituals in the United States, where cultural practices typically found in the Philippines may not be understood by non-Filipino Americans. Contemporary Filipino American women may not show their grief openly with sobbing, swooning, fainting, or clutching the casket of the dead individual as their more traditional counterparts who believe that more emotion equates with more respect for the dead. Respect for family preference may outweigh the traditional viewing of the body during memorial services and/or curb picture taking during funeral and gravesite rites. Filipino Americans may wear less formal clothing than the traditional black clothing during death rites, but will maintain a certain respectful decorum so as not to disturb the family or community. Occasionally, young children are dressed in red clothing in parallel to a Filipino tradition designed to protect the child from wandering spirits. Muslim Filipino Americans will follow the traditions associated with their faith, such as Ghusl, the ritual washing of the deceased’s body as soon as practical after death. Performed for the purpose of purification, the body is cleansed with extreme respect and in a prescribed manner designed to maintain the individual’s dignity to the utmost. The dying individual may choose who will perform the ritual for them, and the washers remain forever silent on any feature of the dead individual’s body that may be considered negative. Filipino Americans who have maintained or adopted spiritual practices indigenous to the Philippines while living in
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the United States may replicate indigenous death rituals, such as chanting, prayer, and music depending on the cultural practices adopted. By extension, Filipino Americans following other religious practices not mentioned in this entry will likely perform the rites traditional to those religions and practices. Beyond the rituals traditionally associated with a specific religion or spiritual practice, Filipino Americans will usually gather as a community or within subgroups based on occupation or region to memorialize the dead and to support the individual’s family during their time of grief. Community centers, fraternity lodges, arts and performing groups, military fraternities, and other subgroups may host events where the individual’s accomplishments are remembered and stories shared. Family members will typically attend these events to show their gratitude and may receive memorial gifts from the groups. Although U.S. Catholics memorialize the dead on the second day of November, All Souls Day, Filipino Americans visit and honor the dead on Memorial Day, the last Monday of May. This practice may have originated from the U.S. tradition of honoring dead military personnel on Memorial Day and the fact that many Filipino Americans served in the military or were related to military personnel. Family and friends gather together to share a meal and stories about the dead, thus strengthening their filial and community bonds once again. More recently, the Internet has played a key role in communicating with distant relatives and friends about the death of an individual and the schedule of key death rites, as well as providing a space, such as blogs and Web sites, where the individual can be memorialized, especially if the dead person was known to many. —Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor See also: Filipino Americans: Igorot Dying and Death Rituals.
Web Sites Asian Week, “The Asian Pacific American Funeral Industry”: http://www.asianweek.com/ 2008/11/14/the-asian-pacific-american-funeral-industry/. Baband Luksa: http://chikee.wordpress.com/2007/07/05/mums-first-year-death -anniversary-babang-luksa/. Clark, Sandi. “Death and Loss in the Philippines”: http://www.indiana.edu/~famlygrf/ culture/clark.html. Cordova, Dorothy. Filipinos in Puget Sound. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2009. End of Mourning, Observing Babang Luksa: http://divadiba.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/ end-of-mourning-observing-babang-luksa/. Filipino Americans: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/24213570/FILIPINO-AMERICANS.
Filipino Americans: Family and Community
Family and Community The family is the main unit of Filipino society. The concept of family anchors Filipinos’ understandings of self, others, their personal and social rights and obligations, and of how they are expected to behave with various people. Notions of kinship designate social identities, duties, and status to biological relations and community members. Kinship in the Philippines is traced bilaterally, and family roles are assigned via birth, marriage, adoption, and compadrazgo (honorary kinship). The most important and binding ties between Filipinos are those that exist between a child and his/her mother (nanay), father (tatay), and siblings (mga kapatid). Strong ties also typically exist between an individual and his/her grandparents (mga lolo/a), parents’ siblings (mga tito/a), and their children (mga pinsan). Weaker, or no, ties usually exist between an individual and more distant relatives. To formalize strong ties between themselves and unrelated friends and neighbors, Filipinos designate close friends and their families as kin, especially through sponsorship during religious rituals, such as baptisms, confirmations, and marriage. These designations intensify a sense of moral obligation to care for one another and one another’s families, especially in times of crisis. Within Filipino families and communities, elders are accorded more status and power. Children are understood as owing a debt that can never be repaid (utang na loob) to their parents, and are therefore expected to submit to them unquestioningly. Similarly, because older children are assigned greater duties within families, younger siblings and cousins are expected to trust, respect, and follow them. A Filipino family in Santa Barbara, California. Filipinos’ most beloved legends The father wears a t-shirt exclaiming, It's exemplify the unquestioning loyalty great to be a Filipino. (Joseph Sohm/Visions and sacrifice that individuals, especially of America/Corbis)
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children and spouses, are expected to demonstrate for their families. For example, in the creation myth of Malakas at Maganda, their children leave home at their parents’ command but return to them voluntarily. In one version of the celebrated tale of Mariang Makiling, Maria curses the entire mountain and never lets herself be seen again after the man she is in love with is killed by competing suitors. In the famous novel Noli Me Tangere, Maria Clara de los Santos is in love with one man, but agrees to marry another to help her father’s social standing. After she hears that her true love has died, she begs to be sent to a convent, or to die. Both Maria Makiling and Maria Clara’s surrender to lifetimes of isolation are understood as ultimate expressions of their devotion and faithfulness to their families. Filipinos have brought Philippine notions and practices of kinship to the United States, to help them establish extensive and effective networks of support. During the first half of the 20th century, compadrazgo helped many Filipino American bachelors to endure arduous, lonely lives. The few Filipino nuclear families in the United States at that time often “adopted” these men, who reveled in becoming manongs (Ilokano for “big brother”) to the families’ adults, and “uncles” to the families’ young children. Filipino America is no longer a “bachelor society” because of the 1965 Immigration Act, and laws enabling family reunification. However, Filipino Americans have continued to use real and fictive kinship ties to help find and secure jobs, loans, legal advice, and/ or emotional support to deal with challenges of U.S. immigrant life. Thus, within many Filipino American communities, it is common to find adults who regard each other as fictive siblings (older males are addressed as kuya, or “big brother”; older females as ate, or “big sister”), and children who address unrelated adults as “uncles” or “aunties.” Such extensive families are often formed and reinforced through Filipino community associations. These exist wherever a sizable Filipino American community resides; and they allow members to collectively support (emotionally, financially, and politically) each others’ families in the United States, as well as in the Philippines. The practice of using kinship to structure social relations has been understood as helping Filipinos to clearly recognize their and others’ social places, and, hence, as helping to maintain harmonious group relations. However, it has also been seen as at odds with American individualism, which encourages individual development, in spite of the expectations of others. Some American-born Filipinos view kinship ties as promoting nepotism, a lack of independent thinking, and the compromising of one’s personal integrity to avoid group conflict. As a result, some Filipino Americans struggle with reconciling Filipino values that deem group needs and harmony foremost and American expectations to place one’s own needs and aims first. —Evelyn I. Rodriguez See also: Filipino Americans: Igorot Family and Community.
Filipino Americans: Festivals and Holidays
Further Reading Dolan, Ronald E., ed. “Social Values and Organization.” In Philippines: A Country Study. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office for the Library of Congress, 1991. Jocano, F. Landa. Filipino Social Organization: Traditional Kinship and Family Organization. Metro Manila: PUNLAD Research House, Inc., 2000.
Festivals and Holidays In the Philippines, fiestas (pista) of all kinds are celebrated. These are originally ritual offerings to the gods so that they will give blessings. This practice is continued into modern times so that a fiesta is held for thanksgiving, getting together with loved ones and for good harvests. Filipino immigrants celebrate fiestas throughout the United States. Various Filipino American associations that support their respective towns in the Philippines hold these events in many states. One example is the Cavite Association of Southern California, which holds an annual basketball league. In the venue, each town of the province will bring their own hearty Filipino food and celebrate the fiesta. Oftentimes, there will also be a beauty pageant, which will declare a “Miss Cavite” who promotes the province and focuses on the cultural heritage of the towns. In Los Angeles, associations from the Bicol province celebrate the fiesta of Our Lady of Penafrancia by holding a fluvial parade in the lake at Echo Park. The statue of Our Lady of Penafrancia is held in the lead boat while others sing and pray the rosary. This event is also held in Chicago, where the Penafrancia is celebrated at Lake Michigan. But there is probably no bigger celebration than the Philippine Independence Day. This big festival highlights the declaration of independence of the Philippines from the Spaniards on June 12. Filipino Americans often have an Independence Day grand dinner ball. Entertainment, booths featuring Filipino food and a display of Filipino barong are featured at the venue, which is often held in a park. As in the Philippines, there is frequently a queen of the fiesta, in this case Miss Philippine Independence Day. When it comes to Christmas or pasko, Filipino Americans have brought with them traditions from the Philippines. The Simbang Gabi (Mass at Dawn) is celebrated in many states such as California where the Filipino immigrant population is large. The event begins December 16 and ends with the Christmas Eve mass, with Filipino Americans attending mass for nine days. In Carson, California, other ethnic groups at St. Philomena Church are involved in this religious tradition. For instance, one night might have the Samoans singing. After the mass, those who attend the Simbang Gabi are given food and refreshments at the church hall. Different church associations and restaurants sponsor the reception after the Simbang Gabi.
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Many Filipino American families display Christmas lanterns known as parol in front of their homes. Symbolic of the “Star of Bethlehem” that led the Magi to the Baby Jesus, the lanterns often have colorful light displays. Some families make the parol themselves. In San Francisco, beautiful Filipino lanterns are shown in City Hall. In Carson, there is a parol-making contest at the church. After the Simbang Gabi mass, the winning parol is shown to the public. In historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles, a parol parade is held during the Christmas season to showcase the ingenious ways of making parol. Those with the most creative lanterns are awarded prizes as part of gift giving. Most often the Filipino American families go to the Christmas Eve mass and then enjoy a midnight dinner called the Noche Buena. —Fe P. Koons See also: Filipino Americans: Pilipino Cultural Night; Santo Nin˜o Festival.
Further Reading Roces, Alfredo, and Grace Roces. Culture Shock! Philippines: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2007. Scott, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth-Century-Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994.
Web Site Filipino-Culture/Holiday-Celebrations: http://www.tagaloglang.com/.
Filipino American Churches Churches are not only spaces where Filipino Americans gather to express their religiosity, but are also way stations for passage to a new country and venues for the construction of ethnic identity. The beginnings of Filipino American Protestant churches came as a reaction to the influx of Filipino migrant workers to Hawaii in the early 20th century. The Methodist Episcopal Church opened a mission to minister to the mostly single men recruited to work in the sugar and pineapple plantations. The mission’s programs were designed not only to meet the workers’ spiritual needs but to offer a place for socialization, adult education, and help with finding employment. Ministers were recruited from the Philippines to preach to the workers in their native dialects. When labor unrest in the plantations flared up and the international market for sugar and pineapple plunged, the workers moved to farms in California and canneries in Washington and Alaska. In the 1930s, many of those who left for California landed in Stockton’s “Little Manila,” where the Lighthouse Mission offered
Filipino Americans: Filipino American Churches
religious services as well as food and shelter. After attracting a sizeable number of regular worshippers, the mission grew into the Filipino Christian Fellowship, which later became the Trinity Presbyterian Church. The same pattern evolved in Los Angeles, where the Filipino Christian Church started as a fellowship whose members provided religious education and Filipino entertainment, from dramas to native songs. Concerned with preserving the Catholic faith and fearful of Protestant influence on the migrants, the U.S. Catholic Church instituted Filipino Catholic Clubs to look after their spiritual and physical welfare. But it was only much later that it recognized the presence of a permanent and growing Filipino American population. In 1946, St. Columban’s Church in the Filipino section of Los Angeles was designated a national parish. Shifting demographics after the 1965 Immigration Act engendered a “Filipinization” of churches in cities with a large Filipino American population. Nowhere is this felt more than in San Francisco. Before 1965, declines in active membership and financial contributions led to the closing of many San Francisco Catholic and Protestant churches. But the increasing number of Filipino American Christians has stemmed and reversed this trend. As they fill up the pews, they also bring a distinctive style of worship and community. For example, the Gothic Revival architectural style of St. Patrick’s Church belie its interior, which displays statues and images of popular Filipino religious figures like Our Lady of Perpetual Help, San Lorenzo Ruiz, and the Santo Nin˜o (Holy Child). In addition to numerous devotions and novenas, churchgoers also implore for divine mercy and healing by touching, kissing, or wiping the images and statues with their handkerchiefs. Filipino celebrations like the Easter Salubong (meeting) and the pre-Christmas Simbang Gabi (Evening Mass) have become regular features of the liturgical calendar. It is through these revitalization efforts that Filipino Americans have nurtured their own ethnic identity, and in turn reshaped the landscape of Christianity in the United States. —Ofelia O. Villero See also: Filipino Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Burns, Jeffrey, Ellen Skerrett, and Joseph M. White. Keeping Faith: European and Asian Catholic Immigrants. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2000. Gonzalez, Joaquin Jay III. Filipino American Faith in Action: Immigration, Religion, and Civic Engagement. New York: New York University Press, 2009. Guillermo, Artemio. “Gathering of the Scattered: History of Filipino American United Methodist Churches.” In Churches Aflame: Asian Americans and United Methodism. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1991.
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Filipino Americans: Filipino American National Historical Society San Buenaventura, Steffi. “Filipino Religion at Home and Abroad: Historical Roots and Immigrant Transformations.” In Pyong Gap Min and Jung Ha Kim, eds. Religions in Asia America: Building Faith Communities. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2000.
Filipino American National Historical Society The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) is a communitybased association whose mission is to promote understanding, education, enlightenment, appreciation, and enrichment through the identification, gathering, preservation and dissemination of the history, culture, and folklore of Filipinos in the United States. Filipino American history began on October 18, 1587, when Filipinos first set foot in the continental United States at Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County, California. Dorothy Laigo Cordova founded FANHS in Seattle in 1982, and it was chartered in 1985 by the State of Washington. Its founding members were community people; when the fledgling group needed academic credentials, requiring someone with a PhD, a Japanese American Nisei professor became one of the trustees. Today the 27-member board has many people with doctorates, plus authors, educators, professionals, and ordinary citizens—the community historians and storytellers among youth and elders, both American and Philippine-born. FANHS chapters exist in Oregon, Sacramento Delta, San Francisco, Hampton Roads, Seattle, Metropolitan New York, East Bay, Santa Clara Valley, Vallejo, California Central Coast, Midwest, Stockton, Fresno, New England, Los Angeles, Monterey Bay, Alaska, San Diego, Central Valley, Rio Grande, Wisconsin, Michigan, St. Louis, Pennsylvania, Sonoma County, Yakama Valley, New Jersey, and the Carolinas. Besides national and regional historical photo exhibits, FANHS members or chapters have written books. A FANHS video won a 1994 bronze award at the 27th Annual WorldFest—Houston International Film and Video Festival and a 1995 CINE Golden Eagle Award “as evidence of its suitability to represent American production in international festivals” by the Council on International Nontheatrical Events in Washington, DC. The society’s National Office in Seattle has numerous files of research and documentation on all aspects of Filipino American history and culture at the national and international levels. FANHS’s major repository of Filipino American History is its National Pinoy Archives (NPA). This is a simple, nonprofessional research subfacility initiated in 1987. The NPA appraises, collects, preserves, and makes archival materials accessible to scholars, authors, filmmakers, students,
Filipino Americans: Filipino Turntablism/Mobile DJs
and others in the general public who want to study textual, graphic, and electronic historical records. Archival materials dating back to the pre-World War I period, document the Filipino American experience relative to individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, and facilities in the United States, its territories, and other possessions. Historical documents on some 20,000 individuals provide a unique, primary-resource repository. Some of FANHS’s projects include the Filipino American National Museum in Stockton, California, the mother lode of Filipino American History. Collections for the Filipino American National Library continue to be developed. In 1991, FANHS established October as Filipino American History Month. It became a state law when the California Assembly enacted “October 2009, and every October thereafter, as Filipino American History Month.” The 111th U.S. Congress also proclaimed Filipino American History Month in 2009, although it is still not an annual national commemoration similar to the recognized months for Black History, Asian/Pacific American Heritage, and Latino Heritage. —Fred Cordova
Further Reading FANHS Forum: Journal of Filipino American National Historical Society. Seattle: FANHS. Jamero, Peter. Growing Up Brown: Memories of a Filipino American. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2006. Wehman, John, director. Filipino Americans: Discovering Their Past for the Future. 1994. VHS
Filipino Turntablism/Mobile DJs The history of Filipino mobile DJs and turntablism is rich, but documentation is only now emerging. The origins of this cultural phenomenon are difficult to locate and often contentious. Multiple histories can be told, and current interest in the topic promises fresh perspectives. Music and dance are important cultural attributes among Filipino communities in the Philippines and in the diaspora. This cultural phenomenon can be attributed to many factors, including the Hispanicization and Americanization of the Philippines. As male Filipino workers began to populate the United States in large numbers in the 1920s, they brought with them their musical folkways, which included forms of black and white American cultural aesthetics. Filipinos carved out a cultural niche in dance halls, which thrived in urban areas and nourished Filipino cultural production in music and dance.
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The dance hall preempted the musical spaces that emerged once Filipino families began to form in large numbers after the lifting of Asian immigration restrictions in 1965. Debuts, weddings, religious fiestas, and barrio/provincial gatherings incubated music and dance among Filipino community members. The mobile DJ crew emerged as a staple of Filipino community events. The San Francisco Bay Area was home to an array of Filipino mobile DJs in the 1970s, with crews such as Sound Explosion, Spintronix, and Sound Creations popularizing the form. In Los Angeles, Spectrum stands out as a pioneering crew also beginning in the 1970s that inspired Filipino DJs in the area. The blossoming hip-hop scene in New York at the time did not yet catch the attention of Filipino DJs. When hip-hop became more popular on the West Coast in the early 1980s, Filipino DJs began stocking their crates with rap records. DJ Nasty Nes, who is Filipino, is credited with starting the first hip-hop radio station on the West Coast, KFOX in Seattle. Following the example of the early Filipino dance halls, Filipino DJs of the 1980s and 1990s facilitated music and dance folkways for Filipinos and other young people. Hotel ballrooms, nightclubs, car shows, and college campuses served as venues for Filipino DJs. Filipinos soon made their way into the radio industry, spinning music and working as radio personalities. More crews formed to perfect the DJ craft, which is also called “turntablism,” a term coined by DJ Babu of the Beat Junkies meaning the manipulation of sound through records. United Kingdom, Legend Entertainment, the Beat Junkies, and Cerritos All-Stars are examples of big crews in Los Angeles that consist(ed) mostly of Filipinos. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the Invisibl Skratch Piklz came to international fame, winning numerous competitions and becoming perhaps the most well-known DJ crew worldwide. New York City is home to the almighty 5th Platoon crew, who demonstrate the competitive skill of East Coast Filipino youth. In the 2000s, Filipinos still arguably dominate the art of turntablism. The DJ scene in this era is quite diverse, especially with the advent of new technology that allow greater access to the equipment to more people. As with the dance halls of earlier times, the DJ scene functions as a flourishing arena of popular Filipino folkways. —Mark Redondo Villegas See also: Filipino Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading De Leon, Lakandiwa. “Filipinotown and the DJ Scene: Cultural Expression and Identity Affirmation of Filipino American Youth in Los Angeles.” In Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou, eds. Asian American Youth: Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Filipino Americans: Folk Music Maram, Linda. Creating Masculinity in Los Angeles’s Little Manila: Working-Class Filipinos and Popular Culture, 1920s–1950s. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. Wang, Oliver. “Legions of Boom: A History-in-Progress of the Filipino American Mobile DJ Scene in the S.F. Bay Area.” PhD dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 2005.
Folk Music The Filipino American group is rather large at four million individuals. Most Filipino Americans live in California, Hawaii, Alaska, Chicago, and New York. Historically, Filipino Americans were active in U.S. Navy bands before World War I, World’s Fair marching bands, in orchestras, and cruise ships. In the 20th century, a few Filipino Americans were involved in R&B, jazz, and big band groups such as Rocky Fellers, Larry Ramos, Joseph “Flip” Nunez, Bully Hinsche, Joe Bataan, and Danny Barcelona. The U.S. occupation of the Philippines from 1898 to 1946 signaled the introduction of North American rock n’ roll, jazz, and blues into the region. Today, many celebrate song and dance traditions at various festivals such as the Pagdiriwang (“celebration”) Philippine Festival in Seattle each year to commemorate independence from Spain in 1898. Various cultural organizations, including the Philippine Cultural Arts Festival, perform traditional Filipino music and dance with little Westernized assimilation. October is designated as Filipino American History Month. Filipino American popular music is largely represented by the dance, R&B, hip-hop, and rock/pop genres. One of the most popular hip-hop musicians is Allan Pineda Lindo (a.k.a. Apl.de.ap) from the Black Eyed Peas. Their fifth album, The E.N.D., features a Tagalog song called “Mare,” written by Apl.de.ap. Apl.de.ap recently debuted a few singles including “You Can Dream” and “Mama Filipina” as part of a solo project. Additionally, Apl.de.ap’s new song, “Take You to the Philippines,” was written for the Department of Tourism in the Philippines. The only popular female Filipino American singer today is Cassandra (Cassie) Ventura. Her 2006 self-titled album of R&B/hip-hop music contained two songs that cracked the Billboard 100 charts, including “Me & U” and “Long Way 2 Go.” Her sophomore release in 2010, Electro Love, had three singles released, including “Must Be Love” with Diddy, “Official Girl” with Lil Wayne, and “Let’s Get Crazy” with Akon. The recent singles have not attained the same commercial success as her previous work. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Filipino Americans: Filipino Turntablism/Mobile DJs.
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Further Reading Trimillos, Ricardo. “Music and Ethnic Identity: Strategies among Overseas Filipino Youth.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 18 (1986): 9–20.
Foods and Foodways Filipino American culture would not be what it is today without Filipino American foods and foodways. Influenced by Malay, Islamic, Chinese, Spanish, and American cultures, Filipino American cuisine proves to be culturally unique. For instance, the Philippines’ Malay past has a great influence in the use of coconut and coconut milk as part of Filipino cooking. Another Malay influence is lechon, which is a whole pig roasted over charcoal. In the Philippines and the United States, lechon is one of the most popular foods among Filipinos and Filipino Americans, especially when there is a feast or major family gathering. Other Malayinfluenced foods are kare-kare (oxtails stewed in peanut sauce), pinakbet (boiled mix of vegetables with fermented shrimp paste), and dinuguan (pork meat that is blood flavored with hot peppers). The Chinese also influenced Filipino foods. Some of the most popular dishes are pancit (noodles that are mixed with meat, seafood, and vegetaFor Filipino Americans, cooking is a bles) and lumpia (egg rolls). Some of community effort. In this photo, Beth Sacdalan the Spanish-influenced Filipino foods is preparing boiled eggs for pancit palabok, are Paella Valenciana (a me´lange of while her sister and cousin prepare the meats and seafood) and leche flan noodles, sauce, and all other ingredients needed in order to make pancit palabok. Beth, (egg custard dessert). The Philippines’ along with other members of her family and national dish, adobo—a stewed pork, community, drove hours just to prepare a feast chicken, or beef full of herbs and for their nephew who recently graduated from spices—has Spanish and Mexican San Francisco State University. origins. (Aldrich L. Sabac)
Filipino Americans: Foods and Foodways
Some of the popular Filipino American desserts are bibingka (sweet sticky rice cake with coconut milk), puto (sweet, steamed rice cake), kutsinta (brown rice cake), sapin-sapin (three-layered sweets made of rice flour, purple yam, and coconut milk), buko pie (coconut pie), bibingka (hot rice cake with butter), and halohalo (sundae with sweetened garbanzo and kidney beans and evaporated milk). These desserts are typically served during family celebrations and other important events. Traditional Filipinos normally eat four times a day: breakfast, lunch, merienda (afternoon snack), and dinner. Breakfast typically consists of eggs, sausages, pan de sal (fresh baked bread), and coffee or another warm beverage. In some cases, rice is used as a substitute for the bread, and fish or other meats are served instead of eggs and sausages. Lunch and dinner are normally prepared with rice, some kind of meat, and vegetables. Merienda (afternoon snack) is common in the Philippines. It can vary widely; some people choose a very light version of what they had for lunch, such as noodles or dim sum, while others choose something sweet like a dessert or beverage. As Filipino Americans tend to live differently than the average Filipino, their eating habits may change as well. While many Filipino Americans today still eat lunch or dinner with rice with fish or meat and other dishes, others may choose to eat American fast foods, such as hamburgers and fries. Since Filipino Americans tend to prioritize family celebrations, they normally prepare traditional Filipino foods to celebrate such occasions. Many Filipino Americans use their own homes to invite family members and friends to celebrate baptisms, birthdays, graduations, Noche Buena (Christmas Eve dinner), and other important events. Typical foods associated with such big events are lechon, pancit, lumpia, and major Filipino desserts like halo-halo and leche flan. Of course, depending on how big the event is or how many people are invited, the number and type of foods served could be significantly more elaborate than what has been mentioned above. As Filipino Americans continue to grow in numbers, Filipino American restaurants continue to expand as well. It is not unusual to find Filipino American restaurants, bakeries, and groceries in major metropolitan areas, especially in California and Hawaii. For instance, Goldilocks and Red Ribbon, popular Filipino restaurant and bakery chains, have established businesses in California. Goldilocks and Red Ribbon have become popular alternatives to home cooking among Filipino Americans. Furthermore, several other popular Filipino food products have been distributed all over the United States, especially in Asian American grocery stores, making it feasible for Filipino Americans to find foods that they grew up with. —Richie Neil Hao
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Further Reading Alejandro, Reynaldo. The Philippine Cookbook. New York: Perigee Books, 1985. Posadas, Barbara M. The Filipino Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. Solomon, Charmaine. The Complete Asian Cookbook. 2nd ed. North Clarendon, VT: Turtle Publishing, 2002.
Gender Folklore Relative to other Asian cultures, the Philippines is more gender egalitarian. Filipinas have historically held rights to own property, become educated, work in the same professions as men, and participate in political affairs. Filipinos have generally reproduced this gender structure in the United States, where 54 percent of the Filipino population in 2000 was female and 46 percent was male. Contemporary Filipino understandings of gender can be traced to precolonial Philippine society, when maternal and paternal lineage were considered equally important, and women could achieve considerable power. Like men, precolonial Filipina women inherited, held, and managed land; made important economic and family decisions, and could divorce. They also could attain high leadership positions and status as babaylan, high priestesses entrusted with the spiritual and physical care of their community, because of their wisdom and ability to access the sacred. During the colonial period, Spaniards tried to impose a system of gender relations that conferred greater power to men, and secondary status to women by removing them from the public sphere, and relegating them to church and home. However, this system was never fully embraced by Filipinos. After the Spanish overthrow, Filipina women regained equal status to men outside of the home, especially because of the compulsory public education offered all Filipino children during the American territorial period. Filipino tales reflect past and existing understandings of men, women, and appropriate relationships between genders. In the Philippine creation myth, the world’s first woman and man emerge simultaneously, conveying indigenous understandings of genders as equal. At the same time, characterization of the first male as malakas (“strong”) and the first female as maganda (“beautiful”) reflect beliefs that men and women embody contrasting but complementary natures; and that women should be gracious and caring, while men should protect and provide.
Filipino Americans: Gender Folklore
Three of the Philippines’ national heroes are upheld as exemplary Filipino men. Jose Rizal, the ilustrado who wrote the novel Noli Me Tangere, was executed because his writings helped stir the revolt against Spain. Andres Bonifacio was the plebeian who founded the secret society that began the Philippine Revolution in 1896. And Emilio Aguinaldo was a Revolution general, and the first president of the Philippine Republic. Rizal, Bonifacio, and Aguinaldo epitomize Filipino masculinity because their leadership, resourcefulness, bravery, and selfless defense of Filipinos against outsiders. The Virgin Mary and Maria Clara de los Santos, the primary female character in Noli Me Tangere, are commonly upheld as models of Filipina femininity. The Virgin unquestioningly submits to God when told she will bear God’s son, despite her virginity. Throughout her life, she remains sinless, a virgin, and devoted to God and her son, Jesus. Maria Clara is depicted as lovely and elegant. In spite of loving one man, she agrees to marry another to safeguard her father’s status. But after realizing her heart can only belong to one man, she surrenders her life to God by consigning herself to a nunnery. The Virgin and Maria Clara epitomize Filipina femininity because of their beauty, obedience, chastity, and willingness to sacrifice personal happiness for their families. Among some, Marı´a Josefa Gabriela Carin˜ o Silang (“Gabriela”) is also upheld as an exemplary Filipina. Gabriela is described as having been a pretty, dutiful girl who married a wealthy elderly man at the behest of her father. After she was first widowed, she married Ilokano insurgent leader Diego Silang. After his assassination in 1763, Gabriela took command of the revolt he had been leading and directed rebels against Spain until she was captured and killed. Gabriela’s standing as a female role model reveals that, among some, Filipinas are admired for courage, leadership, and self-sufficiency, especially in the absence of their husbands. Due to relatively egalitarian views of men and women in the public sphere, Filipino American women and men generally view each other as equals, and have experienced more or less equivalent access to, and success in, education, work, and leadership positions. However, in the domestic sphere, Filipinas still experience less sexual freedom than male relatives and bear greater responsibility for maintaining family, home, and cultural traditions. —Evelyn I. Rodriquez
Further Reading De Jesus, Melinda, ed. Pinay Power: Peminist Critical Theory. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2005.
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Filipino Americans: Gonzalez, N. V. M. (1915–1999) Santiago, Lilia Quindoza. “Rebirthing Babaye: The Women’s Movement in the Philippines.” In Amrita Basu, ed. The Challenge of Local Feminisms: Women’s Movements in Global Perspectives. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995.
Gonzalez, N. V. M. (1915–1999) Nestor Vicente Madali (N. V. M.) Gonzalez is a Philippine writer, literary critic, and teacher whose short stories, novels, and essays portray the seemingly simple life of Filipinos in a natural rural landscape in the Philippines and/or of those traveling between cultural sensibilities and identities in the United States and around the globe. Gonzalez, the son of educators, was born on the Visayan island of Romblon on September 8, 1915. He attended Mindoro High School and, after assisting his father on the home-front for two years, attended two years of college, but was essentially a self-taught writer. He sent stories to Philippine magazines and newspapers that gained widespread notice, which led to his receiving a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in the late 1940s to study and write in the United States. Some of his most prominent works include the novel A Season of Grace (1956), the short story collection The Bread of Salt and Other Stories (1993), and critical essays in The Novel of Justice: Selected Essays 1968–1994 (1996). His work has been translated into several languages, including Chinese, German, Russian, and Indonesian. He received many distinctions and honors throughout his lifetime, including the Philippines’ National Artist Award for Literature in 1997 and the Centennial Award for Literature in 1998. He also taught at several universities including the Ateneo de Manila University, the University of the Philippines at Diliman, the University of Hong Kong, California State University, Hayward (where he was Professor Emeritus), the University of Washington and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). An acknowledged master of the Philippine short story in English, his fiction renders emotionally complex themes using timeless tropes that are transnational in scope, even while remaining specifically local in focus. It is folkloric in presentation and style with characters as archetypes illuminating the folkways and values of Filipinos. It also highlights the continuing struggles of Filipinos and their identity within the Philippines, the United States, and the world. His literary analysis explores the Filipino in the Philippines and the United States by using the lens of myth and folklore to examine roles and reasons for Filipino creative expression and their experience. Philippine Literature in English was initially an outgrowth of American literature transposed onto the Philippine educational system at the turn of the century (1900s) with the arrival of the Thomasites, a group of American teachers sent to implement educational structures and curriculum within a short-lived, U.S. Commonwealth
Filipino Americans: Gonzalez, N. V. M. (1915–1999)
nation. Thus, American writers Wallace Stegner, Katherine Anne Porter (whom Gonzalez worked with at a Stanford University writing residency early in his career), and Ernest Hemingway significantly influenced him. Yet he and his Filipino literary peers—such as Bienvenido Santos—eventually pioneered and propagated the ideal of Philippine literature in English as a distinctive phenomenon with a sentient literary voice. Gonzalez, especially, evolved a singular Filipino American literary aesthetic that illuminated a nativist folkloric Philippine sensibility and facilitated an emergent Filipino American vision of life within an ever-changing Philippine American dynamic, pushing beyond geographic, language, and cultural boundaries. At the time of his death of kidney complications on November 28, 1999, he was as influential a teacher and creative mentor in English in the United States—and to a new generation of Filipino American and Asian American writers—as he was to an evolving generation of Filipino writers in Tagalog and other languages in the Philippines. —Anna Alves See also: Filipino Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Alegre, Edilberto N., and Doreen G. Fernandez. The Writer and His Milieu: An Oral History of First Generation Writers in English. Manila: De La Salle University Press, 1984. Espiritu, Augusto Fauni. Five Faces of Exile: The Nation and Filipino American Intellectuals. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005. Guzman, Richard R. “As in Myth, the Signs Were All Over”: The Fiction of N. V. M. Gonzalez.” The Virginia Quarterly Review (Winter 1984): 102–11. Leong, Russell, director. NVM Gonzalez: A Story Yet to Be Told. 1998. VHS.
Works by N. V. M. Gonzalez Gonzalez, N. V. M. A Season of Grace (novel). Makati, Metro Manila: Filipino Literary Classics, Bookmark, 1992 (original copyright, 1954). Gonzalez, N. V. M. The Bamboo Dancers (novel). Makati, Metro Manila: Filipino Literary Classics, Bookmark, 1993 (original copyright, 1959). Gonzalez, N. V. M. The Bread of Salt and Other Stories (short stories). Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993. Gonzalez, N. V. M. A Grammar of Dreams (short stories). Diliman, Metro Manila: University of Philippines Press, 1997. Gonzalez, N. V. M. The Novel of Justice: Selected Essays 1968–1994 (essays). Pasig City, Philippines: Anvil Publishing, 1996. Gonzalez, N. V. M. Work on the Mountain (essays). Diliman, Metro Manila: University of the Philippines Press, 1995. Gonzalez, N. V. M., and Oscar Campomanes. “Filipino American Literature.” In King-kok Cheung, ed. An Interethnic Companion to Asian American Literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
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Heroes and Heroines Heroes and heroines traditionally refer to individuals who left a legacy in history by risking their lives on the battleground to protect their motherland. Battles, however, are not always fought in arms. The heroes and heroines in the Filipino American culture also include those who have fought and those who continue to fight for freedom and social justice through community activism. Among these heroes and heroines are Carlos Bulosan, the Manongs, Philip Vera Cruz, the Filipino Veterans, and Ninotchka Rosca. Carlos Bulosan exposed the racial stereotypes and prejudices that white America held against Filipinos during the U.S. colonial rule of the Philippines. U.S. colonizers in the Philippines treated Filipino colonial subjects with benevolence, to the extent of calling them “little brown brothers,” and thus created in the Filipino imagination an image of the United States as an ideal place to live. Bulosan wrote his and other Filipinos’ experiences of racial discrimination in the United States in his novel America Is in the Heart. The Manongs were single men, primarily Ilocano speakers, recruited from the Philippines to work in the U.S. agricultural sector. Manong is an Ilocano form of address for an older brother, but is also commonly used for an older man. The Manongs, along with other Filipino farmworkers, organized a sit-down strike that impacted the production of grapes in Delano, California, in 1965. The strike led to a series of organized labor struggles in California. Filipino migrant workers as a group contributed to the achievements of the United Farm Workers (UFW) in improving labor conditions in the United States. Particularly, Philip Vera Cruz provided support to Cesar Chavez, UFW’s president, as the union’s second vice president. The Filipinos, however, are not always given credit for their role in the UFW. Filipino soldiers fought alongside the U.S. Armed Forces in the Philippines during World War II. Although they risked their lives for their motherland, they also did so in defense of their American counterparts. The U.S. government at that time promised to reward Filipino veterans for their heroism through economic support. However, it has not delivered on that promise. Filipino veterans, despite their age and health condition, have lobbied to get those benefits not only for themselves, but also for their families. Ninotchka Rosca, a multi-awarded literary fiction writer in English, is also a human rights activist and feminist. Rosca came to the United States in exile during the dictatorial regime of Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos. She has been involved in community organizing and providing leadership to women’s organizations that address the interlocking systems of gender, race, and class oppression. She founded the Gabriela Network or GABNet, an organization that fosters
Filipino Americans: Home Decoration
solidarity among Filipinas in the United States and in the Philippines. Her other accomplishments involve drafting the Survivors’ Statement for the United Nation’s World Conference in Vienna, Austria, which was signed by Nobel prize winners and former political prisoners, and serving as press secretary for The Hague International Women’s Tribunal on Japan’s World War II Military Sex Slavery. —Beverly Romero Natividad See also: Filipino Americans: Identity.
Further Reading Bulosan, Carlos. America Is in the Heart. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1973. Scharlin, Craig, and Lilia V. Villanueva. Philip Vera Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement. Manila, Philippines: Anvil Publishing, Inc, 2000.
Web Site GABRIELA Network USA: http://www.gabnet.org.
Home Decoration The nipa hut (bahay kubo), the iconic representation of the typical Philippine house, is an indigenous dwelling in rural areas all around the Philippines. It is made of nipa, a type of reed, and bamboo floors with thatch roofing and walls. Bamboos are a very common component in a nipa hut and deemed as functional and decorative. The concept of open space is also followed in constructing the nipa hut. The open concept space is very common because of the warm and humid climate in the Philippines. The interior of the nipa hut is practically bare with the exception of furniture that is used daily like the living room chairs and the dining set. Thus, the home decoration is optional. Indigenous or local readily accessible materials like wood, bamboo, and reeds are usually the main components of home decor. The basic decoration principle of the Filipino American home is the presence of natural elements like wood, plants, or stones. The Filipino American home is at the forefront of the eco-friendly approach. Natural elements are appealing as reminders of home and the nipa hut. The hardwood table and cabinetry are a must, as are indoor plants. A china cabinet is an essential furniture piece also as Filipinos love to entertain guests and use their finest wares for them. It is a common practice in the Philippines to display the best china and use them on special occasions or for special guests. Filipino American homeowners may prefer hardwood flooring instead of carpeting. The decorative shades around the home may be made from
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natural materials such as reed, bamboos, or rattan. Basketry and pottery are also essential in home decorating for Filipino Americans. Lamps, chandeliers, and candleholders made of capiz shells are also widely used. Another item of home decor found in Filipino and Filipino American homes is the religious icon. The Philippines is predominantly Catholic, thus, most Filipino American families often have either the Sto. Nin˜o (the Infant Jesus), Sagrada Familia (Holy Family—the child Jesus, Mary, Joseph), or the Last Supper. These icons may come in the form of statue, painting, or bas relief. Candles adorn these decorations in the same way that candles are used in Catholic churches. There are other influences that the Filipinos have adopted such as the Chinese philosophy of feng shui. Feng shui is the practice of balancing the good (yin) and the bad (yang) in the arrangement and positioning of furniture that can affect the flow of energy and thus influence the homeowners’ wealth and health. Most Filipino Americans practice this or have acquired home decor that is Chinese in origin. Examples of feng shui decor are the ancient Chinese coins and paintings or statues of the laughing Buddha. Typically, Filipino American home decoration, like its counterpart in the Philippines, is minimalist and incorporates natural elements. These concepts are appealing not only to Filipinos but to other cultures as well. —Elaine L. Jorque-Augustine See also: Filipino Americans: Igorot Home Decoration.
Further Reading Javellana, Rene, Fernando Zialcita, and Luca Tettoni. Filipino Style. Hong Kong: Periplus Editions Ltd, 1997. Leandicho-Lopez, Mellie. A Handbook of Philippine Folklore. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2008.
Identity The Filipino American identity is largely tied to its colonial history. The United States colonized the Philippines for 50 years. Throughout the colonial period, the United States conditioned the Filipino mind to idealize the United States. As a result, Filipino Americans occupy an ambivalent cultural space. On the one hand, they valorize white skin tone and the English language. On the other hand, they exhibit pride in their indigenous cultural practices and values. The older generation of Filipino Americans, particularly those who were raised in their home country,
Filipino Americans: Identity
experience such ambivalence more than the younger generation who, growing up in the United States, has been exposed to and experienced race relations. Filipinos trace their origin to the Malays. Thus, they consider themselves belonging to the brown race. Their Malayan influence is primarily visible through the skin color of the majority of their population. However, intermarriages have given some a lighter skin tone. Colonialism created a racial hierarchy in the Filipino culture that often goes unnoticed. The Filipino culture’s standard of beauty is based on a white skin tone. Such standard is evident in the Filipino celebrities that comprised television programs in the Philippines. Filipinos in the United States subscribe to these programs that are transmitted via satellite. While they admire light-skinned Filipinos, they generally support Filipinos who excel in various fields regardless of their skin tone. Tagalog is the dominant language of Filipinos. The Philippines has six other major languages and numerous dialects. Thus, some Filipinos also speak their region’s mother tongue. The older generation of Filipino Americans still use their native languages. However, most of them resist passing on these languages to their children and grandchildren. One of the reasons is their desire to assimilate into mainstream American culture. Another reason is rooted in colonialism. Filipino Americans place a high value on the English language because it guarantees academic excellence and professional competitiveness. Despite the influences of colonialism in constructing the Filipino American identity, Filipino Americans retained a part of their indigenous culture. Their cultural values and practices of respect for the elderly and community building prevail. Although nursing homes for seniors abound in the United States, most Filipino Americans care for their aging parents at home. They would rather hire a personal caregiver. While parents do not pass on their native language to their children, they still teach the latter words that signify respect for the elders. Among these words are kuya for an older brother or man and ate (a-te) for an older sister or woman. Filipino Americans often form organizations based on their religious affiliation, similar profession, the Philippine language they speak, the Philippine region they come from, or the school they graduated from. These organizations try to promote camaraderie among their members in the United States and Filipino traditions in the American community at large. However, they also provide help to victims of calamities in the Philippines. They also help make their newly arrived kababayans, or countrymen/countrywomen, feel welcome and better able to adjust to their new environment. These groups enable members to build social networks through community gatherings and projects. —Beverly Romero Natividad See also: Filipino Americans: Indigenous Identity.
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Further Reading Bonus, Rick. Locating Filipino Americans: Ethnicity and the Cultural Politics of Space. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000. Rafael, Vicente. White Love and Other Events in Filipino History. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000.
Igorot Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Today, many Filipino Americans do not observe ancestors, ghosts, and spirits in their everyday lives. However, indigenous Filipino Americans believe otherwise. Igorot ancestor, ghost, and spirit observation in indigenous Filipino America is rooted in two religious beliefs: animism and Catholicism, both still practiced in the highlands of Luzon. Igorot ancestors believed that everything in the environment, both animate and inanimate, has a spirit, including trees, rivers, and rocks. Everyday life for Igorots from various tribes involved interacting with spirits that inhabited their surrounding environments, these spirits were called anito. One such practice is the asking for permission from local anitos to farm or harvest on undeveloped land. Such practices normally included offerings of food and the observing of certain taboos, and sometimes included the help of an elder/shaman if an actual encounter with the spirit was needed. These practices continue today in various areas around the mountain provinces today, as well as in the United States. Catholicism has also been incorporated into Igorot religion, fusing with animist beliefs through conversion by missionaries, modernized in the Philippines and transplanted to the United States. Modernized Igorots who have immigrated to the United States define a spirit as not just something that inhabits inanimate objects, but also, for example, as a relative who has passed away. Also, Igorot healers and shamans have added saints, God, Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, etc., to their prayers. Although most Igorots in the United States are Catholic or of another denomination, they still hold onto their indigenous beliefs; they do not want to “push their luck” with a spirit or a relative who has passed away. One common practice that still occurs is the asking of permission from spirits to make changes to one’s backyard or to walk over graves in cemeteries, which is considered courteous. This act of respect is also seen in the performance of Atang and Pitik. Atang is performed during death anniversaries or any celebratory festivity and involves leaving a plate of food as an offering to a family member. Pitik is the practice of offering the first taste of alcohol to any dead relatives before anyone else drinks; this is done by either pouring a drink into a separate glass and leaving it out or pouring a little of the “taste” onto the ground. Another phenomenon that occurs in the United States is naluganan, literally “to ride,” but in this case a spirit rides an individual, which is understood as a
Filipino Americans: Igorot Balikbayans
possession. This event is described as occurring randomly at wakes or through guidance by an espiritista, someone who has the power to heal individuals as well as communicate with the dead. This can occur if a relative wants to communicate a message to a family member. However, communication can also be established through dreams, and in some cases individuals have been told to return home to deal with a family issue or to take care of a task that the dead family member wants completed. If these tasks are not accomplished, bad luck can follow from the anger of the spirit. Some traditional beliefs and practices are still observed especially in families that have grandparents living with them who have knowledge of rituals and traditions. —Mark Sabas Leo See also: Filipino Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit.
Further Reading Afable, Patricia. “Mortuary Ritual among the Ibaluy.” Asian Folklore Studies 34(2) (1975): 103–26. Grant, Alex J., Hubert Reynolds, and Fern Babcock. The Isneg of the Northern Philippines. Dumaguete City, Philippines: Anthropology Museum, Silliman University, 1973. Jenks, Albert. The Bontoc Igorot. Department of the Interior. Washington, DC: Ethnological Survey Publications, 1905.
Igorot Balikbayans Going back to the Philippines has become an important rite of return for indigenous Filipinos that shares much in common with that of the greater Filipino diaspora, although there are some significant differences in the ways in which this rite is enacted and carried out. For example, like most Filipino Americans, Igorots, when traveling back across the seas to the land of their ancestors, carry balikbayan boxes filled with presents and souvenirs for friends and family members. They also play role of messenger/ intermediary for friends and family in the United States when they return home to the United States. This is accomplished as friends and family learn that someone is returning home and ask if that person can paw-it, or send something to their relatives that they bring to the individual/s returning home. The difference for Igorot Filipinos is what occurs when they return to the Philippines. Sometime during their arrival a ritual is performed to honor the ancestors and indigenous gods, thanking them for their protection during their journey and while they are back home. The ritual also has a double meaning
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in that it also is an announcement to friends, family, and ancestors that someone has returned home. This same ritual is repeated toward the end of a visit, but one difference is that the family asks also for blessings of good luck and fortune for the family/clan’s future. Prior to the day of departure family members all gather for a final farewell, one that resembles the Tagalog despidida. For some families, this can be a party or an intimate family dinner where attendees say their final goodbyes. These concept rituals have been recreated in the United States in the form of family dinners or the throwing of parties, but the biggest change is the lack of rituals. However, in some cases the rituals do reemerge depending on the reason for the return home and the family’s willingness to perform the rituals. For instance, for families with members in the military, the celebration of the return has more meaning, especially from a conflict zone. A family can opt to not just throw a party, but perform rituals by butchering chickens or a pig in their backyards. However, this is different compared to rituals in the Philippines since the “official” animals are not always available to a family. At the same time, family members must be careful in performing these rituals, which are neither legal nor customary in the United States. —Mark Sabas Leo See also: Filipino Americans: Balikbayan Boxes.
Further Reading Espiritu, Yen Le. Filipino American Lives. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995. Grant, Alex J., Hubert Reynolds, and Fern Babcock. The Isneg of the Northern Philippines. Dumaguete City, Philippines: Anthropology Museum, Silliman University, 1973. Jenks, Albert. The Bontoc Igorot. Department of the Interior. Washington, DC: Ethnological Survey Publications, 1905 Vergara, Benito M., Jr. Pinoy Capital: The Filipino Nation in Daly City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.
Igorot Dying and Death Rituals As indigenous Filipino Americans have immigrated to the United States and adapted to their new home and surroundings, they have begun to either move away from their native cultural practices or found ways to modify them as they adapt to the American way of dealing with death and dying. However, in some cases indigenous Filipino Americans bring the deceased family member back to the Philippines so that the proper death rites can be administered.
Filipino Americans: Igorot Dying and Death Rituals
If Igorot Filipino Americans can afford to, they will bring the deceased back to the Philippines for the traditional rites. Some of these rites entail the sacrificing of animals, such as pigs, horses, cows, and caribou depending on the stature of the deceased to the community back home. Funerals can last from six to nine days, which is also dependent on the deceased’s stature in the community and within his or her family. Most immediate family members are expected to return home to help with the funeral rites, but sometimes this is not possible due to travel costs; those who do return are not allowed to leave the vicinity of the family compound for the duration of their stay out of respect for the deceased and ancestors. The body of the deceased is put in the living room, and an immediate family member is expected to stay next to the it at all times until it is interred. Many family members and close friends stay and help with the preparation and serving of food to visitors who are coming to pay their respects. Upon arrival, visitors also offer money to help pay for expenses that were accrued for the funeral; it is also believed that these money offerings are for the spirit of the dead to use on the journey in the afterlife. During Igorot funerals it is not uncommon for people to pray all day and night within the designated funeral timeframe. Family and friends pray constantly—both in Christian/Catholic practices as well as in Igorot practice—since it is believed that these constant recitals of rosaries and indigenous prayers help the deceased get to heaven or afterlife destination. On the final day, the body is interred and the family goes through different rituals based on the specific tribal heritage. However, some families perform the Christian/Catholic funeral rites as well. One major difference for Igorot Filipino Americans dealing with funerals in the United States is that they take place in funeral homes and not in a family member’s house. Thus, a lot of the indigenous traditions cannot take place. Most of the funeral rites are contemporary and Christian or Catholic, which forces Igorot Filipinos to navigate both worlds. Wakes at funeral homes are normally set up after working hours so that friends and family can come and pay their respects. As in the Philippines, friends and family come every day until the body is interred. Sacrificial rituals no longer take place, but many Igorot Filipino wakes are filled with an abundance of food that the hosting family provides. Friends and family also bring food to help share in this burden, as well as the traditional monetary offering to the family. Another practice altered by U.S. custom is that since the body remains at the mortuary after observance hours are over, family and friends cannot stay with it at all times. However, they continue to pray the Catholic and Eastern Orthodoxy nine-day novena at the deceased’s home, even after the body is interred. The transplantation and reproduction of dying and death rituals for Igorot Filipinos in the United States change as they adapt to their new lifestyle. For many, the move away from performing most indigenous rituals occurs because it is not
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possible to perform them due to legal rules and American custom. This puts many of the Catholic/Christian practices in the forefront of funeral practices, but some Igorot practices continue, modified for use in the United States. However, if a family chooses to honor indigenous rituals, they can return the body to the Philippines and perform them there. —Mark Sabas Leo See also: Filipino Americans: Dying and Death Rituals.
Further Reading Afable, Patricia. “Mortuary Ritual among the Ibaluy.” Asian Folklore Studies 34(2) (1975): 103–26. Grant, Alex J., Hubert Reynolds, and Fern Babcock. The Isneg of the Northern Philippines. Dumaguete City, Philippines: Anthropology Museum, Silliman University, 1973. Jenks, Albert. The Bontoc Igorot. Department of the Interior. Washington, DC: Ethnological Survey Publications, 1905.
Igorot Family and Community An integrally important aspect of Filipino American folklife is rooted in their strong connections to their immediate families and cultural community organizations. The same can be said for indigenous Filipino Americans. However, there are distinct differences and similarities in relationships in indigenous families as well as within those in the community. In the Philippines, many Igorot youth did not call other members of their family and clan by a term of respect, but addressed each other by their first name or would speak to them after getting their attention. When describing their interpersonal relations to one another, this was done in third person (e.g., That is person’s mother, that is person’s son, etc.). As Igorots assimilated into the greater society, they began to take up popular terms such as manong or kuya, literally “older brother.” This practice is carried on by some Igorots in the United States . The most common terms in Igorot American families are mother, father, uncle, auntie, grandmother, and grandfather. Like other Filipino Americans, terms of respect for aunts and uncles have been accorded to members of one’s extended family. Igorot American families in the United States are products of family chain migration, which occurs when a single member of one’s family immigrates to the United States and petitions for other members to join them. However, some family members also seek ways to immigrate to the United States based on different professions; many immigrated via the United States Navy.
Filipino Americans: Igorot Foods and Foodways
The Igorot communities in the Philippines played a huge factor in Igorot folklife and culture. The same can be said of their U.S. counterparts. The transplantation of the BIBAK Igorot organization to the United States attests to how important a social community is for Igorot Filipino Americans. BIBAK (an acronym for the five major tribal provinces in the Cordilleras) in the United States is very different from the Philippines’ version. In the Philippines, BIBAK was a college organization whose mission was to help college-educated Igorots gain access to and recognition from the larger political system. In the United States, BIBAK began as a nonprofit organization to help Igorot immigrants connect with Igorots in other cities, states, and regions. Some BIBAK organizations around the United States can be found in the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, San Diego, Hawaii, Las Vegas, and the Northeast. International groups exist in Vancouver, British Columbia; Ireland; and Switzerland. All organizations have members that are part of the Igorot Global Organization, which holds conferences every two years to address issues deemed important by the global community. In addition to BIBAK, there are also tribalspecific organizations. —Mark Sabas Leo See also: Filipino Americans: Family and Community.
Further Reading Finin, Gerard A. The Making of the Igorot: Contours of Cordillera Consciousness. Manila: Ateneo De Manila University Press, 2005. Grant, Alex J., Hubert Reynolds, and Fern Babcock. The Isneg of the Northern Philippines. Dumaguete City, Philippines: Anthropology Museum, Silliman University, 1973. Jenks, Albert. The Bontoc Igorot. Department of the Interior. Washington, DC: Ethnological Survey Publications, 1905.
Web Sites BIBAK San Diego: http://www.bibaksandiego.net/. Igorot Global Organization (IGO): http://www.igorotglobal.org/cms/.
Igorot Foods and Foodways Today, many different Filipino American foods can be found in the United States in everything from Filipino fast food establishments such as Jollibee to more informal venues that sell homemade Filipino dishes. These dishes typically include lumpia, pancit, adobo, sinigang, and many others.
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For Filipinos of Igorot descent, the situation is more complex because Igorot dishes do not have specific names. Meals were named based on what was being served. For example, a chicken dish was just called a chicken dish. In some cases, the dish was named for how it was prepared for consumption. For instance, in Bontoc to cook a dish over an open flame would be called tinono plus the word for the specific meat and fish. In another example, those of Kankan-ey tribal background use the terms denengdeng and ipangan to refer to any dish paired with rice, which would be seen as a complete dish. These dishes can be an all meat, fish, vegetable, or a combination of the three served with rice. In this respect, it can be argued that all dishes eaten today can still be termed this way. One major difference between Igorot foods from other Filipino foods is that the dishes are very bland, since the cordilleras (mountain region) had very little spice available to them; most dishes were served with a side of sauce called sili or siwiswan that was flavored with salt and chili pepper. As Igorots immigrated to the United States, some of these same dishes have transplanted over. These dishes are made at homes, and the practice of not naming them still occurs. One of the most basic Igorot American dishes is a stew of boiled meat and cabbage over rice. A snack version of this dish is called upat ay iwa, which means “divided by four”; this dish is can be made of boiled meat and cabbage. Another popular snack for Igorot Filipinos is kamote, or sweet potatoes, ideal in the Philippines since it was cheap and affordable. Many Igorot Filipinos in the United States still snack on it by baking, steaming, or heating it in a microwave and serving it with butter or honey. Another snack dish is called kamoteque made by frying it in a pan with butter or honey and serving it with sugar on top. As noted in earlier sections, on special occasions Igorots sacrifice pigs and cows for rituals. This is not generally practiced in the United States, but preparing and eating these dishes in this “authentic” way does occur on rare occasions. Another dish that has been brought over and is eaten and prepared in its original way is pnikpikan, a soup prepared with fresh chickens. Owning live chickens is not common among Igorot families in the United States, so pnikpikan is only occasionally prepared in an individual’s backyard or during outdoor camping trips. Rarely, Igorots eat dog meat, which is also typically prepared in a private residence. During events like Christmas and New Year, Igorot Filipino Americans always want to make sure there is a whole pig or cow being served at a party. If possible, they will get this pig or cow from a local slaughterhouse as a way of keeping with the tradition that it is fresh. The parts that are not cooked and are left over are given to friends and family in portioned bags, called wat-wat. Food and foodways are an integral aspect of Igorot Filipino folklife, culture, and identity. Igorot Filipino Americans take pride in these dishes, and it shows
Filipino Americans: Igorot Home Decoration
how communal Igorot culture can be. Although Igorot food is not seen in the broader Filipino community, for Igorots Filipinos it is part of their daily lives. —Mark Sabas Leo See also: Filipino Americans: Foods and Foodways.
Further Reading Alejandro, Reynaldo G. Food of the Philippines. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. Gonzalez, Joaquin. Filipino American Faith in Action: Immigration, Religion, and Civic Engagement. New York: New York University Press, 2009. Grant, Alex J., Hubert Reynolds, and Fern Babcock. The Isneg of the Northern Philippines. Dumaguete City, Philippines: Anthropology Museum, Silliman University, 1973. Jenks, Albert. The Bontoc Igorot. Department of the Interior. Washington, DC: Ethnological Survey Publications, 1905. Law, Lisa. “Home Cooking: Filipino Women and Geographies of the Senses in Hong Kong.” In David Howes, ed. Empire of the Senses: The Sensual Culture Reader. New York: Berg, 2005.
Igorot Home Decoration Filipino Americans have many indigenous decorative representations in their households. The same can be said for Filipinos of Igorot heritage, but some of these decorations are uniquely different from other Filipino decorations because of the relationship that these decorations have with Igorot Filipino Americans. The basic home decorations of Igorot Filipino Americans have a lot to do with items unique to Igorot daily life in the provinces of the Cordillera region. One of the more iconic representations is the kalapao/kalapaw, or Igorot house, which is typically seen in wooden figurines sets in Igorot Filipino American homes. They come in a set because in mountain provinces each family has a house for different uses. For example, there is a kalapao/w for sleeping, for dining, and other uses. Another iconic wood figurine group commonly found in Igorot Filipino American households are the bulal, or rice guardians. In the Philippines these figurines are much larger and are placed in front of rice granaries or rice fields as protectors of the harvest. Anyone stealing from the local crop would fall ill due to their protection. In Igorot Filipino American households these figurines no longer act as guardians, but are just figurines for decoration. However, they can be found in other Filipino households as well, but are more unique to Igorot Filipino American households.
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Other household decorations that Igorot Filipino Americans share are the creating of designated spaces for Christian/Catholic decorations. These include altars in areas frequented by members of one’s household, as well as the image of the Last Supper in a household dining space. Like other Filipino Americans, Igorot Americans in their home decorating tend to mix indigenous decoration with contemporary religious de´cor. Decorations that are also unique to Igorot Filipinos are the use of tribal garb as wall decorations and as throws over tables and furniture. Other decorative pieces that are brought over from the Philippines are tribal shields and instruments such as the gangsa, or gongs, drums, and other bamboo or wooden instruments. These objects serve as both home decorations and instruments used during a performance of folkloric dance. Lastly, the paintings of tribal Igorots can also be found in Igorot Filipino American households. Filipino Americans and Igorot Filipino Americans both incorporate indigenous decorative pieces to highlight their cultural background. These decorations help them display their unique heritage within Filipino America. —Mark Sabas Leo See also: Filipino Americans: Home Decoration.
Further Reading Grant, Alex J., Hubert Reynolds, and Fern Babcock Grant. The Isneg of the Northern Philippines. Dumaguete City, Philippines: Anthropology Museum, Silliman University, 1973. Javellana, Rene, Fernando Zialcita, and Luca Tettoni. Filipino Style. Hong Kong: Periplus Editions Ltd, 1997. Jenks, Albert. The Bontoc Igorot. Washington, DC: Department of the Interior, Ethnological Survey Publications, 1905. Leandicho-Lopez, Mellie. A Handbook of Philippine Folklore. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2008.
Indigenous Folk Dance and Performance The Philippines is home to many different indigenous peoples, for example, the Aeta, Moro, Mangyan, Palwanon, and the Igorot. In the mountain provinces of Northern Luzon Philippines, Igorot folk dances were traditionally done within the private space of one’s home or tribal village, with the exception of the exploitative World’s Fairs and Expositions held in St. Louis and Seattle in the early 20th century. With the Igorot people immigrating to other countries, these performances have moved into the public space. In the United States, Igorot folk dances are commonly found at events held by BIBAK (an organization named after the five
Filipino Americans: Indigenous Folk Dance and Performance
major Igorot tribes: Bontoc, Ifugao, Benguet, Apayao, and Kalinga) in public venues—akin to a pow-wow— where a majority of the spectators are of Igorot descent. As the popularity of folk dances grows, however, an influx of these Igorot dances can be seen, performed and appropriated by various Filipino cultural dance organizations, at large cultural festivals, with skewed or adapted versions of the traditional Igorot dances by nonindigenous Filipinos to inform their Filipino American identity. These festivals can be held in various public spaces, such as high school and college auditoriums, parks, community centers, and parade marches. Three central themes mark indigenous Filipino folk dances: courtship, war, and celebration. These dances are performed in places like San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco California; Beach, Virginia; and Seattle, Washington.
A member of the Anchorage Filipino community beats a traditional drum as he marches with the group during an Independence Day parade in Anchorage, Alaska, July, 4, 2006. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)
Courtship Bontoc Takik is a wedding dance where each dancer carries a brightly colored cloth (called an allap) that moves along with the feet, to convey flirtation or desire. Kalinga Salidsid (or Salip) is a courtship dance where the male and the female both hold an allap and end with both joining the cloths. The dance is said to simulate a rooster and hen at play. A modern interpretation is that of a warrior claiming his bride by presenting her with a matrimonial blanket. The woman responds by balancing several clay pots on her head. She follows the man, representing obedience. Another version of this dance has two warriors competing for the approval of the maiden. Apayao Taduk/Talip/Pingpingaw are variations of the courtship dance.
War Bontoc Anin-anin-it is a product of a legend wherein a group of warriors spied upon a village of forest elves and mimicked their movements. It also has been presented as a dance after a battle, which is performed over the dead. Kalinga
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Torayan, the “eagle dance,” has movements resembling that of the bird; it is performed after a successful headhunting trip or a victorious tribal war.
Celebration Bontoc Ballangbang (or Tallifeng) is a festival dance performed during various celebratory events. In recent years, a “War Dance” element has been incorporated. Kalinga Banga was not originally a dance, but was created by BIBAK dance troupes in the Philippines to simulate women balancing earthen jars on their heads as they fetch water. Abroad, the dance evolved into tests of balancing large piles of pots to make it more entertaining. Benguet Bendian was originally a dance to celebrate a successful head hunt, with groups of dancers dancing around the head of an enemy. During American occupation, the head was replaced with a fake head, but after World War II, the meaning was changed to represent a good harvest. Ifugao Dinnuya is a prestige dance performed at large feasts with movements simulating a bird. The traditional Igorot dances have evolved from simple village expressions and conversations with nature, to larger, less intimate productions that incorporate choreographed movements and stories to help explain the culture to outside observers. The transplantation and reproduction of these dances in the United States help create a specific indigenous identity (i.e., Igorot Filipino American). This identity is uniquely different because it lacks colonial Spanish, Chinese, and Western influences—influences that are prevalent in a majority of Filipino traditional dance. However, through folkdance and performance, mainstream Filipino Americans are able to incorporate the indigenous identity into the mainstream Filipino American identity, which strengthens what being Filipino means for their identity. Yet the transplantation of these Igorot dances allows mainstream Filipinos to learn of their neighboring indigenous cultures, along with the traditional native arts of the Aetas, Moros, Mangyans, and Palwanons, and help break long-standing biases and divisive attitudes toward these indigenous cultures. —Mark Sabas Leo
Further Reading Georges, Robert, and Michael Owen Jones, Folkloristic: An Introduction. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995. Gonzalves, Theo. “Dancing into Oblivion: The Pilipino Cultural Night and the Narration of Contemporary Filipina/o America.” Kritika Kultura. Department of English School of Humanities, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2005. Jansen, William Hugh. “The Esoteric-Exoteric Factor in Folklore.” Fabula: Journal of Folklore Studies 2 (1959): 205–11.
Filipino Americans: Indigenous Identity
Indigenous Identity The Filipino American identity is normally conceived of as homogenous, but when looking at the different cultures from the country, the Filipino identity is clearly very heterogeneous. Indigenous Filipino American identity is one that is very different when compared to Filipino American identity based on the identity characterization established by the dominant Filipino society in the Philippines. As Filipinos immigrated to the United States, these concepts of different identities persisted and remain to this day. Filipino identity in the Philippines is based on assimilation to the former Spanish colonizers of the Philippines. The term “Filipino” originally described Spaniards born in the Philippines, but eventually was adopted by members of the ilustrado, the intellectual, enlightened class being educated overseas in Spain. Notable members of this group were Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, and Antonio Luna— all considered national heroes of the Philippines. The adoption of the term Filipino by the ilustrado occurred so that the Philippines could be assimilated and its non-Spanish inhabitants could be recognized by the government of Spain. As time passed, the term became synonymous with the nation-state identity being forged, one that was mostly of Spanish colonial influence and heritage and spoke Tagalog. This put those who resisted Spanish colonization— mostly rural indigenous animists and Muslims who were beyond Catholic conquest and conversion—under the category of Other. These two separate categories would create a social hierarchy in the Philippines that would lead to discrimination against the indigenous people by the dominant society. Filipinos have been immigrating to North America as early as the ManilaAcapulco galleon trades from 1565 to 1815. They also have continued to immigrate to the United States in various ways, as laborers for the sugar plantations in Hawaii, laborers for the farms and canneries all over the West Coast, and as professionals in the post-1965 era of Asian Immigration. Within this narrative of immigration was also the immigration of indigenous Filipinos. Indigenous Filipinos were being displayed at the St. Louis World’s Fair and the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition. For many of these immigrants, the two separate identities remain. Eventually they would accept the identity of Filipino American. Moreover, future generations will employ this homogenous Filipino American identity. However, amongst indigenous Filipino Americans, there remains a distinct identity that is different from Filipino American identity. Indigenous Filipino Americans recognize that they are part of the Filipino American collective identity, but see themselves as unique due to their distinctive history in the Philippines as well as their indigenous culture. —Mark Sabas Leo See also: Filipino Americans: Identity.
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Further Reading Kramer, Paul. The Blood Government: Race, Empire, the United States, and the Philippines. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2006. Martinez, David C. A Country of Our Own: Partitioning the Philippines. Los Angeles: Bisaya Books, 2004. Parezo, Nancy, and Don Dower. Anthropology Goes to the Fair. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans: Updated and Revised. New York: Back Bay Books, 1998.
Jeepneys Jeepneys, or ornately decorated jeeps that function as mini-buses, are the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. Legend has it that they originated from the malfunctioning military jeeps that were abandoned and left behind as junk by the Americans after World War II. Creative Filipinos renovated and popularized these jeeps, making them a beloved form of public transportation. Jeepneys in the Philippines are the most commonly used form of transport because they are affordable and can accommodate about 8 people comfortably, while newer models can seat 14 to 20 people at a stretch. While government rules and regulations currently limit the number of people who can board jeeps, especially in major cities where these traffic rules are enforced, it is not uncommon in rural towns to see people packed in, standing astride, and squished together on the rooftop of these vehicles. Filipinos are famously community oriented and focused on working together to achieve their goals such as helping others reach their destinations. This is one reason why these vehicles can accommodate so many people back in the home country. Another distinguishing feature is that these vehicles are elaborately painted and decorated all over with religious amulets and other popular objects that make them personal and reflective of the owner’s spirit. As more and more Filipinos moved to the United States, these vehicles took on a new role. They became living testimonials of their struggling loved ones back in the Philippines. Replicas of these legendary vehicles are being used as touring buses in Filipino Towns, especially in Los Angeles, where many Filipino Americans and local tourists gravitate to find a sense of place and feeling rooted in their homeland in the United States. —Kathleen M. Nadeau
Further Reading Menez, Herminia. “The Art and Language of Manila’s Jeepney Drivers.” In Explorations in Philippine Folklore. Manila: Ateneo de Manila Press, 1996. Nadeau, Kathleen. The History of the Philippines. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008.
Filipino Americans: Literature and Folklore
Literature and Folklore Filipino American writers have often invoked and integrated folklore in their writings not to memorialize but to assert their indissoluble link to the motherland while locating a sense of belonging, or home. Folklore assumes a significant role in the formation and expression of a Filipino American subjectivity and identity. The panoply of allusions to Filipino folklore in Filipino American literature intimates a deep, rich tradition of oral storytelling that comes from diverse, distinctive sources. The most manageable way that Filipino folklore has been classified is through form: folk narratives, folk speech, and folk verse. According to Damiana Eugenio, Professor at the University of the Philippines, the myths, the alamat (legend), and kuwentong bayan (story) comprise the prose narrative. Folk epic is in verse form. The bugtong (riddle) and the salawikain (proverbs) fall under folk speech. To define or classify the contents, the different myths, the stories, the beliefs, to subsume them under one general specification poses a more daunting task. Most myths, narratives, and riddles have no common threads running through them, reflecting the reality of the Philippines as an amalgamation of myriad tribes, ethnicities, and influences. For example, one may encounter at least three different creation myths, depending on the geographical location, cultural influences— Roman Catholicism, Hindu, or Buddhism. Various Filipino American writers like Carlos Bulosan, Bienvenido Santos, N. V. M. Gonzales, Jessica Hagedorn, and M. Evelina Galang have invoked different folklores for different reasons, complicating a monolithic Filipino American sensibility. Carlos Bulosan’s novel America Is in the Heart appeals to the tradition of oral storytelling. The stories in Bulosan’s The Laughter of My Father reconstruct, improvise, even modernize the folktales. Mythical powers are suggested in the archetypes of the anting-anting (amulet and other talismans) or the albolario (witch doctor). An old wise man named Apo Lacay becomes a touchstone for stories of the village and of faraway places. Bulosan alludes to the myths of ghosts, angels, and mermaids in his collection of stories called The Philippines Is in the Heart. Scattered references to supernatural beliefs, as well as more overt allusions and use of myths, demonstrate Bulosan’s grasp of oral culture and pre-Hispanic beliefs that survived into the modern period despite the lack of archiving or anthropological studies. Animist beliefs like the nono have survived attempts of elision from Christian proselytizing and conversion of native Filipinos. The nono—“spirits,” auras, emanating from objects in nature—are recurring motifs in early Filipino American literature. Moreover, certain tribes have rituals and traditions honoring chieftains as heroes having triumphed over enemies or their journey through the spirit world. A popular type of narrative mixes Christian beliefs and folk tradition called pasyon. Not only do symbols of mythic rejuvenation, the nono, recur in the
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narratives by Filipino American writers but also the protagonist, the Filipino American, prefigures the role of the heroic chieftain or Christ. For example, N. V. M. Gonzales’s The Bamboo Dancers is full of suggestions of renewal and rejuvenation, in the image of the bamboo, and also the quest motif, which envisions a hero’s return to one’s native land. More often than not, Filipino Americans like Gonzales complicate the traditional quest story by depicting failed journeys, quests, or searches thwarted, diverted, or deferred. The creation myth that M. Evelina Galang uses in her novel One Tribe suggests a reclamation and rearticulation of traditional myths and superstitions for an emerging Filipino American subjectivity. The use of folklore in Filipino American literature attempts to bridge literary tradition and history. It articulates the sense of in-betweenness, the liminal space, the limbo, that Filipino Americans inhabit in a land that contests their sense of belonging. —Paul Ocampo See also: Filipino Americans: Bulosan, Carlos (1911–1956); Gonzalez, N. V. M (1915–1999).
Further Reading De Los Reyes, Isabelo. El Folk-Lore Filipino. Salud C. Dizon and Maria Imson, trans. Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1994. Espiritu, Augusto. Five Faces of Exile. Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 2005. Fansler, Dean, ed. Filipino Popular Tales. Hatboro, PA: Folklore Associates, 1965. Hart, Donn. Riddles in Filipino Folklore. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University, 1964. Menez, Herminia Quimpo. Explorations in Philippine Folklore. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila, 1996. Rafael, Vicente L. Contracting Colonialism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993. Scott, William Henry. Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History. Quezon City: New Day, 1984.
Malakas at Maganda Precolonial Filipinos believed Malakas at Maganda (literally, “Strong One and Beautiful One”) to be the world’s first man and woman. The story of Malakas at Maganda explains how the Philippine islands, woman and man, and the various human races and dialects came to be. According to a Tagalog version of this myth of creation, before the world was fully formed, there was only sky, sea, and a single, restless bird. One day, the bird grew tired; and as it searched for a place to land, it stirred up the sea until its waters were thrown against the sky. In response, the sky showered the ocean with islands to calm it down. Then it ordered the bird to choose an island to build its nest on, and to leave both sky and sea at peace.
Filipino Americans: Manilamen
While resting one day, the bird was struck by a floating bamboo, the child of the land and sea breezes. Curious and annoyed, the bird struck back at the bamboo until the rod split. From one half of the bamboo emerged the first man, Malakas; from the other half appeared the first woman, Maganda. Malakas and Maganda married and had countless children. At some point, they grew tired of their children’s idleness and scared them away. The children fled in countless directions; and when they finally returned home, they were of many different colors, and spoke many different languages. Although the story of Malakas and Maganda varies slightly from region to region in the Philippines, all of these accounts share key elements that disclose some things about Filipino beliefs and values before the arrival of Westerners and Christianity in the archipelago. The primary characterization of the sea, sky, bird, and breeze in this legend reveals that early Filipinos were animistic, and believed that nature, not some supreme being, was the first and most powerful force in the universe. The simultaneous births of Malakas and Maganda reflect the early Filipino view of men and women as equals, although their names suggest that early Filipinos still held that women should be beautiful, sweet, and pleasing, while men should be strong, powerful, and hard-working. This tale also demonstrates how early Filipinos valued productivity and children’s submission to their elders, since, in it, the parents grew annoyed at their children for being “idle,” and did not question their parents’ demand for them to leave home. Finally, this story reveals early Filipinos’ awareness of their environment’s ethnic and linguistic diversity, since it attempts to explain the origins of people with various skin tones and languages. —Evelyn I. Rodriquez
Further Reading Cole, Mabel Cook. Philippine Folktales. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1916. Demetrio, Francisco. “Creation Myths among the Early Filipinos.” In Asian Folklore Studies 27(1) (1968): 41–79. Published by Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture. Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/1177800. Miller, John Maurice. Philippine Folklore Stories. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1904.
Manilamen “Manilamen” is the term used to describe the earliest documented community of Filipino settlers in the United States. The first Manilamen are believed to have escaped from Spanish galleons off the coast of Louisiana in 1763, and to have built villages in the bayous surrounding New Orleans.
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The first colony of Manilamen is thought to have been that of St. Malo, in St. Bernard Parish. European American journalist Lafcadio Hearn described St. Malo in the earliest written description of Filipino life in the United States, an article for an 1883 issue of Harper’s Weekly. Hearn reported that St. Malo was built and populated by about 100 “Malay fisherman,” whom he called Talagas, and their “half-breed” male descendants. The Talagas had created a small, self-contained, self-governing, predominantly Roman Catholic community, and had kept its existence secret for over a hundred years, likely to escape notice by Spaniards. The village consisted of about a dozen small, wooden huts, built on stilts and modeled after homes in the southern Philippines, to withstand harsh swampland conditions. The Talagas spoke Spanish and “a Malay dialect.” Some Talagas reportedly maintained contact with Manila, and sent messages and remittances there whenever possible. If they had spouses, they were usually of Cajun or Native American descent, since there were no known Filipina women in Louisiana at the time. Wives and families of the Manilamen lived outside of the village, often in New Orleans. While St. Malo was the oldest Filipino American colony, the most famous was Manila Village, in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Manila Village was likely founded by Manilaman Jacinto Quintin de la Cruz in the late 1800s, after he determined that the area was ideal for catching and preparing shrimp. Using methods adopted from the Philippines, the Manilamen, along with the small number of non-Filipino inhabitants of Manila Village, created a community that flourished for over a century. At its zenith, Manila Village housed about 300 residents, was composed of more than a dozen brightly painted homes on stilts, had introduced sun-drying of shrimp to the United States, and was successfully exporting sun-dried shrimp to Canada, Latin America, and Asia, via New Orleans. Although there are “Filipino Cajuns” alive today who trace their ancestry back eight generations to the first Manilamen, no traces of St. Malo, or other “Manila Villages” built in Louisiana, remain. Some historians, drawing on passed-down oral histories, have advanced the idea that Manilamen participated in the Battle of New Orleans. Records of this battle cite that the “regular” American Army had been supplemented by other soldiers, including “pirates from the Delta Swamps,” who were described as “Spanish fishermen” from around St. Malo. Since the only fishermen fluent in Spanish in that area at the time were Filipinos, such descriptions support the theory that Filipinos contributed to America’s victory in this defining conflict of the War of 1812. The Manilamen brought wider recognition of the Filipino population in Louisiana, after designing and winning first prize for their float in New Orleans’ Annual Mardi Gras celebrations in 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1946. Today, despite little public recognition of the lives and contributions of the Manilamen, and generations of intermarriage and settlement in the United States having distanced many of their
Filipino Americans: Mestizaje
descendants from the Philippines and more recently immigrated Filipino Americans, Louisiana maintains tremendous historical significance for the Filipino American community. —Evelyn I. Rodriquez
Further Reading Espina, Maria E. Filipinos in Louisiana. New Orleans: A. F. Laborde & Sons, 1988.
Mestizaje Mestizaje is the Spanish term for “racial mixture.” In 2000, 21.8 percent of Filipino Americans identified as being of “two or more races” on the U.S. Census, making Filipino Americans the second most racially mixed Asian American community, after Japanese Americans. Various terms exist to describe Filipinos of mixed racial descent. The most common is mestizo (or its feminine form, mestiza). Although it is widely acknowledged that most Filipinos have some mixed racial ancestry, mestizo and mestiza are usually only used to describe Filipinos who have a parent or grandparent of monoracial European ancestry. Tsinoy is commonly used among Filipinos to describe those with known and/or visible Chinese ancestry. And since the 1990s, labels invented by non-European and non-Chinese multiracial Filipino Americans to racially describe themselves have come into some use. These include terms such as “Blackapino” (African American and Filipino) and “Mexipino” (Mexican and Filipino). Although racial mixing occurred before the Spanish conquest, mestizaje really developed in the Philippines after the 1565 arrival of Spanish settlers in the archipelago, and with the influx of Chinese traders who were subsequently drawn to the Philippines because of its central role in the flourishing trade between Asia and Mexico. During the ensuing 333 years of Spain’s regime in the Philippines, European and Chinese intermarriage with indigenous women was encouraged as a way of converting natives and Chinese residents to Roman Catholicism, thereby facilitating Spanish rule. Amidst this racial mixing, Spanish administrators transferred the casta system they had produced in Mexico to the Philippines. This enabled them to uphold European social and economic supremacy through the racial stratification of Filipino society. Within the Philippine casta system, Iberian-born Spaniards, or peninsulares, comprised the top echelon of society, while “Filipinos,” or Philippine-born Spaniards, occupied the next. After them were Filipino mestizos, individuals of
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Spanish-Native descent; then Chinese mestizos; then the Chinese; and, lastly, the natives, or indios. After the overthrow of Spanish rule in the Philippines in 1898, mestizaje in the Philippines continued, especially because of U.S. occupation of the Philippines between 1899 and 1946, the continued presence of a substantial number of U.S. military personnel in the Philippines (due to the maintenance of U.S. military bases there until 1992), and large-scale emigration of Filipinos to the United States. Before the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia (1967), which overturned antimiscegenation laws in the United States, intermarriages between whites and nonwhites were outlawed in the United States, the majority of Filipino American intermarriages were between Filipino men and nonwhite (e.g., Mexican, South Asian, and Native American) women. However, Filipino Americans today have higher outmarriage rates to whites than any other Asian American ethnic group. Mestizaje has affected Filipino people, culture, and history in numerous ways. Notably, the racial hierarchy established under the Spanish casta system has contributed to an enduring colonial mentality among many Filipinos, which casts anything native as inferior to that of the Philippines’ Western colonizers. One way this manifests itself is in idealization of European-mestizo looks. Another expression of this mentality is the common Filipino custom of claiming European mestizo ancestry, despite the fact that recent studies suggest that less than 4 percent of the Philippine population is of European descent. Spanish surnames are often offered as evidence of Filipinos’ European lineage; however, many of these names were assigned to indigenous Filipino families in the mid-19th century to facilitate Spanish record-keeping and tax-collecting, and were not acquired via intermarriage. In the United States, mestizaje has notably contributed to the perceived racial ambiguity of many Filipinos due to the population’s diverse phenotypes and selfidentifications. Thus, throughout American history, Filipinos have been variously classified and treated, in law and practice, as Chinese, Malay, Asian, and/or Pacific Islander. Centuries of exposure to mestizaje have also been used to explain higher intermarriage rates to whites and other non-Asians among Filipinos. Mestizaje has been offered as a reason Filipino Americans seem more adept than other Asian Americans at forming interracial coalitions in the United States. —Evelyn I. Rodriquez See also: Filipino Americans: Beauty Standards.
Further Reading Root, Maria P. P. Contemporary Mixed Heritage Filipino Americans: Fighting Colonized Identities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997.
Filipino Americans: Names and Name Giving
Names and Name Giving Filipino American family names fall into three general categories: indigenous, Spanish, and Chinese. Macapagal, Dimacuha, and Manliclic are examples of indigenous names. Reyes, Santos, and de la Cruz are examples of Spanish names, derived from the 333 years of Spanish rule. Tan, Lim, Go, and names ending in -co or -ko (e.g., Conjuangco, Ongsiako) are examples of Chinese names from traders who eventually settled in the Philippines. These family names have been retained upon immigration to the United States. When it comes to Filipino American first names, an overwhelming majority are American because of the influence of the new homeland: Tara, Joanna, Mark, and Andrew. There are a few that are indigenous, such as Hasmin and Ligaya, but these are the exception rather than the rule. Middle names are very much a part of Filipino American names, with the mother’s maiden name used for this purpose. This is how the woman’s family name is retained, not entirely “lost” upon marrying. When the couple has a child, the mother’s maiden name is passed on because it becomes the child’s middle name. For example, a couple named Vicente Tan and Jennifer Reyes who have a son David would have his name as David Reyes Tan. A typical Filipino American will have three names: first, middle, and last, which make up the legal full name on the child’s birth and baptismal certificates. Some families also carry on the tradition of the ate and kuya kinship terms for the older sister and brother, respectively. These terms signify respect and precede the first, or given, names. Thus, an oldest or older sister will be called “Ate Edna” or sometimes just plain “Ate,” and an oldest or older brother will be called “Kuya Tony” or simply “Kuya.” It is worth noting that a host of responsibilities and obligations rest upon the ate and kuya roles, which confer leadership and are consulted for major family and individual decisions. Parents are usually addressed as “Mom” (or “Mommy”) and “Dad” (or “Daddy”). “Papa” and “Mama” are also used at times. Some families use the direct Tagalog to English translation for the parents: “Nanay” (mother) and “Tatay” (father). Grandparents are most often called “Lolo” and “Lola”; the terms precede their first names, or are acceptable on their own. For example, a grandmother named Gloria could be called “Lola” or “Lola Gloria.” This eliminates confusion between the two sets of grandparents. Occasionally, grandchildren will refer to their grandparents by the same the name used by their parents. For instance, if Susan calls her mother “Nanay,” her son Edwin might call his grandmother “Nanay” too, as opposed to the typical “Lola.” Filipino Americans have close ties to their family of origin and to their extended families. Thus, cousins’ and other relatives’ grandparents are also addressed this way.
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“Tita” and “Tito” and their English counterparts “Auntie” and “Uncle” are used by both children and adults to refer to both blood relatives and to close family friends. This is one way that close family friends “become” families, the distance bridged. It is a respectful way of addressing friends’ parents or parents’ friends instead of calling them by their first names only and is less formal than using titles such as “Mr,” “Ms,” “Mrs.” When speaking to Filipino and Filipino American strangers who are clearly older or are in positions of authority, Tagalog (also known as Filipino) address terms come into play. “Ate,” “Kuya,” “Lolo,” and “Lola” are employed even if there is no blood relation. The Ilocano kinship terms of “Manong” and “Manang” are also similarly used by people who have ties to this region of the Philippines. “Aling” (for females) and “Mang” (for males) are address terms that denote no relation. They are similar to “Ma’am” and “Sir,” but are used to people of senior status. While Tagalog family terms directly translate in English as a family member, the Filipino American idea of extended family is employed, as terms are easily given to people who are not actual relatives. One might call the next door neighbor “Tito,” or refer to a close friend’s grandmother as “Lola.” The cultural values of respect for elders, close family ties, and community show up in address and kinship terms among the majority of Filipino Americans. —Edith R. Borbon
Further Reading Cimmarusti, Rocco A. “Exploring Aspects of Filipino-American Families.” Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 22(2) (1996): 205–17. Posadas, Barbara M. The Filipino Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. Romero, Victor C. “Aren’t You Latino: Building Bridges upon Common Misperceptions.” U.C. Davis Law Review 33 (1999–2000): 837–49. Tan, Antonio S. “The Chinese Mestizos and the Formation of the Filipino Nationality.” Perse´e 32 (1986): 141–62.
Narrative Folklore In origin myths, the first people often descended from the heavens, washed down from a sky-world by deluge, or passing through a hole in the sky to populate earth, while a fat woman who got stuck became the moon. Animist beliefs about spirits within animals and nature were pervasive; thus for the Mangyans, souls exist for humans, cats, shrimp, pigs, and chickens, and after death the soul (gimokud) sits on a leaf until sun rays dissolve it into water. Gods varied by region. In the Cordilleras, Kabunian taught humans fire-making, rice cultivation, and war prowess.
Filipino Americans: Narrative Folklore
Bathala of the Tagalogs was the only deity not demonized by Spanish friars trying to identify him with the Christian god. But myths also portrayed Bathala as titanic: finding the sky too low and sun too hot, he pierced one of the sun’s eyes, lessening heat, and pushed the sky away until he stood tall. Filipino American child-rearing and kitchen talk sustain folk beliefs in spirits who help, or monsters that cause tribulations. Grandchildren are taught of engkantos and diwatas, forest dwellers enchanting those who discover them. Legends of diwata Maria Makiling dramatize the beauty around Mount Makiling, the local spirit’s protection over a man true in love—or withdrawal for abusing land’s bounty, and charity for the poor—giving ginger that turns into gold. Monsters include duwende, a hobgoblin (white ones bring luck, black ones play tricks) and nuno sa punso, a small long-bearded old man living under large trees, hence children call “tabi, tabi po” to avoid disturbing him and avert evil. The mananggal severs her body so the upper torso flies nocturnally with bat-like wings; she uses an elongated tongue to suck fetus hearts or blood from slumbering pregnant women. Precolonial gender roles appear in regional tales like “Daragang Magayon” and “Indarapatra.” “Malakas at Maganda” tells of Strong (man) and Beautiful (woman), but President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda appropriated the roles, seeking mythic legitimacy for 1970s authoritarianism. In contrast, folktales like “Reyna Sima,” based on Cotabato’s “Sima Dinakila” (1637), depict incorruptible justice in a moral leader—and queen. Precolonial epics in diminishing dialects were often overlooked by majority culture, but oral epics about heroes endure in their own language areas—for example, the Ilokano Lam-ang, the Maranao Darangen, and the Bicol Ibalon. In Visayas, Hinilawod among the Hiligaynon narrates Labaw Donggon’s exploits to win three wives, his seven-year fight underwater with rival Saragnayan who imprisons him, and rescue by his sons who kill Saragnayan. For the Ifugaos, Hudhud relates adventures of Aliguyon as he battles Pumbakhayon. Showing warrior rituals, honor code, and social constraints (e.g., not fighting in rice fields), the epic recounts how two heroes prove themselves of equal strength until mutual respect develops, each marries the other’s sister, and a peace pact is built. The Spanish period favored corrido, metrical romances like Ibong Adarna and Bernardo Carpio. Folk beliefs explained earthquakes as an underground hero’s struggle against rocks. This hero became identified with Spanish medieval legend Bernardo del Carpio, who returns from war to find the king had blinded and jailed his father and cloistered his mother. The lost father/identity, endangered mother/ homeland, and justified anger made Carpio a revolutionary symbol, but he gets trapped by an engkantado (shaman) with potent agimat/anting-anting (talisman/ amulet). One version foretells that when the last chain binding Carpio, the Filipino
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savior, is broken, “the enslavement and oppression of the Filipino race will be replaced with freedom and happiness.” In national literature, popular consciousness reacting to writers such as Rizal and Balagtas was affected by establishment ideology and language accessibility. Filipino Americans might feel “Stateside” permissiveness threatens “Maria Clara” values, named after the Rizal character supposedly embodying iconic feminine modesty and religious morals. However, critical rereadings reveal she was not simply pious, shy, or obedient as claimed. Francisco Balagtas, the Tagalog Shakespeare, had earlier dramatized women’s complexity in Florante at Laura. Balagtas also intimidates and enraptures Filipino Americans of utilitarian speech by using “deep” Tagalog in awit (song/verse) form—12-syllable lines with a 6th-syllable pause, joined into complete sentence stanzas of four rhyming lines. Like the Balagtasan named for him (traditional oratorical debate in extemporaneous verse), Laura and Flerida articulate different responses to gender politics. Laura exhibited “traditional” womanly traits, playing a waiting game and asking Florante by letter to save her; Flerida dressed as a man, escaped on a six-year quest for her beloved, and liberated Laura with bow and arrow. Much folklore in the American period was adapted to stock magazines and school or character education texts with moralistic fables. The best-known compilation, Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang, was started by Severino Reyes (1925). Currently Filipino American associations and university/education programs let new generations retell and rediscover a complex heritage of stories. —Pia C. Arboleda and Peter Cuasay
Further Reading Demetrio, Francisco, and Fernando, Gilda Cordero. The Soul Book. Quezon City: GCF Books, 1991. Eugenio, Damiana L., ed. 2002. Philippine Folk Literature. 8 vols. Diliman: University of the Philippines Press, 2002. Fansler, Dean S. “Metrical Romances in the Philippines.” The Journal of American Folklore 29(112) (April–June 1916): 203–34. Ileto, Reynaldo C. “Rizal and the Underside of Philippine History.” In David K. Wyatt and Alexander Woodside, eds. Moral Order and the Question of Change: Essays on Southeast Asian Thought. New Haven, CT: Yale SEA Studies, Monograph Series 24 (1982): 274–337.
Web Site LIKHAAN (University of the Philippines Institute for Creative Writing) and National Commission for Culture and the Arts. http://panitikan.com.ph/folkliterature.htm. Web resource for folk literature in context of national and regional literatures and Philippine criticism.
Filipino Americans: Pakikisama
Pakikisama Pakikisama is a Filipino concept of hospitality and fellowship, a shared feeling of solidarity and trust that imparts a sense of warmth, and an abiding feeling that we are linked in human heart and spirit. The term comes from the words paki, meaning, “please,” and sama, meaning “coming together for the sake of harmony.” Pakikisama connotes a coming together to readily, even enthusiastically, assist one another, even if doing so might be difficult or inconvenient. The difficulty is often transcended by an uplifted feeling of satisfaction that comes from helping others. Pakikisama is a feeling of doing good for someone else, an act of living together with an attitude of getting along, a yielding of one’s will or desires within a context of appropriate boundaries. An example of pakikisama would be hosting visitors from overseas. Instead of booking outside guests at a hotel, a Filipino who believes in the folkloric practice of pakikisama would offer lodging, transportation, and travel advice, ensuring that the visitors are cared for. Such assistance is motivated partly by concern and partly by empathy, but mostly by trust that the other person means well. In a more specific example, a Filipina in Italy inquired if a visiting family from the United States, whom she just encountered, had a ride to their hotel from the airport. The Filipina missed her own bus home to accompany them just to assure their safety. When offered payment, she simply responded “I got you, kababayan [countrymate], it is okay, you are Filipino. I am Filipino!” In an act of pakikisama there is no expectation of reciprocity from the giver; it is gratuitous. This folkloric practice is a goodwill handshake, from one’s heart to another, that is repeated wherever Filipinos are located in the world. The motivation is never for monetary gain, but an act of unsolicited generosity of spirit and heart. It is kept alive by individuals sharing, creating a synergy of positive energies within the community. As much as it is nurturing, the downside of pakikisama is the danger of peer pressure to go along even when one does not have the inner capacity to do so. Capacity is not just measured materially, but also in terms of how one feels emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. Sometimes, one would sacrifice one’s own better interests to assist someone else because one feels compelled to do so. One would rather say “no” but does not have the heart to do so. When that happens, the act of giving is forced—for some, by ulterior motives; for others, by a sense of obligation; and for yet others, by a sense of shame (hiya). Pakikisama should be tempered by consciously considering the boundaries of right and wrong, as well as one’s own inner capacity to give and share. For without these boundaries, which some call morals, ethics, or values, or an evolved consciousness and inner capacity to give, pakikisama is diminished to nothing more
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than crude peer pressure for mischief, wrongdoing, dishonesty, and unethical behaviors. Such unconscious acts miss the true essence of pakikisama, which is noble, honorable, and essentially unsolicited goodness, one to the other. Pakikisama is a folk practice that connects all Filipinos in the diaspora, as if by undivided, invisible, seamless threads of unity. —Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz See also: Filipino Americans: Social Etiquette and Customs.
Further Reading Church, A. Timothy, and Marcia S. Katigbak. Filipino Personality: Indigenous and CrossCultural Studies. Manila: De La Salle University Press, 2000. Miralao, Virginia. “The Family: Traditional Values and the Sociocultural Transformation of Philippine Society.” Philippine Sociological Review 45(1–4) (Jan.–Dec. 1997): 189–215. Pe-Pua, Regelia. Filipino Psychology: Theory, Method and Application. Diliman, Philippines: University of the Philippines Press, 1989.
Pilipino Cultural Night The Pilipino (or Philippine) Cultural Night, more popularly known as PCN, is an annual cultural show performed at colleges and universities throughout the West Coast and is produced, created, and performed by the established Pilipino student organization on each campus. It serves as a cultural identity entrance point and rite of passage for its participants, becoming folkloric practice of sorts, moving an individual to embrace a larger community, naturalizing a notion of what it means to be Filipino in the United States that both conforms to and contradicts traditional ways. The PCN originated in the mid-1970s amongst Pilipino undergraduate student organizations in California, foremost at the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), San Francisco State University (SFSU), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). These universities, not coincidentally, were at the forefront of the student struggles for Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The show and its production process served as cultural education work, inherent to the social and political activities of these student groups. PCN’s roots can also be traced back to the cultural presentations at the Far West Conventions held throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, where Pilipino organizations from campuses and communities throughout the West Coast came together annually to share resources and political strategies for empowerment.
Filipino Americans: Pilipino Cultural Night
Tinikling dance performed by Filipino American students in Celebration of Pilipino Culture at California State University, San Bernardino. (Kathleen Nadeau)
The typical PCN structure presents a synthesis of stage play, musical and cultural dance segments detailing Pilipino history and experience. Elements include folk songs in the vernacular (usually Tagalog) and/or original songs written and performed in English, a modern dance (influenced by American forms such as hip-hop or jazz/blues), and a narrative story. Its foundation rests upon the teaching and performance of cultural folk dance, especially those within four basic dance “suites” as popularized by the Bayanihan Dance Company of the Philippines— namely the Spanish-influenced “Maria Clara” dances, the Rural Suite (festive “peasant” dances from the Christianized lowlands of Luzon and the Visayas), the Igorot/Mountain Suite (“indigenous” and naturalistic ritual, war and celebration dances representing the Cordilleras Mountains region of Northern Luzon), and the Muslim/Minority Suite (elaborately regal dances from the mainly Musliminfluenced Southern Philippines, especially Mindanao). Preparation time for a PCN varies depending on people power, funding, and access to resources, ranging anywhere from three to nine months during the course of an academic year. The process of creating, developing, and mounting the show—usually a one-night production though sometimes there is also a matinee—demands the organization of tasks and team leaders for each aspect of the show (choreographers, musicians/ choirs, scriptwriters/directors, drama players, stage crew, and dance teachers). Shows usually take place anywhere from January to June and are often performed
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on professional stages on-campus or off-campus—any venue that can accommodate usually from 500 to 2,500 seats. PCN evolved into a phenomenon during the late 1980s and 1990s, mirroring the growth of the college-age Filipino population during that time, the crosspollination of dance education/choreography, the growth of community groups for support and resources, extending into some high schools and a few middle schools. It has developed into a cultural institution for students on these campuses, its form and “genre” of performance now replicated from coast to coast. With casts that range from 40 to 300, PCN initiates many into a particular concept of Filipino American communal legacy with deep historical roots reaching back to a Philippine heritage. —Anna Alves See also: Filipino Americans: Festivals and Holidays; Santo Nin˜o Festival.
Further Reading Alves, Anna. “In Search of ‘Meaning’: Collective Memory and Identity in Pilipino Cultural Night at UCLA.” Master’s thesis, University of California at Los Angeles, 1999. Gonzalves, Theo. The Day the Dancers Stayed: Performing in the Filipino/American Diaspora. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.
Web Sites Bayanihan National Dance Company Web site: http://www.bayanihannationaldanceco.ph/. Kayamanan ng Lahi Web site: http://www.kayamanan.org/homepage/index.html.
Pinoy and Pinay “Pinoy” and “Pinay” are colloquial terms used to refer to people of Filipino ancestry. The etymology of the words is derived from taking the last four letters of “Filipino” (male) or “Filipina” (female) and adding the –y suffix, which commonly denotes terms of endearment in Filipino culture. The origins of Pinoy and Pinay are credited to early waves of Filipino migrant laborers who were recruited to the Territory of Hawaii and the mainland United States in the early 1900s. As citizens of an archipelago colony for over 300 years, many citizens of the Philippine Islands lacked a strong, nationalistic identity and instead identified with regional, ethnolinguistic classifications such as Cebuano, Ilocano, or Visayan. However, once in the United States, American institutions chose not to acknowledge these identities and instead to racialize all immigrants from the Philippine Islands as Filipinos—a term that would become associated with a culturally backward, sexually deviant, and economically threatening people through various institutional and individual discriminations that plagued American
Filipino Americans: Proverbs and Maxims
racial relations of the early 20th century. In response to this forced identity and the discriminations associated with it, the terms Pinoy and Pinay were coined and embraced as a way to unite Filipino Americans under one self-determined identity as well as to differentiate this identity from that of Filipinos in the Philippines. As these terms began to gain widespread use over time, Pinoy and Pinay became embraced by various social and political movements, both in the Philippines and abroad. Most notably, the term “Pinoy Power” became synonymous with the “People Power” movement that sought to remove dictator Ferdinand Marcos from power in the 1980s. It has also been attached to various genres of Filipino entertainment, such as Pinoy Rock or Pinoy Cinema, and in the titles of reality television competitions such as Pinoy Idol, Pinoy Big Brother, and Pinoy Dream Academy. Internationally, many Filipino-owned businesses— such as clothing companies, restaurants, and markets—include these terms in their names to attract Filipino clientele. Each of these examples, associated with popular yet informal entities, illustrates a more personal and intimate connection with things branded as Pinoy or Pinay, creating a contrast with the terms “Filipino” or “Filipina,” which are often associated with more formal, government-determined classifications. With the overseas Filipino population steadily climbing into the tens of millions in the 21st century, expanding outside of the United States to nations such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada, Pinoy and Pinay have an increased significance in claiming a shared national and cultural identity amongst Filipinos in lieu of disappearing national borders. As the continued transnational movement of bodies and establishment of permanent diasporic communities redefines what it means to be Filipino, the terms Pinoy and Pinay, as well as any social, political, or economic by-products they may be attached to, continue to serve as cultural evidence of one’s desire to identify with a shared emotional sense of home and belonging regardless of physical location. —Xavier Hernandez
Further Reading De Jesus, Melinda, ed. Pinay Power: Critical Peminist Theory. New York: Routledge, 2005. Vergara, Benito. Pinoy Capital: The Filipino Nation in Daly City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2008.
Proverbs and Maxims Proverbs are statements or sayings that mirror the spirit and collective experience of a people. Many Filipino proverbs that are still prevalent today reflect their aspirations as an industrious, persevering, and enduring people. Colonized for
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nearly 400 years by Spain, the United States, and Japan, Filipinos use proverbs called salawikain to subliminally underline the importance of patience and fate in overcoming adversity. For instance, “Habang maikli ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot” (Make do with a short blanket) not only focuses on the value of thrift but points out that a relatively young but developing country such as the Philippines must learn to maximize the potential of what it has at the moment. On a similar theme is “Kapag may tiyaga, may nilaga” (There is the reward of soup [nilaga—a common soup usually with chicken] for those who persevere and work hard). The foremost author of Filipino folklore and mythology, Damiana Eugenio, states that salawikain forms the comprehensive philosophy of life of the Filipino. One of the most popular proverbs that symbolizes the importance of looking back at one’s roots and origins is “Ang hindi lumingon sa kaniyang pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa kaniyang paroroonan” (A person who does not look back where he/she came from will never reach his/her destination). Given the long history of rebellions in the Philippines—from Bonifacio’s insurgency against Spanish domination at the turn of the 19th century to the contemporary activists’ nationalist agenda—proverbs were sometimes used as a parable to inspire and carve an optimistic foresight, a national perspective. The spirit of endurance and optimism is evident in the proverb “Pagkahaba-haba man daw ng prusisyon, sa simbahan din ang tuloy” (No matter how long the procession is, it eventually ends up in church). The common idiomatic translation of this proverb is that even the most convoluted plan comes to a resolution. A people’s aspirations and frustrations are depicted in the proverb “Ako ang nagbayo, ako ang nagsaing, nang maluto na’y iba ang kumain” (I did the pounding [of the rice], I did the cooking, but once served, someone else gets to eat it). The following proverb invokes nationalism when admonishing those who have forgotten their traditions and culture as represented by language: “Ang hindi marunong magmahal sa sariling wika, mahigit pa sa hayop at malansang isda” (One who does not love the national language is worse than an animal and a rotten fish). Some Filipino proverbs offer consolation to the defeated and admonish one to accept fate (reflecting the country’s predominantly Catholic religion): “Ang buhay ay parang gulong, minsang nasa ibabaw, minsang nasa ilalim” (One’s life is like a wheel, sometimes one is on top, sometimes at the bottom). Others comfort losers through humor, as when the owner of a winning lottery ticket explains his good fortune by saying that if at first one doesn’t succeed, one should try and try again: “Ang umaayaw ay di nagwawagi, ang nagwawagi ay di umaayaw” (A quitter never wins, a winner never quits). An endemic quality of the Filipino culture as pointed out by sociologists is preserving utang na loob, or “debt of gratitude,” for those who have been instrumental in one’s success or fortune. The spirit of loyalty and nationalism that makes a
Filipino Americans: Religion
Filipino proud to be a Filipino is underscored by the proverb “Sakit ng kalingkingan ay sakit ng buong katawan” (The pain of the little finger is a pain to the whole body). —Cecile Caguingin Ochoa
Further Reading Eugenio, Damiana L., comp and ed. Philippine Folk Literature: The Myths. Diliman, Quezon City. University of the Philippines Press, 1993.
Religion With the Philippines known as the only Christian country in Asia, it is not surprising that most Filipino Americans are Christians. Filipino migrants brought their religious affiliations to the United States, and second-generation Filipino Americans generally follow the religion of their parents. A majority of Filipino American Christians are “cradle Catholics,” having been baptized into the Roman Catholic Church from birth. However, the fastest-growing Christians among Filipino Americans are Protestants, led by evangelical, charismatic, and Pentecostal categories that are within and independent of mainline Protestant denominations. As Filipino Americans grew into the second-largest grouping of Asian Americans, they experienced a diversified and complex religious situation, mirroring the expressions of spirituality in the homeland, the emergence of “home-grown” Christian groups, and exposure to other religions in their adopted country. Christianity came to the Philippines in 1521 when Spain colonized the archipelago. The Spanish friars performed the work of colonizing the indigenes and converting them to Catholicism. The Philippine Revolution of 1896 ended Spanish colonialism, as well as the dominance of the friars. But after nearly 350 years of colonial rule, Catholicism was entrenched in the country. Its deep Catholic roots notwithstanding, Filipino Catholicism is characterized by an emphasis on pietistic behavior—primarily innumerable devotional practices, novenas, processions, and pilgrimages—rather than doctrinal and moral preoccupations. The pattern is followed by Filipino Americans who have introduced to the United States’ numerous Filipino Catholic devotions and celebrations like the devotion to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (also called the Virgin of Antipolo, named after a town in the province of Rizal) and the Santo Nin˜o (Holy Child) festival. When the Americans defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War, Protestantism was introduced to the country with hopes of supplanting Catholicism as the religion of the majority. Protestant missionaries accompanied American troops in their first
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military foray into the islands, with the first Protestant service held in 1898 by a Methodist chaplain. At the same time, the Mormons came with two artillery batteries from Utah. A year later, the Presbyterians opened the first Philippine Protestant Mission, and at the height of the Philippine-American War in 1900 the Methodists formally established a church in Manila. The Northern Baptists and the Seventh-Day Adventists followed at the beginning of the 20th century, with Jehovah’s Witness not far behind. While the Roman Catholic monopoly came to a close, mass conversion to Protestantism never took place, with most Filipinos choosing to remain Catholic. Nevertheless, Protestantism has carved an enduring legacy in the Philippines, and with Protestant evangelists ministering to Filipino migrant workers in sugar plantations in Hawaii and agricultural farms in California, it greatly facilitated the foundation of the Filipino American community. The predominance of Western-based Christianity has not precluded the emergence of Christian groups native to the Philippines. The Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church or PIC) is one such example. It was founded in 1902 by Isabelo de los Reyes, a labor leader, as an antifriar nationalist movement that installed a Catholic priest, Gregorio Aglipay, as supreme bishop. The Aglipayan Church, as PIC is popularly known, drew its initial membership and support from native Catholic clergy and the millions of disaffected masses yearning for a national church. As part of its strategy, it seized parish churches and sequestered Catholic Church properties. After the Philippine Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Roman Catholic Church on the issue of property ownership, PIC could not sustain itself. With a declining membership, it chose to enter into full communion with the Episcopal Church in 1961. Currently, the PIC maintains dioceses in the United States and Canada. Another example of a home-grown Christian group is the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) or INC, which was established in 1914 by Felix Manalo, a disgruntled Catholic who converted to Protestantism. Unable to reconcile himself with the cardinal tenets of Christianity like the ex cathedra papal authority, the validity of Baptism, and Trinitarianism, he formed the INC. When Felix died, his son Eran˜o took over, and under his leadership, the INC’s growth has been phenomenal. Following Filipino migration waves to the United States, the INC is present in 39 states, with congregations in cities with large Filipino American populations. It is thriving in San Francisco, where it occupies an impressive landmark building in one of the most expensive areas of the city. Also an immensely popular group with roots in the Philippines is El Shaddai (God Almighty), founded by Mike Velarde after what he believed to be his miraculous recovery from a heart condition. Using radio broadcasts over station DWXI for its healing ministry, El Shaddai burst onto the religious scene in 1984. Its membership climbed to 10 million in just more than two decades, expanding rapidly to include the Filipino diaspora. Careful to keep within the fold of the Catholic
Filipino Americans: Rites of Passage
Church even though its similarities with Protestant evangelical groups are striking, El Shaddai developed chapters in 19 states through its DWXI Prayer Partners Foundation International. Filipino embrace of Christianity did not mean that precolonial religions were completely wiped out. Islam maintained its hold in parts of southern Philippines, and Buddhism and Hinduism have a small but steady number of adherents. These religions are less visible in Filipino American communities, perhaps through diffusion into the larger U.S. population. Likewise, the animistic belief system of the indigenes did not disappear, but was grafted onto Catholic rituals and devotional practices to form the foundation of Filipino popular religiosity. For example, it is not uncommon for devout Catholics to also affiliate with groups whose practices include spirit possession. One such group is Banal na Pag-aaral (Holy Learning) in Ontario, California. Its leader, Remedios Carreon, is believed to be possessed by a spirit called Mahal Na Ingkong (beloved grandparent). While Christianity will continue to be the predominant religion among Filipino Americans, spiritual beliefs and practices transplanted from the homeland offer solace, inspiration, and communality as they build new lives and identities as immigrants and American citizens. —Ofelia O. Villero See also: Filipino Americans: Filipino American Churches.
Further Reading Gonzalez, Joaquin Jay III. Filipino American Faith in Action: Immigration, Religion, and Civic Engagement. New York: New York University Press, 2009. Tseng, Timothy. Asian American Religious Leadership Today: A Preliminary Inquiry. Durham, NC: Pulpit and Pew Research on Pastoral Leadership, 2005.
Web Site Reed, R. The Iglesia Ni Cristo 1914–2000: From Obscure Philippine Faith to Global Belief System. KITLV web site: http://www.kitlv-journals.nl (accessed May 2009).
Rites of Passage Filipino American rites of passage function as significant events that indicate a transition from one stage of life to another. For many, these rituals indicate a deep connection to tradition and serve to affirm identity and culture to those living outside of the Philippines. While various occasions ranging from birthday
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Adrienne and Julius Orilla following the baptism of their daughter at Holy Spirit Church in Fremont, California. (Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales)
celebrations, graduations, and other events marking anniversaries or accomplishments are commonly celebrated on a periodic basis, other rites of passage signal less frequent albeit notable milestones such as the baptism, First Communion, Santa Cruzan, and coming-of-age rituals including circumcision, the Debut, and weddings. Furthermore, these various ceremonies and rituals spanning a lifetime center around the family unit and community. Although the Philippines is comprised of diverse ethnic groups and religious affiliations, several Filipino American rites of passage are linked to the predominant Roman Catholic faith. Foremost, the birth ceremony entails parents and godparents presenting an infant for baptism, or binyag. Traditionally donning a white christening gown, the child undergoes the pouring of water onto the forehead, which signifies admission to the church. Second, children receive the Eucharist, a symbolic ritual of Jesus Christ’s last supper through the act of consuming bread and/or wine, as part of the First Communion. Third, the Santa Cruzan honors the Holy Cross through a parade of biblical characters and beauty pageant participants where youth play a large role in the events. As part of the monthlong celebration of Flores de Mayo, which commemorates the figure of the Virgin Mary during the month of May, Santa Cruzan serves as an important community gathering. Aside from rites of passage directly linked to the church, other events signify a transition from adolescence to adulthood in the secular realm. For many young
Filipino Americans: Santo Nin˜o Festival
boys circumcision, or tuli, induces fear whether performed by a medical professional or local neighborhood circumciser as traditionally practiced in rural areas of the Philippines. As an act indicating entry into manhood, circumcision also bestows a sense of pride and an end to derisive comments from peers endured by those left uncircumcised. For young girls, the Debut (pronounced day-boo), or 18th birthday celebration is akin to the Latin American tradition of quincean˜era and American Sweet Sixteen, which marks the presentation of a young woman’s coming of age to society. The celebrant partakes in a number of events including the eighteen roses ceremony where male family members and friends each present a single rose during a dance and the cotillion, a formal dance performance by the debutante, her escort, and her court consisting of nine other couples. For many Filipino Americans, a significant rite of passage during adulthood is the wedding ceremony. As a symbolic ritual of the couple’s love and commitment, ceremonies include the joint lighting of a single candle and the draping of a veil and cord over the wedding couple by their sponsors, or godparents, as a token of unity. —Ronaldo L. Noche
Further Reading Lee, Romeo B. “The Filipino Experience of Ritual Male Circumcision: Knowledge and Insights for Anti-Circumcision Advocacy.” Culture, Health, and Society 8(3) (2006): 225–34. Lopez, Mellie Leandicho. A Handbook of Philippine Folklore. Quezon City, Philippines: University of the Philippines Press, 2006. Posadas, Barbara M. The Filipino Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
Santo Nin˜o Festival The Santo Nin˜o (Holy Child) festival is one of the most popular expressions of Filipino religiosity. The transnational movement of Filipino Americans has introduced it to the United States, and many Catholic churches with large Filipino American faithful display statues of the Santo Nin˜o and sponsor celebrations in its honor. The official image of the Santo Nin˜o that is venerated in the Philippines is housed in a basilica in the province of Cebu. Magellan presented the statue as a gift to Rajah Humabon and his wife when he landed on the shores of Cebu as representative of the Spanish crown in 1521. The dark wooden statuette of the Child Jesus depicted as king was done in baroque style, dressed like Spanish royalty, in velvets and brocades and wearing a gilded neck chain. From this initial encounter, the Rajah and his wife agreed to be baptized Catholics, and took the names Carlos and Juana. The conversion was short-lived. The Spanish fleet was
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forced to leave the island when Rajah Humabon’s nephew, Lapu-Lapu, killed Magellan during the Battle of Mactan a month later. The Spanish returned to the Philippines in 1565, when the actual colonization of the archipelago began. In the intervening years, the Santo Nin˜o was revered as a likha or larawan, which are wooden carvings or pictures of indigenous deities and anitos (ancestors). Like the likha, the Santo Nin˜o was used as centerpiece in various healing and agricultural rituals where it was invoked for abundant harvest, cure of the sick, and protection against enemies. A ritual is still current in some coastal towns in the Philippines where the Santo Nin˜o is dipped in the ocean to request for rain during the dry season. The return of the Spanish coincided with the recovery of the original Santo Nin˜o gift. After the destruction wrought by Legazpi and his men on Cebuano villages, a soldier found the statuette, still intact except for a small damage to its nose, in a burned-out dwelling. Viewed as a miracle by the Spaniards, a church was built to house the Santo Nin˜o in what is purported as the original site where it was found. The feast of the Santo Nin˜o is set every third Sunday of January, marked by festivals of prayer, dancing in the streets, fiestas, and processions all over the Philippines. The biggest festival occurs in Cebu where hundreds of thousands of devotees come out to dance the sinulog, a motion consisting of two steps forward and one step back that resembles the movement of water currents. The dance is punctuated by jumps and shouts of “pit sen˜or.” Although not as elaborate as festivals in the Philippines, Filipino Americans observe the feast of the Santo Nin˜ o with novenas and celebrations featuring Philippine songs and dances. Filipino American associations whose members come from Cebu have pushed for Santo Nin˜o festivals to commemorate not only their patron saint but also their hometown. —Ofelia O. Villero See also: Filipino Americans: Festivals and Holidays; Pilipino Cultural Night.
Further Reading Florendo, Abe, ed. Santo Nin˜o: The Holy Child Devotion in the Philippines. Manila: Congregacion del Santisimo Nombre del Nin˜o Jesus, 2001.
Social Etiquette and Customs Filipino American social etiquette and customs are highly influenced by kapwa (shared identity), which is a core value rooted in the Philippine tradition. This value highlights the respect toward others, which is essential in building a shared
Filipino Americans: Social Etiquette and Customs
identity. kapwa can be evident through individual acts of respect toward acquaintances. A common example of kapwa is when a host makes guests feel comfortable and at home, specifically by making sure they are well fed. Family members also show kapwa by giving primary care to their elders well into their twilight years, choosing careers that consider family responsibility, and generally make the best decisions for the collective family rather than the individual member. Like kapwa, other Filipino American customs are centered on collectivity through respect. Positive interpersonal relations are a key custom amongst Filipino Americans. A combination of pakikisama (positive interpersonal relations) and utang na loob (gratitude or reciprocity) also describe respect toward elders. A hierarchy of respect is evident, where the most is given to elders. Lolos/Lolas are terms of respect used for grandfather/grandmothers. Similarly, Kuya/Ate (Manong/Manang in the Ilocano dialect) describe an older brother or sister. Usually reserved for family members, these terms can also be applied to fictive kinships that are prevalent in Filipino American circles. Though uncommon, terms of respect can even be used toward individuals outside of family members or fictive kinships. For example, these terms can be applied to strangers—similar to “sir” or “ma’am.” There are also Filipino American values that have been heavily influenced by colonialism. In addition to terms of respect such as Lolo/Lola, Filipino Americans also have acts of respect, one of which—the mano po—exhibit the utmost respect for elders. It is widely known that mano po (literally translated to “hand please”) has its beginnings from a Westernized custom to kiss the hand of one who is of a higher order, particularly that of priests. Currently, the mano po is used by Filipino Americans of all generations and is enacted by placing the hand of the elder on one’s forehead. Another result of the Western colonization of the Philippines is the emphasis on Catholic traditions. One tradition that is suggestive of gender imbalance is that of sexual purity. This cultural value results in a higher standard of sexual purity being placed on Filipina Americans than on their male siblings. Today, first-generation Filipino American immigrants are mostly concerned with traditional social etiquette because of their Filipino upbringing. Additionally, many believe that second-generation Filipino Americans have appropriated American individuality. In this sense, there is a distinction between the rooted Filipino American value of kapwa, “shared identity,” and its opposite, kalayaan, “individual freedom.” However, with a movement toward the critical examination of Filipino American identity, there is a conscious effort to maintain traditional customs as forms of decolonization that combats colonial legacies. This decolonization may result in new formations of social etiquette and customs that can show both Filipino values of collectivity and American values of individuality. —Mike Pedro
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Further Reading Nadal, Kevin. Filipino American Pyschology. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse, 2009. Strobel, Leny Mendoza. Coming Full Circle: The Process of Decolonization Among Post-1965 Filipino Americans. New York: Giraffe Books, 2001.
Traditional Medicine and Healing In Filipino American communities, traditional healing exists side-by-side with allopathic medicine. First-generation immigrants are the most open to traditional healing since they have likely utilized healers in the Philippines. It is not unusual for Filipino Americans to use both allopathic and traditional healing at the same time for the same illness. It is also common for them to turn to traditional healing when allopathic medicine and medications are unable to cure the illness or alleviate symptoms. The use of herbs, either through topical application or ingestion as a brew, is the most popular form of traditional healing practiced by Filipino Americans. Customarily administered by herbolarios, healers knowledgeable in the properties of plants for medicinal purposes, herbal medicine is facilitated by the easy availability of herb teas and other plant concoctions from Filipino community-based stores as well as transnational travel. The choice of herbs is dependent on the advice of friends and family members or those who have already experienced an herb’s beneficial effects, rather than consultation with a medical doctor. For illnesses that require the manipulation of muscles, joints, nerves, and bones, Filipino Americans turn to the manghihilot or simply hilot who performs what appears to be a kind of massage therapy to cure the patient. A hilot can also be a herbolario and a bonesetter so that herbs and body manipulation techniques are used simultaneously. Hilot is also used by parterras or traditional midwives to help women in childbirth. Possibly because it is rare to encounter a hilot in the United States and U.S.-born Filipino Americans are not familiar with this healing practice, hilot has been mainstreamed into American society as simply Filipino massage. There are many other forms of traditional Filipino healing, but one that is gaining adherents among Filipino Americans is spiritual healing. Perhaps linked to the global rise of Pentecostal and charismatic religious groups, spiritual healing involves professed religious leaders who achieve miracle cures by praying over the sick or invoking the Holy Spirit. Filipino American Catholics flock to healing masses performed by visiting Filipino priests who claim to have healing powers. Traditional healing, including spiritual healing, has a long history in the Philippines, dating back to precolonial times when indigenous shamans, called babaylan in the Visayan dialect and catalonan in the Tagalog, did both kinds of healing.
Filipino Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
The babaylan had the power to communicate with spirits, who either caused the illness or knew how to cure it. The indigenous concept of the soul or kaluluwa made it necessary for the babaylan to travel to the spirit world to recover lost souls or call back the departed ones. They also conducted pag-aanito or ceremonies conducted to request spirits for rain during droughts, fertility for newlyweds and crops, recovery from misfortune, healing from illnesses, stanching of epidemics, and to propitiate angered deities or souls of the dead. It is through traditional healing and medicine that Filipino Americans have been able to preserve a semblance of precolonial culture and identity. —Ofelia O. Villero
Further Reading Scott, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1985.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner A large majority of Filipino Americans are monolingual in English. In immigrant households parents speak their native tongue at home, be that Tagalog (also known as Filipino), Ilocano, Visayan, or another language, and the children are exposed to it. Learning it, however, is another matter. Immigrant parents believe that their children speaking it would be a disability, a hindrance in assimilating in the mainstream culture. Another belief is that not teaching their children Tagalog (or the native language) will facilitate the children’s learning of the English language and that their children’s English will be comparable to that of American children. The children then end up understanding the parents’ native language but not speaking it and would reply in English when addressed by their parents in the native tongue. There are cases, however, where children do learn the native tongue of their parents only to later lose it when they start school, where it is discouraged and looked down upon. Teachers and school administrators do not think that schoolchildren can be fully adept in two languages. It is rare to find first-generation Filipino Americans who can fully communicate in their parents’ native tongue into adulthood. Where grandparents are part of the household and help raise their grandchildren, some grandchildren do learn a native language and retain it because this is the only language the grandparents can communicate in. When grandparents do speak English and prefer to speak in this language, this situation does not hold true. When these children reach college age, there is a deep and restless search for their roots. They realize that to truly know who they are, they need to learn more
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about where their parents came from. At this time the children enroll in Philippine language, culture, and history courses, and even take a trip to the Philippines— thirsty for knowledge and hungry for the experience. Doing so gives them the answers they seek, and they are able to form a more complete sense of self.
Taglish, Filipinisms, and Respect Particles Filipino Americans, if they grow up in an immigrant household or have immigrant grandparents living with them who are Tagalog-speaking, are exposed to and become familiar with Taglish, a combination of Tagalog and English. Part of the utterance is in Tagalog and the other part is in English, occurring intrasententially (within sentences) and intersententially (between sentences). This phenomenon is referred to as “code-switching.” Tagalog affixes are also sometimes attached to English words: “nakaka-disappoint” and “mag-shopping.” In addition, words and phrases in Tagalog that do not have an exact translation in English are used: lambing (roughly, affection), arte (style, flair, pizzazz), and utang na loob (debt of gratitude). Filipinisms, words and expressions in English that are unique to Filipinos and the Philippines, are also part of this linguistic heritage: “viand” (an entre´e eaten with rice), “close the light” (turn off the light), “open the light” (turn on the light), and “pass by” (to actually mean “drop by”). The cultural value of respect and deference to elders is evident in the use of respect particles po (formal) and ho (less formal), which are inserted in utterances. These are the rough equivalents of “sir” and “ma’am.” Opo and oho are ways of saying “yes” with respect. A “no” would be hindi po. The “o” is pronounced as a glottal stop.
Manner Filipinos are a warm people, and this is evident in how Filipino Americans greet each other: a smile followed by a cheek-to-cheek kiss (on one side or both) and accompanied by a hug. This is called beso-beso (a Spanish-derived term) and is common between women, and between men and women. Men grin and hug each other, followed by a hearty thump on the other’s back. If there should be physical distance between parties that render this greeting impossible, eye contact is established then eyebrows are raised, the head is tilted, and a smile is flashed—a friendly acknowledgment of the other. By the second and subsequent generations, the above linguistic and nonverbal styles disappear as the children and grandchildren become more removed from their culture and are absorbed in the mainstream. —Edith R. Borbon
Filipino Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
Further Reading Espiritu, Yen Le. Home Bound: Filipino American Lives across Cultures, Communities, and Countries. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Hinton, Leanne. “Loss of Heritage Languages in the United States.” In Angela Reyes and Adrienne Lo, eds. Beyond Yellow English: Toward a Linguistic Anthropology of Asian Pacific America. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Web Site McArthur, Tom. “Filipinism.” Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-FILIPINISM.html (accessed May 4, 2010).
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INDEX
Academic scholarship, on Asian Americans, 24, 41–46, 51–52, 59–60, 60–61 Accents, Asian American humor and, 25–26 Actors and acting, 32–33, 81–82. See also Films; Television Acupuncture, 219, 323, 464, 648, 709, 710 Adoptions children’s literature and, 16, 273 Korean Americans, 657, 665, 683–688 mixed race Asian Americans, 94 root quests and, 77 Aesop’s Fables, 1077 Afghan Americans cultural identity, 117–120 dance, 114 history, people, and culture, 105–110 literature, 114–115 religious beliefs, 120–123 rites of passage, 123–126 speech and language, 110–114 Afghan Civil War, 107 Afghanistan, history of, 105–107 African Americans ghost stories and, 239 interracial/interethnic marriage, 102, 103 Korean Americans and, 658 model minority stereotype and, 70 Afterlife, 260–261, 767, 777 After the War (Gotanda), 610 Aglipayan Church, 402 Agriculture Chinese Americans, 274, 275 Filipino Americans, 331–332, 344 Hmong Americans, 415, 433 Japanese Americans, 601–602, 611 Punjab region, 999 Punjabi Americans, 1003, 1004–1005 Vietnamese Americans, 1181–1182 Aguinaldo, Emilio, 365 Ahn, Chang-ho, 680, 681 Ahn, Me-K, 684
Ahn, Philip, 656 Ahu’ena Heiau temple, 941 Aiiieeeee! anthology, 293 Akha people, 715 “Aku Tonpa” (Tibetan folktale), 1147–1148 Alcohol consumption, 1014, 1062 Alexander, Meena, 485 Ali, Nadia, 973 Ali, Samina, 486 Alien Land Act, 571, 1004 All American Girl (TV show), 28 All Souls Day, 352 Allen, Horace, 664 Altan Sav (Mongolian funeral rituals), 820, 821 Altars and shrines, domestic Burmese Americans, 56, 57 Chinese Americans, 229 Filipino Americans, 380 Hmong Americans, 418, 420 Indian Americans, 469, 482–483, 495 Japanese Americans, 584–585 Laotian Americans, 723, 724 Malaysian Americans, 791 Mongolian Americans, 834, 842 Nepali Americans, 868 Okinawan Americans, 891 Punjabi Americans, 1020 Sri Lankan Americans, 1049 Thai Americans, 1084–1085, 1085–1086 Tibetan Americans, 1128, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1172, 1172–1173, 1191, 1197, 1205 Alternative medicine. See Traditional medicine “Ama Le Ho” (Tibetan folksong), 1130 Amanollah, King, 106 Amar Das, Guru, 1035 Amerasians, 97–98, 1163 America Is in the Heart (Bulosan), 345, 385 American Born Chinese (Yang), 74, 296–297 American Brat, An (Sidhwa), 981 American Citizens for Justice, 235, 236
I-1
I-2
Index American culture, 112, 505, 799. See also Assimilation American Folklife Center, xxxvi American literature, Indian influences and, 489 American Oriental Society, 47 American Samoa, 895, 896, 947–948 Amish people, 456–457 Amulets, 230, 767 Ancestors, ghosts, and spirits Burmese Americans, 133–134, 158, 169 Chinese Americans, 228–230, 260–261, 261–262, 305–306 Filipino Americans, 336–337, 372–373 Hmong Americans, 417–418 Indian Americans, 461–463 Indonesian Americans, 520–523 Japanese Americans, 576–577 Korean Americans, 660–661, 669, 670–671 Laotian Americans, 717–719, 755 Malaysian Americans, 764–768, 803 Okinawan Americans, 890–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 899–900, 906, 918–919, 942 Pakistani Americans, 960–961 Thai Americans, 1084–1085 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1172, 1174, 1191, 1205, 1210, 1212 Anderson, Sherwood, 620 Angad Dev, Guru, 1035 Angel Island, 304, 1001 Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella (Coburn), 186, 187 Anglican Church, 1051–1052 Anglo-Afghan wars, 106 Anglo-Burmese wars, 128 Animals Burmese Americans, 160 Chinese Americans, 231 Chinese zodiac and, 250–251 Guam and, 912–913 Hmong Americans, 442 Indian Americans, 488, 500–501, 509 Indonesian Americans, 552 Japanese Americans, 623 Mongolian Americans, 828, 829 Nepali Americans, 871–872
Pacific Islander Americans, 936 Pakistani folktales and, 984 Animism Burmese Americans, 55, 56, 135, 142, 156 Filipino Americans, 372, 387, 403 Hawaiian Natives, 924 Hmong Americans, 414, 416–417, 417–418, 442 Laotian Americans, 718, 723 Thai Americans, 1106–1107, 1112 Vietnamese Americans, 1173 Anna and the King of Siam (Leonowens), 1107 Anthropology, material culture and, 18–19 Antimiscegenation laws, 92–93, 95–96, 100–101, 332, 390, 1010–1011 Ao ba ba (Vietnamese clothing), 1171 Ao dai (Vietnamese dress), 1170 Ao gam (Vietnamese clothing), 1171 Aoki, Brenda Wong, 101 Apl.de.ap (musician), 361 Apologies, Japanese Americans and, 642 Arab ethnicity, Afghan Americans and, 117 Architecture Chinese Americans, 291–292, 325–328 Indian Americans, 480, 481, 488 material culture and, 20 mosques and, 494–495 temples and worship spaces, 172–173 Arjan Dev, Guru, 1019, 1035 Arranged marriages, 866, 1050 “Artifact” music, 4 Artifacts, material culture and, 17, 18–19 Arts and crafts Afghan Americans, 114 Burmese Americans, 131, 134–135, 151–152 Cambodian Americans, 185–186 Chinese Americans, 230–231, 329–330 Filipino Americans, 337–339, 339–340 Hawaiian Natives, 925–926 health and wellness, 13 Hmong Americans, 418–421, 453–455 Indonesian Americans, 523–524 Japanese American National Museum, 611–613
Index Japanese Americans, 573, 577–578, 593–595, 609, 610–611, 623, 624–625, 628–629 Korean Americans, 661–663 Laotian Americans, 719–720 lotus flowers and, 68, 69 material culture and, 19 music and, 1–5 Nepali Americans, 854–855 Okinawan Americans, 880–883 Pacific Islander Americans, 900–901 Pakistani Americans, 961–963 Punjabi Americans, 1005–1006 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048–1049, 1060 Thai Americans, 1085–1086 theatre and, 51–54 Tibetan Americans, 1128–1130 Vietnamese Americans, 1165–1166 visual culture and, 54–58 See also Dance; Music; Theater Arundale, Rukmini Devi, 1059–1060 Asawa, Ruth, 611 Asia, precolonial, 35–37, 43 Asian American Panethnicity (Espiritu), 11–12 Asian American studies, xxxvi, 42–43 Asian American Theatre Company, 53 Asian fetish, 26–27 Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, 16–17 Asian Pacific Heritage Month, 62, 63–64, 914 Asian Pride movement, 67 Asiatic Barred Zones Act (1917), 6 Assimilation Chinese Americans, 224, 286, 287 Filipino Americans, 383 grocery stores and, 22 Hmong Americans, 415–417, 436, 443 Indian Americans, 460 Japanese Americans, 591, 603–604, 609, 613 Laotian Americans, 715–716 Malaysian Americans, 762, 788–789 material culture and, 19 Mongolian Americans, 817–818, 835 Nepali Americans, 874 Okinawan Americans, 886
Pacific Islander Americans, 921 Pakistani Americans, 957, 958, 959, 967–968, 970, 979, 988 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 88–89 Punjabi Americans, 1025 religious beliefs and, 47 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046, 1049, 1064 swastikas and, 87–88 Thai Americans, 1082, 1095–1096, 1105–1106 in Tibet, 1128 Tibetan Americans, 1144, 1145 Vietnamese Americans, 1161–1162, 1163, 1195–1196, 1201 Association of the Nepalis in the Americas (ANA), 853, 866, 874 Astrology, 509–510 Attan (Afghan dance), 114 Au pairs, 1083 Aung San, 128, 149–150, 159 Aung San Suu Kyi, 128–129, 150 Authenticity Afghan Americans, 113 Chinese American literature and, 302 mixed race Asian Americans, 96 Pacific Islander Americans, 937 Autobiographical fiction, 16 Avalokitesvara, 64–66, 232, 289 Avatars, reincarnation and, 75 Aw, Tash, 794 Ayurveda medicine Burmese Americans, 174 Indian Americans, 463–465, 511–512 Indonesian Americans, 563, 565 Nepali Americans, 872–873 Punjabi Americans, 1039, 1040 Sri Lankan Americans, 1078 Azeez, N. I. L. A., 1063 “Baby Chicken Stars” (Thai folktale), 1086–1087 Baby luaus, 945 Baby showers, 846 Bachelors, 354, 1001–1002 Baci strings, 741, 743, 746, 750, 751, 752
I-3
I-4
Index “Bad days,” Mongolian Americans and, 845 Bahai’ism, 503, 504, 748 Bahasa Indonesia language, 566 Bakla (third gender), 35, 45 Balagtas, Francisco, 394 Balboa, Vasco Numez de, 894 Baldwin, Shauna Singh, 485–486 Balikbayan boxes, xxxviii, 76, 339–340, 373–374 Balinese people, 548–549, 784–785 Bama Sagar (spoken Burmese), 176 Bama Sar (written Burmese), 176 Bamboo crafts, 523–524 Bamboo Dancers, The (Gonzalez), 386 Bangskaul (ceremony for the dead), 214 Barefoot Gen (Nakazawa), 17 Barraquiel, Joel, 40 Basant festival, 970 Bascom, William, 934, 935 Bassac theater, 190 Batbayar, Davagiin, 833 Bathing ceremony, 1092–1093, 1175 Batik designs, 420, 455–456, 526, 527 Bazaars, Indonesian Americans and, 525–526 Beauty pageants, 301, 341–342, 580–581 Beauty standards Filipino Americans, 341–343, 342–343, 371 Indian Americans, 477–478 popular culture and, 34 Bellingham riots, Punjabi Americans and, 1004 Ben-Amos, Dan, 54 Berger, John, 54 Berson, Misha, 51–52 Betel nut boxes, 56–57, 135 Betel quids, 152–153 Better Luck Tomorrow (film), 33 Between Silences (Jin), 281 Bhagavad Gita, 489 Bhangra dance, 971–972 Bharatanatyam dance, 1059–1060 Bhindranwale, Jarnail Singh, 1019 Bhumibol Adulyadej, King, 1103 BIBAK organization, 377, 380–381, 382 Bie (Mongolian dance), 825 Biggers, Earl Derr, 278 Bindi dots, 508 Birds, 161–162
Birmingham School, 59 Birth order, 549 Birth rituals Afghan Americans, 122 Chinese Americans, 309 Filipino Americans, 404 Hmong Americans, 425–426, 448–449 Indian Americans, 498, 506–507 Indonesian Americans, 561 Japanese Americans, 621 Korean Americans, 679, 705, 708 Laotian Americans, 752 Malaysian Americans, 804, 805–806 Mongolian Americans, 842–843 Nepali Americans, 869 Pacific Islander Americans, 944–945 Pakistani Americans, 982–983, 989 Punjabi Americans, 1031 Sri Lankan Americans, 1074–1075, 1076 Thai Americans, 1113 Vietnamese Americans, 1206–1207 Birthdays, 588, 639, 705, 804–805, 1207 Bisexuality, 39 Bishop, Claire Hutchet, 15 Black-Chinese intermarriage, 96 Blanket ceremonies, 262 Blind Men and the Elephant, The (Malaysian folktale), 797 Boat people, 1162, 1166–1168 Boat People (film), 1167 Boats and seafaring, 924, 925 Bodhisattvas, 64–66 Bok Kai Temple and parade, 231–233 Bollywood movies, 479 Bonifacio, Andres, 365 Boon Bang Fai festival, 730, 751 Borglum, Gotzon, 625 Bouchard, David, 272 Boun-gyi (Burmese dance), 142 Bowing Burmese Americans, 169 Cambodian Americans, 215 Chinese Americans, 261, 262 Indian Americans, 508 Japanese Americans, 641 Nepali Americans, 870–871 Sikhism and, 1018
Index social relationships and, xxxvii–xxxviii Tibetan Americans, 1158 Boy Who Cried Wolf, The (Malaysian folktale), 797 Brahamanism, 747 Brancusi, Constantin, 625 Brass lamps, 1048 Bread of Salt and Other Stories, The (Gonzalez), 366 Bride, The (Sidhwa), 981 Bride price, 740, 753 Brocka, Q. Allan, 45 Brother Rabbit: A Cambodian Tale (Ho, Ros, and Hewitson), 186, 187 Brother the Size of Me, A (Doss), 665 Brushwork, calligraphy and, 247 Bua Xou Mua, 430–431 Buck, Pearl S., 97 Buddha, 84–86, 1102, 1150 Buddhism, 1150–1153 Avalokitesvara and, 64–66 Burma and, 127–128 Burmese Americans, 133, 135, 136, 137–138, 138–139, 141–142, 147, 153, 156–157, 160, 164–165 Cambodian Americans, 183, 185–186, 191–192, 194, 195, 200–201, 202, 207, 209, 210, 211–212, 219 Chinese Americans, 255, 307, 321 Dalai Lama and, 1133–1134 Filipino Americans, 334 health and wellness, 13 Indian Americans, 476, 503, 504 Japanese Americans, 570, 583, 584, 588, 591–592, 622–623, 637, 638, 640, 643–644 Korean Americans, 664, 669, 670, 671, 672, 701, 703 Laotian Americans, 715, 716, 723, 725–726, 729–730, 744, 746, 747 lotus flowers and, 69 Malaysian Americans, 777, 801–802 Mongolian Americans, 815, 824, 838, 840–842, 846–847 Nepali Americans, 852, 858, 863, 868 in North America, 47 Okinawan Americans, 891
reincarnation and, 74–75 sexuality and, 36 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1054, 1058, 1059, 1071, 1072–1073 swastikas and, 87 Taiwanese Americans, 313, 314–315 Taoism and, 255 temples and worship spaces, 172–173 Thai Americans, 1083, 1085–1086, 1091–1092, 1097, 1104, 1109–1110, 1110–1111, 1113, 1115 Tibetan Americans, 1128–1129, 1134, 1155 transnationalism and, 50 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1174–1175, 1197, 1204, 1205–1206 See also Theravada Buddhism Bui Vien, 1160 Bulosan, Carlos, 344–345, 368, 385 Bunker, Chang and Eng, 1081, 1095 Burger people, 1044–1045 Burma, history of, 127–129 Burmese American Catholic Fellowship (BACF), 165 Burmese Americans ancestor worship, 133 arts and crafts, 134–135 Chinese Americans and, 224, 225 cultural identity, 153–154 dance and, 141–144 death and funeral rituals, 137–138 festivals and celebrations, 138–141 folktales, 145–146 foods and cooking, 146–148 ghosts and the supernatural, 133–134 health and wellness, 152–153, 173–176 heroes and heroines, 148–151 history, people, and culture, 127–132 home decoration, 151–152 literature, 154–156 music and, 144 myths and legends, 156–158 names and naming practices, 158–159 nature and animals, 160–162 proverbs and maxims, 162–163 religious beliefs, 135–137, 163–166 rites of passage, 166–167
I-5
I-6
Index Burmese Americans (continued) social etiquette, 167–168 speech and language, 176–177 superstitions and taboos, 169–171 temples and worship spaces, 172–173 visual culture and, 55–58 Burmese Monks Association, 141, 143, 160, 173 Bush, George W., 27 Butsudan (shrine), 584–585 Byaw (Burmese dance), 142 California, Yokohoma (Mori), 620 Calligraphy, 230, 246–248, 284, 962, 978 Cambodian Americans arts and crafts, 185–186 clothing and jewelry, 188–189 cultural identity, 201–202 dance and music, 189–191 death and funeral rituals, 191–193 families and communities, 193–195 festivals and celebrations, 195–196 foods and cooking, 198–199 health and wellness, 216–217 heroes and heroines, 199–201 history, people, and culture, 179–185 home decoration, 185–186 literature, 186–188, 204–205, 206–207, 1223 music, 8, 189–191, 196–197 names and naming practices, 205–206 oral tradition and, xxxvii proverbs and maxims, 207–209 religious beliefs, 209–212 rites of passage, 213–214 social etiquette, 214–215 speech and language, 219–221 temples and worship spaces, 211–212 “The Killing Fields,” 202–204 urban legends, xxxix, 217–219 Canada, 1001, 1055–1056, 1057 Cantonese language, 324 Cao, Lan, 8–9, 72, 1199–1201 Cao Cao, 279–280 Caodaism, 1173, 1196–1197, 1204–1205 Caricature, Asian American humor and, 28 Carnival/Fair of the Ghosts, 462 Carpenter, Frances, 15, 665
Carpio, Bernardo del (Filipino folktale), 393–394 Carroll, Denise, 51 Cartoons and animation, 634–636 Caste system Indian Americans, 499 Indonesian Americans, 548–549 Nepali Americans, 858–859, 869 Sri Lankan Americans, 1049–1051, 1068–1069, 1069–1070 Catering businesses, 538, 559 Catholicism Filipino Americans, 334, 336, 350–351, 357, 372, 375, 380, 401, 402–403 Guam and, 911–912 Indonesian Americans, 555 Korean Americans, 669, 670 Laotian Americans, 747 Malaysian Americans, 801, 802 Pacific Islander Americans, 920–921, 943 the Philippines and, 49 religious beliefs and, 47 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051, 1055 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1174, 1193–1194, 1197, 1204 Cedoreck (Center for Documentation and Research on Khmer Civilization), 204 Celibacy, Buddhism and, 36 Cemeteries Chinese Americans, 262 Laotian Americans, 726 Malaysian Americans, 765 Pacific Islander Americans, 907 Pakistani Americans, 966 Vietnamese Americans, 1176 Census, U.S., mixed race Asian Americans and, 94 Center for Lao Studies (CLS), 729 Chai, Mary Lee, 99 Chairil Anwar, 546 Chamorro people, 902–903, 912, 917–922, 929, 1235–1236 Champuru (Okinawan food), 884 Chan, Charlie, 81, 248, 277–278 Chan, Jeffrey Paul, 293 Chandra, Vikram, 486 Chang, Eliot, 26
Index Chang, Leonard, 695 Chang, Tisa, 53 Chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony), 579–580 Charity, 153, 395–396 Chauvinist and Other Stories, The (Mori), 620 Cherry Blossom Festival, 580–581, 592, 646, 883 Chetry, Kiran Carrie, 854 Chi, martial arts and, 248–249 Chicago School, youth culture and, 59–60 Children and youth Afghan Americans, 123–126 Burmese Americans, 166–167, 172–173 Cambodian Americans, 193–195, 201–202, 212, 220–221 Chinese Americans, 233–234, 253, 286, 287–288, 310, 324–325 Filipino Americans, 338–339, 348–349, 353, 404–405, 409–410 Hmong Americans, 439–440 Indian Americans, 506–507 Japanese Americans, 590, 608 Mongolian Americans, 816–818 Nepali Americans, 859, 869 Pakistani Americans, 968 second and subsequent generations, 78 Sri Lankan Americans, 1074–1075 Thai Americans, 1090, 1111 Tibetan Americans, 1144 Vietnamese Americans, 1178 See also Youth culture Children’s literature Afghan Americans, 115–116 Burmese Americans, 145, 156 Cambodian Americans, 186–188, 205 Chinese Americans, 272–274 Hmong Americans, 423–424 Japanese Americans, 581–583 Korean Americans, 663–664, 664–666 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 14–18 Punjabi Americans, 1007–1008 Thai Americans, 1086–1087 Children’s songs Chinese Americans, 233–234 Filipino Americans, 345–346
Indian Americans, 465–466 Indonesian Americans, 524–526 Japanese Americans, 582–583 Korean Americans, 663 Laotian Americans, 720–721 Malaysian Americans, 768–771 Pacific Islander Americans, 903–904 Pakistani Americans, 963–964 Tibetan Americans, 1130–1131 Vietnamese Americans, 1168–1169 Chin, Frank, 53, 256–257, 294 Chinese American literature and, 293, 302 love and sexuality, 82 Maxine Hong Kingston and, 263, 289 Chin, Vincent, 234–236, 283 China Chinese Americans and, 226–227 Hmong people and, 413 Korea and, 655 Okinawa and, 887 Tibet and, 1127, 1128, 1149 Vietnam and, 1213–1214, 1217 China Men (Kingston), 288, 289, 293 Chinatowns, 236–246, 264, 300–301, 327–328 Chinese Americans ancestor worship, 228–230 architecture, 291–292, 325–328 arts and crafts, 230–231 Asian American dating and, 103 Burmese Americans and, 153, 154 calligraphy, 246–248 children’s literature and, 272–274 Chinatowns, 236–246 clothing and jewelry, 251–253 cultural identity, 286–288 dance, 269–270 death and funeral rituals, 257–263, 305–306 deities, 280, 320–322 families and communities, 264–266 feng shui and, 266–267 festivals and celebrations, 267–268, 300–301 films, 277–278, 290–291 foods and cooking, 274–277 ghosts and the supernatural, 228–230, 238–241 heroes and heroines, 263–264, 282–283, 296–297
I-7
I-8
Index Chinese Americans (continued) history, people, and culture, 223–228 home decoration, 283–284 Indonesian Americans and, 529 interracial/interethnic marriage, 96 literature, 256–257, 281–282, 288–289, 292–294, 302–303, 316–317 martial arts, 248–249 mixed race Asian Americans and, 91 model minority stereotype and, 70 the Monkey King, 296–297 music, 233–234, 270–271 myths and legends, 297–299 names and naming practices, 299–300 paper sons and daughters, 303–304 proverbs and maxims, 304–305 religious beliefs, 253–257, 307–308 rites of passage, 309–310 root quests and, 76 social etiquette, 311–313 speech and language, 324–325 suicide and, 11 temples and worship spaces, 231–233, 313–316 theater, 241–246, 285–286, 294–296 traditional medicine, 322–324 urban legends, 238–241 Vincent Chin, 234–236 yin and yang, 329–330 zodiac and, 250–251 Chinese Christian Churches, 254–255 Chinese Connection, The (film), 290 Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), 6, 93, 223, 237, 264–265 Chinese Indonesians, 542–543, 550–551, 555, 558 Chinese influences, Filipino Americans and, 333, 362, 391 Chinese Malaysians, 759, 762–763 clothing and jewelry, 773 death and funeral rituals, 775–776 families, 779–780 festivals and celebrations, 781 foods and cooking, 787, 788, 789 ghosts and the supernatural, 766–767 home decoration, 791–792 languages and, 793
music, 769 names and naming practices, 795, 796 proverbs and maxims, 799 religious beliefs, 764–765, 802–803 superstitions and taboos, 807 wedding ceremonies, 805 Chinese Mongolians, 812 Chinese Music Society of North America, 271 Chinese Performing Artists on America, 271 “Chinese religion,” Malaysian Americans and, 761 Chinggis Khaan, 831, 832 Chinggis Khan Ceremony, 823, 824, 832, Ching Ming. See Qing Ming Chinn, Lenore, 38 Chiota, Jon, 878 Chi You, King, 434 Cho, Chung Hyun, 662 Cho, Henry, 25, 26 Cho, John, 681 Cho, Margaret, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31–33, 44–45 Choi, Susan, 695 Choichi, Terukina, 882 Choo, Jimmy, 790 Chopstick test, 96 Choup (traditional medicine), 216 Chow, Robin Nathalis, 144 Christianity, 48 Burmese Americans, 136, 139–140, 159, 164, 165 Chinese Americans, 224, 225, 254–255, 307, 308 Filipino Americans, 356–357, 401–403 Hmong Americans, 416–417, 445, 446, 447–448 Indian Americans, 503, 504 Indonesian Americans, 545, 554–555 Japanese Americans, 583, 584, 637 Korean Americans, 669, 670, 690–693, 694, 701–703 Laotian Americans, 724, 747–748, 749 Malaysian Americans, 777, 801 Mongolian Americans, 842 Nepali Americans, 852 Pacific Islander Americans, 906, 941–942, 943 Pakistani Americans, 987 Sri Lanka and, 1045
Index Sri Lankan Americans, 1049, 1051–1052, 1055, 1059, 1071, 1074, 1075 Taiwanese Americans, 315 Thai Americans, 1110 Vietnamese Americans, 1197, 1204 See also Catholicism; Protestantism Christmas, 356, 533, 970, 1052 Chu, Louis, 293 Chual Chhnam Thmey (Cambodian New Year), 195–196 Chupa (Tibetan clothing), 1131–1132 Churches Filipino Americans, 356–358 Indonesian Americans, 555 Korean Americans, 690–693, 701–703, 706 Pacific Islander Americans, 898, 908 See also Mosques; Temples and worship spaces Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving), 674, 675 Chuukese people, 899 Circle dances, 731 Circular mobility, 897–898 Circumcision, 404–405, 507 Citizenship Amerasians and, 97 Filipino Americans, 332 flexible citizenship and, 61 Japanese Americans, 571, 574, 590 Korean Americans, 656–657 Sri Lankan Americans, 1065 U.S. Pacific Island territories and, 896 Civil disobedience, 585–587 Civil Liberties Act (1988), 633 Civil rights movement, Japanese Americans and, 70, 574–575, 609, 621–622 Clan groups, Hmong Americans and, 413–414, 439 Classical dance, Thai Americans, 1098–1099, 1117–1118 Classical music Cambodian Americans, 197 Chinese Americans, 270–271 Hmong Americans, 431 Indian Americans, 475 Korean Americans, 677, 697 Thai Americans, 1098 Climate, Sri Lanka and, 1043
Clothing and jewelry Burmese Americans, 57–58, 130, 170 Cambodian Americans, 188–189 Chinese Americans, 251–253, 261–262 death and funeral rituals, 257–258 Filipino Americans, 338, 346–348 folklife and, xxxviii Hmong Americans, 419–420, 424–425, 426, 455 Indian Americans, 466–467, 508 Indonesian Americans, 526–528 Japanese Americans, 645 Korean Americans, 666–668 Laotian Americans, 721–722, 736–737 Malaysian Americans, 771–774 material culture and, 19 Mongolian Americans, 818–820, 845–846 Nepali Americans, 855–857, 866 Pacific Islander Americans, 904–906, 944 Pakistani Americans, 964–965, 988, 991 Punjabi Americans, 1006 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053–1054 Thai Americans, 1087–1088, 1117–1118 Tibetan Americans, 1131–1132, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1170–1171, 1212 See also Textiles Coburn, Jewell, 187 Code-switching, 410, 457, 513. See also Speech and language “Coining,” 756 Collective behavior, 452–453, 590, 673 Colonialism Burma and, 128 Filipino Americans and, 370–371, 389–390, 407 Guam and, 912, 918 Indonesia and, 541, 546 Korea and, 655, 687 mixed race Asian Americans and, 95 Pacific Islands and, 894–896, 948, 952 the Philippines and, 343, 364, 383, 405–406 Sri Lanka and, 1043–1044, 1045 Tahiti and, 950 Comfort Woman (Keller), 8, 9, 72 Comfort women, 668–669 Comic books, 496–497
I-9
I-10
Index Coming of age ceremonies Indian Americans, 507 Indonesian Americans, 561 Laotian Americans, 753 Nepali Americans, 869–870 Pacific Islander Americans, 945 Pakistani Americans, 989–990 Punjabi Americans, 1032 Sri Lankan Americans, 1075, 1076 Community organizations. See Cultural and community organizations Complementary Alternative Medicines (CAM). See Traditional medicine Compound words, Mongolian language and, 848–849 Confucianism Chinese Americans, 253–254, 304–305, 307 Chinese zodiac and, 251 Frederick Douglass and, 47–48 Japanese Americans, 622–623, 642 Korean Americans, 663–664, 670, 690–691, 692, 703–704 Malaysian Americans, 802–803 sexuality and, 36–37 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1197, 1204 Consolidated Chinese Benevolent Association, 238 Contemporary Afghan American Literature (Saed and Muradi), 119 Cordova, Dorothy Laigo, 358 “Cow Herder and Weaver” (Korean folktale), 700 Cows, Hinduism and, 500–501 Cox, Palmer, 272 Creation stories. See Origin tales Cremation Cambodian Americans, 192 Indonesian Americans, 529, 530 Korean Americans, 671 Malaysian Americans, 777 Nepali Americans, 857 Pacific Islander Americans, 907 Punjabi Americans, 1008–1009 Tibetan Americans, 1135 Crime and punishment, 204, 218, 234–236. See also Gang activities Crockett, Lucy Herndon, 665
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (film), 248 Cult of Jewels, Burmese Americans and, 175 Cultural and community organizations Cambodian Americans, 183, 195–196 Chinese Americans, 226, 227 Filipino Americans, 341, 355, 358–359, 368–369, 371, 377, 396–398 Indian Americans, 468 Indonesian Americans, 519 Korean Americans, 72–703, 657, 680, 681 Laotian Americans, 729 Malaysian Americans, 763–764, 783, 786 Mongolian Americans, 826 Nepali Americans, 853, 860–861, 866, 874 Okinawan Americans, 879 Pacific Islander Americans, 908, 909, 937 Pakistani Americans, 959 Punjabi Americans, 1011, 1012 Sikhism and, 1018 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1065–1066, 1069 Thai Americans, 1089, 1121 Tibetan Americans, 1136, 1138, 1139, 1140, 1144 Vietnamese Americans, 1194 Cultural Care Au Pair, 1083 Cultural identity Afghan Americans, 109–110, 110–114, 117–120 Burmese Americans, 153–154 Cambodian Americans, 182–184, 201–202 children’s literature and, 17 Chinese Americans, 223, 224, 286–288 Filipino Americans, 333–335, 370–372, 383–384, 398–399 folklore and, xxxix–xl Hawaiian Natives, 923 Hmong Americans, 435–437 immigration and, 5–7 Indian Americans, 481–482 Indonesian Americans, 519–520, 540–543 Japanese Americans, 603–605 Korean Americans, 682–683, 684, 687 Laotian Americans, 715–716, 735–736 Malaysian Americans, 763, 771–772, 792–793 material culture and, 19
Index Mongolian Americans, 815, 835–836 Nepali Americans, 852, 858–859, 865–866 Okinawan Americans, 877–878 orientalism and, 73–74 Pacific Islander Americans, 930–931 Pakistani Americans, 957, 978–980 Polynesians and, 938 Punjabi Americans, 1021–1022 religious beliefs and, 49–50 root quests and, 76–77 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046–1047, 1064–1066 Thai Americans, 1095–1096, 1103–1104, 1111, 1120 Tibetan Americans, 1128, 1139–1140, 1144–1145 “Twinkies,” “Bananas,” and “Coconuts,” 88–89 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnamese Americans, 1163–1164, 1169, 1182, 1195–1196, 1201–1202 visual culture and, 58 youth culture and, 61–62 Cultural Revolution, 281 “Cupping,” 756 “Curious Case of Ah-Top, The” (Cox), 272 Dagvadorj, Dolgorsurengiin, 833 Dalai Lama, 831 Mongolian Americans, 833, 842 reincarnation and, 75 Tibetan Americans, 1133–1134, 1136, 1138, 1143, 1149–1150, 1155 Damphu drums, 861 Dance Afghan Americans, 114, 125 Burmese Americans, 141–144 Cambodian Americans, 189–191, 200, 206 Chinese Americans, 269–270 Filipino Americans, 359–360, 380–382, 397–398 Indian Americans, 467–469 Indonesian Americans, 534–536 Japanese Americans, 595–596 Korean Americans, 675–677, 689, 696 Laotian Americans, 721, 730–732
Malaysian Americans, 783–786, 790 Mongolian Americans, 825–826 Nepali Americans, 861–862 Okinawan Americans, 881–882, 887 Pacific Islander Americans, 900, 913–914, 951 Pakistani Americans, 971–972 Sri Lankan Americans, 1059–1061 Thai Americans, 1090, 1098–1099, 1104, 1116–1120 Tibetan Americans, 1138–1140 Vietnamese Americans, 1181–1184, 1213 Dari language, 113 Dates and calendars, 250–251, 521–522, 1137 Dat Phan, 24, 25 Dating and courtship Hmong Americans, 432, 438 Japanese Americans, 631–632 Laotian Americans, 728, 740, 753 Mongolian Americans, 843 Nepali Americans, 859 Pacific Islander Americans, 945–946 Pakistani Americans, 992 Sri Lankan Americans, 1075 See also Marriage Daubat (Burmese dance), 142 Daughter from Danang (film), 77 Daura Suruwal (Nepali clothing), 855–856 Davenport, Charles, 93 David Kaukauea, King, 929 “Deadly Waters” ghost story, 240 Death, suicide and, 10–14 Death and funeral rituals Afghan Americans, 123 Burmese Americans, 137–138, 169 Cambodian Americans, 191–193, 214 Chinese Americans, 229, 238, 257–263, 305–306, 310 Filipino Americans, 336, 350–352, 372, 374–376 Hmong Americans, 414, 425–427, 432, 450 Indian Americans, 470–471 Indonesian Americans, 528–531, 561 Japanese Americans, 587–589, 592–593, 640, 643–644 Korean Americans, 671–672
I-11
I-12
Index Death and funeral rituals (continued) Laotian Americans, 717–718, 725–727 Malaysian Americans, 766–767, 774–778 Mongolian Americans, 820–822 Nepali Americans, 857–858 Pacific Islander Americans, 906–907, 921, 946 Pakistani Americans, 966–967, 990 Punjabi Americans, 1008–1010 Sri Lankan Americans, 1054–1055, 1075 Thai Americans, 1092–1093, 1113, 1114 Tibetan Americans, 1134–1135, 1152, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1174–1177, 1207 Death pollution, 258–259, 260 Debutantes, 348–349, 405 Decolonialization, Pacific Islands and, 896–897 Deel (Mongolian clothing), 819 Deities Burmese Americans, 156–158 Chinese Americans, 228, 229, 278–280, 297–299, 320–322 Indian Americans, 478, 481, 495–497, 500 Pacific Islander Americans, 919–922, 942 Sri Lankan Americans, 1070, 1073–1074 Tibetan Americans, 1153, 1154 Vietnamese Americans, 1180 Demographics Afghan Americans, 107–108 Cambodian Americans, 181–182 Chinese Americans, 224, 225–226 Fiji and Fijians, 910 Filipino Americans, 331 Indian Americans, 489–490 Indonesian Americans, 516, 538 Japanese Americans, 569 Korean Americans, 658 Laotian Americans, 714 Malaysian Americans, 760 Mongolian Americans, 813 Nepali Americans, 851, 862 Okinawan Americans, 878 Pacific Islander Americans, 893, 931 Pakistani Americans, 955–956, 972 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046 Tibetan Americans, 1135, 1136 Vietnamese Americans, 1163 Dengue Fever (band), 190, 197
Departed Spirits of the Viet Realm (Ly), 1189–1190 Deportations. See Repatriations Derogatory terms, Chinese Americans and, 224 Desai, Anita, 485 Desai, Kiran, 486 Desani, Govindas Vishnudas, 486 Deshain (Nepali festival), 860 “Desi” culture, 956, 979–980 Devil dancing, 1061 Dhaka Topee (Nepali hat), 856 Dharmapala, Anagarika, 1063–1064 Dharmic religions, 74–76 Dias, Maurice, 1060 Diaspora, music of, 4 Dilowa Gegeen, 811–812, 841 Dining etiquette, 311–312, 733, 871, 1101, 1209 Disagreements, Japanese Americans and, 650 “Disappearing Lady” ghost story, 240 DJs, 359–360 Dokdo, Korea, 667 Dol (first birthday), 705 Dom (traditional Mongolian cures), 847 Domestic religious practices Burmese Americans, 135–137 Chinese Americans, 254–255 Indian Americans, 469–470 Japanese Americans, 583–585 Korean Americans, 669–671 Laotian Americans, 723–724 Thai Americans, 1091–1092 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1174 Donald Duk (Chin), 256–257 Dorson, Richard, 54 Doss, Helen, 665 Douglass, Frederick, 47–48 Dowries, 740, 753, 1075 Draft resisters, World War II, 585–587 Dragon Ball manga series, 598 Dragon Boat Festival, 268 Dragon New Year, The (Bouchard), 272 Dragons, Chinese Americans and, 231 Drug abuse, 565 Drunken Tiger (musical group), 697 Dukun (traditional Indonesian medical practitioner), 563, 564, 565 Dun, Tan, 246
Index Durand Line, Afghanistan and, 106 Durians, 146 Dutch Indonesians, 517 Duttu Gemunu, 1063 Dynasty Warriors (video game), xxxviii–xxxix, 589 East Goes West (Kang), 695 East West Players, 53 Ebens, Ronald, 235, 283 Economic immigration, 763, 1095 Education Asian American humor and, 27 Cambodian Americans, 182 Chinese Americans, 253, 287 Hmong Americans, 417, 449, 452 Indonesian Americans, 517–518 Korean Americans, 703 Malaysian Americans, 802 Mongolian Americans, 811, 815, 818, 823 Nepali Americans, 853 Pakistani Americans, 987 Thai Americans, 1083–1084 Vietnamese Americans, 1178 Eid celebrations, 112, 121, 969–970 El Shaddai, 402–403 Elder abuse, 460–461 Elders, respect for Burmese Americans, 169–170, 177 Cambodian Americans, 193–194, 208, 214 Chinese Americans, 253 Filipino Americans, 336, 353, 371, 387, 392, 407 Hmong Americans, 452 Indian Americans, 508 Indonesian Americans, 532, 551, 552 Japanese Americans, 588 Korean Americans, 691, 710–711 Laotian Americans, 715, 754, 758 Malaysian Americans, 761, 780, 809 Mongolian Americans, 845 Nepali Americans, 870–871 Pakistani Americans, 991, 992, 996 Thai Americans, 1114–1115 Vietnamese Americans, 1178, 1208, 1212 Elephant motifs, 152, 1021, 1086
Elephant Walk restaurant, 199 Employment Malaysian Americans, 761 Nepali Americans, 853 Punjabi Americans, 1003 Thai Americans, 1081–1082, 1083, 1084 Viet Kieu experience, 1219–1220 Empress of Heaven. See Tianhou/Mazu Endogamy, 102 English-Chinese Phrasebook, 293 English language skills Afghan Americans, 113 Burmese Americans, 129 Cambodian Americans, 220 Chinese Americans, 287, 325 Filipino Americans, 333–334, 371, 409 Ha Jin and, 281–282 Hmong Americans, 458 Indian Americans, 512–513 Indonesian Americans, 546 Korean Americans, 698 Malaysian Americans, 760, 794, 808 Mongolian Americans, 835, 848 Nepali Americans, 852, 874 Pakistani Americans, 996–997 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046 Thai Americans, 1123, 1124 Tibetan Americans, 1157 Vietnamese Americans, 1163 Englithai language, 1123 Enkhbat, Badar-Uugan, 833 Enter the Dragon (film), 290 Entertainment. See Dance; Music; Popular culture Epics, xxxvii, 489, 499, 744, 828, 1023 Espiritu, Yen Le, 11–12 Ethnic communities Burmese Americans, 131, 164 Cambodian Americans, 180, 181, 195–196, 201, 211, 220 Chinese Americans, 236–238, 264–266, 286–287 Filipino Americans, 333, 387–389 Hmong Americans, 427–428 Indian Americans, 490–492 Indian literature and, 489 Indonesian Americans, 515, 533–534, 537
I-13
I-14
Index Ethnic communities (continued) Japanese Americans, 591, 614–615 Korean Americans, 658, 673, 682, 693–694 Malaysian Americans, 763 Mongolian Americans, 813, 822–823 Nepali Americans, 851–852, 862, 865–866 Okinawan Americans, 878 Pacific Islander Americans, 907–908 Pakistani Americans, 955, 967–968, 970 Punjabi Americans, 1002, 1012–1013, 1021–1022 second and subsequent generations, 78–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046, 1065 Thai Americans, 1081, 1082, 1088–1090, 1096, 1099, 1108, 1120–1121 Tibetan Americans, 1127–1128, 1130, 1135–1136, 1140 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnamese Americans, 1161, 1178–1179, 1193–1194, 1198–1199, 1206 Ethnic groups Fiji and Fijians, 910 Filipino Americans, 333, 390 grocery stores and, 21–22 Indian Americans, 475–476, 490 Indonesian Americans, 517, 518, 525, 536, 548, 551–552, 555, 566 Laos and, 735–736 Laotian Americans, 714–715, 747 Malaysia and, 759–760 Malaysian Americans, 762–763, 771, 774–775, 784–786, 793, 800–801 model minority stereotype and, 70–71 Mongolian Americans, 813–814, 826, 848 Nepali Americans, 852, 861, 873–874 Pacific Islander Americans, 893, 930–931 Polynesians and, 938 religious beliefs and, 48–49 Sri Lanka and, 1044–1045 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Ethnic hierarchies, Asian American dating and, 103 Ethnic identity. See Cultural identity Ethnomusicology, 1–5 Eugenics, 92–93 Eugenio, Damiana, 400 Eurasians, 97 European exploration, Pacific Islands and, 894–895
Evangelical Christianity, 1052 “Evil eye,” 993 Exogamy, 102, 413–414, 416, 439 Exorcisms, 157 Experimental films, 684 Extended families Cambodian Americans, 193 Hawaiian Natives, 923 Indonesian Americans, 531–532 Laotian Americans, 728 Malaysian Americans, 779, 780 Nepali Americans, 858 Pakistani Americans, 967, 968 Thai Americans, 1095 Vietnamese Americans, 1178 Eye contact, Japanese Americans and, 650 Fair Play Committee, 586 Fairy tales, 273. See also Myths and legends Families Chinese Americans, 253, 286, 324–325 Filipino Americans, 334, 371 Hmong Americans, 413–414, 415–416 homosexuality and, 37 Indian Americans, 471 Japanese Americans, 608 Korean Americans, 698 Laotian Americans, 715 love and sexuality, 80, 82 Mongolian Americans, 815, 817, 822 mother-daughter relationships and, 8–9, 71–73 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 5–10 queer studies and, 43 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047 Families and communities Cambodian Americans, 193–195 Chinese Americans, 264–266 Filipino Americans, 353–355, 376–377 Hawaiian Natives, 923 Hmong Americans, 427–428 Indonesian Americans, 531–532 Japanese Americans, 590–591 Korean Americans, 673–674
Index Laotian Americans, 727–729 Malaysian Americans, 778–781 Mongolian Americans, 822–823 Nepali Americans, 858–859 Pacific Islander Americans, 907–908 Pakistani Americans, 967–968 Punjabi Americans, 1010–1012 Sri Lankan Americans, 1055–1057 Thai Americans, 1088–1090, 1095–1096 Tibetan Americans, 1135–1137 Vietnamese Americans, 1177–1179 Fa Mu Lan (Mulan), 243–244, 263–264, 272, 282, 289, 299 Fa Ngum, King, 734–735 Family reunification, immigration and, 1011 Far, Sui Sin, 14, 293 Farewell to Manzanar (Houston), 590, 618 Farmers’ band dance, 676 Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), 897 Feng shui Chinese Americans, 262, 266–267, 283–284 Filipino Americans, 370 Hmong Americans, 414, 416 Malaysian Americans, 764–765, 766 material culture and, 19 Festivals and celebrations Afghan Americans, 111–112, 114, 122–123, 124–126 Asian Pacific Heritage Month, 63–64 Burmese Americans, 130, 138–141, 144, 157 Cambodian Americans, 183–184, 190, 195–196, 199 Chinese Americans, 231, 232–233, 238, 244, 245, 261, 267–268, 269, 300–301, 305–306 Filipino Americans, 335, 336, 348–349, 355–356, 361, 363, 378, 381, 382, 396–398, 405–406 Hmong Americans, 429–430 Indian Americans, 468, 472–474, 478, 481, 491, 496, 497 Indonesian Americans, 519, 532–534 Japanese Americans, 570, 575, 580–581, 583, 591–593, 596, 598, 645–646 Korean Americans, 667, 674–675, 683, 696 Laotian Americans, 729–730, 732, 745–746, 751 Malaysian Americans, 767, 781–782, 783, 786, 789
Mongolian Americans, 814, 818, 821, 823–824, 825, 836 music and, 2–3 Nepali Americans, 859, 860–861, 862–863, 868 Okinawan Americans, 879, 883–884 Pacific Islander Americans, 908–910, 920, 928, 929, 930, 939 Pakistani Americans, 968–970 Punjabi Americans, 1011, 1012–1014 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1058–1059, 1073 Taiwanese Americans, 316 Thai Americans, 1083, 1096–1098 Tibetan Americans, 1131, 1137–1138, 1139 Vietnamese Americans, 1169, 1172, 1179–1181, 1183, 1190, 1210–1211, 1211–1213, 1214 Fiestas. See Festivals and celebrations Fifth Book of Peace, The (Kingston), 289 Fiji and Fijians, 910–911 Filipino American History Month, 359 Filipino American National Historical Society, 358–359 Filipino American National Museum, 359 Filipino Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 336–337, 372–373 arts and crafts, 337–339 Asian American dating and, 103 balikbayan boxes, xxxviii, 339–340 beauty pageants, 341–342 beauty standards, 342–343 clothing and jewelry, 346–348 cultural identity, 370–372 death and funeral rituals, 350–352 families and communities, 353–355 festivals and celebrations, 355–356, 396–398, 405–4406 Filipino American National Historical Society, 358–359 foods and cooking, 362–364 gender roles and, 364–366 heroes and heroines, 368–369 history, people, and culture, 331–336 home decoration, 369–370 indigenous peoples and, 372–384
I-15
I-16
Index Filipino Americans (continued) jeepneys and, 384 literature, 366–367, 385–386, 392–394, 1224–1227 Manilamen, 387–389 mixed race Asian Americans, 389–390 music, 345–346, 359–361, 361–362 names and naming practices, 391–392 origin tales, 386–387 “Pinoy and Pinay,” 398–399 political activism and, 344–345 proverbs and maxims, 399–401 queer folklore and folklife, 40, 45 religious beliefs, 356–358, 401–403 rites of passage, 348–349, 403–405 root quests and, 76–77 social etiquette, 395–396, 406–408 speech and language, 409–411 traditional medicine, 408–409 Films Cambodian Americans, 200 Chinese Americans, 248, 264, 277–278, 290–291 Indian Americans, 479 Japanese Americans, 610 Korean Americans, 661, 681, 683–685 love and sexuality, 81, 82–83 Malaysian Americans, 790 Mongolian Americans, 819–820 orientalism and, 73–74 popular culture and, 33 Punjabi Americans, 1042 Thai Americans, 1094 Tibetan Americans, 1150 Vietnamese Americans, 1167, 1190 First Person Plural (film), 684 Fists of Fury (film), 290 Five Chinese Brothers, The (Bishop), 15 Flag Day (Samoa), 947 Flexible citizenship, 61 Floral arrangements, 593–595 Florante at Laura (Balagtaz), 394 Flower cloths, 418–420, 456 FOBs (fresh off boat), 667 Folk dance. See Dance Folk music. See Music
Folk religions Cambodian Americans, 210–211, 212 Chinese Americans, 228–229, 255, 278–280, 307, 320–322, 324 Filipino Americans, 336–337, 403 Hmong Americans, 445–446, 450–451 Indian Americans, 509–510 Indonesian Americans, 520–521 Korean Americans, 664, 704 Laotian Americans, 748, 750 Malaysian Americans, 799–801 Okinawan Americans, 890–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 941, 942, 943 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Thai Americans, 1112 Tibetan Americans, 1153–1154 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1181, 1196–1198, 1205, 1210. See also Ancestors, ghosts, and spirits Folk songs, 233–234, 345–346, 431–432. See also Music Folklore Afghan Americans, 114–115 Amy Tan and, 316, 317 Burmese Americans, 155–156 Cambodian Americans, 186–188 Chinese Americans, 227–228, 272–274, 292–294 defined, xxxv–xxxvi Filipino Americans, 385–387, 392–394 Hawaiian Natives, 925–927 Indonesian Americans, 551–553 Japanese Americans, 617–618 opera theaters and, 242–243, 243–244 Pacific Islander Americans, 918, 925–927 Pakistani Americans, 959 See also Literature Folktales Burmese Americans, 145–146 Cambodian Americans, 206–207 children’s literature and, 14–15 Chinese Americans, 232, 302–303 Filipino Americans, 342–343 Hmong Americans, 423–424, 440–442 Indian Americans, 499 Japanese Americans, 597–599 Korean Americans, 699–700
Index Laotian Americans, 737–738, 744 Malaysian Americans, 796–798 Mongolian Americans, 828–829 Sri Lankan Americans, 1066–1067 Thai Americans, 1118 See also Literature Fonseka, Sarath, 1063 Foo, Josey, 790 Foods and cooking Burmese Americans, 130, 146–148, 168 Cambodian Americans, 198–199 Chinese Americans, 274–277, 284, 313, 330 Filipino Americans, 335, 338, 362–364, 377–379 “Got Rice?” slogan, 66–68 grocery stores and, 21–23 Guam and, 912 Hmong Americans, 433–434 Indian Americans, 460, 463, 475–477 Indonesian Americans, 536–538, 557–560, 562 Japanese Americans, 599–601, 644 Korean Americans, 675, 678–680, 707 Laotian Americans, 732–734 Malaysian Americans, 787–789 Mongolian Americans, 814, 815, 829–831, 844 Nepali Americans, 852, 864–865 Okinawan Americans, 883, 884–885 Pacific Islander Americans, 916–917 Pakistani Americans, 973–975, 993–994 Punjabi Americans, 999–1000, 1014–1015 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1061–1062 Thai Americans, 1083, 1101–1102 Tibetan Americans, 1141–1142 Vietnamese Americans, 1187–1188, 1213 “Foolish Old Man” (Chinese legend), 298 Foreignness, root quests and, 76–77 Fort Minor (musical group), 640–641 Fortune cookies, 276–277, 305 “Four Dragons, The” (Chinese legend), 298 Four tantras, traditional Tibetan medicine and, 1156–1157 Fox folktales, 660 France, Tahiti and, 950–951 Frankfurt School, youth culture and, 59 Free Life, A (Jin), 281
Free Tibet movement, 1143, 1144, 1149–1150 Freedom, Hmong Americans, 453–454 Freedom of speech, 1215, 1216 French Indochina, 713 Fu Manchu films, 277–278 Fulbeck, Kip, 98, 99 Fuller, Buckminster, 625 Funeral homes, 192–193, 375, 718, 857, 1177 Funeral services. See Death and funeral rituals Gabriela Network (GABNet), 368–369 Galang, M. Evelina, 386 Games and toys, 675, 912, 1006, 1165 Ganesha (Hindu god), 500 Gang activities Cambodian Americans, 201, 220 Chinese Americans, 227 Hmong Americans, 417 Sri Lankan Americans, 1057 youth culture and, 59, 60 Gardening, 611, 652–653, 834 Gay men, 38, 342. See also Homosexuality; Queer folklore and folklife; Queer studies Gender, 35, 159 Gender roles Cambodian Americans, 193–195, 215 Filipino Americans, 364–366, 393 folklore and, xxxvii Hmong Americans, 415, 427 interracial/interethnic marriage, 101 Korean Americans, 691, 692, 708 Laotian Americans, 727–728 Malaysian Americans, 780 Nepali Americans, 856, 859, 871 Pacific Islander Americans, 942 Pakistani Americans, 964, 966, 981–982, 987–988, 989–990, 991–992 Punjabi Americans, 1010, 1027 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053 Thai Americans, 1118 Genghis Khan, 831 Gentlemen’s Agreement, 571, 632, 656 Geomancy. See Feng shui Gesar’s Epic (Tibetan folktale), 1145, 1147 Geser Khan epic, 828
I-17
I-18
Index Geshe Wangyal, 812, 841 Ghadar Party, 1005 Ghazal music, 963 Ghose, Zulfiqar, 981 Ghosh, Amitav, 486 Ghost stories, 238–241, 244–245, 273, 462, 598–599 Ghosts and the supernatural Burmese Americans, 133–134 Cambodian Americans, 191 Chinese Americans, 228–230, 238–241, 260–261 Hawaiian Natives, 926 Korean Americans, 660–661, 664 Malaysian Americans, 764–768 Pacific Islander Americans, 899 Pakistani Americans, 960–961 Thai Americans, 1106–1108 Vietnamese Americans, 1209–1210 Gift, The (Xiong), 424 Gifts and gift giving Japanese Americans, 642, 644 Korean Americans, 706–707 Laotian Americans, 742, 753 Malaysian Americans, 775, 807 Mongolian Americans, 844 Pacific Islander Americans, 906–907 Pakistani Americans, 991 Sri Lankan Americans, 1075 Vietnamese Americans, 1207 Girei origami, 629 “Goddess and the Giant, The” (Cambodian folktale), 207 Gold jewelry, 252, 736–737, 856 Golden Land of Legends, 149 Goldilocks chart, 102–103 Gonzalez, N. V. M., 366–367, 386 Good Earth, The (film), 32 Gorn, Steve, 475 “Got Rice Bitch?” (song), 67 “Got Rice?” slogan, xxxix, 66–68 Gotanda, Philip Kan, 610, 618 Government Burma and, 128–129, 149–150 Cambodia and, 203–204 Nepal and, 868
Samoa and, 948 United States, 30 Graduation ceremonies, 990 Grammar Burmese language and, 176–177 Hmong language and, 458 Korean language and, 711 Malaysian Americans, 808 Mongolian language, 849 Grandfather’s Journey (Say), 17 Grandmother Tales (Carpenter), 15 Grant, Glen, 598–599 Grass Roof, The (Kang), 695 Great Britain, 106, 1005 Great Game, the, 105–106 “Great Gourd from Heaven, The” (Laotian folktale), 1233–1235 “Green Frog, The” (Korean folktale), 699, 700 Greetings, social etiquette and Indonesian Americans, 562 Laotian Americans, 758 Nepali Americans, 870–871 Pakistani Americans, 991 Thai Americans, 1114–1115 Tibetan Americans, 1155, 1157–1158 Vietnamese Americans, 1208, 1212 Grimm’s fairy tales, 1077 Gripe water, 1079 Grocery stores, 21–23, 111, 363, 1121, 1188 GSoba Rig-pa (traditional Tibetan medicine), 1156 Gu, Kim, 681 Guam literature, 1235–1236 narrative folklore and, 919–920, 934 Pacific Islander Americans, 911–913, 917–922 United States and, 896 U.S. Pacific Island territories and, 895 World War II, 902–903 Guandi (deity), 278–280 Guanyin. See Avalokitesvara Gung Do (Korean archery), 689 Gurbani kirtan (Sikh epic), 1015–1016 Gurdwara (Sikh temple), 1005, 1013, 1017–1018, 1036 Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scripture), 1037, 1038
Index Guru Nanak, 1007, 1019, 1023–1024, 1029, 1034–1035, 1037 Gurung people, 860 Gurus, Sikh, 1007, 1013, 1018–1019, 1023–1024, 1033–1036, 1037–1038 Gutal (Mongolian boots), 819 Gyaltsen, Dhondup, 1136 Gyalwa Gedun Drup, 1133 Gyatso, Rigzin Tsangyang, 1130 Gyatso, Tenzin. See Dalai Lama Gye (Korean American credit system), 673 Ha Jin, 281–282 Hafez, 115 Hagiwara, Makoto, 276 Haiku, 616–617 Haircutting ceremonies, 816–817, 842–843, 846, 1113 Hairstyles, 740, 1053–1054 Hajj pilgrimage, 990 Halal foods, 787, 788, 993–994 Hamamoto, Darryl, 82 Hamid, Mohsin, 982 Han dynasty, 279 Hanbok (Korean dress), 666, 667 Hands, using correct, 510, 563, 844, 871 Han Suyin, 293 Hangin, Gombojov, 811, 824 Hanging papers, 230–231, 247 Hanh Thi Pham, 38 Hapa, 98–100 Hapa Issues Forum, 99 Har Krishan, Guru, 1035 Har Rai, Guru, 1035 Hara, Mari, 99 Hargobind, Guru, 1019, 1035 Hari Krishna movement, 48 Harmony, maintaining, 254 Hasu-Houston, Velina, 52 Hate crimes, 234–236, 283 Hats, Mongolian, 819 Hatta, Mohammad, 539 Hawaii festivals and celebrations, 908 Japanese Americans, 607, 632 Korean Americans, 656, 676
Pacific Islander Americans, 922–928, 939–940 Pearl Harbor and, 630–631 U.S. annexation of, 895–896 Hawaii United Okinawa Association, 879, 883 Hawaiian Creole English (HCE), 935–936 Hawaiian Natives clothing and jewelry, 904–905 dance and, 900, 913–914 folk religions, 942 hapa and, 98, 99 model minority stereotype and, 71 music, 915 names and naming practices, 933 Pacific Islander Americans, 893 rites of passage, 944–945 surf and surfing, 949 Hawaiian Renaissance, 939 Hawaiian sugar plantations, 331–332, 601–602 Hayakawa, Sessue, 617 Head, touching, 170, 215, 754, 846 Headscarves, 964 Healers, Pacific Islander Americans, 952–953 Health and wellness Burmese Americans, 152–153, 173–176 Cambodian Americans, 216–217 Chinese Americans, 322–324 Filipino Americans, 408–409 Hmong Americans, 446, 450–451 Indian Americans, 463–464 Malaysian Americans, 775 Pacific Islander Americans, 915, 952 Sri Lankan Americans, 1079 Taoism and, 255 See also Traditional medicine Heaton, Matt and Shannon, 1100 Henna, 477–478, 491, 1006 Herbal medicines Burmese Americans, 174–175 Chinese Americans, 322–323 Filipino Americans, 408 Indonesian Americans, 563, 565 Japanese Americans, 648 Laotian Americans, 755–756 Mongolian Americans, 847 Pakistani Americans, 994–995 Sri Lankan Americans, 1078–1079
I-19
I-20
Index “Herit and Weasel” (Sri Lankan folktale), 1076–1077 Heroes and heroines Burmese Americans, 148–151 Cambodian Americans, 199–201 Chinese Americans, 244, 263–264, 282–283, 296–297 Filipino Americans, 365, 368–369 Hmong Americans, 434–435 Indian Americans, 478–479 Indonesian Americans, 538–540 Japanese Americans, 602–603 Korean Americans, 680–682 Laotian Americans, 734–735 Malaysian Americans, 789–791 Mongolian Americans, 831–833 Pacific Islander Americans, 928–930 Pakistani Americans, 975–977 Punjabi Americans, 1018–1020 Sri Lankan Americans, 1063–1064 Thai Americans, 1102–1103 Tibetan Americans, 1142–1143 Vietnamese Americans, 1189–1191, 1213–1215 Hewitson, Jennifer, 187 Heyerdahl, Thor, 894 Hijra (third gender), 35 Hindi language, 465, 512–513 Hinduism Afghan Americans, 120 Burmese Americans, 135, 136, 147, 163, 164 Cambodian Americans, 209 Filipino Americans, 337 Indian Americans, 462, 469–470, 472, 473, 476, 478, 479–482, 482–483, 495–497, 500–501, 503–504, 505–506 Indian literature and, 489 Indonesian Americans, 529–530, 541, 548 lotus flowers and, 69 love and sexuality, 80 Malaysian Americans, 761, 777, 800 Nepali Americans, 852, 857, 865, 868, 869 Pakistani Americans, 987 Punjabi Americans, 1008–1009, 1010, 1022, 1029, 1031–1032 reincarnation and, 74–75 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048, 1049–1050,
1054–1055, 1058, 1059, 1071, 1073–1074 swastikas and, 87 Hinduism Today (magazine), 496 Hinglish, 513 Historical experiences, folklore and, xxxvi–xxxvii Historical fiction, children’s literature and, 16 Historical narratives, 441, 828 Historiography, queer studies and, 44 History, people, and culture Afghan Americans, 105–110 Burmese Americans, 127–132 Cambodian Americans, 179–185 Chinese Americans, 223–228 Filipino Americans, 331–336 Hmong Americans, 413–417 Indian Americans, 459–461 Indonesian Americans, 515–520, 541–543 Japanese Americans, 569–576 Korean Americans, 655–660 Laotian Americans, 713–717 Malaysian Americans, 759–764 Mongolian Americans, 811–816 Nepali Americans, 851–854 Okinawan Americans, 877–880 Pacific Islander Americans, 893–899 Pakistani Americans, 955–960 Punjabi Americans, 999–1005 Sri Lankan Americans, 1043–1047 Thai Americans, 1081–1084 Tibetan Americans, 1127–1128 Vietnamese Americans, 1159–1165 HIV/AIDS, 42 Hla, Luda U, 145 Hmong Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 417–418 arts and crafts, 418–421, 453–455 Asian American humor and, 27 clothing and jewelry, 424–425 cultural identity, 435–437 dance, 732 death and funeral rituals, 425–427 families and communities, 427–428 festivals and celebrations, 429–430 foods and cooking, 433–434 heroes and heroines, 434–435
Index history, people, and culture, 413–417 literature, 423–424, 440–442, 1228–1230 music, 430–432, 437–438 names and naming practices, 439–440 nature and animals, 442–443 proverbs and maxims, 443–444 religious beliefs, 445–448, 723–724 rites of passage, 448–450 social etiquette, 452–453 speech and language, 457–458 story cloths and, xxxviii textiles, 453–457 traditional medicine, 450–451 Hmong people, Laos and, 714 Ho, Minfong, 187, 205 Ho Chi Minh, 1190, 1215 Hoa Hao Buddhism, 1173, 1196, 1197, 1205 Holidays. See Festivals and celebrations Holt, John Dominis, 926 Home decoration Burmese Americans, 133, 151–152 Cambodian Americans, 185–186 Chinese American architecture and, 327, 328 Chinese Americans, 283–284 feng shui and, 266–267 Filipino Americans, 369–370, 379–380 Hmong Americans, 420 Indian Americans, 482–484, 510–511 Indonesian Americans, 523–524 Japanese Americans, 584–585, 646–647 Korean Americans, 662 Laotian Americans, 720 Malaysian Americans, 791–792 Mongolian Americans, 833–834, 842 Nepali Americans, 854–855 Pacific Islander Americans, 900–901 Pakistani Americans, 962, 977–978 Punjabi Americans, 1005–1006, 1020–1021 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048–1049 Thai Americans, 1085–1086 Tibetan Americans, 1129 Vietnamese Americans, 1191–1192, 1212 Homeopathic medicine, 995, 1040 Homophobia, 39–40 Homosexuality interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 love and sexuality, 81, 83
queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 queer studies and, 41–46 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051–1052, 1067 Hong Fook Tong, 241, 285–286 Hong Kong, 252, 1001, 1017 Honor suicide, 11, 12 Honorifics Burmese Americans, 159, 168 Cambodian Americans, 215 Filipino Americans, 391 Hmong Americans, 457–458 Indian Americans, 498 Indonesian Americans, 551, 562, 566–567 Korean Americans, 698 Korean language and, 711 Laotian Americans, 728, 743, 754 Mongolian Americans, 845 Nepali Americans, 871 Vietnamese Americans, 1208 Hoopoe (mythical bird), 114–115 Horse-head fiddle, 837 Horton, Frank, 63 Hosoi, Christian, 603 Hospitality. See Social etiquette and customs Hot Air Balloon celebrations, 160–161 Housing, 326, 369, 379, 414, 416. See also Architecture; Home decoration Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki, 590, 618 Hsi Lai Temple, 314 Hsu, Evonne, 271 Hsu, Hong-yen, 648 Htin Aung, 145 Huhm, Halla Pai, 676 Hui, Ann, 1167 Hula dance, 913–914, 915, 925 Human rights organizations, 200 Humor and comedy Burmese Americans, 142 Cambodian Americans, 184 Pakistani Americans, 988 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife, 23–29 popular culture and, 31–33 queer studies and, 44–45 Humoral medicine, 152, 216, 847, 872–873 Hunting, Mongolian Americans and, 814, 831 Hur Jun, 709
I-21
I-22
Index Hurricane Katrina, 1193–1195 Huynh, Hung, 1188, 1202 Hwan gap (60th birthday), 705 Hwang, David Henry, 52–53, 294 Hwang, Jason, 246 Hwang, Jason Kao, 271 Hwang, Rah, 662 Hyperfeminization, 37–38, 80, 82, 101 I Ching, 329–330, 766 Ibrahim, Ramli, 790 Icons, Indian Americans and, 479–480 Identity. See Cultural identity Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church), 402 Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), 402 Igorot people, 372–380 Igus, Toyomi, 582 Iijima, Geneva Cobb, 582 Ikat designs, 526, 527 Ikeda, Stuart David, 618 Illegal immigration, 224, 518, 1108, 1220 Immigration Afghan Americans, 105, 107–108 Burmese Americans, 135–136 Cambodian Americans, 179–181, 218–219, 220 Chinese American architecture and, 326, 327 Chinese Americans, 223–224, 237, 264–265, 299–300, 303–304, 307 cultural identity and, 5–7 ethnomusicology and, 1–2 Filipino Americans, 331–333, 376, 383, 387–389 Hmong Americans, 415 Indian Americans, 459 Indonesian Americans, 515, 516–517, 517–518, 540–541, 542–543 Japanese Americans, 569–570, 574, 583–584, 590, 594, 601–602, 614, 631–632 Korean Americans, 655, 656–657, 657–658, 667, 693–694 Laotian Americans, 736 love and sexuality, 81 Malaysian Americans, 759–760, 762, 763 minority groups and, 49
model minority stereotype and, 70 Mongolian Americans, 811, 812, 813–814, 822 Nepali Americans, 851 Okinawan Americans, 878, 888 Pacific Islander Americans, 896–897, 897–898 Pakistani Americans, 955, 957–958 Punjabi Americans, 1000–1001, 1002–1003, 1011, 1038–1039 religious beliefs and, 49–50 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1045–1046, 1055–1056, 1064–1065 Thai Americans, 1081–1082, 1083, 1095, 1108 Tibetan Americans, 1127, 1136 Vietnamese Americans, 1159–1164, 1166–1167, 1197 Immigration and Nationality Act (1965), 1–2, 6–7, 237, 332–333, 673, 851 Imperialism, 92, 95, 105–106 Improvisation, opera theaters and, 242–243 In Search of Roots Program, 76 Inada, Lawson, 293 Independence movement, Korean, 656–657 India, Sri Lanka and, 1043–1044 Indian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 461–463 Burmese Americans and, 153, 154 clothing and jewelry, 466–467 dance, 467–469 death and funeral rituals, 470–471 ethnic communities, 490–492 festivals and celebrations, 472–474 foods and cooking, 475–477 henna, 477–478 heroes and heroines, 478–479 history, people, and culture, 459–461 home decoration, 482–484, 510–511 literature, 484–487, 489–490, 492–494, 499 music, 465–466, 474–475 myths and legends, 495–497 names and naming practices, 497–498 nature and animals, 500–501 Pakistani Americans and, 956 proverbs and maxims, 501–503
Index religious beliefs, 469–470, 503–505 religious buildings and worship spaces, 479–482, 487–488, 494–495 rites of passage, 505–507 social etiquette, 508–509 speech and language, 512–513 superstitions and taboos, 509–510 traditional medicine, 463–465, 511–512. See also Punjabi Americans Indian classical dance, 467 Indian Malaysians, 759, 762–763 clothing and jewelry, 773 families, 780 foods and cooking, 787, 788 home decoration and, 792 languages and, 793 names and naming practices, 796 superstitions and taboos, 807 Indian nationalism, 1005, 1024 Indigenous peoples Burmese Americans, 147, 153 Filipino Americans, 338, 346–347, 372–384, 391 Guam, 917–919 Hawaiian Natives, 922–923 Indonesian Americans, 531, 534, 560 Malaysia and, 759, 765 Malaysian Americans, 766, 799–801 Indirect communication, Japanese Americans, 649 Indirect discourse, homosexuality and, 37 Indo-Fijians, 910 Indonesia, Malaysia and, 771, 784–785 Indonesian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 520–523 arts and crafts, 523–524 clothing and jewelry, 526–528 cultural identity, 540–543 dance, 534–536 death and funeral rituals, 528–531 families and communities, 531–532 festivals and celebrations, 532–534 foods and cooking, 536–538, 557–560 heroes and heroines, 538–540 history, people, and culture, 515–520 literature, 545–548, 551–553, 1230–1232 music, 524–526
names and naming practices, 548–551 proverbs and maxims, 553–554 puppet theatre, 544–545 religious beliefs, 554–557 rites of passage, 560–562 social etiquette, 562–563 speech and language, 566–567 traditional medicine, 563–565 Indonesian Independence Day, 533 Inheritances, 776, 992 Inoue, Rena, 603 Inouye, Daniel K., 602, 605–606 Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, The (Rohmer), 277 International Education and Resource Network (iEARN), 984–985 Internet Cambodian Americans, 184 Indian Americans, 468 Indonesian literature and, 547 Malaysian Americans, 777 Mongolian Americans, 814 popular culture and, 33–34 Qing Ming and, 306 religious beliefs and, 50 Sri Lankan Americans, 1067 Interracial/interethnic marriage Afghan Americans, 125 Indian Americans, 460 Japanese Americans, 575, 604 Korean Americans, 691 Laotian Americans, 728, 742 Malaysian Americans, 776, 801 mixed race Asian Americans, 95–96, 100–104 Mongolian Americans, 815 Nepali Americans, 870 Pakistani Americans, 990 Punjabi Americans, 1002, 1010–1011, 1025, 1033 Sri Lankan Americans, 1050, 1057, 1068–1069 Thai Americans, 1082 Introductions, Chinese Americans and, 311 Iqbal, Allama, 975–976, 986 Irish-Chinese intermarriage, 96
I-23
I-24
Index Islam Afghan Americans, 120, 121–123 Burmese Americans, 135, 136, 137, 140, 163–164 Cambodian Americans, 209–210 Filipino Americans, 334, 351–352, 403 Indian Americans, 469, 470, 473, 476, 494–495, 498, 502, 503, 504, 507 Indonesian Americans, 528–529, 530, 532, 533, 541, 555–556, 564–565 Laotian Americans, 748 Malaysian Americans, 765, 772, 774–775, 776–777, 792, 793, 804 Nepali Americans, 852 Pakistani Americans, 956, 960, 966, 973, 976, 978, 980, 982, 986–989, 990, 993 Punjabi Americans, 1010, 1021, 1022, 1029 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1049, 1055, 1059, 1068–1069, 1074, 1075 Thai Americans, 1111 Issei generation, 78 Itinerant laborers, 344, 368 Ito, Michio, 625 Iwamatsu, Atsushi, 598 Iyer, E. Krishna, 1059–1060 Jade jewelry, 252 Jagchid Sechen, 812 Jainism Indian Americans, 470, 476, 487–488, 503, 504 lotus flowers and, 68, 69 Punjabi Americans, 1029 “Jana Gana Mana” (song), 465 Japan, 655, 668–669, 892, 902, 903 Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), 574, 586, 604, 609, 626–627 Japanese American internment camps, 571–572, 573, 605, 606–610, 632–634 arts and crafts and, 577 children’s literature and, 16, 582 draft resisters and, 586 families and, 590–591 Hawaii and, 630
literature and, 618 pilgrimage to, 632–634 redress movement and, 7–8 religious beliefs and, 584 root quests and, 77 social etiquette and, 643 Japanese American National Museum, 591, 604, 611–613 Japanese Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 576–577 antimiscegenation laws and, 101 arts and crafts, 577–578, 593–595, 610–611, 624–625, 628–629 Asian American dating and, 103 cultural identity, 603–605 dance, 595–596 death and funeral rituals, 587–589 Dynasty Warriors (video game), 589 ethnic communities, 614–615 families and communities, 590–591 festivals and celebrations, 580–581, 591–593 foods and cooking, 599–601 fortune cookies and, 276 hapa and, 99 Hawaiian sugar plantations and, 601–602 heroes and heroines, 602–603 history, people, and culture, 569–576 home decoration, 646–647 interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 literature, 581–583, 597–599, 615–617, 617–618, 620, 627–628, 651–652 marriage, 631–632 martial arts, 618–619 mixed race Asian Americans, 91 model minority stereotype and, 70 music, 8, 582–583, 596–597, 640–641, 644–646 names and naming practices, 621–622 nature and animals, 622–624 Okinawan Americans, 888–889 Poke´mon, 634–636 political activism, 605–606 proverbs and maxims, 636–637 religious beliefs, 583–585, 637–638 rites of passage, 639–640 rituals and ceremonies, 579–580 second and subsequent generations, 78 social etiquette, 641–643
Index speech and language, 649–651 superstitions and taboos, 643–644 traditional medicine, 647–649 World War II, 585–587, 626–627, 630–631 Zen gardens, 652–653 See also Okinawan Americans Japantowns, 614–615 Jataka Tales, 155–156, 207, 744, 747, 1066, 1221–1223 Javanese people, 550, 784–785 Javanese puppets, 544–545 Jayasuria, Sanath, 1064 Jeepneys, 384 Jehan, Noor, 976 Jets, The (musical group), 915 Jew, Jeanie F., 63 Jewelry Cambodian Americans, 188–189 Chinese Americans, 252 Filipino Americans, 347–348 Hmong Americans, 425 Indian Americans, 466–467 Indonesian Americans, 528 Korean Americans, 666–667 Laotian Americans, 736–737 Malaysian Americans, 772–773, 773–774 Mongolian Americans, 819 Nepali Americans, 856 Pacific Islander Americans, 905 Pakistani Americans, 965 Sri Lankan Americans, 1054 Thai Americans, 1088 Tibetan Americans, 1132 Vietnamese Americans, 1171 Jikihara Toshihei, 616 Jin, Ha, 281–282 Jinn (spirits), 960–961 Jinnah, Muhammad Ali, 975 Johnson, Lyndon B., 1160–1161 Joo, Brian, 677 Jootis (Punjabi shoe), 1006 Journey from the Fall (film), 1167, 1190–1191 Journey to the West, 296 Joy Luck Club (film), 33, 82 Joy Luck Club (Tan), 71, 317 Judaism, 120, 503, 504
Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit (Spagnoli and Wall), 186–187, 205 Judo, 618–619 Jung, David, 276 Kabuki theater, 596 Kadohata, Cynthia, 618 Kaji, Bruce T., 612 Kalmyk Mongolians, 811, 812, 835, 840–841 Kalmyk Mongols, 822 Kamani, Ginu, 486 Kamehameha Day (Hawaii), 908 Kamehameha I, King, 929 Kampo (traditional Japanese medicine), 647–649 Kanazawa, Tooru, 617 Kandyan dance, 1060 Kang, Younghill, 694–695 Kapwa (shared identity), 406–407 Karate, 619, 885 Karma Burmese Americans, 169–170 Cambodian Americans, 191 Laotian Americans, 716 reincarnation and, 75 religious beliefs and, 210 Sikhism and, 1038 Thai Americans, 1091–1092 Katoeys (lady boys), 36 “Kaundinya and Soma” (Cambodian folktale), 1223 Kawai, Tochihiro, 577, 578 Kechog, Ngawang, 1143 Keepers of the Flame (film), 939 Keller, Nora Okja, 8, 9, 72, 99, 695 Kendo, 619 “Kenji” (song), 641 Keppetipola, 1063 Khalistan, 1019 Khalkh Mongols, 813–814, 835 Khan, Imran, 975 Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali, 963, 972, 976 Khan, Shah Rukh, 1064 Khatak dance, 971 Khene (musical instrument), 430 Khin Myo Chit, Daw, 145 Khmer Arts Academy, 190
I-25
I-26
Index Khmer Guided Placement (KGP) program, 180 Khmer Rouge, xxxix, 179, 194, 202–204, 210, 217–218 Khmu people, 732 Khon (Thai dance), 1099, 1100 Khurem and khantaaz (Mongolian clothing), 819 Killing Fields, the, 203–204 Killing Fields, The (film), 200 Kim, Daniel Dae, 32–33 Kim, Elaine, 82, 695 Kim, Patti, 695 Kim, Richard, 694, 695 Kim, Ronyong, 695 Kim, Sooja, 662 Kim, Young Oak, 612, 656 Kim of Korea (Norris and Lum), 665 Kina, Laura, 92, 99 King, Rodney, 658 King and I, The (musical), 1107 King of the Hill (TV show), 747 King’s Birthday (Thailand), 1097 Kingsbury, Charles Winslow, 1070 Kingston, Maxine Hong Chinese American literature and, 302–303 Chinese Americans, 227, 288–289 Fa Mu Lan and, 263–264 Frank Chin and, 293 the Monkey King and, 296 mother-daughter relationships and, 71 opera theaters, 245 Kinnara Taiko, 646 Kinship ties Filipino Americans, 352, 354, 376, 391–392 Hmong Americans, 413, 427, 439, 452 Korean Americans, 698 Laotian Americans, 743 Pacific Islander Americans, 897–898, 907, 918 Punjabi Americans, 1001 See also Families and communities Kirant (Nepali folk religion), 852 Kirchner, Bharti, 485 Kitayama, Henry, 611 Kivakaruni, Chitra Banerjee, 485 Kiyama, Henry Yoshitaki, 617 Kneubuhl, John, 932
Kneubuhl, Victoria, 932 Ko Hung, 318 Kogawa, Joy, 617 Koothu dance, 1060–1061 Korea, 655, 659 Korean American Adoptee films (KAAF), 683–685 Korean American Adoptee literature (KAAL), 685–686 Korean Americans adoptions, 683–688 ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 660–661 arts and crafts, 661–663 Asian American dating and, 103 clothing and jewelry, 666–668 cultural identity, 682–683 dance, 675–677 death and funeral rituals, 671–672 ethnic communities, 693–694 families and communities, 673–674 festivals and celebrations, 674–675 foods and cooking, 678–680 heroes and heroines, 680–682 history, people, and culture, 655–660 literature, 663–664, 664–666, 685–686, 694–696, 699–700, 1232–1233 martial arts, 689–690 mixed race Asian Americans, 91 music, 677–678, 696–698 names and naming practices, 698–699 proverbs and maxims, 700–701 religious beliefs, 49, 669–671, 690–693, 701–704 rites of passage, 704–706 social etiquette, 706–707 speech and language, 710–711 superstitions and taboos, 707–709 traditional medicine, 709–710 World War II, 668–669 Korean Church in America, 690–693 Korean Hand Therapy, 710 Korean Tales (Allen), 664 Korean War, 16, 657, 687–688 Koreatowns, 679, 693–694 Korematsu, Fred, 572 Koten music, 886–887, 888
Index Koy, Jo, 26, 31 Krishna, 75 Kuda kepang (Malaysian dance), 783 Kuhio Day (Hawaii), 908 Kunsel, Tenzin, 1143 Kwan, Michelle, 227 Kwon, Yul, 682 Labor unions, 344, 368, 602 Lac Hong Dance Ensemble, 1182 Lacquer ware, 151–152, 1165 Lahiri, Jhumpa, 486 Lama dances, 1140 Land mines, 714 Land ownership, 571, 590, 1000, 1004–1005 Landscapes, 17–18, 160, 267, 652–653 Languages Afghan Americans, 113 Burmese Americans, 129, 150, 176–177 Filipino Americans, 333–334, 371 grocery stores and, 22 Hawaiian Natives, 922–923 Hmong Americans, 437 Indian Americans, 465, 512–513 Indonesian Americans, 541, 553, 566 Indonesian literature and, 545–546 Khmer, 219 Lao language, 735–736 Malaysian Americans, 760, 793, 798, 808 Mongolian Americans, 848 Nepali Americans, 852, 873–874 Okinawan Americans, 877 Pacific Islander Americans, 935–936, 939 Pakistani Americans, 956, 966 Punjabi Americans, 999 See also Speech and language Lantern ceremony dance, 1182–1183 Lantern Festival, 268 Lao Heritage Foundation (LHF), 729 Lao language, 735–736, 757 Lao Tse, 251, 318–319 Lao Tzu. See Lao Tse Lao Vision Magazine, 738 Laos, 414–415, 434–435, 713 Laotian American National Alliance, 729 Laotian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 717–719 arts and crafts, 719–720 clothing and jewelry, 721–722, 736–737
cultural identity, 735–736 dance, 730–732 death and funeral rituals, 725–727 families and communities, 727–729 festivals and celebrations, 729–730, 745–746 foods and cooking, 732–734 heroes and heroines, 734–735 history, people, and culture, 713–717 literature, 737–739, 744–745, 1233–1235 music, 720–721 names and naming practices, 742–743 oral tradition and, xxxvii proverbs and maxims, 746–747 religious beliefs, 723–724, 747–752 rites of passage, 752–754 rituals and ceremonies, 739–742 social etiquette, 754–755 speech and language, 757–758 traditional medicine, 755–756. See also Hmong Americans Larrick, Nancy, 15 Lassi (yogurt drink), 1014 Latino Americans, 102 Laughter of My Father, The (Bulosan), 385 Lavelle, Todd Tongdee, 1100 Law-Yone, Wendy, 155 Le Loi, 1190 Lee, Ang, 82–83, 248 Lee, Bobby, 24 Lee, Bruce, 81–82, 227, 248, 290–291 Lee, Chang Rae, 695 Lee, Chol Soo, 680–681 Lee, C. Y., 293 Lee, Helie, 682 Lee, K. W., 680 Lee, Lela, 33–34 Lee, Marie G., 665 Lee, Sammy, 656 Lee, Stacey, 61 Lee, Yong Baek, 662 Legal system, hate crimes and, 235–236 “Legend of the Pineapple, The” (Filipino folktale), 1224–1226 Legend of the Watermelon, The (Vietnamese folktale), 1186 Legend of White Snake (opera), 244–245 Legend Sondayo (Minahal), 40
I-27
I-28
Index Leis (garlands), 900, 905, 924, 925 Lemar Aftaab magazine, 118 Lemon Notebook (Remoncho) journal, 615–617 “Lenggang Kangkung” (Malaysian folk song), 769 Leong, Russell, 40 Leonowens, Anna, 1107 Lesbians, 36, 38 LGBT. See Queer folklore and folklife; Queer studies Lhamo, Yungchen, 1141 Li, Gladys, 51 Li, Jet, 248 Li shi (lucky money), 259 Liberation Day (Guam), 902 Library of Congress, American Folklife Center and, xxxvi Liem, Deann Borshay, 684 “Life Story of Orphan Toua, The” (Hmong folktale), 1228–1230 Lim, Shirley Geok-lin, 790, 794–795 Lin, Justin, 33 Lin, Maya Ying, 227, 291–292 Lion dances, 269–270 Literary criticism, 293, 302, 316, 366 Literature Afghan Americans, 115–116, 118–120 Burmese Americans, 145, 154–156 Cambodian Americans, 186–188, 204–205, 206–207 Chinese Americans, 256–257, 272–274, 281–282, 288–289, 292–294, 296–297, 302–303, 316–317 Filipino Americans, 344–345, 353–354, 366–367, 385–386, 392–394 Hmong Americans, 423–424, 440–442 Indian Americans, 484–487, 489–490, 492–494, 496–497, 499 Indonesian Americans, 545–548, 551–553 Japanese Americans, 581–583, 597–599, 610, 615–617, 617–618, 620, 627–628, 651–652 Korean Americans, 663–664, 664–666, 682, 685–686, 687, 694–696, 699–700 Laotian Americans, 737–739, 744–745 love and sexuality, 80
Malaysian Americans, 790, 793–795, 796–798 Mongolian Americans, 828–829 mother-daughter relationships in, 71–73 orientalism and, 74 Pacific Islander Americans, 925–927, 931–932, 934–935 Pakistani Americans, 980–982, 983–985 Punjabi Americans, 1007–1008, 1023–1024 queer folklore and folklife, 40 Sikhism and, 1015–1016, 1030 Sri Lankan Americans, 1066–1067 Thai Americans, 1086–1087, 1106–1109 Tibetan Americans, 1145–1146, 1147–1148 Vietnamese Americans, 1167, 1185–1187, 1199–1201 See also Children’s literature Little Buddha (film), 212 Little India, 490–492 Little Saigon, 18, 1161, 1198–1199, 1206, 1213 Liu Guo Da Feng Xiang (opera), 285–286 Living in Half Tones (film), 684 Lo Blia Yao, 434 Loh, Vyvyane, 794 Long, Zhou, 246 Long song (Mongolian), 836 Looking Like the Enemy (film), 613 Los Angeles riots, 658, 673, 693 Lotka paper, 855 Lotus flowers, 68–69 Louie, Edward, 276 Louisiana Filipino Americans, 387–389 Vietnamese Americans, 1193–1195 Love and sexuality, 79–84, 100–104 Love children, 93–94 Loving v. Virginia (1967), 93 Low, Evan, 283 Lowe, Pardee, 293 Loyalty questionnaire, 608, 626–627, 628 Lucky money, 259 Luddi dance, 971 Luk thung (Thai music), 1100 Lum, Peter, 665 Lumber industry, 1003–1004 Ly Te Xuyen, 1189–1190 Lyfoung, Touby, 434
Index M. Butterfly (Hwang), 52–53, 294–295 Ma, Sheng-mei, 289 Ma, Yo-Yo, 271, 282 Madal drums, 861 Mae Nak Phra Khanong (Thai folktale), 1107–1108 Maeda, Sentoku, 633 Magazines, 118, 119, 496, 615–617, 1094 Magellan, Ferdinand, 405, 406, 894–895 Magical tales, Mongolian Americans, 828, 829 Mahat, Prem Raja, 863 Mahayana Buddhism, 65–66, 69, 86, 750, 1072, 1150–1151 Mahidol, Prince, 1081 Mahjong, 284 Mahta, Gita, 485 Mai lu (buying the road), 260 Mako, 53 Malakas at Maganda creation story, 386–387 Malay people, 772–773, 778–779, 796 Malaysia, 759–760, 761–762, 771, 784–785 Malaysian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 764–768 clothing and jewelry, 771–774 cultural identity, 792–793 dance, 783–786 death and funeral rituals, 774–778 families and communities, 778–781 festivals and celebrations, 781–782 foods and cooking, 787–789 heroes and heroines, 789–791 history, people, and culture, 759–764 home decoration, 791–792 literature, 793–795, 796–798 music, 768–771, 786–787 names and naming practices, 795–796 proverbs and maxims, 798–799 religious beliefs, 799–803 rites of passage, 804–806 speech and language, 808–809 superstitions and taboos, 806–807 Malaysian Independence Day, 781 Malaysian influences, Filipino Americans, 362, 371 Malaysian language, 808
“Malin Kundang” (Indonesian folktale), 1230–1231 Mam, Somaly, 200 Mamiya, Yoshio “Buddy,” 612 “Man that Chops Wood” (Thai folktale), 1087 Manalansan, Martin F., 43, 45 Manalo, Felix, 402 Mandalas, 1153–1154 Mandarin language, 324 Manicka, Rani, 794 Manila Village, Louisiana, 388 Manilamen, 387–389 Mano po (kissing of hands), 407 Manongs (union organizers), 368 Manyue (birth ritual), 309 Maori people, 893, 894 Mapa, Alec, 45 Maria Clara de los Santos, 365 Marriage Afghan Americans, 111–112 antimiscegenation laws, 92–93, 95–96, 100–101, 332, 390, 1010–1011 Chinese Americans, 310 Hmong Americans, 413–414, 416, 439, 449–450 Indian Americans, 498 Japanese Americans, 631–632 Laotian Americans, 728, 739–742 Nepali Americans, 866 out marriage and, 30 Pakistani Americans, 990, 992 Punjabi Americans, 1031–1032 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1049–1050, 1068–1069 Thai Americans, 1082 See also Interracial/interethnic marriage; Wedding ceremonies Marshall Islands, 897 Martial arts, 248–249, 290, 618–619, 689–690, 731, 885 Martyred, The (Kim), 695 Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church, 1193, 1194 Masculinity, 256–257, 364, 365 Masjid Al-Hikmah, 556 Mask dance, 675–676 Mass culture. See Popular culture
I-29
I-30
Index Mass media Cambodian Americans, 183 Chinese Americans, 225 Filipino Americans, 335 Japanese Americans, 603 Korean Americans, 681 Okinawan Americans, 879–880 Thai Americans, 1093–1094 Vietnamese Americans, 1198 youth culture and, 59 Massage therapy, 219, 408, 464, 512, 648–649 Material culture, 18–21, 21–23, 911–913. See also Arts and crafts; Home decoration Matrix films, 94 Matsunaga, Ernest Michio, 618 Matsunaga, Masayuki, 602 Max Havelaar (Multatuli), 546 McCarran-Walter Act (1952), 6 Meatless Days (Suleri), 981–982 Medical schools, 175, 1078, 1122 Medicine. See Health and wellness; Traditional medicine Meditation, 464, 565 Mehendi. See Henna Melanesia, 895, 936 Memorial Day, 352 Memorial services. See Death and funeral rituals Mental health, 10–14, 756, 995 Merit ceremonies Cambodian Americans, 212 Laotian Americans, 749 Malaysian Americans, 776 Thai Americans, 1083, 1085, 1091, 1097 Mermaid’s Muse, The (Bouchard), 272 Mestizaje (mixed race people), 389–390 Metal crafts, 523, 854–855, 961 Micronesia, 895 Mid-Autumn Festival, 1180–1181 Migrant workers. See Itinerant laborers Military servicemembers Amerasians and, 97–98; Daniel K. Inouye and, 605 Filipino Americans, 390 Japanese Americans, 602, 630–631 Pacific Islander Americans, 898 Punjabi Americans, 1001
Thai Americans, 1082 Tibetan Americans, 1144 Minahal, Maiana, 40 Minang people, 550 Minarets, mosques and, 494–495 Mineta, Norman, 63 Minh Tran and Company, 1183 Minjung nationalist movement (Korea), 667 Minyo music, 887, 888 Mirror of Eastern Medicine, The (Hur Jun), 709 Mirzoeff, Nicholas, 54 Misaka, Wataru, 602–603 Miss Saigon (Schonberg), 53 Mixed race Asian Americans Amerasians, 97–98 Filipino Americans, 389–390 hapa and, 98–100 interracial/interethnic marriage and, 100–104 Japanese Americans, 575 literature and, 294 origin tales, 91–97 Mochizuki, Ken, 582 Model minority stereotype Asian American humor and, 28 Chinese Americans, 287 Japanese Americans, 604 Korean Americans, 683 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 69–71 sexuality and, 37–38 suicide and, 12–13 youth culture and, 60–61 Modernization, Afghanistan and, 106–107 Mohanraj, Mary Ann, 1067 Mohori music, 197 Money, Chinese death rituals and, 259, 260 Mongolia, Tibet and, 846–847 Mongolian American Cultural Association (MACA), 822–823 Mongolian Americans children and youth, 816–818 clothing and jewelry, 818–820 cultural identity, 835–836 dance, 825–826 death and funeral rituals, 820–822 families and communities, 822–823
Index festivals and celebrations, 823–824 foods and cooking, 829–831 heroes and heroines, 831–833 history, people, and culture, 811–816 home decoration, 833–834 literature, 828–829 music, 826–827, 836–837 names and naming practices, 837–838 proverbs and maxims, 839–840 religious beliefs, 840–842 rites of passage, 842–844 social etiquette, 844–845 speech and language, 848–849 superstitions and taboos, 845–846 traditional medicine, 846–848 Mongolian School of the National Capital Area (MSNCA), 818, 835 Monkey Bridge (Cao), 8–9, 72, 1199–1201 Monkey King, 296–297, 298–299, 598 Monks, Buddhist, 749, 751. See also Buddhism Monlan Chenmo festival, 1137 Moon, Dawn Xiana, 271 Mori, Toshio, 602, 620 Mormon Church, 896–897, 943 Mosel, Arlene, 272 Mosques, 494–495, 556, 987, 1068. See also Churches; Temples and worship spaces Mother-daughter relationships, 8–9, 71–73, 316, 1201 Motherland tours. See Root quests Mount Popa, 157, 160 Moxibustion, 648 Mukerji, Dhan Gopal, 484 Mukherjee, Bharati, 485, 492–494 Mulan. See Fa Mu Lan (Mulan) Multatuli, 546 Multiculturalism, Afghan Americans, 112–113 Muong language, 1217 Muradi, Sahar, 119 Muralitharan, Muttiah, 1064 Murayama, Milton, 618 Museums, 18, 611–613, 939, 1163–1164 Music Burmese Americans, 144 Cambodian Americans, 183, 189–190, 196–197, 202
Chinese Americans, 233–234, 241–246, 270–271 death and funeral rituals, 259 Filipino Americans, 338, 345–346, 359–361, 361–362 “Got Rice?” slogan, 67 Guam and, 902 Hmong Americans, 430–432, 437–438 Indian Americans, 465–466, 474–475 Indonesian Americans, 524–526 Japanese Americans, 582–583, 596–597, 610, 640–641, 644–646 Korean Americans, 677–678, 696–698 Laotian Americans, 720–721 Malaysian Americans, 768–771, 786–787, 790 Mongolian Americans, 826–827, 836–837 Nepali Americans, 862–863 Okinawan Americans, 880–881, 882–883, 886–890 Pacific Islander Americans, 903–904, 914–915, 927–928 Pakistani Americans, 963–964, 972–973, 976 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 1–5 Punjabi Americans, 1015–1016 racial discrimination and, 8 Sikhism and, 1030 Thai Americans, 1090, 1098, 1099–1101, 1104, 1116–1120 Tibetan Americans, 1130–1131, 1139, 1140–1141, 1143 Vietnamese Americans, 1168–1169, 1184–1185 Musical instruments Cambodian Americans, 190, 197 Chinese Americans, 271 Hmong Americans, 430, 438 Indian Americans, 475 Indonesian Americans, 524–525, 535 Korean Americans, 677, 696 Laotian Americans, 731 Mongolian Americans, 827, 828, 837 Nepali Americans, 862, 863 Okinawan Americans, 879, 886, 887
I-31
I-32
Index Musical instruments (continued) Pacific Islander Americans, 901, 914, 927–928 Pakistani Americans, 972 Thai Americans, 1098, 1119 Tibetan Americans, 1129, 1139 Myanmar, 131–132. See also Burmese Americans Myths and legends Burmese Americans, 149, 156–158 Chinese Americans, 282, 297–299 Filipino Americans, 353–354, 386–387 Hmong Americans, 440–441 Indian Americans, 495–497 Indian literature and, 489 Korean Americans, 663, 709 Mongolian Americans, 828 Pacific Islander Americans, 928–929, 934–935 Vietnamese Americans, 1185, 1189, 1213–1214 Na, An, 665 Naadam (Mongolian sports festival), 814, 818, 824 Nai Htaw Paing Ensemble, 144 Naidan, Tuvshinbayar, 833 Nakano, Mia, 35, 38 Nakashima, George, 578 Nakasone, Harry Seisho, 882 Nakazawa, Keiji, 17, 617 Names and naming practices Burmese Americans, 129, 158–159, 166 Cambodian Americans, 205–206 Chinese Americans, 299–300 Filipino Americans, 333, 391–392 Hmong Americans, 439–440 Indian Americans, 497–498 Indonesian Americans, 548–551 Japanese Americans, 621–622 Korean Americans, 698–699 Laotian Americans, 742–743 Malaysian Americans, 795–796 Mongolian Americans, 816, 837–838 Pacific Islander Americans, 932–933 Pakistani Americans, 982–983, 989 Punjabi Americans, 1024–1026, 1032
Sri Lankan Americans, 1069–1071 Thai Americans, 1105–1106 Tibetan Americans, 1146–1147 Vietnamese Americans, 1201–1202 Naming, power of, 98–99 Naqvi, Maniza, 981 Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant (Honolulu), 300–301 Narrative folklore Filipino Americans, 392–394 Hmong Americans, 453–455 Korean Americans, 699–700 Laotian Americans, 744–745 Malaysian Americans, 796–798 Pacific Islander Americans, 934–935 Pakistani Americans, 983–985 Thai Americans, 1106–1109 Tibetan Americans, 1147–1148 Vietnamese Americans, 1185–1187 Naser-al-din, Molla, 115 Natalise, 144 National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, 132 National Heroes, Indonesia, 539 National Pinoy Archives (NPA), 358–359 Nationalism Afghan Americans, 116 Indian nationalism, 1005, 1024 Punjabi Americans, 1021–1022 Vietnam and, 1218 Native Hawaiians. See Hawaiian Natives Nature and animals Burmese Americans, 160–162 Hawaiian Natives, 924–925 Hmong Americans, 442–443 Indian Americans, 500–501 Japanese Americans, 593–594, 622–624 Mongolian Americans, 846 Pacific Islander Americans, 924–925 Navalar, Arumuka, 1064 Nazism, swastikas and, 87–88 Nepal, government of, 868 Nepali Americans arts and crafts, 854–855 clothing and jewelry, 855–857 cultural identity, 865–866 dance, 861–862
Index death and funeral rituals, 857–858 families and communities, 858–859 festivals and celebrations, 860–861 foods and cooking, 864–865 history, people, and culture, 851–854 music, 862–863 proverbs and maxims, 866–868 religious beliefs, 868–869 rites of passage, 869–870 social etiquette and customs, 870–872 speech and language, 873–875 traditional medicine, 872–873 Nepali language, 874 New Age religions, 898 New Caledonia, 895, 897 New Tide, The (magazine), 344 New World Theatre, 52 New Year celebrations Burmese Americans, 140 Cambodian Americans, 183–184, 196 Chinese Americans, 230, 247, 267, 269, 284, 300–301, 312–313 Hmong Americans, 418, 429, 454 Japanese Americans, 591, 593 Korean Americans, 674, 675, 678–679 Laotian Americans, 716–717, 730, 745–746 Malaysian Americans, 767, 789, 791–792, 807 Mongolian Americans, 818, 823–824 Nepali Americans, 860 Okinawan Americans, 883 Pacific Islander Americans, 909 Sri Lankan Americans, 1058 Taiwanese Americans, 316 Thai Americans, 1097 Tibetan Americans, 1137–1138, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1180, 1211–1213 Newah people, 860, 862–863 Newspapers, Thai Americans and, 1093–1094 Ng, FaeMynne, 294 Ng, Irene, 790 Ngor, Haing S., 200 Nguyen, Dat, 1202 Nguyen, The-Vien, 1193 Nguyen Ngoc Ngan, 1167 Nicknames Japanese Americans, 621
Laotian Americans, 743 Mongolian Americans, 838 Pakistani Americans, 983 Thai Americans, 1105, 1106 Tibetan Americans, 1146 Vietnamese Americans, 1201 Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan), 593 Nipa huts, 369 Nisei generation, 78. See also Second and subsequent generations Nisei Week Festival, 79 Nitz, Michael, 235, 283 “No Tigers in Borneo” (Indonesian folktale), 1231–1232 Noguchi, Isamu, 578, 602, 624–625 “Nolbu and Heungbu, the Two Brothers” (Korean folktale), 700 Noli Me Tangere (Rizal), 354, 365 Nomadic lifestyle, Mongolia and, 815 No-No Boy (Okada), 628 No-No boys, 585, 626–627, 631 Non Resident Nepalese Association (NRNA), 853 Nonverbal communication, Japanese Americans, 649, 650 Nonya (Indonesian cuisine), 558 Norbu, Thupten Jigme, 1136 Normativity, queer studies and, 42, 43 Norris, Faith, 665 North American Guqin Association, 271 Northern Marianas Islands, 896, 897 Novel of Justice, The (Gonzalez), 366 NRN National Coordination Council of the USA, 853 “Nu Wa Makes People and Mends a Hole in the Sky” (Chinese legend), 298 Nuchigusui (Okinawan foodways), 884–885 Nuo dances, 270 Nursery rhymes, 465, 769, 770 Obama, Barack, 226, 482, 682, 958, 976 Obon festival, 576, 596, 638 Odiyan Buddhist Center, 1150 Offerings Chinese Americans, 306 Indonesian Americans, 522, 562–563 Laotian Americans, 755
I-33
I-34
Index Offerings (continued) Mongolian Americans, 834 Sri Lankan Americans, 1072–1073 Thai Americans, 1085 Tibetan Americans, 1142 Vietnamese Americans, 1176–1177 Ogata, Paul, 26 Oh, Sandra, 29–30 “Oh Duang Champa” (Laotian song), 720–721 Ohno, Apolo Anton, 603 Okada, John, 602, 627–628 Okamoto, Kiyoshi, 586 Okinawa, 97–98, 588, 619 Okinawan Americans arts and, 880–883 dance, 881–882 festivals and celebrations, 883–884 foods and cooking, 884–885 history, people, and culture, 877–880 martial arts, 885 music, 882–883, 886–890 religious beliefs, 890–892 speech and language, 892 Okinawan Association of America, 883 Okinawan Festival, 883 Okinawan Peace Network, 879 Okubo, Mine, 611 Omura, James, 586 Ondaatje, Michael, 1067 Ondar (Mongolian singer), 827 One Tribe (Galang), 386 Onon, Urgunge, 811 Ooh-Si (Burmese dance), 142 Opera and opera theaters, 241–246, 285–286 Oral tradition Cambodian Americans, 206 Filipino Americans, 345, 393 folklore and, xxxvi Hmong Americans, 423, 440–442 Laos and, xxxvii Laotian Americans, 744 Malaysian Americans, 794 Mongolian Americans, 828 Pacific Islander Americans, 934. See also Urban legends Ordination, Thai Americans and, 1111, 1114 Oriental Exclusion Act (1924), 614, 632
Orientalism, 73–74, 294–295 Orientalism (Said), 73, 278 Origami, 628–629 Origin of the Vietnamese People, The (Vietnamese folktale), 1186 Origin tales Chinese Americans, 272, 273 Filipino Americans, 342–343, 386–387, 392–393 Hawaiian Natives, 923 Indonesian Americans, 552 Korean Americans, 663 Laotian Americans, 738 mixed race Asian Americans, 91–97 oral tradition and, xxxvii Pacific Islander Americans, 893–894, 920, 921–922, 934 the Philippines and, 364–365 Tibetan Americans, 1147 Vietnamese Americans, 1186, 1189 Orzolek, Karen Lee “Karen O,” 677–678 Otherness, 23–24, 27–28, 73–74, 383 Out marriage, 30 Outmigration, to India, 461 Ovoo (ritual cairn), 841 Pa yao (Laotian clothing), 722 Pacific Imperial pigeons, 936 Pacific Islander Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 899–900 animals, 936 arts and crafts, 900–901 Asian American dating and, 103 clothing and jewelry, 904–906 cultural and community organizations, 937 cultural identity, 930–931 dance, 913–914 death and funeral rituals, 906–907 families and communities, 907–908 festivals and celebrations, 908–910 Fiji and Fijians, 910–911 foods and cooking, 916–917 Guam, 911–913, 917–922 Hawaii and Hawaiian, 922–928, 939–940 heroes and heroines, 928–930 history, people, and culture, 893–899
Index literature, 925–927, 931–932, 934–935, 1235–1236 model minority stereotype and, 71 music, 903–904, 914–915 names and naming practices, 932–933 Polynesians, 938–939 religious beliefs, 940–944 rites of passage, 944–946 Samoa and Samoans, 946–948 speech and language, 935–936 surf and surfing, 948–950 Tahiti and Tahitian, 950–951 traditional medicine, 952–953 World War II, 902–903 Pacific Islander Festival Association, 909 Page Act (1875), 6 Paik, Mary, 695 Pakiksama (hospitality), 395–396, 407 Pakistani Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 960–961 arts and crafts, 961–963 clothing and jewelry, 964–965 cultural identity, 978–980 dance, 971–972 death and funeral rituals, 966–967 families and communities, 967–968 festivals and celebrations, 968–970 foods and cooking, 973–975 heroes and heroines, 975–977 history, people, and culture, 955–960 home decoration, 977–978 literature, 980–982, 983–985 music, 963–964, 972–973 names and naming practices, 982–983 proverbs and maxims, 985–986 religious beliefs, 986–989 rites of passage, 989–991 social etiquette and customs, 991–992 speech and language, 996–997 superstitions and taboos, 992–994 traditional medicine, 994–995 See also Punjabi Americans Pakistani Independence Day, 969, 970 Palau, 897, 933 Palikat, Nicolette Louisa, 786–787 Pan, Christine, 38 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife
Asian Pacific Heritage Month, 63–64 assimilation and, 88–89 Avalokitesvara and, 64–66 children’s literature and, 14–18 families and, 5–10 “Got Rice?” slogan, 66–68 grocery stores and, 21–23 humor and comedy, 23–29 lotus flowers and, 68–69 love and sexuality, 79–84 material culture and, 18–21 model minority stereotype and, 69–71 mother-daughter relationships, 71–73 music and, 1–5 orientalism and, 73–74 popular culture and, 29–34 queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 queer studies and, 41–46 reincarnation and, 74–76 religious studies and, 46–51 root quests and, 76–77 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), 84–86 suicide and, 10–14 swastikas, 86–88 theater and, 51–54 visual culture and, 54–58 youth culture and, 59–62 Pan Asian Theater Company, 53 Pandita, Sakya, 1145 “Panties for Peace” protest, 171 Paper crafts, 720, 855 Paper sons and daughters, 76–77, 224, 303–304 Papua New Guinea, 895 Parents and parenting, 162, 193–194, 253, 709, 1111. See also Children and youth; Families and communities Park, Lena, 677 Park, Linda Sue, 665 Parody, 66–68, 499 Parol (Christmas lanterns), 356 Parrots, 161–162 Parsiism. See Zoroastrianism Pasalong (Laotian clothing), 722 Pashto language, 113 Paternalism, 80 Patriotism, 7
I-35
I-36
Index Pearl Harbor, attack on, 630–631 Pei, I. M., 227 Pele legends, 929 Pengajian (Islamic groups), 556 Penn, Kal, 29–30 Performance arts. See Dance; Theater Personal narratives, 441 Personality traits, Chinese zodiac and, 250–251 Perveen, Abida, 963 Peters, Russell, 25, 32 Phan Boi Chau, 1218 Phi Nhung, 1184–1185 Philippine Independence Day, 355 Philippines, 49, 95, 911–913. See also Filipino Americans Philippines Is in the Heart, The (Bulosan), 385 Philosophy, 48, 253–254, 318–319, 329–330 Phung Thi Chinh, 1214 Picture brides, 569–570, 631–632, 656 Pigeons, 936 Pidgin, 935–936 Pii May Lao (Laotian New Year), 745–746 Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN), 396–398 “Pinoy and Pinay,” 398–399 Playwrights, 51–52 Poetry, 431–432, 547, 616–617, 1169 Poke´mon, 634–636 Pol Pot, 202, 204 Political autonomy, ideal of, 436–437 Political involvement Asian American humor and, 26–27 children’s literature and, 15–17, 115–116 Chinese Americans, 226, 282–283 Filipino Americans, 342, 344–345, 399 “Got Rice?” slogan, 66–68 Japanese Americans, 572–573, 605–606 Korean Americans, 668–669 Malaysian Americans, 761 Pakistani Americans, 958 Pan Asian American label, 30 queer folklore and folklife, 46 Vietnamese Americans, 1199, 1215–1216 Polynesian Cultural Center, 909, 913, 914, 937 Polynesians, 894, 895, 906, 929, 938–939 Pong Choolie, You Rascal! (Crockett), 665 Popular culture
Cambodian Americans, 183 Chinese Americans, 225, 290 Filipino Americans, 340 humor and comedy, 23–29 model minority stereotype and, 69–71 Mongolian Americans, 825–826, 835 Pacific Islander Americans, 903–904 Pakistani Americans, 984 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 29–34 Punjabi Americans, 1042 religious beliefs and, 50 Sri Lankan Americans, 1064 surf and surfing, 949 Vietnamese Americans, 1167, 1183, 1188 youth culture and, 59 Popular music Cambodian Americans, 190, 197 Chinese Americans, 271 Filipino Americans, 361 Hmong Americans, 430, 431, 438 Indian Americans, 475 Japanese Americans, 597 Korean Americans, 677–678, 697 Malaysian Americans, 786–787, 790 Mongolian Americans, 827, 837 Okinawan Americans, 882, 889 Pacific Islander Americans, 915 Pakistani Americans, 963, 964, 971, 972–973 Thai Americans, 1100 Tibetan Americans, 1131, 1141 Vietnamese Americans, 1184–1185 Population. See Demographics Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 201 Postwar period, Japanese Americans and, 573–574, 608–609, 614–615 Pottery and ceramics, 719, 961–962, 1086 Poverty. See Socioeconomic status Power structures, model minority stereotype and, 12–13 PraCh Ly, 8, 202 Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 546 Pran, Dith, 200 Prayer, 122, 350–351, 495, 842, 966 “Princess Bari, the Abandoned Daughter” (Korean folktale), 700
Index “Princess of the Night Rides” (Holt), 926 Professional organizations, Chinese Americans, 227 Pronatalism, 688 Proposal ceremony, 843 Prostitution, 82, 668–669 Protestantism Burmese Americans, 139–140 Filipino Americans, 351, 356–357, 401–402 Indonesian Americans, 554–555 Korean Americans, 49, 669, 670, 690–693 Laotian Americans, 747–748, 749 Malaysian Americans, 801 Pacific Islander Americans, 942, 943 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051–1052 Proverbs and maxims Burmese Americans, 162–163 Cambodian Americans, 207–209 Chinese Americans, 304–305 Filipino Americans, 399–401 Hmong Americans, 441, 443–444 Indian Americans, 501–503 Indonesian Americans, 532, 553–554 Japanese Americans, 586, 636–637 Korean Americans, 700–701 Laotian Americans, 725, 729, 746–747 Malaysian Americans, 798–799 Mongolian Americans, 839–840 Nepali Americans, 866–868 Pakistani Americans, 985–986 Punjabi Americans, 1026–1028 Sri Lankan Americans, 1076–1077 Tibetan Americans, 1148–1149 Vietnamese Americans, 1202–1203 See also Speech and language Proxy weddings, 742 Pujas (shrines), 479–480, 483 Puku’i, Mary Kawena, 929, 930, 939–940 Pungmul dance, 676 Punjabi Americans arts and crafts, 1005–1006 cultural identity, 1021–1022 death and funeral rituals, 1008–1010 families and communities, 1010–1012 festivals and celebrations, 1012–1014 foods and cooking, 1014–1015 heroes and heroines, 1018–1020
history, people, and culture, 999–1005 home decoration, 1005–1006, 1020–1021 literature, 1007–1008, 1023–1024 names and naming practices, 1024–1026 proverbs and maxims, 1026–1028 religious beliefs, 1015–1016, 1028–1030, 1033–1039 religious buildings and worship spaces, 1017–1018 rites of passage, 1030–1033 speech and language, 1041–1042 traditional medicine, 1036–1041 See also Indian Americans; Pakistani Americans Punjabi language, 999, 1000, 1029–1030 Puppet theatre, 143, 197, 522, 523–524, 534, 544–545 Qawwali music, 963, 972 Qazi, Javaid, 981 Qigong (healing), 324 Qing Ming, 238, 261, 305–306, 776 Qipao (Chinese dress), 251–252 Queen’s Birthday (Thailand), 1097 Queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 Queer Pin@y Conference (QPC), 45–46 Queer studies, 41–46, 83 Quilting, 456–457 Race riots, 658, 673, 693, 1004 Racial discrimination Asian American humor and, 28 children’s literature and, 15 Chinese Americans, 226–227, 287, 291–292 ethnic identity and, 6 Filipino Americans, 334, 398–399 Indian Americans, 461 Japanese Americans, 571, 574, 584, 613 Laotian Americans, 715–716 love and sexuality, 81, 83 in Malaysia, 759–760, 762, 803 Malaysian Americans, 762 orientalism and, 73–74 Pakistani Americans, 958 popular culture and, 30
I-37
I-38
Index Racial discrimination (continued) Punjabi Americans, 1001–1002, 1003–1004, 1010–1011 second and subsequent generations, 7–8 sexuality and, 39–40 Sikhism and, 1018, 1039 Racial hierarchies, interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 Racial purity, myth of, 91–92 Racial slurs, 88–89 Racism, mixed race Asian Americans and, 94 Rajapakse, Mahinda, 1063 Ram Das, Guru, 1035 Rama VI, King, 1105 Ramadan, 122, 969 Ramanathan, Ponnambalam, 1063 Rao, Raja, 484 Rap and hip-hop music Filipino Americans, 360, 361 Japanese Americans, 640–641 Korean Americans, 677, 697 Pacific Islander Americans, 915 Pakistani Americans, 972, 973 Rapanui, 897 “Rasa Sayang” (Malaysian folk song), 769 Ray, Aishwarya, 1064 Redress movement, Japanese Americans, 574–575, 609, 633 Refugee groups Afghan Americans, 108 Cambodian Americans, 179, 180–181, 201–202, 203–204 folklore and, xxxix Hmong Americans, 415, 427–428 immigration and, 7 Indonesian Americans, 518 Laotian Americans, 714, 719, 747 Punjabi Americans, 1002 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046, 1055–1056 Tibetan Americans, 1127, 1136, 1149 Vietnamese Americans, 1159, 1160, 1161, 1162, 1163, 1166–1168, 1178–1179, 1195–1196 Reincarnation Burmese Americans, 133 Cambodian Americans, 191–192
Dalai Lama and, 1133 Laotian Americans, 717–718 Mongolian Americans, 820 Nepali Americans, 857 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 74–76 Tibetan Americans, 1152 Religious beliefs Afghan Americans, 120–123, 125 Avalokitesvara and, 64–66 Burmese Americans, 55–56, 57, 58, 133, 135–137, 156–158, 163–166 Cambodian Americans, 209–212 Chinese Americans, 224–225, 228–229, 253–257, 307–308 Filipino Americans, 334, 355, 356–358, 370, 372–373, 401–403 health and wellness, 13 Hmong Americans, 414, 416–417, 417–418, 432, 445–448, 450–451 Indian Americans, 459–460, 469–470, 473–474, 476, 479–482, 487–488, 501–502, 503–505, 509 Indonesian Americans, 520–522, 528–530, 541, 542, 554–557 Japanese Americans, 583–585, 594, 637–638 Korean Americans, 669–671, 690–693, 701–704 Laotian Americans, 716, 723–724, 747–752 lotus flowers and, 68–69 Malaysian Americans, 760–761, 764–765, 799–803 Mongolian Americans, 815, 820, 823, 835–836, 840–842 Nepali Americans, 852, 854, 860, 865, 868–869 Okinawan Americans, 890–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 899, 919–922, 940–944 Pakistani Americans, 956, 957, 986–989 Punjabi Americans, 999, 1000, 1015–1016, 1022, 1028–1030, 1033–1039 reincarnation and, 74–76 religious architecture and, 20 religious studies and, 46–51
Index sexuality and, 35, 36–37 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), 84–86 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051–1052, 1068–1069, 1071–1074 suicide and, 11 Thai Americans, 1091–1092, 1109–1112 Tibetan Americans, 1133–1134, 1149–1153, 1153–1154 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1174, 1196–1198, 1204–1206 See also Folk religions; Temples and worship spaces Religious buildings and worship spaces, 479–482, 487–488, 494–495, 868, 1017–1018. See also Churches; Mosques; Temples and worship spaces Religious studies, Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 46–51 Religious tolerance, 47 Reluctant Fundamentalist, The (Hamid), 982 Remittances Chinese Americans, 226 Filipino Americans, 339–340 Indonesian Americans, 520 Mongolian Americans, 822 Pacific Islander Americans, 898 Pakistani Americans, 957 Punjabi Americans, 1000 Thai Americans, 1111 Viet Kieu experience, 1219–1220 Reparations, Guam and, 902–903 Repatriations, 202, 218–219, 958 Restaurants Cambodian Americans, 198–199 Chinese Americans, 275–277 Filipino Americans, 363 Indian Americans, 463, 490 Indonesian Americans, 537–538, 557–560, 564 Japanese Americans, 600 Korean Americans, 679 Laotian Americans, 733 Malaysian Americans, 788 Nepali Americans, 852, 864 Okinawan Americans, 885 Pakistani Americans, 975 Punjabi Americans, 999–1000, 1015
Thai Americans, 1083, 1084 Vietnamese Americans, 1187–1188 Return of the Dragon (film), 290 Reverse racism, 82 Reyes, Isabelo de los, 402 Reyes, Severino, 394 Rice-feeding ceremonies, 869 Richmond, W. Edson, xxxv–xxxvi Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (TV show), 45 Rigg, Kate, 26–27 Rites of passage Afghan Americans, 123–126 Burmese Americans, 57, 136, 166–167 Cambodian Americans, 213–214 Chinese Americans, 309–310 Filipino Americans, 348–349, 403–405 Hmong Americans, 440, 448–450 Indian Americans, 505–507 Indonesian Americans, 560–562 Japanese Americans, 638, 639–640 Korean Americans, 704–706 Laotian Americans, 752–754 Malaysian Americans, 804–806 Mongolian Americans, 816–817, 842–844 Nepali Americans, 868, 869–870 Pacific Islander Americans, 944–946 Pakistani Americans, 989–991 Punjabi Americans, 1030–1033 Sri Lankan Americans, 1074–1076 Thai Americans, 1113–1114 Vietnamese Americans, 1206–1208 See also Death and funeral rituals Rituals and ceremonies Burmese Americans, 166–167, 168, 170–171, 172–173 Cambodian Americans, 191–193, 211, 212 Chinese Americans, 229, 238, 266–267, 305–306 Filipino Americans, 350–352, 373–374, 374–376 Indian Americans, 510–511 Indonesian Americans, 521, 522 Japanese Americans, 579–580 Laotian Americans, 739–742, 750–751 Mongolian Americans, 831, 842 Sikhism and, 1038
I-39
I-40
Index Rituals and ceremonies (continued) Sri Lankan Americans, 1074 Thai Americans, 1091 Tibetan Americans, 1152 Vietnamese Americans, 1180, 1209–1210 See also Rites of passage Rizal, Jose, 365, 394 Roberts, Warren, xxxvi Rohmer, Sax, 277 Romance of Three Kingdoms, The, xxxviii–xxxix, 279, 589 Romantic love, 79–80, 984 Roofs and supports, Chinese American architecture and, 326 Root quests, 76–77, 409–410, 685–686, 1022 Ros, Saphan, 187 Rosaries, 350–351, 921 Rosca, Ninotchka, 368–369 Rumi, 986 Russian Mongolians, 812, 813 Ryoan-ji Zen garden, 653 Ryu Gwan-soon, 681 Ryukyu Kingdom, 877 Sacrificial rituals, 375, 378, 426, 442, 983 Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (Coerr), 629 Saed, Aohra, 119 Sai Baba festival, 1058–1059 Said, Edward W., 73, 278 Sa-I-Gu, 658, 693 Saints, feast days of, 336 Saka Dawa festival, 1137 Sakai, Kimiko, 582 Sakya’s Eloquent Advice (Pandita), 1145 Salwar kameez, 466, 964–965, 1053 Samarasan, Preeta, 790 Samoa and Samoans, 893–894, 899, 915, 946–948 Sampot (sarong), 188 San Francisco earthquake, 303 Sand mandalas, 1153–1154 Sansei generation, 7–8, 78 Sanshin (musical instrument), 886, 887, 888 Sanskrit language, 1070, 1071 Santa Marian Kamalin statue, 911, 913, 920
Santo Nin˜o Festival, 405–406 Sargent, Inge, 155 Saris, 466, 1052 Sasaki, Sadako, 629 Satdjadham project, 738 Satire, 142, 143 “Saving face,” 1041–1042 Say, Allen, 17, 582 Schonberg, Claude Michel, 53 Sculpture, 611, 624, 625, 628–629, 854 Seashore Story (Yashima), 598 Season of Grace, A (Gonzalez), 366 Second and subsequent generations Afghan Americans, 109 Burmese Americans, 167–168 Cambodian Americans, 220–221 Chinese Americans, 225, 245, 286, 294, 307–308 Japanese Americans, 570, 571, 623, 642–643, 650 Korean Americans, 691, 692, 698, 706 Laotian Americans, 724, 744 Malaysian Americans, 798, 799, 806 Mongolian Americans, 811, 814–815, 835 Nepali Americans, 859, 874 Okinawan Americans, 888–889 Pacific Islander Americans, 908, 931 Pakistani Americans, 957, 958, 979, 988 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife, 7–8, 8–9, 77–79 Punjabi Americans, 1011 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053–1054, 1066, 1076 Thai Americans, 1083–1084, 1095 Tibetan Americans, 1145 Vietnamese Americans, 1179, 1188, 1196, 1218 youth culture and, 61 Secret History of the Mongols, The, 828 Seeds from a Silent Tree: An Anthology by Korean Adoptees, 685 Segregation, mixed race Asian Americans and, 95–96 Sejong, King, 681 Self-deprecation, 24, 28 Selvadurai, Shyam, 1067 Senanayake, Don Stephen, 1063
Index Senge, Lobsang, 1143 Seo, Dae, 662 Sep Noi music, 431 Sep Nyai music, 431 September 11 terror attacks Afghan Americans, 117–118 Burmese Americans, 151 Filipino Americans, 334 Japanese Americans, 609, 613 Pakistani Americans, 958, 980, 988 Punjabi Americans, 1011 Sepyan (curry), 147 Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories (Yamamoto), 651 Sex trafficking, 200 Sexuality Asian fetish and, 26–27 Chinese American literature and, 256–257 folklore and, xxxvii Hinduism and, 1031 interracial/interethnic marriage, 102–103 Pakistani Americans, 993 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife, 79–84 popular culture and, 32–33 queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 queer studies and, 41–46 Sri Lankan Americans, 1067 Shadow music, 1100 Shah, Idries, 115 Shalsa, Sat Bir, 1040 Shamanism, 414, 445–446, 446–448, 450–451, 704 Shapiro, Sophiline Cheam, 190, 200 Sharma, Akhil, 486 Shea, Peggy Deitz, 422 Sheik, Shaheen, 475 Sherpa people, 860 Shiatsu massage, 648–649 “Shimchong, the Blind Man’s Daughter” (Korean folktale), 700 Shin-byu (rite of passage), 57, 136, 166–167, 172–173 Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike,” 5, 8, 610–611, 640–641 Shintoism, 583, 584, 622, 637, 638 Shiren, Kokan, 652
Shoes, removing, 707, 871, 1115, 1209 Shopping and materialism, 18–21, 21–23 Shurangama Sutra, 64–65 Shwe Hlaing Dwa, 165 Siamese twins, 1081 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). See Buddha; Buddhism Sidhwa, Bapsi, 981 Sikhism children’s literature and, 1007 death and funeral rituals, 1009 festivals and celebrations, 1013 Indian Americans, 470, 476, 503, 504 literature and, 1023–1024 Malaysian Americans, 761 names and naming practices, 1024–1025 Punjabi Americans, 1000, 1010, 1011, 1015–1016, 1022, 1029–1030, 1033–1039 rites of passage, 1032–1033 temples and worship spaces, 1028 Silang, Gabriela, 365 Silk Road, Pakistani folktales and, 984 Singaporean Americans, 763–764 Singh, Baba Deep, 1019 Singh, Bhagat, 1024 Singh, Bhai Mani, 1007, 1019 Singh, Gobind, 1007, 1019, 1024, 1035, 1037 Singh, Jawala, 1004–1005 Singh, Ranjit, 1007 Singh, Udham, 1024 Single Shard, A (Park), 665 Sinh (Laotian skirt), 721–722 Sinhalese people, 1045, 1050–1051, 1063, 1068, 1071 Sirena legend, 929 Skin color, Asian American dating and, 103 Sky burials, 471, 1135, 1152–1153 Slack-key guitars, 901, 927, 928 Slametan (Indonesian death ritual), 530 Slang, 177, 566, 618, 849 Snapshots: This Afghan American Life, 119 Social etiquette and customs Afghan Americans, 109, 111, 123 Burmese Americans, 167–168, 169–170 Cambodian Americans, 207–209, 214–215 Chinese Americans, 254, 311–313 Filipino Americans, 395–396, 406–408, 410
I-41
I-42
Index Social etiquette and customs (continued) Hmong Americans, 452–453 Indian Americans, 508–509 Indonesian Americans, 562–563 Japanese Americans, 579–580, 641–643 Korean Americans, 706–707 Laotian Americans, 754–755, 758 Malaysian Americans, 809 Mongolian Americans, 844–845 Nepali Americans, 870–872 Pacific Islander Americans, 915 Pakistani Americans, 991–992 Punjabi Americans, 1026–1027, 1041–1042 Sikhism, 1017–1018 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1076 Thai Americans, 1114–1116 Tibetan Americans, 1154–1156 Vietnamese Americans, 1208–1209 Social relationships, bowing and, xxxvii–xxxviii Social status Cambodian Americans, 214–215 Filipino Americans, 390 Indonesian Americans, 548–549 Japanese Americans, 641 marriage and, 100 mixed race Asian Americans, 95 Nepali Americans, 859 Pacific Islander Americans, 949 Sri Lankan Americans, 1070 visual culture and, 58 Social stigma, suicide and, 11 Social technologies, 30–31, 50 Social welfare activities, 49–50, 150, 307–308, 460–461 Socializing, 22–23, 460, 725, 823–824 Society Islands. See Tahiti and Tahitian Socioeconomic status Cambodian Americans, 181–182, 194–195 Chinese Americans, 225–226 Filipino Americans, 334 Hmong Americans, 436 Indian Americans, 461, 466, 488, 490 Malaysian Americans, 761 Pacific Islander Americans, 898, 951 Pakistani Americans, 957 Sri Lankan Americans, 1056–1057
Vietnamese Americans, 1161–1162, 1163, 1196 Sodhi, Balbir Singh, 1039 Soka Gakkai International (SGI), 637–638 Solomon Islands, 933 Song, Cathy, 695 Soul-calling, 447 South Asian Americans, 87, 96, 103. See also Indian Americans; Pakistani Americans South Asian culture, 113 Soviet Union, Afghanistan and, 107 Spagnoli, Cathy, 186–187, 205 Spanish influences, Filipino Americans, 333, 362–363, 389–390, 391 Speech and language Burmese Americans, 176–177 Cambodian Americans, 207–209, 219–221 Chinese Americans, 233–234, 246–247, 324–325 Hmong Americans, 457–458 Indian Americans, 512–513 Indonesian Americans, 566–567 Japanese Americans, 642, 649–651 Korean Americans, 710–711 Laotian Americans, 757–758 Malaysian Americans, 808–809 Mongolian Americans, 848–849 Nepali Americans, 873–875 Okinawan Americans, 892 Pacific Islander Americans, 935–936 Pakistani Americans, 996–997 Punjabi Americans, 1022, 1041–1042 Thai Americans, 1122–1125 Tibetan Americans, 1157–1158 Vietnamese Americans, 1215–1218 See also Proverbs and maxims Spices Burmese American foods and, 147 Cambodian American foods and, 198 Filipino American foods and, 378 Hmong Americans, 433, 434 Indonesian Americans, 559–560 Nepali Americans, 864 Pakistani Americans, 974 Punjabi Americans, 1014 Sri Lankan Americans, 1062
Index Spirits Burmese Americans, 133–134, 141–142, 152, 156, 157–158, 169 Cambodian Americans, 210–211 Chinese Americans, 260–261 Filipino Americans, 336–337, 351, 372–373, 385–386, 393 Hmong Americans, 414, 416–417, 417–418, 425, 426, 442–443 Indian Americans, 461–462, 509 Indonesian Americans, 520–521, 522, 552, 563 Japanese Americans, 573, 576–577, 594, 622, 623, 644 Korean Americans, 708 Laotian Americans, 716, 718–719, 723–724, 726, 754 Malaysian Americans, 775 Mongolian Americans, 821, 838 Thai Americans, 1085 Spiritual healing, 408–409 Sports Burmese Americans, 130–131 Japanese Americans, 602–603 Malaysian Americans, 790 martial arts, 248–249, 290, 618–619, 689–690, 731, 885 Mongolian Americans, 814, 824, 833 Pacific Islander Americans, 948–950 Pakistani Americans, 975 Sri Lankan Americans caste system, 1049–1051 clothing and jewelry, 1053–1054 cultural identity, 1064–1066 dance, 1059–1061 death and funeral rituals, 1054–1055 families and communities, 1055–1057 festivals and celebrations, 1058–1059 foods and cooking, 1061–1062 heroes and heroines, 1063–1064 history, people, and culture, 1043–1047 home decoration, 1048–1049 literature, 1066–1067 names and naming practices, 1069–1071 proverbs and maxims, 1076–1077 religious beliefs, 1051–1052, 1068–1069, 1071–1074
rites of passage, 1074–1076 traditional medicine, 1078–1079 St. Malo, Louisiana, 388 “Star Maiden, The” (Filipino folktale), 1226–1227 Step from Heaven, A (Na), 665 Stereotypes Afghan Americans, 112–113 children’s literature and, 15 Chinese American literature and, 256–257 Chinese Americans, 226–227, 277–278 gay men and, 38 humor and comedy, 23–24, 25, 26 Japanese Americans, 604 model minority stereotype and, 69–71 popular culture and, 30, 32 Sri Lankan Americans, 1069 theatre and, 53 Stone Goddess, The (Ho), 205 Story cloths, xxxviii, 453–455, 456 Storytelling festivals, 932 Street food vendors, 559 Student groups, 763–764, 782, 853, 959, 988, 1143 Student immigrants, 813, 822, 1081, 1095, 1159–1160 Studying abroad, Malaysian Americans and, 806 Submission of Rose Moy, The (Li), 51 Suematsu, Dyske, 34 Sufism, 963, 984, 986, 988–989 Sugar industry, 331–332, 601–602, 656 Sugita de Queiroz, Chizuko, 611 Suharto, 538, 541 Suicide, 10–14 Sukarno, 538, 539–540, 541 Sukarnoputri, Megawati, 542 Sukhbaatar, D., 832 Suleri, Sara, 981 Sumo wrestling, 833 “Sun and Moon, The” (Korean folktale), 699–700 Superstitions and taboos Burmese Americans, 169–171 Cambodian Americans, 205, 215 Chinese zodiac and, 251 Hawaiian Natives, 924
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I-44
Index Superstitions and taboos (continued) Indian Americans, 509–510 Indonesian Americans, 549, 562–563 Japanese Americans, 643–644 Korean Americans, 672, 707–709 Laotian Americans, 754–755 Malaysian Americans, 806–807 Mongolian Americans, 816, 838, 844, 845–846, 847 Nepali Americans, 871–872 Okinawan Americans, 891–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 942, 949 Pakistani Americans, 960–961, 992–994 Thai Americans, 1115–1116, 1119 Vietnamese Americans, 1209–1211 See also Ghosts and the supernatural Surf and surfing, 948–950 Suriyothai, Somdet Phra Sri, 1103 Surnames, 837–838, 983, 1105, 1146, 1202. See also Names and naming practices Sushi, 599, 600 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 542 Swastikas, 86–88, 483 Swin Tien Lo Company, 241 Symbols and slogans, 66–68, 86–88, 483 Taarof (hospitality), 109 Tae kwon do, 689 Tagalog language, 371, 409, 410 Tagawa, Cary, 610 Taglish, 410 Tahiti and Tahitian, 897, 950–951 Tai chi, 249, 255 Taiko drumming, 595–596, 610, 644–646 Taiwanese Americans, 313–316 Taj Mahal, 483 Tajiri, Satoshi, 635 Tale of Kieu, The (Nguyen), 1219 Tales of Chinese Children (Far), 14 Taliban, Afghanistan and, 107 Tamil people caste system and, 1050 death and funeral rituals, 1054–1055 heroes and heroines, 1063 immigration and, 1056–1057 Muslim Sri Lankans and, 1068 names and naming practices, 1070
proverbs and maxims, 1076 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1065–1066 Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), 1044, 1045, 1065–1066 Tan, Amy, 33, 71, 227, 246, 316–318 Tanabata celebration, 598 Tanaka, Seiichi, 646 Tantric Buddhism. See Vajrayana Buddhism Taoism Chinese Americans, 307, 318–319, 324 feng shui and, 266 Filipino Americans, 334 Japanese Americans, 622–623 Malaysian Americans, 764–765, 766, 802–803 sexuality and, 36 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1197, 1204 yin and yang, 329–330 Tarian lilin (Malaysian dance), 784 Tatami mats, 646–647 Tatara, K. T., 26 Tathagata Meditation Centre, 164 Tattoos, xxxvii, 900 Tea, 148, 734, 829, 974, 1078, 1141 Tea ceremony (chanoyu), 579–580 Tegh Bahadur, Guru, 1019, 1035 Television, 28, 29–30, 32, 290, 1094 Temples and worship spaces Burmese Americans, 136, 164, 172–173 Cambodian Americans, 183, 194, 211–212 Chinese Americans, 231–233, 255, 254–255, 313–316, 326 Indian Americans, 478, 479–482, 487–488, 496 Japanese Americans, 638 Laotian Americans, 728–729, 749 Mongolian Americans, 840–841 Nepali Americans, 869 Pacific Islander Americans, 941 Punjabi Americans, 1005, 1011, 1017–1018 Sikhism, 1028 Sri Lankan Americans, 1072–1073, 1073–1074 Thai Americans, 1088–1089, 1089–1090, 1096, 1108, 1110
Index Vietnamese Americans, 1205–1206 See also Churches; Mosques “Ten Suns, The” (Chinese legend), 298 Teng, Vienna, 271 Tenglish language, 1123 “Tepuk Amai-Amai” (Malaysian folk song), 769 Terrence, Krissada, 1100 Tet festival, 1172, 1180, 1184, 1192, 1210–1211, 1211–1213 Tethong, Lhadon, 1143 Textiles Burmese Americans, 133–134 Cambodian Americans, 188 Filipino Americans, 338, 347, 380 Hmong Americans, 415, 418–420, 453–455, 455–458 Indonesian Americans, 523, 526–528 Malaysian Americans, 774 Mongolian Americans, 833–834 Pacific Islander Americans, 904–905 Pakistani Americans, 962 Punjabi Americans, 1006 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048–1049 Thai Americans, 1086 Tibetan Americans, 1129 See also Clothing and jewelry Thai Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 1084–1085 clothing and jewelry, 1087–1088 cultural identity, 1103–1104 dance, 1098–1099, 1116–1120 death and funeral rituals, 1092–1093 ethnic communities, 1120–1121 families and communities, 1088–1090, 1095–1096 festivals and celebrations, 1096–1098 foods and cooking, 1101–1102 heroes and heroines, 1102–1103 history, people, and culture, 1081–1084 home decoration, 1085–1086 literature, 1086–1087, 1106–1109 mass media, 1093–1094 music, 1099–1101, 1116–1120 names and naming practices, 1105–1106 religious beliefs, 1091–1092, 1109–1112
rites of passage, 1113–1114 social etiquette and customs, 1114–1116 speech and language, 1122–1125 traditional medicine, 1121 Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC), 1121 Thai language, 757, 1103, 1104, 1123, 1124 Thai Town, 1096, 1120–1121 Thaiglish language, 1124 Thailand, 35–36, 414–415, 733 Tham, Hilary, 790, 794–795 Thant, U, 149, 155 Thao with the Get Down Stay Down (musical group), 1184 Theater Cambodian Americans, 190 Chinese Americans, 241–246, 269–270, 285–286, 294–295 Filipino Americans, 396–398 Indian Americans, 486 Indonesian Americans, 534–535, 544–545 Japanese Americans, 596, 610, 618, 628 the Monkey King and, 297 Pacific Islander Americans, 932 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 51–54 Punjabi Americans, 1015–1016 Sri Lankan Americans, 1061 Theravada Buddhism, 1150 Burmese Americans, 136, 156–157, 171 Cambodian Americans, 191, 202, 210 Laotian Americans, 718, 723, 746, 748, 749–750, 750–751 Sri Lankan Americans, 1072 Thai Americans, 1110 visual culture and, 55, 56 Thoms, William, xxxv “Three Feats of Strength, The” (Guamanian folktale), 934 Threshold designs, Indian Americans and, 510–511 Throat-singing, 826, 836 Thumbun (making merit), 1083, 1085, 1091, 1097 Tianhou/Mazu, 315, 316, 320–322 Tibet, Mongolia and, 846–847 Tibetan Americans arts and crafts, 1128–1130
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I-46
Index Tibetan Americans (continued) clothing and jewelry, 1131–1132 cultural identity, 1144–1145 dance, 1138–1140 death and funeral rituals, 1134–1135 families and communities, 1135–1137 festivals and celebrations, 1137–1138 foods and cooking, 1141–1142 heroes and heroines, 1142–1143 history, people, and culture, 1127–1128 literature, 1145–1146, 1147–1148 music, 1130–1131, 1140–1141 names and naming practices, 1146–1147 proverbs and maxims, 1148–1149 religious beliefs, 1133–1134, 1149–1153, 1153–1154 social etiquette and customs, 1154–1156 speech and language, 1157–1158 traditional medicine, 1156–1157 Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom (TCCW), 841–842 Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), 1139 Tibeto-Burman foodways, 147 Tiger Tales: Hmong Folktales, 423 Tiger’s Daughter, The (Mukherjee), 492 Tihar (Nepali festival), 860 Tikki Tikki Tembo (Mosel), 272 Tilhari (Nepali wedding necklace), 856 Tirupati Temple, 481 Toelken, Barre, xxxv, 237 Toki, Higa, 883 Tonga, 900, 915 Tongan Americans, 944 Touring theater companies, 242, 285–286 Tourism, 937, 951 Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), 174 Traditional medicine Burmese Americans, 152–153, 173–176 Cambodian Americans, 216–217 Chinese Americans, 322–324 Filipino Americans, 408–409 Hmong Americans, 418, 440, 446, 450–451 Indian Americans, 462, 463–465, 511–512 Indonesian Americans, 563–565 Japanese Americans, 647–649 Korean Americans, 709–710 Laotian Americans, 755–756
Mongolian Americans, 815, 846–848 Nepali Americans, 872–873 Okinawan Americans, 884–885 Pacific Islander Americans, 918–919 Pakistani Americans, 994–995 Punjabi Americans, 1036–1041 Sri Lankan Americans, 1062, 1078–1079 Thai Americans, 1121 Tibetan Americans, 1156–1157 Tran, Truong Van, 1215–1216 Tran Ham, 1167, 1190–1191 Tran Trong Kim, 1218 Transgendered persons, 35–36, 39 Transliteration, of Chinese names, 299, 300 Transnationalism children’s literature and, 17 Filipino Americans, 399 grocery stores and, 22 Hmong Americans, 436 Indian Americans, 476 Japanese American National Museum, 612 religious beliefs and, 50 youth culture and, 61 Transportation, 384, 452, 871–872 Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book (Kingston), 289, 294, 296, 303 “Troubled” youth, 60 Truc Ho, 1167 Trung sisters, 1213–1215 Truong Van Tran incident, 1215–1216 Tsagang Sar (Mongolian New Year), 823–824 Tsam (Mongolian dance), 825 Tsampa (barley flour), 1141 “Tum Teav” (Cambodian folktale), 206 Turbans, 1027 Turntablism/mobile DJs, 359–361 “Twin laws of folklore,” 237 “Twinkies,” “Bananas,” and “Coconuts,” xxxix, 88–89, 224, 685 “Two Ladies Trung, The” (Vietnamese folktale), 1236–1239 Two Rice Cakes, The (Vietnamese folktale), 1186 Tzu Chi Compassion Relief Society (Ciji), 314–315 Uchida, Yoshiko, 582, 617 Uchinaguchi language, 877, 892
Index Uegaki, Chieri, 582 Ukuleles, 927–928 Unani medicine, 1040 Under the Starfruit Tree (Vietnamese folktale), 1185–1186 Ung, Luong, 205 United States, Pacific Islands and, 895–896, 896–897, 902–903, 947–948 Uno, Roberta, 52 Upadhyay, Samrat, 854 Urban legends, xxxix, 217–219, 238–241 Urdu language, 996 U-Shway Yoe (Burmese dance), 142 Utada, Hikaru, 597, 603 Vajrayana Buddhism, 171, 1134, 1150, 1151–1152 Values, 325, 395–396, 551, 552. See also Social etiquette and customs Vampires, xxxvii Vang Pao, 435 Vanuatu, 895 Ve Van Dan Viet (The Pride of the Vietnamese), 1164 Vedic literature, 489, 502, 857 Vegetarianism, 1014 Velarde, Mike, 402 Ventura, Cassandra (Cassie), 361 Verghese, Abraham, 486 Video games, xxxviii–xxxix, 279, 589, 634–636 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnam War Amerasians and, 97 Cambodian Americans, 179 Hmong Americans, 414–415 Laos and, 713–714 Laotian Americans, 736, 744 Vietnamese American literature and, 1199–1201 Vietnamese Americans, 1159, 1190 Vietnam War Memorial, 291–292 Vietnamese Amerasian Homecoming Act (1988), 98 Vietnamese Americans arts and crafts, 1165–1166 Asian American dating and, 103
clothing and jewelry, 1170–1171 cultural identity, 1195–1196 dance, 1181–1184 death and funeral rituals, 1174–1177 ethnic communities, 1198–1199 families and communities, 1177–1179 festivals and celebrations, 1179–1181, 1211–1213 foods and cooking, 1187–1188 heroes and heroines, 1189–1191, 1213–1215 history, people, and culture, 1159–1165 home decoration, 1191–1192 Hurricane Katrina and, 1193–1195 literature, 1185–1187, 1199–1201, 1236–1239 music, 1168–1169, 1184–1185 names and naming practices, 1201–1202 proverbs and maxims, 1202–1203 refugee groups, 1166–1168 religious beliefs, 1171–1174, 1196–1198, 1204–1206 rites of passage, 1206–1208 social etiquette and customs, 1208–1209 speech and language, 1215–1218 superstitions and taboos, 1209–1211 Truong Van Tran incident, 1215–1216 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnamese language, 1216–1218 Virgin ghost folktales, 660 Virgin Mary, 920, 921 Filipino Americans, 365 Vishnu, reincarnation and, 75 Visibility, queerness and, 44 Visual arts Burmese Americans, 131 calligraphy, 246–247 Cambodian Americans, 186 Chinese Americans, 231, 284 Filipino Americans, 380 Hmong Americans, 453–455, 456 Indian Americans, 483, 510–511 Japanese Americans, 611 Korean Americans, 661–662 Laotian Americans, 720 Nepali Americans, 855 Pakistani Americans, 977–978
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Index Visual arts (continued) Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 54–58 queer folklore and folklife, 38 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048 Tibetan Americans, 1129 Vietnamese Americans, 1191 Voices of Vietnamese Boat People (Cargill and Huynh), 1167 “Vorvong and Sorvong” (Cambodian folktale), 206 Voting rights, Samoa and, 948 Wahid, 542 Waiting (Jin), 281 Wakahiro, Shoichi, 633 Wall, Lina Mao, 186–187, 205 Wallace, Stewart, 246 Wandering Souls Day, 1180, 1210 Wang, Wayne, 82 War babies, 93–94, 97–98 War brides, 657, 878, 889, 1082 War Brides Act (1945), 6, 237 War crimes, 203–204, 668–669 War dances, 381–382 War of 1812, 388 Watada, Ehren, 626–627 Water buffalo, Guam and, 912–913 Water puppets, 1165 Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose, 1167 Wat Thai temple, 1090, 1109, 1110 Wayang (shadow puppets), 534–535, 544–545 Wedding ceremonies Afghan Americans, 124–126 Burmese Americans, 167, 168, 170–171 Cambodian Americans, 188, 213–214 Chinese Americans, 252, 310 Filipino Americans, 381, 405 Hmong Americans, 432 Indian Americans, 466, 477, 507 Indonesian Americans, 561 Japanese Americans, 639 Korean Americans, 683, 704–705 Laotian Americans, 722, 737, 739–742, 753 Malaysian Americans, 804, 805
Mongolian Americans, 818, 843 Nepali Americans, 856, 862, 868, 870 Pacific Islander Americans, 944, 946 Pakistani Americans, 965, 992 Punjabi Americans, 1006, 1032–1033, 1042 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053, 1075 Thai Americans, 1113 Vietnamese Americans, 1170, 1171, 1207 See also Marriage Wells, Claudia, 790 Western cultures love and sexuality, 80, 81 myth of racial purity and, 91–92 orientalism and, 73–74 queer studies and, 43 “Twinkies,” “Bananas,” and “Coconuts,” 88–89 Western folktales, Malaysian Americans and, 797–798 Western medicine Indian Americans, 471 Indonesian Americans, 564, 565 Nepali Americans, 873 Pacific Islander Americans, 952 Pakistani Americans, 994, 995 Punjabi Americans, 1040 Sri Lankan Americans, 1078 Tibetan Americans, 1157 Western music, 2, 4 Whaling industry, Pacific Islands and, 896 Whispering Cloth, The (Shea), 422 White Americans, interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 White disease, myth of, 37 Who Killed Vincent Chin (film), 236 Widow ghosts, 1107 Widows, 907, 966, 1075 Wife (Mukherjee), 492 Wilson, Willard, 51, 54 Woman from Hiroshima, The (Mori), 620 Woman Warrior, The (Kingston), 71, 263–264, 288–289, 293, 302–303 Women. See Gender roles Wong, Anna May, 32 Wong, B. D., 52 Wong, Francis, 271 Wong, Jade Snow, 293
Index Wong, Kenneth, 155 Wong, Kristina, 34, 101 Wong, Shawn, 293 Wood carving, 523, 719, 854, 1005–1006 Woodblock prints, 1165–1166 “Woodcutter’s Family, The” (Korean folktale), 1232–1233 “World music,” 3–4 World War II Daniel K. Inouye and, 605 Filipino Americans, 332, 368 Japanese American internment camps, 606–610 Japanese American National Museum and, 613 Japanese Americans, 571–572, 585–587, 602, 626–627, 630–631 Korean Americans, 668–669 Malaysian Americans, 794 Mongolian Americans, 812 Pacific Islander Americans, 902–903 Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival, 879 Worship. See Religious beliefs; Temples and worship spaces Writers. See Literature Writing systems, 420, 423, 757–758, 1217–1218 Wu long (Malaysian dance), 784 Wu shi (Malaysian dance), 784 Xieng Mieng stories, 738 Xiong, Ia, 422 Xiong, Tou Ger, 27 Yakudoshi (bad years), 639 Yamamoto, Hisaye, 602, 618, 651–652
Yamasaki, Minoru, 602 Yamashita, Yoshitsugu, 619 Yamauchi, Wakako, 617 Yan, Sophie, 271 Yang, Gene Luen, 74, 296–297 Yang, Heesung, 661–662 Yang, Jerry, 227 Yangge dances, 270 Yashima, Taro, 617 Yellow Turban Rebellion, 279 Yellowface, actors and, 32 Yeoh, Michelle, 790 Yep, Laurence, 294 Yike theater, 190 Yin and yang, 329–330 Yoder, Don, xxxvi Yoga, 512, 1040 Yokai (spirits), 576–577 Yolk magazine, 66–67 Yoo, Paula, 665 Youth culture, 45–46, 59–62, 183, 184. See also Children and youth YouTube, 184 Yuri origami, 629 Yusuf, Hamza, 976 Zapin (Malaysian dance), 783–784 Zeba magazine, 119 Zen gardens, 652–653 Zodiac, Chinese Americans and, 250–251 Zoning laws, 211–212 Zorig, S., 832 Zoroastrianism, 471, 503, 504, 507, 987
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASIAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE AND FOLKLIFE
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASIAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE AND FOLKLIFE Volume Two
Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau, Editors
Copyright 2011 by Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Encyclopedia of Asian American folklore and folklife / Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau, editors. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5 (hard copy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-35067-2 (ebook) 1. Asian Americans—Folklore—Encyclopedias. 2. Asian Americans—Social life and customs— Encyclopedias. I. Lee, Jonathan H. X. II. Nadeau, Kathleen M., 1952– GR111.A75E63 2011 398.20 08995073—dc22 2010030699 ISBN: 978-0-313-35066-5 EISBN: 978-0-313-35067-2 15 14 13 12 11
1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America
CONTENTS
VOLUME ONE Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Asian American Folklore and Folklife PAN ASIAN AMERICANS
xxix xxxiii xxxv 1
Asian American Ethnomusicology and Folklore
1
Asian American Family, Memory, and Folklore
5
Asian American Female Suicide and Folklore
10
Asian American Folklore and Children’s Literature
14
Asian American Folklore, Folklife, and Material Culture
18
Asian American Grocery Stores
21
Asian American Humor and Folklore
23
Asian American Popular Culture and Folklore
29
Asian American Queer Folklore and Folklife
35
Asian American Queer Studies and Folklore
41
Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore
46
Asian American Theater and Folklore
51
Asian American Visual Culture and Folklore
54
Asian American Youth Culture and Folklore
59
Asian Pacific Heritage Month
63
Avalokitesvara
64
“Got Rice?”
66
Lotus Flower
68
Model Minority
69
Mother-Daughter Narrative in Asian American Literature
71
Orientalism and Folklore
73
Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions
74
Root Quest
76
v
vi
Contents
Second and Subsequent Generations
77
Sexuality, Love, and Folklore in Asian America
79
Siddhartha Gautama (c. 6th–5th Centuries BCE)
84
Swastika
86
“Twinkie,” “Banana,” “Coconut”
88
MIXED HERITAGE, MIXED RACE ASIAN AMERICANS
91
Myths of Origin
91
Amerasians
97
Hapa and Folklore
98
Interracial/Interethnic Marriage and Romance AFGHAN AMERICANS
100 105
History, People, and Culture
105
Culture and Language
110
Folk Dance, Folklore, and Children’s Tales
114
Identity
117
Religion
120
Rites of Passage
123
BURMESE AMERICANS
127
History, People, and Culture
127
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
133
Arts and Crafts
134
Domestic Religious Practices
135
Dying and Death Rituals
137
Festivals and Holidays
138
Folk Dance and Performance
141
Folk Music
144
Folktales
145
Foods and Foodways
146
Heroes and Heroines
148
Home Decoration
151
Humoral Medicine and Spirit Beliefs
152
Identity
153
Literature and Folklore
154
Contents
Mythological and Legendary Deities
156
Names and Name Giving
158
Nature and Animals
160
Proverbs and Maxims
162
Religion
163
Rites of Passage
166
Social Etiquette and Customs
167
Superstition and Taboo
169
Temples
172
Traditional Medicine and Healing
173
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
176
CAMBODIAN AMERICANS
179
History, People, and Culture
179
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decorations
185
Children’s Folklore
186
Clothes and Jewelry
188
Dance, Music, and Performance
189
Dying and Death Rituals
191
Family and Community
193
Festivals and Holidays
195
Folk Music
196
Foods and Foodways
198
Heroes and Heroines
199
Identity
201
“The Killing Fields”
202
Literature
204
Names and Name Giving
205
Narrative Folktales
206
Proverbs and Maxims
207
Religion
209
Rites of Passage
213
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
214
Traditional Medicine and Healing
216
vii
viii
Contents
Urban Legends
217
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
219
CHINESE AMERICANS
223
History, People, and Culture
223
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
228
Arts and Crafts
230
Bok Kai Temple and Parade
231
Children’s Folk Songs
233
Chin, Vincent (1955–1982)
234
Chinatown
236
Chinatown Ghost Stories
238
Chinatown Opera Theaters
241
Chinese Calligraphy
246
Chinese Martial Arts
248
Chinese Zodiac
250
Clothes and Jewelry
251
Confucian Traditions
253
Domestic Religious Practices
254
Donald Duk (Frank Chin) (1991)
256
Dying and Death Rituals
257
Fa Mu Lan
263
Family and Community
264
Feng Shui/Geomancy
266
Festivals and Holidays
267
Folk Dances and Performances
269
Folk Music
270
Folklore in Children’s Literature
272
Foods and Foodways
274
Fortune Cookie
276
Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan
277
Guandi
278
Ha Jin (1956–)
281
Heroes and Heroines
282
Contents
Home Decoration
283
Hong Fook Tong
285
Identity
286
Kingston, Maxine Hong (1940–)
288
Lee, Bruce (1940–1973)
290
Lin, Maya Ying (1959–)
291
Literature and Folklore
292
M. Butterfly
294
The Monkey King (Sun Wukong)
296
Mythological and Legendary Deities
297
Names and Name Giving
299
Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant (Honolulu)
300
Narrative Folktale
302
Paper Sons/Paper Daughters
303
Proverbs and Maxims
304
Qing Ming
305
Religion
307
Rites of Passage
309
Social Etiquette and Customs
311
Taiwanese American Religious Temples
313
Tan, Amy (1952–)
316
Taoism
318
Tianhou/Mazu
319
Traditional Medicine and Healing
322
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
324
Vernacular Overseas Chinese Architecture
325
Yin and Yang
328
FILIPINO AMERICANS
331
History, People, and Culture
331
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
336
Arts and Crafts
337
Balikbayan Boxes
339
Beauty Pageants
341
ix
x
Contents
Beauty Standards
342
Bulosan, Carlos (1911–1956)
344
Children’s and Folk Song
345
Clothes and Jewelry
346
Debutantes
348
Dying and Death Rituals
350
Family and Community
353
Festivals and Holidays
355
Filipino American Churches
356
Filipino American National Historical Society
358
Filipino Turntablism/Mobile DJs
359
Folk Music
361
Foods and Foodways
362
Gender Folklore
364
Gonzalez, N. V. M. (1915–1999)
366
Heroes and Heroines
368
Home Decoration
369
Identity
370
Igorot Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
372
Igorot Balikbayans
373
Igorot Dying and Death Rituals
374
Igorot Family and Community
376
Igorot Foods and Foodways
377
Igorot Home Decoration
379
Indigenous Folk Dance and Performance
380
Indigenous Identity
383
Jeepneys
384
Literature and Folklore
385
Malakas at Maganda
386
Manilamen
387
Mestizaje
389
Names and Name Giving
391
Narrative Folklore
392
Pakikisama
395
Contents
Pilipino Cultural Night
396
Pinoy and Pinay
398
Proverbs and Maxims
399
Religion
401
Rites of Passage
403
Santo Nin˜o Festival
405
Social Etiquette and Customs
406
Traditional Medicine and Healing
408
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
409
Index
I-1
VOLUME TWO HMONG AMERICANS
413
History, People, and Culture
413
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
417
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
418
Bride Capture
421
Children’s Literature and Folktales
423
Clothes and Jewelry
424
Dying and Death Rituals
425
Family and Community
427
Festivals and Holidays
429
Folk Music
430
Folk Songs
431
Foods and Foodways
433
Heroes and Heroines
434
Identity
435
Music
437
Names and Name Giving
439
Narrative/Oral Folktale
440
Nature and Animals
442
Proverbs and Maxims
443
Religion
445
xi
xii
Contents
Rites of Passage
448
Shamanism
450
Social Etiquette and Customs
452
Story Cloths
453
Textiles
455
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
457
INDIAN AMERICANS
459
History, People, and Culture
459
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
461
Ayurveda
463
Children’s Folk Songs
465
Clothes and Jewelry
466
Dance
467
Domestic Religious Practices
469
Dying and Death Rituals
470
Festivals and Holidays
472
Folk Music
474
Foods and Foodways
475
Henna
477
Heroes and Heroines
478
Hindu Temples in America
479
Home Decoration
482
Indian American Writers
484
Jain Temples
487
Literature and Folklore
489
Little India
490
Mukherjee, Bharati (1940–)
492
Muslim Mosques
494
Mythological Hindu Deities
495
Names and Name Giving
497
Narrative Folktale
499
Nature and Animals
500
Proverbs and Maxims
501
Contents
Religion
503
Rites of Passage
505
Social Etiquette and Customs
508
Superstition and Taboo
509
Threshold Designs
510
Traditional Medicine and Healing
511
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
512
INDONESIAN AMERICANS
515
History, People, and Culture
515
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
520
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
523
Children’s Folk Songs
524
Clothes and Jewelry
526
Dying and Death Rituals
528
Family and Community
531
Festivals and Holidays
532
Folk Dance and Performance
534
Foods and Foodways
536
Heroes and Heroines
538
Identity
540
Javanese Puppets
544
Literature and Folklore
545
Names and Name Giving
548
Narrative Folklore
551
Proverbs and Maxims
553
Religion
554
Restaurants and Cuisine
557
Rites of Passage
560
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
562
Traditional Medicine and Healing
563
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
566
JAPANESE AMERICANS History, People, and Culture
569 569
xiii
xiv
Contents
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
576
Arts and Crafts
577
Chanoyu (Japanese Tea Ceremony)
579
Cherry Blossom Festival
580
Children’s Literature and Songs
581
Domestic Religious Practices
583
Draft Resisters during World War II
585
Dying and Death Rituals
587
Dynasty Warriors
589
Family and Community
590
Festivals and Holidays
591
Floral Arrangements
593
Folk Dance and Performance
595
Folk Music
596
Folktales
597
Foods and Foodways
599
Hawaii Sugar Plantation
601
Heroes and Heroines
602
Identity
603
Inouye, Daniel K. (1924–)
605
Internment Camps
606
Japanese American Artists
610
Japanese American National Museum
611
Japantown
614
Lemon Notebook (Remoncho)
615
Literature and Folklore
617
Martial Arts
618
Mori, Toshio (1910–1980)
620
Names and Name Giving
621
Nature and Animals
622
Noguchi, Isamu (1904–1988)
624
No-No Boys
626
Okada, John (1923–1971)
627
Origami
628
Contents
Pearl Harbor
630
Picture Bride/Shashin Hanayome
631
Pilgrimage to Japanese American Internment Sites
632
Poke´mon
634
Proverbs and Maxims
636
Religion
637
Rites of Passage
639
Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike” (1977–)
640
Social Etiquette and Customs
641
Superstition and Taboo
643
Taiko Performance
644
Tatami
646
Traditional Medicine and Healing
647
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
649
Yamamoto, Hisaye (1921–)
651
Zen Garden
652
KOREAN AMERICANS
655
History, People, and Culture
655
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
660
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
661
Children and Folk Song
663
Children’s Literature and Folklore
664
Clothes and Jewelry
666
Comfort Women
668
Domestic Religious Practices
669
Dying and Death Rituals
671
Family and Community
673
Festivals and Holidays
674
Folk Dance and Performance
675
Folk Music
677
Foods and Foodways
678
Heroes and Heroines
680
Identity
682
xv
xvi
Contents
Korean American Adoptee Film
683
Korean American Adoptee Literature
685
Korean American Adoptees
687
Korean American Martial Arts
689
Korean Church in America
690
Koreatown and Koreans Living Overseas
693
Literature
694
Music
696
Names and Name Giving
698
Narrative Folklore
699
Proverbs and Maxims
700
Religion
701
Rites of Passage
704
Social Etiquette and Customs
706
Superstition and Taboo
707
Traditional Medicine and Healing
709
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
710
LAOTIAN AMERICANS
713
History, People, and Culture
713
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
717
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
719
Children’s Folk Song
720
Clothes
721
Domestic Religious Practices
723
Dying and Death Rituals
725
Family and Community
727
Festivals and Holidays
729
Folk Dance and Performance
730
Foods and Foodways
732
Heroes and Heroines
734
Identity
735
Jewelry
736
Literature and Folklore
737
Contents
Marriage Rituals
739
Names and Name Giving
742
Narrative Folktale
744
Pii May Lao or Lao New Year
745
Proverbs and Maxims
746
Religion
747
Rites of Passage
752
Social Etiquette and Customs
754
Traditional Medicine and Healing
755
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
757
MALAYSIAN AMERICANS
759
History, People, and Culture
759
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
764
Children and Folk Song
768
Clothes and Jewelry
771
Dying and Death Rituals
774
Family and Community
778
Festivals and Holidays
781
Folk Dance and Performance
783
Folk Music
786
Foods and Foodways
787
Heroes and Heroines
789
Home Decoration
791
Identity
792
Literature and Folklore
793
Names and Name Giving
795
Narrative Folklore
796
Proverbs and Maxims
798
Religion
799
Rites of Passage
804
Superstition and Taboo
806
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
808
Index
I-1
xvii
xviii
Contents
VOLUME THREE MONGOLIAN AMERICANS
811
History, People, and Culture
811
Children
816
Clothes and Jewelry
818
Dying and Death Rituals
820
Family and Community
822
Festivals and Holidays
823
Folk Dance and Performance
825
Folk Music
826
Folktales
828
Foods and Foodways
829
Heroes and Heroines
831
Home Decoration
833
Identity
835
Music and Folk Song
836
Names and Name Giving
837
Proverbs and Maxims
839
Religion
840
Rites of Passage
842
Social Etiquette and Customs
844
Superstition and Taboo
845
Traditional Medicine and Healing
846
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
848
NEPALI AMERICANS
851
History, People, and Culture
851
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
854
Clothes and Jewelry
855
Dying and Death Rituals
857
Family and Community
858
Festivals and Holidays
860
Folk Dance and Performance
861
Folk Music
862
Contents
Foods and Foodways
864
Identity
865
Maxims and Proverbs
866
Religion
868
Rites of Passage
869
Social Etiquette and Customs
870
Traditional Medicine and Healing
872
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
873
OKINAWAN AMERICANS
877
History, People, and Culture
877
Art and Dance
880
Festivals and Holidays
883
Foods and Foodways
884
Martial Arts
885
Music
886
Religion
890
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
892
PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICANS
893
History, People, and Culture
893
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
899
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
900
Chamorro Folklore of World War II
902
Children and Folk Song
903
Clothing and Jewelry
904
Dying and Death Rituals
906
Family and Community
907
Festivals and Holidays
908
Fiji and Fijians
910
Filipino Material Culture on Guam
911
Folk Dance
913
Folk Music
914
Foods and Foodways
916
Guam and Chamorus
917
xix
xx
Contents
Guam: Narratives of Female Deities among the Chamorro
919
Hawaii and Hawaiian
922
Hawaii: Nature and Animals
924
Hawaiian Folklore
925
Hawaiian Folk Music
927
Heroes and Heroines
928
Identity
930
Literature and Folklore
931
Names and Name Giving
932
Narrative
934
Pidgin
935
Pigeons
936
Polynesian Cultural Center
937
Polynesians
938
Puku’i, Mary Kawena (1895–1986)
939
Religion
940
Rites of Passage
944
Samoa and Samoans
946
Surf and Surfing
948
Tahiti and Tahitian
950
Traditional Medicine and Healing
952
PAKISTANI AMERICANS
955
History, People, and Culture
955
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
960
Arts and Crafts
961
Children’s Folk Song
963
Clothes and Jewelry
964
Dying and Death Rituals
966
Family and Community
967
Festivals and Holidays
968
Folk Dance
971
Folk Music
972
Foods and Foodways
973
Contents
Heroes and Heroines
975
Home Decoration
977
Identity
978
Literature and Folklore
980
Names and Name Giving
982
Narrative Folktale
983
Proverbs and Maxims
985
Religion
986
Rites of Passage
989
Social Etiquette and Customs
991
Superstition and Taboo
992
Traditional Medicine and Healing
994
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
996
PUNJABI AMERICANS History, People, and Culture
999 999
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1005
Children’s Folklore
1007
Dying and Death Rituals
1008
Family and Community
1010
Festivals and Holidays
1012
Foods and Foodways
1014
Gurbani Kirtan
1015
Gurdwara
1017
Heroes and Heroines
1018
Home Decoration
1020
Identity
1021
Literature and Folklore
1023
Names and Name Giving
1024
Proverbs and Maxims
1026
Religion
1028
Rites of Passage
1030
Sikh Gurus
1033
Sikhism
1036
xxi
xxii
Contents
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1039
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1041
SRI LANKAN AMERICANS
1043
History, People, and Culture
1043
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1048
Caste
1049
Christians
1051
Clothes and Jewelry
1053
Dying and Death Rituals
1054
Family and Community
1055
Festivals and Holidays
1058
Folk Dance and Performance
1059
Foods and Foodways
1061
Heroes and Heroines
1063
Identity
1064
Literature and Folklore
1066
Muslims
1068
Names and Name Giving
1069
Religion
1071
Rites of Passage
1074
Tamil Folktales and Proverbs
1076
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1078
THAI AMERICANS
1081
History, People, and Culture
1081
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
1084
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1085
Children’s Folklore
1086
Clothes and Jewelry
1087
Community
1088
Domestic Religious Practices
1091
Dying and Death Rituals
1092
Ethnic Media
1093
Family and Community
1095
Contents
Festivals and Holidays
1096
Folk Dance and Performance
1098
Folk Music
1099
Foods and Foodways
1101
Heroes and Heroines
1102
Identity
1103
Names and Name Giving
1105
Narrative Folklore
1106
Religion
1109
Rites of Passage
1113
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
1114
Thai Dance and Music
1116
Thai Town
1120
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1122
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1122
TIBETAN AMERICANS
1127
History, People, and Culture
1127
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1128
Children and Folk Song
1130
Clothes and Jewelry
1131
Dalai Lama (1935–)
1133
Dying and Death Rituals
1134
Family and Community
1135
Festivals and Holidays
1137
Folk Dance and Performance
1138
Folk Music
1140
Foods and Foodways
1141
Heroes and Heroines
1142
Identity
1144
Literature and Folklore
1145
Names and Name Giving
1146
Narrative Folktales
1147
Proverbs and Maxims
1148
xxiii
xxiv
Contents
Religion
1149
Sand Mandala
1153
Social Etiquette and Customs
1154
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1156
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1157
VIETNAMESE AMERICANS
1159
History, People, and Culture
1159
Arts and Crafts
1165
Boat People
1166
Children and Folk Song
1168
Clothes and Jewelry
1170
Domestic Religious Practices
1171
Dying and Death Rituals
1174
Family and Community
1177
Festivals and Holidays
1179
Folk Dance and Performance
1181
Folk Music
1184
Folktales and Narratives
1185
Foods and Foodways
1187
Heroes and Heroines
1189
Home Decoration
1191
Hurricane Katrina Experience
1193
Identity
1195
Indigenous Religious Traditions
1196
Little Saigon
1198
Monkey Bridge (Lan Cao)
1199
Names and Name Giving
1201
Proverbs and Maxims
1202
Religion
1204
Rites of Passage
1206
Social Etiquette and Customs
1208
Superstition and Taboo
1209
Tet
1211
Contents
Trung Sisters
1213
Truong Van Tran Incident
1215
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1216
Viet Kieu
1218
Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
1221
Bibliography
1241
List of Contributors
1247
Index About the Editors
I-1
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Hmong Americans History, People, and Culture The Hmong people who currently reside in the United States can trace their long history and forms of folkloric expression back to central Asia. Currently there are nearly 9 million Hmongic-speaking people living in the central highland regions of China. Although historians debate the actual origins of the Hmong, Chinese documents describing Hmong people suggest that their history extends back at least 3,000 years and is closely tied to central northern China. The Hmong who eventually resettle in the United States draw from two Hmong groups: Hmong Daw (White Hmong) and Hmong Njua (Green Hmong), who in the 18th century (and afterwards) resettled in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Traditional Hmong social organization is based on kinship affiliations. The Hmong are patrilineal; a person’s clan is always traced through the father’s lineage. Thus, if a person, male or female, is born into the Xiong clan, he or she will keep that clan designation for life. Kinship rules also provide the cultural means for holding Hmong society together. In fact, traditional Hmong social life is quite complex. Descent (as mentioned above: tracing familial/clan relationships across generations) also defines whole classes of people. For example, txiv (father) can be used as a linguistic marker for all male members of the father’s generation. Modifiers can be added to denote how a male of the father’s generation is specifically related (or not) to a person’s biological father. The same construction can be done for mother’s (niam) generation. Classificatory terms can be applied in all age sets. In this sense, kin terms can be used to describe most facets of social life. For example, the mother’s older sister is niam tais hlob. A man’s wife’s older sister’s husband is called txiv laus. Thus the function of the word txiv is to denote not only one’s father but an entire class of males in the father’s generation and, through linguistic markers, help map out a complex network of social relationships. In addition, traditional Hmong strictly follow the clan exogamy rule. Through this rule a person cannot marry a member of the same clan; a Lee cannot marry a Lee, nor can a Xiong marry another Xiong. This cultural pattern is fairly typical
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of clan societies. The cultural function of clan exogamy, according to anthropologists, is to make sure that with marrying out, economic and social variation is maintained. Although debated, it is obvious that having women marrying out of the clan ensures more channels of communication and economic exchange across clans. Clan affiliations also guarantee that when traveling, birth clans can always be found—whereby kin affiliations provide a degree of social security. The traditional Hmong emphasize the extended family over the nuclear family. When referring to the numbers associated with one’s family it is not surprising to hear 80 or 90 people mentioned. An emphasis on the extended family coupled with patrilineal descent and residence rules (patrilocality) provide the foundations for traditional Hmong village life. These traditional patterns of life have been seriously challenged for Hmong who have immigrated to North America. Traditionally, the Hmong are animists. They believe that the world is animated by the actions of thousands of invisible spirits (neng). Often illnesses are blamed on the actions of spirits. Sometimes, if a person falls ill, members of the family will look to a recent event that may have left the person vulnerable to spirit invasion. If this is the case, a shaman (txiv neng) will be called in to do a healing ceremony. From the Hmong perspective the shaman will, through inducing a trance, move into the spirit world to negotiate a cure for the person suffering from the sickness. The shaman uses drumming and chanting to induce the trance. With most curing ceremonies the shaman stands on an altar box, and handlers will stand close by to make sure that the shaman does not fall. A belief in spirits carries over to many other aspects of Hmong life. For example, Hmong houses are set up and organized to protect individuals from spirit invasion. The single doors are always oriented toward the mountains, where the placement of the mountains form a protective hand encompassing the house and by extension provide protection for the village. Fetishes are placed directly across from the door to ward off dangerous spirits who might pass through. Moreover, when a Hmong person dies, the body is placed in the ground such that the head is slightly raised in order to look out toward the mountains. Making cultural use of space in conjunction with religious beliefs is what anthropologists call geomancy.
The Hmong in America: Emergent Patterns During the Second Indochina War (known in the United States as the Vietnam War), most Hmong sided with the United States. This has come to be known as the “Secret War” because according to the Geneva Conference of 1954, the United States was barred from entering Laos or Cambodia. Getting around this international legal problem involved the CIA, working in conjunction with the Pentagon, to make contact with Hmong operatives in Laos. During the early years of the war (the mid1960s), young Hmong males were used for reconnaissance, but as the war became
Hmong Americans: History, People, and Culture
protracted, Hmong involvement grew to the point where the Hmong were active fighters—fighting against the Pathet Lao communist forces. In 1975, when the war ended, the Hmong people were targets of the newly formed Pathet Lao government. Significant numbers of Hmong were rounded up and placed in reeducation camps. Many of these Hmong never returned to their families. Because the Hmong had become targets in their own land, they began to migrate out of Laos, across the Mekong River into Thailand. For many years Hmong leaders and their often fragmented families were kept in refugee camps in northern Thailand. Ban Vinai was the largest of the camps that held Hmong refugees. At Ban Vinai, the water was often bad, food was scarce, and the living conditions were crowded. By the early 1980s, Hmong families who could demonstrate their participation in the war were obtaining immigration status to the United States. In the years that followed, many Hmong emigrants made their way to the United States. By 1990, an estimated 200,000 Hmong lived in the United States, and by 2000, that number had doubled. The transition from Hmong traditional rural lifeways to cultural patterns familiar to Euro-Americans proved to be a serious challenge for the Hmong. Resettling in North American cities, farm communities, and suburbs, especially during the early years of resettlement (the 1980s) produced in the Hmong community many conflicts (within and from without the Hmong community). Perhaps the most profound of the initial adjustments had to do with making economic inroads. Most traditional Hmong were subsistence dry rice farmers. When these farmers observed the large-scale corporate rice farms of California and Minnesota, they knew that they could not compete. Adapting, however, allowed the Hmong to reorganize dooryard gardens. In traditional settings the Hmong planted vegetable crops made up of cabbage, carrots, peppers, and various types of cooking greens. In California, and in other states where the Hmong have resettled, cooperative truck gardens have been set up and used throughout the year. The produce grown in these gardens are sold in local farmers markets. Another Hmong adaptive strategy was organized by Hmong women. Traditionally, Hmong women make pandau (embroidered flower cloths). This form of textile art has become popular in many parts of the United States and created muchneeded income. Sadly, it was the women who made the early connections to the market, and men who had traditionally been heads of the households felt as though they had no place. During the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the suicide rate among Hmong males was alarmingly high. From the mid-1990s on, the suicide rate went down considerably. This reduction is primarily due to higher numbers of males entering the job market and to increasing numbers of younger Hmong males who are graduating from college and getting jobs. Hmong social organization is also changing. With many Hmong moving into urban and suburban localities, the emphasis has shifted somewhat from the
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extended family to the nuclear family. Still, by North American standards, the Hmong define the family as extended. Another change in social organization is seen with the slow transition to dropping the clan exogamy rule. In more traditional Hmong families, forbidding marriage within the clan is still a rigid cultural rule. However, there are increasing numbers of young Hmong couples who are getting married within their own birth clans (e.g., Lee, Xiong, Vang, Her). This trend is occurring quite slowly, with traditional Hmong resisting such changes. Among the most significant changes occurring for American Hmong are alterations made to religious practices and beliefs. As mentioned earlier, traditional Hmong are animists (belief in spirits). Some of these spirits can be helpful if called upon; others are merely around and typically do no harm except by accidental intrusion; other spirits can kill. From the perspective of this belief system, a person has to always be on guard to be protected from intended and unintended spiritual harm. Religious specialists known as txiv neng (father [master] of spirits) will often be called upon to perform healing ceremonies. This often involves sacrificing animals. This practice has produced a number of stereotypes of the Hmong as “primitive,” “wild,” and “superstitious.” What Euro-Americans do not realize is that this practice is based on a widespread, systematic, and complex set of beliefs. The ceremonies performed by txiv neng, for example, follow a cultural pattern that has its own cultural logic and is in some ways no different from Catholic Mass, circumcision, or a Christian baptism, except in its culturally prescribed form and function. All societies have rituals and ceremonies that, when viewed from outside of a recognizable cultural context, might seem strange. Within each household, individuals can perform religious rites and practices without the need for a txiv neng. For example, certain religious power objects (fetishes) are placed on walls to protect the house from wandering spirits. The alignment of the house to the external world is extremely important from the traditional Hmong perspective. North American dwellings (apartment houses, regular houses, and condominiums) rarely fit Hmong standards. American Hmong who hold on to animism have had to modify their living arrangements—sometimes to the dismay of landlords and property owners. By knocking out walls, growing large indoor gardens, and setting up cooking areas in living rooms, some Hmong faced eviction. Over the years these types of conflicts have all but disappeared. Many American Hmong have accommodated basic cultural norms for habitation as they exist in North America. Some American Hmong have converted to Christianity. In many cases this pattern was established in the refugee camps. Several Christian denominations, such as the Church of Latter Day Saints, several Baptist communities, and Presbyterians, to name only a few, sponsored Hmong families. Hmong families who had joined Christian communities found it easier to negotiate many of the barriers to U.S. immigration and resettlement. When these communities resettled in the United States, the
Hmong Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
Hmong community had become divided. Some Hmong viewed themselves as traditionalists while others openly denounced animism and embraced Christianity. This conflict also separated family members, causing some older Hmong to view younger Hmong as disconnected from tradition. Many tensions and conflicts that have arisen since the arrival of the Hmong can be attributed to cultural distortion (when cultural norms become fuzzy or vague). This type of cultural ambiguity has led some Hmong youth to join gangs. While the numbers of Hmong and Southeast Asia gang members is still relatively low compared to other minority groups, leaders in the Hmong community, as well as educators and local police, have expressed their concerns over this gang behavior. The future of culturally marginalized Hmong is uncertain. Still, it has become obvious that most Hmong have been successful in adapting to their new lives in the United States. Graduation rates are up when contrasted with those of the 1980s. Many Hmong—both men and women—are entering graduate programs. In addition, many Hmong have found their way into business, politics, social work, and education. While conflicts and tensions are still part of the Hmong experience in the United States, their flexibility in altering cultural patterns and their motivation to succeed in this complex and mixed cultural situation is admirable. —Michael Shaw Findlay
Further Reading Chan, Sucheng. Hmong Means Free: Life in Laos and America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994. Koltyk, Jo Ann. New Pioneers in the Heartland. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998. Long, Lynellyn D. Ban Vinai: The Refugee Camp. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. Quincy, Keith. Hmong: History of a People. Cheney: Eastern Washington University Press, 1988.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit The Hmong people practice a spiritual belief system that includes a combination of animism and ancestor worship. Although Hmong Americans are a heterogeneous group, many have retained this traditional belief system to varying degrees. Within this belief system the cosmology is comprised of yaj ceeb (seen world of the living) and yeeb ceeb (unseen world of spirits and ancestors). There is a strong interconnection between these two worlds with implications for an individual’s well-being, health, illness, and death.
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Traditionally, it is believed that each person has multiple souls. To sustain overall health, these souls must remain in harmony. Any interruption may lead to illness or death. There are two primary causes for spiritual illness. First, the soul may become dissatisfied and voluntarily leave the body that it is residing in. Second, the person’s soul may be taken by an evil spirit. To restore harmony a traditional healer such as a shaman (txiv neeb) may be asked to perform a healing ceremony. The shaman is gifted in the ability to travel from the world of yaj ceeb to yeeb ceeb and back. In yeeb ceeb, the shaman will negotiate for the return of the afflicted person’s poob plig (lost soul). If the shaman is successful in retrieving the soul, the person will recover. Other rituals and ceremonies are performed throughout the year in an effort to promote the well-being of family members. For example, it is customary for the eldest male of the family to maintain the xwm kab (house spirit altar). The house spirits serve persons residing in the home by protecting them from evil spirits, guarding them from illness, and ensuring financial prosperity. Throughout the year, the eldest male insures that the appropriate rituals are performed to appease the house spirits. Nonadherence to the established rituals may cause the spirits to become dissatisfied and inflict harm (e.g., illness, death) on family members. During the Hmong New Year, special ceremonies are performed to promote family well-being throughout the upcoming year. One such ceremony involves driving away the evil spirits of the past year and invoking ancestral blessings for the coming year. —Linda A. Gerdner See also: Hmong Americans: Religion; Shamanism.
Further Reading Cha, Dia. “The Hmong ‘Dab Pog Couple’ Story and Significance in Arriving at an Understanding of Hmong Ritual.” Hmong Studies Journal 4 (2003–2004): 11–29. Huang, Hao. (2004). “Speaking with Spirits: The Hmong ntoo xeeb New Year Ceremony.” Asian Folklore Studies 63(1) (2003): 31–55. Lemone, Jacques. “The Constitution of a Hmong Shaman’s Powers of Healing and Folk Culture.” Shaman 4(1–2) (1996): 143–165.
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration Hmong American art has been duly shaped by preresettlement art forms, styles of artistic expression that emerged in refugee camps in Thailand, and by the processes of displacement and resettlement. Intricate needlework, or paj ntaub (literally, “flower cloth”) is the phrase most commonly used to gloss Hmong art, as the various applications of colorful needlework are commonly seen as the paragon of
Hmong Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
A piece of paj ntaub (flower cloth), a kind of needlework, is seen through an enlarger at an exhibit of Hmong culture at the Children's Museum in Holyoke, Massachusetts, February 22, 2005. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)
Hmong artistic expression. Paj ntaub has adorned both male and female “traditional” clothes as far as oral histories recall. In the United States, traditional dress is reserved most prominently for New Year celebrations, but are also worn in weddings or other religious and cultural events, such as Christian church attendance (albeit in modified form). Paj ntaub patterns vary between subgroups of Hmong—in the United States most notably Green Mong (Moob Lees) and White Hmong (Hmoob Dawb). For example, batik skirts with more colorful cross-stitched patterns are more typical of Green Mong dress, while White Hmong typically describe traditional female dress patterns as a plain white pleated skirt, with paj ntaub adorning the shirt (tiab), waist sash (siv), and apron (sev). However, in contemporary dress patterns, men and particularly women are often more concerned with aesthetics and even
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novel patterns than they are with wearing the traditional dress of one’s particular subgroup of Hmong. This includes a significant industry of importing Chinese Hmong clothes to meet demand among Hmong in the United States. In addition to the cross-stitching, a second popular art form includes batik. It is rare to see batik work in the United States, but many of the clothes that are imported include mixes of batik designs with paj ntaub stitching to constitute an entire piece (e.g., skirt, bag, etc.). In addition to clothes, paj ntaub adorns baby carriers (daim nyiam ev menyuas), and various other objects to which it has been applied in the commodification of the art form for sale as ethnic art. These new forms are consumed by non-Hmong as well as Hmong Americans as “Hmong art” in various festivals and New Year’s events. Such items include pillowcases, bed coverings, wall hangings, story cloths, and a host of knickknacks. Given the prevalence of paj ntaub as a recognizably Hmong art form as well as ethnonationalist tendencies to indigenous literary traditions, a movement exists to decipher a supposedly ancient Hmong orthography that is theorized to have been encoded in more salient patterns found in Hmong paj ntaub on clothes and baby carriers. This movement believes that, under the subjugation of Han Chinese hundreds of years ago, Hmong were forced to hide their writing system by creating needlework patterns out of characters. An ingenious system for deciphering and reconstructing this supposedly ancient system is unfinished but continues in its efforts to recover a writing system supposedly long lost to Hmong. “Decorations” may not be the most appropriate characterization of adornments found in many Hmong homes in the United States, as these articles usually play particular ritual functions for families that practice shamanism and have not converted to Christianity, or perhaps that practice both. A xwm kab is the most common wall adornment. In traditional village life, a xwm kab would be set on the uphill wall of one’s house, facing the principal doorway to the home. Given limitations in construction in the United States, adjustments have had to have been made. Regardless, the xwm kab is an altar to a primary spirit that protects the home. Similar altars may be found on the main door to the home and a principal beam or post. Again, variations in house construction in the United States necessitate modifications or sometimes simplifications of this system of ritual altar construction. Altars typically consist of plain and gold paper of various designs (specific to one’s patrilineage), often with a few feathers of a chicken and traces of its blood from the sacrifice offered to a given spirit. These altars tend to be replaced once a year as part of the ritual ending of one year and the beginning of a new one. Other, specialized wall altars appear in homes of practicing shamans or sometimes herbal specialists, providing a dwelling and ritual offerings of food and water to tutelary spirits. —Jacob R. Hickman See also: Hmong Americans: Story Cloths.
Hmong Americans: Bride Capture
Further Reading Livo, Norma, and Dia Cha. Folk Stories of the Hmong: Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 1991.
Bride Capture Although Hmong have in some aspects maintained some of their customary rituals in America, the American cultural and legal norms exert adverse effects on the gender roles and relations within the Hmong community. Hmong marriage by capture, sometimes referred to as Hmong bride-kidnapping (although this term is misleading because the word “kidnap” carries a negative implication) is still practiced within the Hmong American communities. The definition of marriage by capture has been loosely defined. It can refer to the abduction of a woman to be a man’s wife. It is a custom that have been practiced in many countries (i.e. Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, China, Laos and many others). Generally, the capture takes place when the woman is alone with the man. After the capture, the man and his clan then send a message to the woman’s family, informing them of the incident. At this moment, the woman’s family might want to insist that she be returned home, in which case that would free her from the obligation to marry the man. On the other hand, the man’s family would insist the woman to stay because leaving would bring indignity to her family. In Hmong tradition, the captured woman is held captive for three days. After which, negotiation over the bride’s dowry and a marriage ceremony is conducted by the Mej-Koob (i.e. negotiator-cum-match-maker). This “legitimates” the marriage. During the three days, the woman is encouraged by the potential husband and his kinfolks to stay. Occasionally, sexual assault or sexual intercourse may occur as this is part of the tradition. To the average Americans, this is nonsense and does not make any sense at all for the reason that rape is considered a crime. Even if the captured woman is not sexually assaulted it is automatically assumed [by the community] that she had because she slept with the abductor in the same bed. The Hmong community perceives that women have the right to refuse the marriage, however, often times the women do not because that would bring shame to the reputation of her parents and their clan. Hmong social value emphasizes the collective over the individual, which in this instance reveals itself as a “negative” form of social pressure. Having a negative reputations within the Hmong community is a major concerned, because these reputations severely affect the social interactions among members and lowers the clan’s social status. Though it is troublesome to believe, many parents would encourage their daughter to accept the marriage, despite her desires not to.
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Marriage by capture, therefore, may be viewed as a tradition that perpetuates gender subordination. Furthermore, it violates Hmong women’s independence and legal rights. Consequently, marriage by capture reveals the gender inequalities within the Hmong American community. Although some argue that this practice is part of the Hmong culture and women should just follow it, it fails to protect the civil rights of Hmong American women. As a result, they become victims of folk traditions. Nevertheless, there have been accounts of Hmong American women who resisted marriage by capture, and have taken legal actions against the “husband.” However, the court generally favors the husband’s side on the basis of the “exercise of culture” defense. In the case of People v. Moua (1985), Moua claimed that he was performing the traditional Hmong practice of marriage by capture, thus, his intent falls within his cultural norms. Moua realized that although the woman was resisting, he made the argument that resistance was part of the tradition as it was a means for her to communicate her virtue. Hence, the court dismissed the rape and kidnapping charges and Moua was only charged with a false imprisonment and paid $1000.00 fine. When it comes to practices such as this marriage by capture, Hmong American men are given the license to harm Hmong American women. The next stage after being married by capture is to become an obedient and compliant wife and daughter-in-law. Thus, there are gender role expectations for the woman to comply with. This poses many issues within the ontological domains of family and community. Within the family level, the wife has to obey the husband and follow his decision without question and hesitation. Hmong American wives are responsible for household chores, as well as nurturing children. Laziness is not tolerated within the Hmong society as rumors and gossip spread through the Hmong community quickly and widely. Thus, this carries an adverse representation to her social relation and status within the community. In this sense, the women have very little autonomy within the community. Although the gender roles issues are still present in the Hmong community, there have been some changes. As more Hmong Americans women are becoming educated, they will challenge their subordinate status within the Hmong American community. The future of Hmong American marriage by capture is questionable. A revised revision of this marriage ritual and tradition might be performed, without transgressing laws. —Yeng Yang See also: Hmong American Family and Community; Rites of Passages; Social Etiquette and Customs
Further Reading R. H, Barnes. “Marriage by Capture.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 5 (1999): 57.
Hmong Americans: Children’s Literature and Folktales Moua, Teng. The Hmong Culture: Kinship, Marriage & Family Systems. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. The Graduate College, University of Wisconsin at Stout, 2003. Kibria, Nazli. “Power, Patriarchy and Gender Conflict in the Vietnamese Immigrant Community.” Gender & Soceity March 1990 4 (1998): 9–24. Yang, Jennifer Ann. “Marriage by Capture in the Hmong Culture: The Legal Issues of Cultural Rights Versus Women’s Rights.”Law and Scoeity Review at UCSB (2004): 38–49.
Children’s Literature and Folktales The folklore and folk practices in Hmong America are shaped by several factors: original cultural values and traditions, adjustments to the new society, and developments of context-specific communities. These folk elements and practices are principally influenced by the conditions in which the Hmong populations left their place of origin for the United States, and the situations they experience in Hmong America. Therefore, Hmong American children experience folklore in a necessarily hybrid and multifaceted manner. Folklore in Hmong America, as in other immigrant and refugee communities, is sustained and defined through memories, storytelling, art practices, home lifestyle, familial relationships, and community environment—all of which blurs the geographical distance between their home country and Hmong America. As Hmong people adjust to the different terrains of life in the United States, their folklore connects the experiences they had in Asia and the new life they make in the United States. It is important to note that the oral language was only written down for the first time in the 1950s, contributing to the existing oral transmission of culture of the Hmong people. Folklore, therefore, can now be extensively recorded, preserved, shared, and developed. Previously, the Hmong people use the art of story cloth to pass on folk stories. For Hmong American children, folklore can only be meaningful if it is connected to their roots. An example of this can be found in Tiger Tales: Hmong Folktales (2009). Tiger Tales is the story of the quintessential American dream, where immigrants struggle to find a new home while maintaining their cultural roots. Here, a Hmong family lives in St. Paul but has difficulty feeling at home. Yet when the grandmother tells the traditional tiger stories, things change for the better. The three stories enable the children to forge greater connection with their ethnic roots, and give them the courage to confront the “tigers” they face in the American life. As this folktale is told by Grandma via theatrical performance, it bridges many gaps for both the American-born Hmong children and the general audience. This bridging does two things. First, it creates a space for the Hmong folk traditions to be shared with Hmong American children and therefore contributes to their identity formation and cultural heritage sustenance. Second, it encourages creative
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collaborations between Hmong and non-Hmong talents, engaging children in a direct process of negotiating ethnic identity and gaining a sense of the community. Other Hmong/Hmong American folklore and children stories are clearly hybrid in style and content. Peggy Deitz Shea’s The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee’s Story (1995), recounts the intergenerational connections and refugee life. Building on the traditional Hmong pa ndau story cloth, the story illustrates the beauty of passing on cultural heritage from Grandma to young granddaughter Mai at a Thailand refugee camp. When Mai weaves her life and reams into her pa ndau, she finds it difficult to part with the cloth when she has to sell it to enable her family to leave the camp. This story points out the adjustments that the Hmong people, even young children, must make in their new life somewhere else. From such journeys as refugees, the Hmong people strive to carve out a place for themselves in the United States. Ia Xiong’s The Gift: The Hmong New Year (1996) relays the story of winter holiday celebration in Mrs. Rowland’s third grade class. Dao, a Hmong American student, chooses to share the Hmong New Year with her classmates. By learning about her cultural traditions, Dao forges a stronger relationship with her Hmong grandfather, and is able to better appreciate her family’s cultural traditions and history. This necessarily bicultural story is a Hmong American children folklore in the making. —Trangdai Glassey-Tranguyen
Further Reading Cha, Dia. Dia’s Story Cloth. New York: Lee & Low, 2002. Hoyle, Karen Nelson. “Children’s Books For and About the Hmong.” The Looking Glass: New Perspectives on Children’s Literature 9(2) (2005). Moua, Mai Neng, ed. Bamboo among the Oaks: Contemporary Writing by Hmong Americans. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 2002. Shea, Peggy Deitz. The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee’s Story. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press, 1995. Toyed, Vangtou Xiong X. The Ant and the Elephant. Illustrated by Gerri Graber-Wilson. Spokane, WA: Vanger Books, 1994. Xiong, Ia. The Gift: The Hmong New Year. El Monte, CA: Pacific Asia Press, 1996.
Clothes and Jewelry Traditional Hmong clothes and jewelry are not worn every day by Hmong Americans. Instead, they are worn for community festivals, holidays, ceremonies, and on special occasions. There is great diversity in Hmong clothing and jewelry styles, which reflects the diversity of Hmong ethnic groups across Southeast Asian and China. The Hmong are generally classified as two groups: the White Hmong and the Blue
Hmong Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
Hmong, also called Green Hmong. Typically, Hmong fabric is organic and made from hemp or cotton. Hats and headdresses, for men and women are a key feature in Hmong clothing because the head is understood to be an important part of a person’s body and soul. Hmong clothing is colorful and richly complex in design. In particular, Hmong clothing is known for its embroidery work. Hmong men and women wear sashes. White Hmong women commonly wear pink or green sashes, while Hmong men wear pink sashes. In Asia, a young girl’s mother’s sewing ability can assist her in finding a husband. Hmong jewelry is primarily made of silver and is also intricate in design. Both Hmong men and women wear silver necklaces. Hmong babies are given a silver necklace during the naming ceremony. White Hmong wear round silver bracelets with engraved designs. Hmong also wear a lock lock-shaped pendant, which is often times used during a healing ceremony to “lock” the soul to the body as illness is understood to be cause caused by a soul that wanders away. Wearing traditional Hmong clothes and jewelry is a direct and powerful way for Hmong American youth to feel connected to their Hmong heritage. Many of them will wear traditional Hmong clothing and jewelry during Hmong culture night shows on college campuses where there are significant Hmong American student populations. Hmong Americans continue to wear their traditional clothing and jewelry for weddings and other important life ceremonies. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Livo, Norma, and Dia Cha. Folk Stories of the Hmong: Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 1991.
Dying and Death Rituals Traditionally, the spiritual belief system of the Hmong people involves a combination of animism and ancestor worship that has important implications for dying and death rituals. While many Hmong Americans have retained these beliefs to varying degrees, it is important to remember that they are a heterogeneous group of people. Traditional Hmong cosmology is divided into yaj ceeb (seen world of the living) and yeeb ceeb (unseen world of spirits and ancestors). Upon birth a human being is released into yaj ceeb. It is believed that each person is born with multiple souls. In Laos, it is customary for the Hmong to bury the placenta (“birth coat”) of the newborn under the earthen floor of the home. Some families continue this practice in the United States by asking hospital personnel for the placenta so they
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can bury it in their backyard. Upon death, it is traditionally believed that one of the person’s souls will return for the placenta, a necessary requirement for its ancestral reunion in yeeb ceeb. This reunion is predetermined by Ntxwy Nyug, a celestial being who grants each person a txoj hmoo (mandate of life). Some Hmong Americans believe that discussing or making plans in advance of a person’s death will “unlock the gate of the evil spirits” causing the person to die prematurely. Dying at home is especially important for Hmong Americans who retain traditional spiritual beliefs. This is primarily due to the presence of xwm kab (house spirit altar). Traditionally, as death approaches the person is dressed in khaub ncaws laus (“clothes for the old,” a euphemism for burial clothes). Following death, family members begin a lengthy funeral preparation. Traditionally it is believed that the body must be left in its purest most natural form to facilitate reincarnation and prevent negative consequences to the soul in the next life. Consequently, cutting or dismembering the body is discouraged. Similarly, it is believed that following death the body should be free of metal pieces (e.g., silver fillings). Therefore, all such items should be removed postmortem. Women prepare the funeral attire for the deceased. These clothing items must be made of natural fabrics and materials that are biodegradable. The body of the deceased is dressed in multiple layers of clothing for protection against the cold weather that will be encountered in yeeb ceeb. In addition, khau noog (cloth shoes) are placed on the feet of the deceased. Maj (hemp) fiber is then used to weave a protective sole on the bottom of each shoe. The coffin is constructed of a special wood, imported from Southeast Asia. Metal is prohibited in its construction. Funeral rituals emphasize the strong interdependence between the living and the deceased. Living relatives assist the deceased in transcendence to the land of ancestors. In return, the spirit of the deceased will guard and protect the living. In the United States, the funeral typically occurs over a three- to four-day period. Rituals associated with a traditional Hmong funeral vary by clan, as well as age and status of the deceased person; with three elements considered fundamental: (1) each married son is required to purchase a cow that will be sacrificed to support the deceased on his/her journey to yeeb ceeb; (2) a qeej, an instrument made of six bamboo reeds, is played to communicate with the spirit world and guide the soul of the deceased to its ancestral reunion; and (3) spirit paper is burned as monetary offerings for the deceased. Upon death it is generally believed that one soul journeys to the land of the ancestors, where it will eventually be reborn. A second soul travels to yeeb ceeb, where a new txoj hmoo will be issued enabling reincarnation. The third soul resides at the grave and watches over it. To further insure proper transcendence of the deceased person, specific taboos are observed by family during the immediate postinternent period. A second
Hmong Americans: Family and Community
ceremony is performed a minimum of 13 days following the funeral to ensure that the soul makes its final ascent in joining its ancestors. —Linda A. Gerdner
Further Reading Bliatout, Bruce Thowpauou. “Hmong Death Customs: Traditional and Acculturated.” In Donald Irish, Kathleen Lunquist, and Vivian Nelson, eds. Ethnic Variations in Dying, Death, and Grief: Diversity in Universality. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis, 1993, 79–100. Cha, Dia. Hmong American Concepts of Health, Healing, and Conventional Medicine. New York: Routledge, 2003. Gerdner, Linda, Dia Cha, Deu Yang, and Toni Tripp-Reimer. “The Circle of Life: End-ofLife Care and Death Rituals for Hmong American Elders.” Journal of Gerontological Nursing 33(5) (2007): 20–29. Helsel, Deborah, and Marilyn Mochel. “Afterbirths in the Afterlife: Cultural Meaning of Placental Disposal in a Hmong American Community.” Journal of Transcultural Nursing 13(4) (2002): 282–286.
Family and Community Hmong American families are child-centered. The chief caregivers are Hmong American women. Hmong American men are generally the head of household, but Hmong women possess considerable power because they are responsible for managing the household. For Hmong in Asia, the extended family structure is commonplace; however, in the United States, the tradition of extended family is hard to maintain. Because of the lack of financial resources, many Hmong American families are unable to maintain extended families because landlords, and local city zoning codes do not permit large numbers of people living in a single family home. This is especially true for Hmong Americans living in public housing. Even so, extended kin networks are nearby, which provide the same social support. Traditional Hmong kinship groups are recognized in the United States, but hold less importance to Hmong Americans. Hmong American parents are concerned about their Hmong American children maintaining Hmong culture and values. This is especially true with respect to the practice of Hmong shamanism and healing practices. Additionally, many Hmong refugees converted to Christianity while in refugees camps, or upon arrival in the United States for the sponsoring families. Hmong shamanic rituals also require animal sacrifices, which non-Hmong neighbors may be uncomfortable with and frown on. In the mid-1970s, and throughout the first half of the 1980s Hmong refugees were resettled in various communities in the United States to minimize economic
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Bao Lee (left) helps her sister Va Vang kill chickens for a special Hmong New Year feast in Fresno, California, December 12, 2004. The Vang family had recently arrived in America, settling in Fresno. The Vangs are among thousands of Hmong refugees who fled Laos for Thailand 35 years ago, and are part of the current U.S. government resettlement program for up to 15,000 Hmong. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
stress on any one particular local government. However, by the late 1980s, Hmong Americans migrated to centers where Hmong Americans have created strong communities, such as Fresno, Stockton, and Merced, California, and MinneapolisSt. Paul. These communities have Hmong cultural centers, and also produce community festivals, such as the Fresno Hmong International New Year Celebration. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Mote, Sue Murphy. Hmong and American: Stories of Transition to a Strange Land. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2004.
Web Sites Fresno Hmong International New Year: http://www.hmongnewyear.us/index.html. Sacramento Hmong New Year: http://www.sacramentohmongnewyear.com/.
Hmong Americans: Festivals and Holidays
Festivals and Holidays After several decades of living in the United States, many Hmong families have incorporated American holidays and festivals into their culture. This integration has provided a smooth transition for many families, making the adapting process uncomplicated. Celebrating many of the American holidays (e.g., such as American New Year, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and so on) has allowed many Hmong families to learn, understand, and appreciate American culture. Furthermore, the incorporation of these holidays and festivals into their culture symbolizes that they are acculturating and becoming Americanized. One of the major festivals that occurs annually within the Hmong community is the Hmong American New Year. The first New Year was celebrated in December 1975 with the first wave of Hmong refugees. Since then, the New Year has continuously been celebrated throughout many Hmong communities within the United States. One unique aspect of the New Year is that it appeared to be influenced by both the younger generation and mainstream society. Furthermore, the New Year celebration also functions to educate those who are interested in the Hmong tradition. Traditionally, the New Year is a time off from the long hours of harvesting that the Hmong people endured throughout the year. It was a time for the people to seek a new beginning and celebrate the occasion with families, relatives, and friends. It was also a time to offer gratitude and appreciation to the ancestors. For the younger generation, it was a time to find a spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend. In the United States, the Hmong New Year festivities occur annually between October and December. Americans’ typical 40-hour workweek makes getting together a challenge. Thus the New Year is held during these months to take advantage of the major holidays, creating a larger pool of people for the celebrations. Most often, it takes place in select cities where there is a high concentration of Hmong population. For example, in California, Sacramento and Fresno are the two largest cities with Hmong population, hence the New Year held in these cities are also the largest. The Hmong American New Year is constantly changing and adapting to the mainstream. Costumes have changed significantly, especially the designs and details. Most youths do not sing kwv txhiaj (courtship songs) anymore when they are ball tossing. Few people also play the ncas (mouth harp), which is traditionally played by single people. Indeed, the Hmong American New Year is constantly evolving, showing that the Hmong Americans are indeed acculturating and adapting to mainstream society. —Yeng Yang
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Further Reading Yang, Kou. “An Assessment of the Hmong American New Year and Its Implications for Hmong American Culture.” In Hmong Studies Journal, Volume 8 (2007): 1–32.
Web Site Hmong International New Year: Fresno. http://www.hmongnewyear.us/index.html (accessed May 2010).
Folk Music Hmong folk music in the United States consists of traditional songs for celebrations, birthdays, festivals, courtships, funerals, and refugees. Additionally, Hmong musicians and singers perform rock, pop, and dance music. A majority of the approximately 200,000–300,000 Hmong Americans reside in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Historically, Hmong Americans were predominantly from the Republic of Lao, but other populations are found in Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and China. Importantly, Hmong music was not present in the United States until the arrival of Hmong populations from the Lao diaspora in the late 1970s. Hmong and Lao music is similar and only distinguishable by ethnic groups (Hmong or Lao). The most familiar folk music instrument in Hmong culture is the khene (mouth organ). The khene is made from six curved bamboo pipes inserted into a wooden wind-chest serving as a reservoir for the player’s breath. It is primarily used for instrumental funeral tunes and New Year’s celebrations of song and dance. Other instruments Young Hmong American members of a qeej troupe perform in traditional dress at an event include the nplooj (leaf flute), ncas sponsored by the Hmong Cultural Center in (mouth harp), and raj (tube flute). The St. Paul, Minnesota. The qeej is a traditional most familiar musician of Hmong folk Hmong instrument that is played at funerals music traditions is Portland, Oregonand during New Year's celebrations. (Hmong Cultural Center) based, Bua Xou Mua. Bua’s album
Hmong Americans: Folk Songs
The Music of the Hmong People of Laos (1995) contained a wide selection of songs for many occasions, including weddings, funerals, courtship, and celebratory music for voice and instrument. Another musician, Khamvong Insixiengmai, is a prominent folk singer from Fresno, California. Hmong music also occurs in two classical forms: Sep Nyai and Sep Noi. The Sep Nyai primarily includes a xylophone (lanat), oboe (pei), kettle drums, cymbals (xing), and gongs (kong vong). The Sep Nyai is typically performed for ceremonial or formal occasions. The Sep Noi is reserved for popular folk music and includes bowed string instruments and khenes. The Royal Lao Orchestra resides in Tennessee and was one of the earliest orchestral groups to perform classical court music in the United States. The popular music scene contains a few rock bands, notably Black Flame, Chitpanya, and Sarky Mekmorakoth. However, female singers are particularly popular. The music of Phone Phoummithone incorporates dance and pop elements. In addition, Ketsana Vilaylack performs rock and pop music with traditional instrumentation of khene, xylophone, khong vong, and flute. The rap and hip-hop genres are represented by Iowa’s Khan-X, California’s Supasang, and Minnesota’s Gumby. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Hmong Americans: Folk Songs.
Further Reading “Hmong Americans.” Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. Detroit: Gale, 1995. Mua, Bou Xou. The Music of the Hmong People of Laos. Arhoolie Productions, Inc. ARH 446-CD.
Folk Songs Hmong Americans continue the musical traditions they practiced in Laos and Thailand, including several genres of song. Younger generations have taken up many of these traditions and adapted them to life in the United States.
Secular Hmong Song The most common song genre is a form of improvised poetry called kwv txhiaj (ker tsia). Drawing on poetic sayings and references to current situations, singers address topics like love and loneliness or the importance of education and family connections. They make up the words as they go, inserting a pair of rhyming
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words within each verse. When a verse is completed, it is repeated and the singer inserts a new pair of rhyming words. Great singers can make very clever substitutions, which sometimes mean the opposite of the original rhyme. The melody is also made up by the singer and closely relates to the tones of the words. The Hmong language is tonal, and singers use consistent relationships between the tones of words and musical pitches. For example, a word with a high tone is often sung on a high pitch, while a falling tone is sung on a low pitch. Kwv txhiaj were traditionally sung back and forth between young men and women during courtship. A good singing voice and the ability to think of clever rhymes in response to a suitor were signs of intelligence and skill. Young Hmong Americans continue to sing songs, but they are more likely to memorize the words and perform for an audience at a Hmong New Year festival. Older Hmong people originally from Laos and Thailand continue to sing songs, as well. Rather than courtship, they sing about subjects like missing their homeland or how to be a good member of the community.
Ritual Hmong Song Elders in the Hmong American community continue to sing during “soul calling” ceremonies (hu plig) when an infant is named and at other times to ensure good fortune or restore health. In traditional Hmong spirituality, a person has multiple souls, and the loss of one can cause disharmony. The songs invite the soul back using a variety of formulaic sayings. When a marriage is planned, ritual experts (mej koob) from both families perform a series of ceremonies to prepare the families for the marriage and to set the bride-price and dowry. These rituals and negotiations include many songs sung back and forth between the mej koob (may kong). Expert singers are also needed for funerals. The singer must carefully memorize the words to songs that explain to the soul of the deceased person how to return to the ancestral homeland. In the past, these ceremonies lasted several days. Today, singers are more likely to omit songs that are considered less important if there is not enough time. These ceremonies have become less common in the United States as more Hmong people join American churches and move away from traditional practices. —Nicholas Poss See also: Hmong Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Catlin, Amy. “Homo Cantens: Why Hmong Sing During Interactive Courtship Rituals.” Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology 9 (1992): 43–60. Catlin, Amy. “The Hmong and Their Music: A Critique of Pure Speech.” In Hmong Art: Tradition and Change. Sheboygan, WI: John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 1986, 10–18.
Hmong Americans: Foods and Foodways
Foods and Foodways Since 1975, the Hmong have been migrating to the United States, many coming as refugees after the Vietnam War. They have brought with them their traditional dietary practices and preferences for organic farming techniques. They continue to cultivate fresh garden produce and do their grocery shopping at local Asian markets. Many Hmong Americans have a small community organic garden or family farm in their backyard or patio deck, if they live in an apartment. However, as a result of exposure to American culture, American eating habits have been infused into the diets of many Hmong Americans. In the United States, prepackaged processed foods are available in abundance, making them a popular addition to the Hmong American diet. In their countries of origin, processed foods were rarely available due to the rural location of Hmong villages away from city markets. Originally, the Hmong people moved across borders between China and mainland Southeast Asia, so their menus and recipes have been partially influenced by diverse and various Chinese and Southeast Asian cooking styles and cuisines. Traditional Hmong meals, which are still consumed by most Hmong Americans in the United States, are comprised of white rice as a staple, vegetable soup, and spicy stir-fries and salads of meat and vegetables. Traditional vegetables include mustard greens, the soft shoots of pea plants, bitter melon tips, a variety of squash, and cucumbers. Fruits include those native to tropical countries such as durian, guava, and persimmons, which can be purchased at Asian grocery stores. Spices consist of lemon grass, basil, chili, cilantro, ginger, garlic, green onion, and mint. In their home countries, families raised their own livestock and enjoyed freshly butchered meats year round including chicken, pork, and beef. However, in the United States, families obtain freshly butchered meats from local farmers or butchering establishments. Most food is stir-fried, boiled, or steamed. Animal fat was traditionally used as cooking oil, but in the United States Hmong purchase vegetable oil or corn oils from American supermarkets. Rice is steamed, and no salt or fat is added. Every traditional meal includes a soup and its broth consumed throughout the meal. Soups can be one of two types. The first type of soup is a savory soup made of one meat and one vegetable. Salt and spices, such as lemon grass, are added to this savory soup. The fattiness of the meat compliments the flavor of the vegetable. The soup is boiled until the flavors of the meat and vegetable are combined. Added spices must not overwhelm the natural flavor of the meat and vegetable. The second soup is a vegetable soup. The vegetable is boiled in plain water until the flavor of the vegetable seeps into the water, making a broth that is almost tea-like. The broth and the vegetable are consumed throughout the course of the meal rather than separately from the main entree. No salt or spices are added to this vegetable
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soup. This soup can be either bitter or semi-sweet depending on the type of vegetable used. In the United States, Hmong continue to use mustard greens or squash in vegetable soup. The main dish in a Hmong meal is typically a meat and vegetable stir-fry or a salad of meat and vegetables. This main dish has the most spice in the meal. Spices such as cilantro, green onions, fish sauce, and chilies can be used in this dish. Dessert is in the form of fruit or rice cake consumed as a snack hours after the meal. —Pa Der Vang
Further Reading Ikeda, Joanne P. Hmong American Food Practices, Customs, and Holidays. 2nd ed. Chicago: American Diabetes Association, 1999. Scripter, Sami, and Sheng Yang. (2009). Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America. Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press, 2009.
Heroes and Heroines King Chi You is believed to be an ancient hero of the Miao (Hmu, Ah Hmao, Hmong, and Qho Xiong) people in China. Many scholars and historians have observed that King Chi You, along with Huang Di and Yan Di, was one of the greatest mythical ancestors of the Chinese nation. It is believed that King Chi You was the ruler of the Miao 5,000 years ago. Many Miao people still regard King Chi You as an important figure in their folklores and customs. By the time Laos became a French colony in 1893, an administrative hierarchy structure was set up and numerous Hmong were appointed. Lo Blia Yao was one of the first Hmong to take leadership. At the time, Lo Blia Yao helped the French put down the revolt against Pa Chay Vue (i.e., who led the Hmong people in the War of the Insane revolt against the French from 1918 to 1921) and gained incredible wealth acting as collector of the war compensation. As a consequence of this incident, these two figures become well respected depending on one’s stand. By the early 1970s, Touby Lyfoung achieved the rank of Deputy Minister of Post and Tele-communications for the Royal Laos Government. Lyfoung was the son of Ly Xia Foung, another highly respected man among the Hmong community of Laos and a grandson-in-law of Lo Blia Yao. In 1939, being one of the several Hmong educated in the French colonial school, Lyfoung was elected as head tasseng of the Nong Het subdistrict in Xiangkhoang Province. In the 1950s, Lyfoung’s role was vital in shaping Laos, which had just gained independence from the French. One of his tasks was to acknowledge the diversity of the many ethnic minorities while Laos was being united as one country.
Hmong Americans: Identity
Aside from the political leaders, another well-known Hmong leader is Major General Vang Pao. He first joined the French military police, and then went on to study at Military Officers College at Dong Hen in Southern Laos. He served for many years in the Royal Lao Army in Xieng Khouang. In 1959, he was promoted to the rank of major, commanding soldiers of all many ethnic backgrounds. He was later promoted to Commander of the Second Military Region in Northern Laos and became a general in 1964. Major General Vang immigrated to the United States after the Communists took over Laos in 1975. He is less influential among younger Hmong Americans. In the 1980s, Hmong professionals became a new trend in the Hmong leadership. This group included Hmong people with doctorate and medical degrees. Since then, there have been many emerging young Hmong scholars around the globe who qualify as heroes. —Yeng Yang
Further Reading Lee, Na Mai. “The Thousand-Year Myth: Construction and Characterization of Hmong.” In Hmong Studies Journal (1998): 1–23. Yang, Kou. “The Passing of a Hmong Pioneer: Nhiavu Lobliayao (Nyiaj Vws Lauj Npliaj Yob), 1915–1999.” In Hmong Studies Journal (2000): 1–5. Yang, Kou. “Research Notes from the Field: Tracing the Path of the Ancestors—A Visit to the Hmong in China.” In Hmong Studies Journal (2005): 1–38.
Web Sites Hmong Cultural and Resource Center. Hmong Historical Figures Presentation: http:// hmongstudies.org/HmongHistoricalFiguresPresentation.pdf (accessed May 2010). Lee, Yia Gary. Ethnic Minorities and Nationals Building in Laos: The Hmong in the Laos State: http://www.hmongnet.org/hmong-au/hmonglao.htm (accessed May 2010). Lee, Yia Gary. Minority Policies and the Hmong in Laos: http://www.hmongnet.org/ hmong-au/hmong82a.htm (accessed May 2010). Saykao, Pao. Hmong Leadership: The Traditional Model: http://www.hmongnet.org/ hmong-au/leader.htm (accessed May 2010).
Identity Identity is a popular topic of discussion for Hmong youth and elders alike. It is perhaps arguable that a more essentialized notion of Hmong authenticity has emerged in the United States in the face of rampant cultural change and threats to traditional kinship and ritual organization. Some people stress a hyphenation
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of one’s identity (“Hmong-American”), or perhaps simply “Hmong” or even “American Hmong,” to denote the primacy of an ethnic identity, but marking the place of residence as variable. Other common constructions in everyday discussions of “Hmongness” rate the extent to which one is truly “Hmong,” expressed as the number of parts of a whole or a percentage, such as “My son is only 50 percent Hmong—he barely even speaks Hmong!” Certain cultural symbols additionally play a prominent role in identifying Hmongness. These include the qeej, pa ntaub, or Hmong shamanism and related ritual practices. These symbols often serve as material indicators of an identity taken up or longed for in the imagination of Hmong Americans. Scholarly work on Hmong identity in the United States and elsewhere has focused on the assimilation of Hmong into varying socioeconomic strata of American society, following a segmented assimilation model. Others have questioned the notion of assimilation, arguing for hybrid or syncretic conceptualizations of Hmong cultural and ritual expressions in the United States. Some work emphasizes the emergence of a Hmong “trans-nation,” looking at the cultural work being done to establish global networks of Hmong that include emerging (fictive) kinship relationships and transnational exchange in media and clothes. All of this scholarship recognizes the importance of cultural change for Hmong Americans, and it is perhaps this one constant that runs throughout Hmong American constructions of identity: dealing with change. It is essential to note here that many Hmong recognize or emphasize the importance of the history of their ethnic group as one that has continually involved fight or flight to avoid political subjugation. Beginning with elaborate lore about wars with the Han Chinese, various accounts of Hmong history cite war after war after war. After many years of battling and finally losing to the Chinese, some Hmong fled to the Southeast Asian peninsula (largely Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam). From here, Hmong Americans emphasize the chronological struggle with French colonists, lowland Lao, then the Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces (against whom many Hmong were conscripted to fight during the proxy war in Laos). Once the government “fell” to the Communists, the flight of Hmong once again from the Lao homeland is cast as a continuation of the never-ending migration and search for political autonomy. For some, the struggle continues in the United States in socioeconomic terms, as Hmong Americans fight for economic independence, perhaps to live out the dream of the ancestors in terms of “freedom in America.” This necessarily idealistic account constitutes an important narrative for Hmong in the United States. It also leads to varying conceptions of a Hmong homeland—ranging from the villages left a generation ago in Laos to the “ancient” or “more authentic” homeland of China. Some even project the narrative beyond China to paint a picture of Hmong coming down from Mongolia, or from
Hmong Americans: Music
the East or West. However, the significance of this narrative for Hmong identity in the United States is found in the unity expressed with other Hmong in the diaspora (sometimes expanding to other related ethnic groups, such as non-Hmong Maio in China), as well as the eternal search for freedom that is seen as ingrained in Hmong personhood, almost as if to use a biological idiom for the transmission of this ethos. —Jacob R. Hickman
Further Reading Hein, Jeremy. Ethnic Origins: The Adaptation of Cambodian and Hmong Refugees in Four American Cities. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2006. Hickman, Jacob. “Is it Spirit or the Body”: Syncretism of the Health Beliefs Among Hmong Immigrants in Alaska.” In National Association for the Practice of Anthropology Bulletin. 27: 176–195, 2007. Lee, Stacey. Up Against Whiteness: Race, School, and Immigrant Youth. New York: Teacher College Press, 2005. Livo, Norma, and Dia Cha. Folk Stories of the Hmong: Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 1991. Scripter, Sami, and Sheng Yang. Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009.
Music Hmong music in the United States is as diverse as the Hmong diaspora itself, blending elements of traditional and contemporary culture across several generations. First-generation Hmong Americans continue musical practices learned in Laos and Thailand, passed down orally. Young Hmong Americans have also integrated popular Western genres into their communities.
Traditional Hmong Music The Hmong language is tonal, and words can take on different meanings when they are pronounced with one of the seven different lexical tones (e.g., high, low, falling, rising, etc.). In music, melodies are built on relationships between the pitch of words and musical pitches. While there are differences between styles, in general, words spoken with high and low pitches are performed on high and low musical pitches respectively, while other tones are distributed in between. In vocal music, this system is used to improvise melodies while singing extemporaneous poetry called kwv txhiaj (ger tsia). When the correct words are important, as in ritual music, words are memorized and realized in performance based on word-to-pitch relationships.
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Even musical instruments are able to communicate verbal messages. For example, during the funeral ritual, skilled players of the bamboo mouth organ called qeej (gaeng) encode the words that direct the soul of the deceased person back to the ancestral homeland. In the United States, older qeej masters continue to play for funerals and New Year festivals. Young Hmong Americans continue the tradition, but instead of learning one-on-one with a master, they are more likely to study in large groups at Hmong community centers. There they learn the words to the funeral ritual and how to perform acrobatic dance movements associated with playing at New Year festivals. Musicians can even talk back and forth through instruments. In informal genres, players improvise melodies based on familiar sayings and short, formulaic expressions that can be added together into long phrases. In the past, young Hmong people often played these messages on bamboo flutes called raj (dra) during courtship, but the practice is not common in the United States where American dating customs dominate.
Contemporary Hmong Music As Hmong people fled Laos in the aftermath of the Secret War and were settled in large refugee camps, there was a flourishing of popular music. The songs, called nkauj (ngo), were based on the popular styles of Southeast Asian pop music and tended toward slow tempos, pentatonic melodies, and lyrics on the themes of loss, loneliness, and love (also common to Hmong folk song). The old songs remain popular, and the style has been exported across the Hmong diaspora where modern bands continue to release albums and perform at festivals. Heavy metal, electronica, rap, and other Western genres have also taken root in Hmong American communities. While these forms are stylistically distinct from Hmong folk music, many young performers see shared values between the themes of socially conscious pop music and the messages of Hmong folk genres. Rappers also find similarities between the wordplay of hip-hop and the improvised poetry of kwv txhiaj. —Nicholas Poss See also: Hmong Americans: Folk Music; Folk Songs.
Further Reading Catlin, Amy. “Puzzling the Text: Thought-songs, Secret Languages, and Archaic Tones in Hmong Music.” In The World of Music: Journal of the Department of Ethnomusicology, Otto-Friedrich University of Bamberg 39(2) (1997): 69–81. Lee, Gary Yia. “Dreaming Across the Oceans: Globalization and Cultural Reinvention in the Hmong Diaspora.” Hmong Studies Journal 7 (2006): 1–33.
Hmong Americans: Names and Name Giving
Names and Name Giving Hmong naming practices invoke two historically important facets of Hmong social organization: its rootedness in a patrilineal clan-based kinship system, and the importance of Hmong shamanic and animistic practices. There exists a relatively small number of Hmong clans that comprise the groups that have resettled to the United States as refugees. Typically, this number is perceived to be 18, although a larger number of clans comprise Hmong in other countries, most notably China and Vietnam. For Hmong in the United States, the clan name most commonly comprises one’s last name. These include Chang (Tsaab), Chue (Tswb), Cheng (Tsheej), Fang (Faj), Her (Hawj), Hang (Taag/Haam), Khang (Khaab), Kong (Koo), Kue (Kwm), Lee (Lis), Lor (Lauj), Moua (Muas/Zag), Pha (Phab), Thao (Thoj), Vang (Vaaj/Vaj), Vue (Vwj), Xiong (Xyooj), and Yang (Yaaj). Each clan has an Anglicized version (the Hmong version is written in the RPA orthography in parentheses), which is typically the officially recognized surname on American government documents. Clan names are inherited patrilineally, and changing one’s clan name is exceedingly rare. This is typically seen as only justified in extreme circumstances, such as an orphan who is bereft of all patrilineal relatives and not in contact with any members of his or her patrilineal clan. Children are considered to belong to their biological father’s clan, and this factors into the practice of bride-price payments in marriage arrangements. Many argue that this constitutes the other side of the equation—the bride-price compensates a woman’s consanguineal relatives for the woman’s reproductive capacities to be assumed by her husband’s clan. Hmong overwhelmingly assert strong exogamous marriage taboos. Any fellow clan member is equated with a sibling as far as this marriage taboo is concerned, and these clans are often perceived to stretch all the way back to Chinese Hmong. Mutual clan membership has been the basis for the reestablishment of kinship networks from Hmong in the United States to Hmong in China—using surnames to assert clan affiliation, and building strong kinship connections with “long lost cousins” in Hmong transnationalism. A practice is emerging in the United States in which some Hmong lineage groups are adopting the entire name of a principal male ancestor as a surname. This is a novel practice, and is seen to accomplish both the recognition of the principal ancestor as well as accommodating a naming landscape in which the norm is a greater differentiation in surnames than allowed for by the clan system. For example, a subset of Hmong of the Vaj clan that all descend from a principal male ancestor, Txiaj Lis, might decide to assume the surname Txiajlisvaj, or the anglicized version Chialeevang. Given names are more fluid in Hmong American naming practices. In the United States, a child is often given both an American name and a Hmong name.
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American names most often become the one recognized by the American state, but elders who aren’t fluent in English frequently use only the Hmong names in referring to youth. Hmong youth may prefer one over the other, and this usage certainly plays into the types of identities being asserted in different situations. Further, sometimes parents choose an anglicization of a traditional Hmong name as the American name (e.g., glossing the Hmong name Txawj Pheej in English as Chue Peng), whereas in other instances there is no concordance between the “American” name and the “Hmong” name (e.g., Susan and Paj Yeeb). Changing one’s given name is relatively common for both ritual and social reasons. First, one’s name may be changed as a result of healing practice. Especially in circumstances of chronic illness, one may have a special variation on a soul calling (hu plig) or shamanic (ua neeb) intervention performed in which the given name is changed in addition to the ritual enactment. This is perceived to have the effect of hiding one’s identity from malevolent spirits that are seen to be the root cause of the illness, and it constitutes an extreme measure in the curative process. Second, men typically receive a second name when they reach a certain point in the life course. This point is subjectively determined, but tends to be correlated with the accumulation of progeny and social status, such that an “elder name” (npe laus) is called for to publicly mark his status. A man can ask anyone to give the elder name to him, but one’s in-laws are commonly called upon for this rite. —Jacob R. Hickman
Further Reading Chen, Sucheng. Hmong Means Free: Life in Laos and America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994. Pang, Valerie Ooka, and Li-Rong Lilly Cheng. Struggling to Be Heard: The Unmet Needs of Asian Pacific American Children. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998. Tapp, Nicholas. The Impossibility of Self: An Essay on Hmong Diaspora. Berlin: Lit Verlag.
Narrative/Oral Folktale The Hmong term for folktale or narrative is zaj dab neeg. Zaj is a classifier for orations, dab means “spirit or ghost,” and neeg refers to “people.” Thus, this phrase can be translated as “narratives of spirits and people,” which reveals important cosmological themes that play out in Hmong folk narrative. Hmong American oral narratives can roughly be classified into four categories: legendary, historical, pedagogical/proverbial, and personal. There are certainly significant overlaps
Hmong Americans: Narrative/Oral Folktale
between these types. Legendary narratives deal with origin myths of the world, the emergence of mankind in general and Hmongkind in specific, the establishment of Hmong ritual practice, and cosmological issues in general. Examples of popular legendary folktales include that of Siv Yim, the first shaman, how he obtained his powers and disbursed them for use by today’s shamans. These also include an origin myth of the first man and woman, the division of the Hmong into clans, the differentiation of the world’s ethnic and linguistic groups. Historical narratives include the migratory trajectory from a variety of theorized locations (e.g., the Middle East, Mongolia) to China, from China to Southeast Asia, and from Southeast Asia to the United States. These historical narratives are also rich with accounts of particular conflicts at various points of the trajectory, such as specific battles with the Chinese, uprisings against the French, and detailed accounts of fighting in Laos. An all-encompassing historical narrative that emphasizes Hmong history as a perennial flight from political subjugation plays significantly into Hmong identities in the United States. Pedagogical/proverbial narratives have the particular point of teaching some moral good or principle through the narrative. These often use anthropomorphized animals as the main characters. Moral tales also incorporate orations of local occurrences in a community and their negative social and personal consequences of a particular person’s actions. The retelling of such narrations serve as an important socializing mechanism for parents to teach their children to ua neej tsim txiaj, to “live a worthy life.” Personal narratives include stories from one’s life, but also importantly include salient narratives for one’s patrilineage that explain, among other things, the taboos relevant to a particular clan or patrilineage. For example, one patrilineage might tell a story of a key ancestor who was cursed with the Hmong explicative “tiger bite” (rov tom) by someone, and then proceed to describe how he was subsequently hunting in the jungle and was attacked and eaten by a tiger—all this toward the end of explaining why members of that patrilineage are strictly tabooed against using that explicative. Another common narrative includes the retelling of instances of unresolved marriage disputes between two clans. These are used to explain some marriage taboos between clans, and are often retold (and sometimes resolved with financial restitution) through wedding negotiations. Personal narratives also include the particular migratory trajectory of a group of kin over time or a recital of significant instances in the lives of patrilineal ancestors. Many elder Hmong men this writer has interviewed can recall the genealogy of their patrilineal ancestors up to six generations, including significant instances in some of their lives and decisions to migrate. —Jacob R. Hickman See also: Hmong Americans: Children’s Literature and Folktales.
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Further Reading Livo, Norma, and Dia Cha. Folk Stories of the Hmong: Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 1991. Moua, Mai Neng. Bamboo among the Oaks: Contemporary Writing by Hmong Americans. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2002.
Nature and Animals Traditional Hmong ritual practice places a heavy emphasis on the currencies of nature and animals. The central place of ancestors and one’s obligation to them leads to a ritual emphasis on their temporal welfare after they pass away. This includes sending them animals and other forms of sustenance that will maintain them in the ancestral village. Failure to fulfill these obligations is perceived to have dire consequences for one’s health, fortune, and general well-being. Thus, animals play important roles in both the daily lives and cosmology of Hmong in Southeast Asia and the United States. Chickens, pigs, cows, and buffalo (buffalo are less common in the United States) are particularly important sacrificial animals, and represent an increasing spiritual currency (chicken being the least valuable and cow and buffalo being the most). Just as they form the staples of meat for living Hmong, these are the same animals that ancestors need in the ancestral village. When an animal is sacrificed, its spirit is sent to the recipient, whose acceptance of the offering is divined. This is the case not only for ancestors, but in shamanic practice as well. A spiritual trade of animals commonly factors into the negotiations between a shaman and the malevolent spirits that may be causing illness or misfortune for a family or individual. Restrictions on animal sacrifice in many communities where Hmong have resettled in the United States have changed the face of some of these ritual expressions. Whereas in Laos and Thailand these sacrifices typically would occur in the home of the person whose ancestors are being honored or for whom a shamanic ceremony is being performed, in many Hmong American households this is either not practical or in some cases has been banned by local ordinances. As a result, many of these sacrifices tend to occur on the farms where they are purchased. In these cases, the carcass is often brought back to the home and butchered and prepared for the postritual feast, and the rest of the ritual practice is carried out. Beyond the ritual importance of animals, Hmong place particular spiritual importance on nature in general. The animistic outlook of many Hmong includes a conception of nature as full of spirits (dab) that regularly interact with people in both positive and negative ways. Spirits inhabit regular natural dwellings, just as people do houses, and one must be cognizant of them and their dwellings so as not to offend them and to seek their benefits. For example, farmers may plead with local spirits to protect their crops from destructive insects and vermin.
Hmong Americans: Proverbs and Maxims
Alternatively, if one is not careful of one’s speech and somehow offends a local spirit when passing through their habitation, this spirit may inflict illness on the person. This offense would require treatment from a soul-caller or perhaps a shaman. Regular occurrence of accidents— such as a series of drownings in a pond or an inordinately high number of traffic accidents at a given intersection— in a particular area may be attributed to a malevolent spirit that dwells there. Many Hmong in the United States theorize that fewer dab live there, and they offer several reasons for this. These include the notion that spirits are afraid of lights and electricity, that the forest in most parts of the United States is either less dense or nonexistent, or perhaps that the topography is not amenable to spirits’ dwelling places. Some elder Hmong lament that in the United States they don’t know local spirits and thus find it more difficult to live there than in the villages in Laos and Thailand that they left, given that they do not know the location and disposition of local spirits. In this sense, many Hmong in the United States express an idiom of nostalgia for the “old ways” of village life, living close to nature (i.e., where the local spirits are abundant and “known”) and in the higher elevations of the Southeast Asian massif. One might even argue that this line of reasoning is a means of talking about and coping with the drastic cultural shifts experienced in resettlement to places as foreign as urban American cities. —Jacob R. Hickman
Further Reading Culhane-Pera, Kathleen, Dorothy Vawter, Phua Xiong, Barbara Babbitt, and Mary Solberg, eds. Healing by Heart: Clinical and Ethical Case Stories of Hmong Families and Western Providers. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2003. Leepreecha, Prasit. “Ntoo Xeeb: Cultural Redefinition for Forest Conservation among the Hmong in Thailand.” In Nicholas Tapp, Jean Michaud, Christian Culas, and Gary Yia Lee, eds. Hmong/Miao in Asia. Bangkok: Silkworm Books, 2004. Livo, Norma, and Dia Cha. Folk Stories of the Hmong: Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 1991. Tapp, Nicholas. “Geomancy and Development: The Case of the White Hmong of North Thailand.” Ethnos 53 (1988): 228–238. Tapp, Nicholas. Sovereignty and Rebellion: The White Hmong of Northern Thailand. Rev. ed. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 2005.
Proverbs and Maxims All societies encode conventional wisdom into short sayings or “proverbs.” These proverbs represent highly idiomatic forms of expression that are culturally patterned. Often when translated literally from one language to another they
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make little or no sense. For example, imagine what might transpire when someone who is not familiar with English idioms hears: “Don’t cry over spilt milk,” or “The early bird gets the worm.” The first proverb is really saying “Don’t become preoccupied over something bad that has happened. Move on.” The second proverb refers to the cultural value of rising early in the morning and to being industrial and productive. Traditional Hmong have many proverbs that they have brought with them from Laos to their new circumstances in North America. Like those mentioned above, literal translations render the proverbs unintelligible to most English speakers. However, some gloss easily into English. Maxims, by contrast, are concise cultural rules of behavior expressed in idiomatic form. In English, for example, we often hear: “Honesty is the best policy.” The idea is direct and to the point. The Hmong have both proverbs and maxims. The Hmong use the term paj lug, literally “flower language,” to describe these genres of expression. Here are a few examples with explanations. The Hmong like to convey their views of old age. Like any group of people they know that with old age there is sometimes senility. The following couplet proverb expresses this idea: “Swm laus swm khoob, Zeej zeej tib toob” (Old trees are hollow; old men are feeble minded). The Hmong of Asia have in the past been economically marginalized by the Chinese, Laotians, and other dominant societies. When they arrived in the United States they carried with them a kind of pride in assuming responsibility over their economic independence. The following proverb demonstrates the value of not wanting too much. “Pluag pluag ua plhu luag; muaj muaj ua plhu luag” (The poor are happy; the rich weep). The Hmong also value brevity in speech: “Txawj ntos tsis qwg txias; Txawj hais tsis qeg lus” (An able weaver doesn’t waste thread; an able speaker doesn’t waste words). Maxims typically come in the form of terse sayings—for example, “Noj dawb haus do” (To be lazy, eat and drink without working). This maxim conveys the idea that one should be ashamed of laziness when eating food grown and harvested by others. Some maxims come in the form of direct advice: “Nyob tiaj nyob tus” (Reside peacefully; live at peace). Although the proverbs and maxims presented above convey ideas specific to the American and traditional Hmong culture, many of the ideas and values they communicate are universal. —Michael Shaw Findlay
Further Reading Heimbach, Ernest E. White Hmong-English Dictionary. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1979. Johnson, Charles, and Se Yang, eds. Myths, Legends and Folktales from the Hmong of Laos. 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: Linguistics Department, Macalester College, 1992.
Hmong Americans: Religion
Religion There exists a recognizable tension within Hmong communities and families in the United States around the issues of religion and religious practice. The axis of this tension pits Christianity against “traditional” Hmong religious practice— often glossed simply as “shamanism” (in English; ua neeb in Hmong). However, upon closer analysis, the religious landscape among Hmong in the United States appears to be more of a continuum than a dichotomy when it comes to actual practice and the beliefs undergirding that practice. Christian missionaries were active among Hmong in Southeast Asia and China long before Hmong from Laos began resettling in the United States. In some cases, even the majority of villages converted to Christianity, and in others it was seen as a vehicle for the expression of messianic beliefs held by Hmong prior to the arrival of missionaries. However, the relocation and resettlement of Hmong to the United States led to much higher rates of conversion. There are several trends, according to Hmong who convert, that at least partially explain this mass conversion. For example, many Hmong in the United States find it difficult to maintain traditional ritual practice in a non-agriculturally based, relatively urban environment. The time requirements and inflexibility of wage labor do not lend themselves well to performing traditional rituals, which often require a number of people and extensive amounts of time to carry out. Further, restrictions on animal sacrifice in residential zones limit what one can and cannot do with live animals in one’s house. In addition, it is more difficult to raise chickens, pigs, and cows in the United States unless one lives on a farm (a minority of Hmong in the United States farm, as compared to a majority in Southeast Asia). Further, these animals are very expensive to purchase in the United States. All of these factors compound to make it quite difficult and expensive to perform shamanic and other traditional rituals. For this reason, some Hmong that convert to Christianity cite the relative ease of Christian religious practice as at least an initial incentive. In a similar vein, Hmong ritual practice requires a wealth of different specialists to perform rites and curative techniques properly. These include shamans (txiv neeb), soul-callers (tus hu plig), herbal specialists (kws tshuaj), lineage-specific ritual specialists who are versed in the particular orations of a particular patrilineage’s ancestors, and “magical” (khawv koob; “magic” is a common but poor translation of this form of healing, as it induces a different connotation from the Hmong term) healers. The outcome of these demands is that one must live in an area with a relatively significant Hmong population to have easy access to all of the traditional specialists. Further, if one’s elders with the ritual-specific knowledge of one’s particular ancestors do not live close or did not even resettle in the United States, this makes it incredibly difficult or impossible to perform some
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rituals that require these lineage-specific knowledge and orations. It is not uncommon, therefore, for Hmong who lack access to these kinship and ritual specialist networks to place less importance on traditional ritual practice in their lives, or to convert to Christianity altogether. Another common pathway for Hmong to convert to Christianity involves health and healing that is sought and sometimes obtained through Christian practice. Particularly in cases of chronic illness, if one has exhausted traditional and biomedical healing techniques without effect, one might turn to Christianity and Christian prayer for healing, perhaps through an introduction by a friend or relative. Even if one does not find physical healing through this process, many find meaning or spiritual or psychological healing through it, and thus convert to Christianity. On a more practical level, it is essential to note that during the resettlement process many of the sponsoring institutions for individuals, families, and groups of families coming from the refugee camps were Christian congregations of various denominations. This also became a clear pathway to conversion, with some Hmong citing their version of the cliche´, “when in Rome, do as the Romans.” (This portrayal of pathways to conversion for Hmong in the United States is not meant to devalue Hmong beliefs in Christianity, but merely to point to the social circumstances that predisposed many Hmong to at least an introduction or initial consideration of Christian beliefs.) It is still likely that the majority of Hmong in the United States identify as practicing “traditional Hmong religion,” or more commonly “the old rituals” (kev cai qub) or “shamanism” (ua neeb). However, for some this may be a mere identityaffiliation more than a worldview, such as for Hmong youth who value the practices but don’t seek them out themselves. Traditional Hmong ritual practice is complex. It revolves around maintaining a balance between living people and spirits, caring properly for living souls, respecting and providing for ancestors, harnessing cosmic energy and maintaining its proper balance (i.e., the Chinese ideas of chi and feng shui, which Hmong gloss as kev cai mem toj), and herbal healing, among other purposes. There is no standard set of rituals or canon of practices. In fact, healing techniques are commonly borrowed from Chinese or Thai or Lao, and the particular manifestation of a ritual is likely to vary from shaman to shaman, lineage group to lineage group, and community to community. This is a result of the acephalous nature of Hmong society and ritual practice itself. Shamans are trained by other shamans and tutelary spirits, and other specialists are trained by practitioners of the various arts, but there are no hierarchies or special societies that regulate or transmit these practices. Despite these idiosyncrasies, one can point to some of the most common forms of ritual practice that Hmong typically recognize as hallmarks of their tradition. Shamanism (ua neeb) might be the foremost of these, but one must also include soul-calling (hu plig), herbalism (tshuaj), supplicatory rituals (e.g., fiv yeem and pauj yeem), and the renewal rituals that occur at the end of one year and the
Hmong Americans: Religion
beginning of another. These latter rituals are designed to renew one’s gratitude and devotion to ancestors by offering them the first fruits of one’s harvest (in the United States this will simply be a special meal not necessarily harvested by the family). Altars to house spirits are also renewed, and sometimes one’s house is ritually swept of all old things and bad luck of the past, in preparation for renewal rituals that invite future fortune for the coming year. A special soul-calling ceremony is commonly held during the New Year celebration, followed by other rituals that vary by clan and patrilineage. Soul-calling is a common rite that serves many purposes. It can be preventative, celebratory, or curative. The basic principle is that one’s spirit is called home to one’s body, or made to be happy and comfortable in one’s body and thus less likely to flee and cause an illness. In the case of the curative version, one’s errant soul is called home to restore one’s health. Shamanism often takes the extreme version of this. Shamans have the ability and access to tutelary spirits that allow them to actually travel the spiritual domain in search of errant spirits or ancestors, seek out malevolent spirits (dab) that may be causing problems, and negotiate terms with these entities. The hope is that this may result in a resolution of the problem for which the shaman was called (e.g., illness, consistent misfortune, concern for one’s ancestors, etc.). Supplicatory rituals serve the purpose of asking for spirits’, ancestors’, or deities’ help in bringing about a certain outcome, such as a successful harvest, protection during surgery, or safe return from a long journey or tour of duty for a soldier. If the desired outcome occurs, one pays a sacrificial debt that was agreed to at the outset of the supplicatory ritual. The Hmong ritual repertoire extends far beyond the confines of this essay, but these practices constitute some of the more common forms. With regard to religious conversion, Hmong who practice shamanism often discourage conversion, citing the kinship conflicts inherent in conversion. Many Christian perspectives preclude their members from partaking in traditional rituals with their relatives, or even of eating meat that was involved in the rituals. Hmong traditionalists tend to view this as divisive and disruptive of traditional kinship structures. It is often difficult to understand their relatives’ not attending important family feasts. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that many Christian Hmong don’t actually deny the metaphysical assumptions of the traditional cosmology and that, in practice, many “Christian” Hmong live and practice in both communities to varying extents. Even among Hmong that are fully committed to Christian teachings and prohibitions of traditional ritual practice, it is still apparent that many of them still believe in the reality of natural spirits (beyond those inhabited by bodies and theorized by the Bible) and the ancestral villages. For example, a common belief among Hmong converts is that if one confesses to Jesus, goes to church regularly, and reads the Bible, then one returns to live with God at death; whereas if one participates in the traditional rituals, one returns to live with the ancestors.
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In this sense, a new, layered cosmology has emerged for many Hmong that accounts for both ontologies. —Jacob R. Hickman See also: Hmong Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Nature and Animals; Shamanism.
Further Reading Capps, Lisa L. “Change and Continuity in the Medical Culture of the Hmong in Kansas City.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 8(2) (1994): 161–177. Culas, C. “Innovation and Tradition in Rituals and Cosmology: Hmong Messianism and Shamanism in Southeast Asia.” In N. Tapp, J. Michaud, C. Culas, C., and G. Y. Lee, eds. Hmong/Miao in Asia. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2004. Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. Faruque, Cathleen Jo. Migration of Hmong to the Midwestern United States. New York: University Press of America, 2002. Hickman, Jacob R. “ ‘Is It the Spirit or the Body?’ Syncretism of Health Beliefs among Hmong Immigrants to Alaska.” NAPA Bulletin 27 (2007): 176–195. Koltyk, Jo Ann. New Pioneers in the Heartland: Hmong Life in Wisconsin. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998.
Rites of Passage Birth, marriage, and death rituals within the Hmong community in the United States are still being practiced today. These rituals are a fundamental part of the Hmong culture because these rituals mark the transition phase of a person’s life.
Birth Birth can be considered both a Hmong’s entry into the world and the most important symbol of his or her identity. Traditionally, Hmong women gave birth without doctors as they were not available. Typically, it is the husband and the women (i.e., sisters-in-law, sisters, etc.) who are present during the delivery. The placenta of the newborn is then buried in a specified place according to the gender. A boy’s placenta is buried deep under a pillar of the house. A girl’s placenta is buried under the door of the house. The placenta carries a symbolic meaning in the sense that when a person dies, that person will be guided back to retrieve it to find his or her ancestors. Three days after the delivery, a name is chosen for the child. Typically, the name is chosen by a shaman in accordance with the time period and, sometimes, the birth order of the child. The child will be addressed by this given name throughout his or her life, unless a shaman perceives that the child’s name would
Hmong Americans: Rites of Passage
Koua Yang graduated from Franklin High School in Stockton, California, and began attending the University of California at Davis in Fall 2010. She is pictured with her mom and dad, who celebrated her completion of a new rite of passage for Hmong American women. Traditionally, Hmong/Hmong American women are expected to stay home to assist their parents with the household. However, Koua is one among many Hmong American women who reflects a change in this folk practice. (Yeng Yang)
have to be changed for spiritual or health reasons. For a boy, when he becomes a father, a name ceremony will be held to give him a new name to indicate that he has passed from one phase of life to the next. This transition marks the significance of the boy’s adulthood and entails him with new responsibility and status role.
Marriage Marriage is another significant ritual within the Hmong community. Marriage does not just involve the groom and bride; it involves the entire families and to a lesser extent, the clan. Typically, the arrangement of a marriage follows the authority and respect of the elders. At the same time, the elders consult with the couple, individually and separately, to make of their respective desires before reaching an agreement. The bride-price is usually arranged mutually by both sides, and the groom pays the price. The price in this context does not mean treating the bride as property; instead, it is perceived as a vow to assure the bride’s parents and clan
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members that she will be highly respected, valued, and well treated by the groom, his family, and clan. A common Hmong proverb used during the wedding ceremony says, “Though you are holding onto the top of the string, we [the bride’s family] are also holding onto the bottom of the string.”
Funeral A funeral is one of the most significant rituals within the Hmong culture as this marks the end of one’s journey. This ritual is structured and logically guided by the qhuab ke (i.e., the person showing the way to the deceased). One of the primary objectives of the funeral is to guide the deceased’s spirit back to find his or her placental jacket, which he or she will wear during the journey to the afterlife. Traditionally, the funeral ranged from 3 to 10 days, depending on the deceased’s status in the community. A well-known and respected person would have a longer funeral, whereas a small child would have a shorter one. In the United States, almost all funerals, regardless of status of the deceased, are held on the weekends, as this is the only time most people are available. —Yeng Yang
Further Reading Falk, Catherine. “Upon Meeting the Ancestors: The Hmong Funeral Rituals in Asia and Australia.” In Hmong Studies Journal (1996): 1–15. Her, K. Vincent. “Hmong Cosmology: Proposed Model, Preliminary Insights.” In Hmong Studies Journal (2005): 1–25. Lee, Gary. “Cultural Identity in Post-Modern Society: Reflections on What Is a Hmong.” In Hmong Studies Journal (1996): 1–14. Moua, Teng. “The Hmong Culture: Kinship, Marriage & Family Systems.” In Hmong Studies Journal (2003): 1–61.
Web Site Saykao Pao. Hmong.FAQ: Death and Dying. [Online May 2010]: http://www.hmongnet .org/faq/dying.html.
Shamanism For the Hmong people, ua neeb (to practice shamanism) is a way to health and well-being that combines spirituality and healing. Its origins are shrouded in history, but folklore clearly identifies its significance, as indicated in this quote from “The Story of Siv Yis”: “Siv Yis (Shee Yee) was a special healer sent by the Creator to live with the Hmong people in the cave near [a mountain in southwest China]. His mission was to provide medical cures for all the people.”
Hmong Americans: Shamanism
In folk practice, being “chosen” (yuav ua neeb) is the first step in becoming a shaman, and this is generally precipitated by a serious illness. Men, women, or children can be chosen. Being chosen requires a lifelong commitment as a healer willing to serve the entire community. Some shamans follow strict dietary restrictions and ritual regimens, but many do not. An instructor (xibfwb) may provide information about tools needed, altar set-up (teeb thaj neeb), preparing ceremonies and words of caution; but does not offer “training” or “education” in any of the skills needed to be a healer. According to folk tradition, such information is provided entirely by the spirits. The shaman acts as the defender of victims, attempting to return balance and harmony to their lives. Some shamans specialize in the illness that afflicted them when they were chosen. Others are generalists and treat more common spiritual causes of illness. Shamans must first be able to treat family members before taking on the role of community healer. In Hmong folk practice, reputation and experience determine a healer’s effectiveness, and services are provided at no charge. Traditionally, a family member must approach a shaman to request help for an ill person, and the shaman takes several steps to determine if they will be able to help. Hmong shamans do not offer a physical diagnosis. They determine the “soul status” (ua neeb saib) of a person by entering the spirit world to confront the spirit(s) causing the illness. Then the shaman engages in negotiation (puaj dab), including offering spirit money (ntawv nyiaj) or the souls of animals in exchange for the soul of the sick person. This may involve great risk, and folklore includes many stories of shamans who have died during negotiations in the spirit world. Changes in shaman practices in the Hmong diaspora generally involve the restrictions of urban living situations and the unavailability of certain materials native to Southeast Asia. Although these physical obstructions and changes have required adjustments in shaman practices, use of this ancient tradition continues and shamanism is considered effective care by up to two-thirds of the Hmong community. There are also clear indications that young people in Hmong diaspora communities continue to be chosen to follow the shaman’s way. —Charles H. Numrich See also: Hmong Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Religion.
Further Reading Conquergood, Dwight. I Am a Shaman: A Hmong Life Story with Ethnographic Commentary. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989. Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. Thang, Nguyen Van, and Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet. “Changes in Healing Practices among the Hmong in Vietnam.” In Don McCaskill, Prasit Leepreecha, and Shaoying He, eds. Living in a Globalized World: Ethnic Minorities in the Greater Mekong Region. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2008.
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Social Etiquette and Customs Since resettling in North America, American Hmong have altered many of their traditional social norms for behavior. It is difficult to understand these emergent social behaviors without some understanding of traditional Laotian Hmong social etiquette. The social rules regulating how Hmong people should behave toward one another stem mainly from the basic rules for their social structure. For example, the Hmong are a kin-based culture who trace their clan affiliations through the father’s side of the family (patrilineal descent). Thus, a great deal of respect is paid to fathers—often through silence. In most circumstances small children do not talk directly to their fathers; they go through their mothers or older male siblings. During public events or in private, implicit rules for social etiquette often come into play. Traditionally, it is customary for any Hmong who is in the presence of a person of authority to show respect by being silent. It is also customary to show deference to authority figures by looking down (or not looking directly at the person of authority). This has sometimes been interpreted by western North Americans as shyness. This response is really not shyness in the psychological sense, but is in fact a culturally patterned response of showing deference to authority. Early in the adjustment period of the Hmong to North American patterns of behavior, this deference for authority acted as a barrier to communication in schools. Often teachers preferred not to engage Hmong students out of respect for their shyness. Hmong students viewed teachers as formal authority figures, and they viewed schools as formal institutions. The tendency among many North American teachers is to establish connections with all students through informal channels. This created a major barrier to communication for Hmong students. Over the years Hmong students have adapted; their educators have also made adjustments to accommodate their Hmong students. Perhaps the most apparent contrast between Hmong and North American cultural patterns has to do with collective behavior. The Hmong emphasize membership in the group or community over the individual. Hmong mothers along with older siblings often take young children to parks and playgrounds in mass. This is an essential part of Hmong culture. Taking care of children and performing other tasks is shared. Another example of this emphasis can be seen with car ownership. Several families will pool their resources to buy a large transport vehicle (e.g., a van). All the families who invested in the van will share it to shuttle children to school or to conduct local business. It may appear to non-Hmong onlookers that all Hmong families own many vans when in fact many cars are collectively owned and used. Over time, the more traditional aspects of Hmong social etiquette and cultural customs will change. However, within the Hmong community there is a desire to keep as many of the old customs as possible. —Michael Shaw Findlay
Hmong Americans: Story Cloths
Further Reading Chan, Sucheng. Hmong Means Free: Life in Laos and America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994. Trueba, Henry T., Lila Jacobs, and Elizabeth Kirton. Cultural Conflict and Adaptation: The Case of Hmong Children in American Society. New York: Falmer Press, 1990.
Story Cloths Story cloths emerged as an art form in the refugee camps in Thailand after Hmong began to flee Laos at the end of the proxy war (i.e., “America’s secret war in Laos”). Story cloths represent an adaptation of Hmong needlework (paj ntaub) that has long been used to create decorative patterns on clothes or baby carriers. As opposed to the cross- or long-stitch more typical of needlework on Hmong clothing, story cloths involve an immense amount of surface embroidery to depict characters and landscapes, typically on a large cloth medium (most commonly blue or green background). Some story cloths literally tell stories, including a brief needlework caption under a sequence of portrayals, while others are purely pictorial. The art form caught on and spread quite broadly, and it is currently found in stores and markets in the United States, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and other countries. Despite story cloths’ recent emergence, many people think of them as a potent symbol of Hmong culture. This may have to do with the prominent themes that are commonly depicted through story cloths: Hmong migration, traditional ritual practice, and popular folktales. One common migration theme depicts the long history of conflict and flight going back to China (see entry on “Hmong American Identity”). A portrayal of this theme might depict Hmong fighting on horseback with spears and machetes against the Han Chinese, with the backdrop of recognizably Chinese architecture dotting the landscape. As the theme progresses either to the right or downward on the cloth, one sees Hmong crossing the Red River, establishing highland villages, and subsequently fighting the Pathet Lao and Vietnamese—this time with machine guns. Hmong characters can be identified by their traditional and distinctly Hmong dress. The visual narrative continues to portray Hmong fleeing Laos, crossing the Mekong river under gunfire, and settling in refugee camps in Thailand. The narrative ends with portrayals of Hmong facing government officials and boarding planes to resettle in other countries (e.g., the United States). This narrative commonly appears in story cloth format, perhaps to reiterate the perceived perennial battle for political autonomy throughout Hmong history. It is essential to note here that much writing has been dedicated to this thesis of Hmong freedom. The hypothesis that “Hmong means free” has been repeatedly asserted. This is a contestable hypothesis and most likely a recent construction, given recent
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Mai Chor Lee displays a Hmong story cloth she helped create that promotes seasonal safety tips, at the Volunteers of America building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, December 7, 2005. The Hmong, an ethnic group, helped U.S.-backed forces fight communist insurgents during the Vietnam War. After the Communists won in 1975, more than 300,000 Laotians, mostly Hmong, fled to camps in Thailand, and most have since been repatriated to Laos or resettled in other countries. Most of the Hmong in the United States have settled in Minnesota, California, and Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Beth Schlanker)
developments in the Hmong diaspora accompanied by reinterpretations of the past. Nevertheless, the extent to which Hmong value this thesis and its implications is an important point in understanding Hmong identity in the United States and the importance of this imagery in Hmong art. Other common themes include depictions of traditional Hmong village life and ritual practice, with a potpourri of Hmong people doing “Hmong” things. These include New Years’ activities, such as lwm qaib (a ceremony where one gathers with one’s relatives to wash away things of old and invite good luck for the future), pov pob (throwing balls), singing kwv txhiaj (folk songs), hu plig (soul-calling ceremony), tuav ncuav (beating sticky rice into rice cakes), kab tshoob kev kos (traditional Hmong wedding; these tended to happen around the New Year more than any other time of year), etc. Besides New Years’ celebrations, some story cloths focus on the ritual or mundane aspects of traditional Hmong life that is not specific to the New Year, such as ua neeb (shamanism), hu plig (soul-calling), ua teb (harvesting rice or corn), ntaus nplej (threshing rice), preparing food, etc. Finally,
Hmong Americans: Textiles
many story cloths are dedicated to depictions of folktales. These represent the most literal of story cloths, as they adapt an oratory art form and inscribe it in embroidery. Some zaj dab neeg (oral folktales) use animals as characters, while others may involve interactions between spirits (dab) and people. Both canonical and novel folktales appear in story cloth form. This art form has been used by aid workers in refugee camps and in the course of resettlement to encourage literacy through the sewing of words, as well as to promote a source of income for (typically) women who produce them. It is now quite common for Hmong in Laos or Thailand to produce story cloths in large quantities for sale by relatives and friends in the United States, or in local tourist markets in those countries. Beyond the modal wall hanging format, other common applications of story cloths and associated embroidery techniques include decorative pillow cases, embroidered story books, adornment of handbags and purses, and decorative bed coverings. —Jacob R. Hickman See also: Hmong Americans: Textiles.
Further Reading Cha, Dia. Dia’s Story Cloth. New York: Lee & Low Books, 1996.
Textiles The study of Hmong textiles in the United States must be understood through the lens of a preliterate mountain culture that has journeyed through years of oppression, migration, war and exodus to refugee camps, resettlement, acculturation, and economic stability in a new land. Hmong needlework includes a variety of the needle arts: embroidery, primarily cross-stitch and satin stitch; reverse applique´ where a layer of fabric is cut into a pattern and sewn on top of a contrasting lower layer; batik, weaving and sewing, especially pleating and shirring of the skirt fabrics. Often these techniques are combined into one item, with symbols that reflect the landscape, beliefs, clan affiliation, and traditions of the maker. From baby carriers to funeral cloths and most of the clothing in between, these traditional textiles are primarily the domain and responsibility of women. The most immediate impact of resettlement on Hmong textile arts, as it relates to clothing, was the transformation from an art form in daily use to one solely used for community events such as weddings, funerals, and the New Year celebration. In Laos, men and women wore traditional clothing every day. The needlework incorporated into this clothing was an important marker of identity. It featured combinations of bright colors (pink, orange, red, yellow, and lime green) combined with silverwork on backgrounds of black or blue depending on the clan.
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After moving to the refugee camps in Thailand and subsequently to the United States, however, the need for textiles in everyday clothing abruptly ended. Add to that the complicated equipment and time required for advance batik and weaving techniques, and it is no surprise that embroidery and reverse applique´ became the primary forms of needlework to continue. Even in the refugee camps, enterprising Hmong women began to adapt their needlework styles, called paj ntaub (pa ndau) or “flower cloth,” to items and colors that would appeal to a broader buying market. With the help and influence of international cultural workers, women translated their needlework traditions to a global market economy. Flower cloth began to be found in a variety of “western” marketable forms such as wall hangings, bedspreads, pillowcases, potholders, coasters, coin purses, bookmarks, eyeglass cases, and so on. The refugee camps also fostered the creation and distribution of the narrative pictorial story cloth. Differing radically from the patterned symmetry of the traditional flower cloth, these wall hangings use the same techniques (reverse applique´ and embroidery) to portray realistic scenes of events and stories most important to a culture in transition. A key component of these story cloths is the accompanying text, written in both Hmong and English. Some tell of traditional Hmong village life; others of the bombings of Hmong villages and the subsequent escape across the Mekong River. Still others relate the traditional folktales handed down for centuries from a time when the Hmong still inhabited China. Unlike other pictorial textiles, these Hmong story cloths are read across and down the fabric like a storyboard for a film. For a culture that had no written language until the French arrived in the 1950s, these paj ntaub pass on the stories, legends, philosophies, and beliefs of the Hmong to the next generation. By the late 1980s, Hmong textiles in the United States had almost fully transformed from an art used in personal and community contexts to one with an economic function. This proliferation created a presence in the general public that might not have been possible otherwise. It also encouraged a deeper exploration of aesthetics, in that the principles of artistic judgment remain the same despite the fact that the symbolism and markets have changed. The use of subtle “American” hues, Hmong aesthetics, precision cutting, invisible stitching, symmetry, and balance remain in Hmong handiwork. As Hmong artists create textile work that combines traditional aesthetics with contemporary experiences, they offer an opportunity to explore representations of identity in more depth. Eventually, the quality of Hmong needlework came to the attention of the Amish community—another cultural group that has successfully transferred their needlework skills into the market economy. Soon, in communities where the two cultures intersect (Pennsylvania, Ohio, etc.), they began working together. Over the years, several Hmong have been contracted by Amish shop owners to create Amish quilts and pillows using traditional Amish techniques such as reverse applique´ and piecework. Interestingly, the Hmong do have a tradition of quilt making. Families who could afford to often cut their traditional clothes into strips and
Hmong Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
sewed them together to make blankets. So translating their exquisite needlework into large quilts was not a stretch for the creative imagination. In turn, Hmong textile artists learned to sew their traditional paj ntaub squares into Amish-style quilts; some created in Hmong colors, others in “Amish” colors. As with the Amish, who have developed a “front porch” market for their quilts to preserve the more private traditions of the “back porch,” the sale of Hmong textiles in a market economy enables the preservation of artistic skills that maintain art forms used for more important cultural events such as weddings, funerals, and the annual New Year celebration. Thirty years after the end of the Vietnam War, these textiles continue to serve an important function in the Hmong community. The cloth helps to reconstruct a shared cultural past. As documentation of a community’s “folk” history, Hmong paj ntaub serve as visual prompts to facilitate personal storytelling, share cultural knowledge, and maintain important cultural traditions and beliefs. —Amy E. Skillman See also: Hmong Americans: Story Cloths.
Further Reading Catlin, Amy. Textiles as Text: Arts of Hmong Women from Laos. Los Angeles: The Women’s Building, 1987. Cubbs, Joanne. Hmong Art: Tradition and Change. Sheboygan, WI: John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 1985. Dewhurst, C. Kurt, and Marsha MacDowell, eds. Michigan Hmong Arts: Textiles in Transition. East Lansing: Publications of the Museum, Michigan State University, 1983. Faubion, Trish. “The Amish and the Hmong: Two Cultures and One Quilt.” Piecework 1 (3) (1993): 26–35. Peterson, Sally. “They Know the Rule for What Will Make It Pretty: Hmong Material Traditions in Translation.” In Craft and Community: Traditional Arts in Contemporary Society. Philadelphia: Balch Institute, for Ethnic Studies and the Pennsylvania Heritage Affairs Commission, 1988.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner American Hmong speak two varieties of Hmong: Hmong Daw (White Hmong) and Hmong Njua (Green Hmong). There are slight structural differences between the two varieties at the phonological, lexical, and syntactic levels; however, they are mutually intelligible. Hmong Njua is stigmatized by Hmong Daw speakers. These attitudes and perceptions have carried over to life in North America. Hmong Njua speakers will often “code-switch” from Njua to Daw. Traditional Hmong speakers are often formal in their speech. This does not mean that the Hmong had no informal ways of speaking. When members of the
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same age and gender group talk, the speaking patterns are informal. The differences in speech are typically regulated by the specifics of the social relationships. For example, young females usually do not talk directly to their fathers unless they are first spoken to by their fathers. The social distance between daughters and fathers is wide. As females grow older, this distance typically closes. Since their arrival in the United States, many changes have occurred to Hmong speech. First, there are English terms for which the Hmong have no equivalent. For example, the Hmong do not have a word for “history.” American Hmong speakers get around this problem by using descriptive constructions (e.g., “stories about many generations ago”). In addition, English terms for technology often have no Hmong equivalent. For example, the word “disc” will simply be borrowed and incorporated into Hmong. An interesting aspect of English/Hmong linguistic contact has occurred when English nouns are incorporated into Hmong. The Hmong noun classifier phau comes before nouns representing bound things (books, letters, and so forth). The grammar of Hmong is changing to accommodate nouns that are unusual to the Hmong language. Hmong speakers get around the problem by using default classifiers (lub and civ). Lub (singular) and civ (plural) are classifiers for round nondescript things; thus they can be easily substituted when ambiguous nouns are introduced. Perhaps the most significant changes in speech and social interaction are in social discourse. The need for formality among younger Hmong is waning. Although it is still typical for Hmong people to address strangers, teachers, and employers with formal titles, for most younger Hmong the social divisions regulating speech are less pronounced. Also, barriers to communication across gender lines have eased considerably. As the Hmong have adjusted to life in the United States, the need to communicate across language boundaries has also caused changes in the social organization of American Hmong. For example, at farmers’ markets where Hmong families sell their produce, it is the children who are often the cultural and linguistic brokers. Many of the older Hmong have not developed full fluency in English, leaving younger Hmong—often children—to handle transactions. At first this caused tensions in Hmong families in that men were traditionally viewed as family liaisons. As these Hmong children have grown older they have become significant linguistic and cultural interpreters. Thus the interface among language, speech, and social manner is part of an overall pattern of cultural adaptation. —Michael Shaw Findlay
Further Reading Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. Findlay, Michael S. “Structure and Process in Speech Subcommunities of Hmong Students at a Northern California High School.” Language and Education 6(3) (1994): 245–260.
Indian Americans History, People, and Culture Indian Americans are people of Indian origin who have migrated to the United States since the 17th century, either directly from India or from Indian communities settled in other European, Australian, Middle Eastern, South East Asian, Caribbean, South African, nations/countries. Indian Americans—also known as “Asian Indian,” “Eastern Indian Americans,” and “South Asians”—are generally considered part of the broad heterogeneous Asian community in the United States, of which they are the second-largest ethnic group. Although there is vast diversity within Indian Americans in the field of religion, economics, culture and tradition, immigration status, level of acculturation, languages spoken, etc., the unity and cohesiveness of this community has given them the status of a “model minority” because of their socioeconomic achievements. The reasons for migration of Indian Americans are varied. During the 19th century, Indian traders came to the United States carrying silk, linens and spices. The early immigrants during this period were largely Sikhs who came as railroad workers and agricultural laborers because of severe famine and impoverishment in their homelands. During the same time, many Indians came to the United States in pursuit of higher education and later settled down when they found jobs. Historically, there has also been a large migration of Indian professionals to the United States, such as doctors, engineers, researchers, etc., creating a “brain drain” in India. Immigrants who became legal residents and citizens often brought their siblings, parents, and other family members to join them. While the early Indian immigrants were concentrated only in few larger American cities (Chicago, San Francisco) and states (California), Indian families and large Indian communities exist in every state. Indian Americans belong to many religions—including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism—and practice their religion by daily prayers and worship of god, by chanting religious scriptures, and by visiting places of worship such as Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples,
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gurdwaras, mosques, and Indian Christian Churches. Establishment of religious and philanthropic institutions, organizations, congregations, foundations, and societies with the aim of educating people about their religion and providing social services has helped Indian Americans maintain their religious and cultural identity. Although Indian Americans retain a strong ethnic identity, they also have been successful at assimilating into American culture. Their cultural traits emphasize family values, work ethic, and respect for elders. They also have strong kinship bonds, and their family unit usually consists of both parents and sometimes extended family members including grandparents, uncles, and aunts. While arranged marriages within their community are still the norm, intercaste or interracial love marriages are on the rise. Indian Americans place a high value on education and many have attained bachelors, masters, doctorate or other professional degrees. They have the highest educational qualifications of all ethnic/racial groups. Emphasis on achievement, personal responsibility, and fewer language barriers has led to success in such careers as managers, professionals, and entrepreneurs. They have integrated well with the American society by adaptations in their dress and food habits, and are able to switch between a wide range of customs of both cultures. Traditional attire of Indian Americans include saris, chudidhar, kurtas and pyjamas, turbans, bindi (dots on the forehead), and ethnic jewelry. Ethnic food includes rice biryani/pulav, roti, dal, and dahi. Availability of radio stations in several Indian languages such as Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, and several Indian television channels offered by cable and satellite companies keep the diasporic community in touch with its homeland. Indian Americans like to watch Indian movies in ethnic languages that they know in addition to game series or cricket matches, either at home on television or in movie theatres that offer special showings. Socializing is very important for Indian Americans. During weekends, Indian Americans mingle with relatives, friends, or members of their community by visiting each other, going to Indian markets, visiting temples, and participating in cultural events sponsored by ethnic organizations/associations. Indian marketplaces offer ethnic goods and services including food, clothing, jewelry, and other items. In addition to performing worship and celebrating festivals, temples and other religious places in the United States provide a platform for social and communal activities where people can meet. Indian Americans have also established ethnic associations (Sanghas, Sangams, Kootas, Mandals, Samaj, etc.) that offer a wide range of activities including cultural and religious programs and events. Indian American people experience the same problems as any immigrant ethnic group, from child abuse, elder abuse, and domestic violence to neglect, poverty, and discrimination. Several support groups and welfare organizations exist to assist the victims from this community exclusively. Some Indian Americans experience communication problems due to lack of English language skills and are
Indian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
isolated, which can lead to spousal and elderly abuse. Many families are unable to properly care for their elderly parents due to lack of eligibility for services and programs such as Medicare and SSI. In some families, the elderly parents are living in India, and caring for them becomes stressful due to the great distance between the two countries. Indian Americans have faced hostility and opposition from the American society at different times in history. During the past century, some of the immigration laws passed have deprived this population of their rights to own land or to become naturalized citizens. Racial and religious prejudice, stereotyping and scapegoating have resulted in hate crimes—for example, personal or communal attacks, destruction of life and property—being committed against Indian Americans, especially after 9/11. Despite these adversities, Indian Americans have made their presence felt in every area of American society. They are respected members of American society holding important positions and jobs and making meaningful contributions to society through the sharing of their rich cultural traditions, philosophical perspectives, family values, strong work ethic, and engagement in community and civic work. Many of them, as successful entrepreneurs and business owners, have contributed to the economy by creating jobs and increasing revenues in their communities. In the political arena, they have been involved in political activism and have engaged in fund-raising, campaigning, and voting. They have been elected to government office and have been appointed to important positions at all levels. The trend in recent years is to migrate back to India due to the rise in outsourcing of jobs and projects and off-shoring of white-collar labor to India. Changes in lifestyle and increasing economic prosperity in India have also contributed to this development. —Geetha A. Mandayam
Further Reading Helweg, Arthur W., and Helweg, Usha. M. An Immigrant Success Story: East Indians in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990. Jensen, Joan. M. Passage from India: Asian Indian Immigrants in North America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988. Khandelwal, Madhulika. S. Becoming American, Being Indian: An Immigrant Community in New York. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit In Indian American culture, tales of the supernatural have played an important role just as they do in their homeland. Many Indian Americans, despite their education and the development of modern technology, continue to believe in
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the existence of ghosts, spirits, and other supernatural entities. There are several legendary (“Vikram and the Vampire”) and real-life ghost stories that are circulated amongst Indians everywhere, and some of these stories are passed on from one generation to the next in the United States. Indian Americans believe that the ghosts and spirits only harm or possess those who fear them, and the most successful weapon against them is to be fearless. Within the Indian American population, Hindu beliefs rely on Vedic, Tantric, and Puranic sources, which discuss possession of the body by gods and demons and ways to release them from these supernatural forces. While possession of the body by gods (for example, Amman, Murugan, and Lakshmi) is not viewed negatively by Hindus, possession by ghosts and spirits is considered bad and harmful. Ghosts and bodiless spirits are thought to be souls that refuse to be reborn because they have unfinished business. Ghosts and spirits of ancestors are viewed as good, and special rites/ ceremonies are performed by their descendents to appease the souls of the departed. But ghosts and spirits of those who died a tragic death (by execution, murder, suicide) or were denied a proper funeral are considered bad. Oftentimes mental illness and abnormal behavior are attributed to spiritual dispositions, evil spirits, and ghosts. Ghosts and spirits are called by different names, by Indians in both India and the United States, and these have different meanings. Some of the common names are bhuts/preta (ghosts and spirits), woni/jen (evil ghosts that attack people), churail (seductive female ghost), dakana (flame ghosts), shankchunnis/petnis (ghosts of women unlucky in love), bhrhmodoityas (ghosts of Brahmins), skondhokatas (headless ghosts), nishi (ghost of the night), and so on. Ghosts and spirits can be found in deserted houses, trees (banyan/bel/neem trees), wells, roofs of houses, dark hallways/backyards, deserted streets, and graveyards. They are believed to be formless, feetless, and have the ability to assume any form including that of other human beings and animals. Hindus believe that evil spirits can be warded off with practices such as lighting lamps during twilight hours, burning incense, ringing bells, blowing conches, sprinkling holy water, chanting sacred mantras, and reading religious scriptures. Some of these practices are followed by Indian Americans as part of their daily life or on special family occasions like the housewarming (gruhapravesam) ceremony. But they normally do not follow some of the other practices that happen in India, such as beating of the possessed during temple or village exorcisms, which are viewed as interventions to cure or rid people of ghosts and spirits. One such supernatural event is the Carnival/Fair of the Ghosts (Bhooton Ka Mela) in Malajpur in India, where the largest collection of ghost busters in the world gather to treat people from different parts of the country who are possessed (mentally ill). Hindus believe in faith healers, fakirs, bhovos, and others who are often vested with special powers that can release the ghost from the body. —Geetha A. Mandayam
Indian Americans: Ayurveda
Further Reading Dwyer, Graham. The Divine and the Demonic: Supernatural Affliction and Its Treatment in North India. New York: Routledge Curzon, 2003. Surhone, Lambert M., Miriam. T. Timpledon, and Susan F. Marseken, eds. Preta: Supernatural, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Hungry Ghost, Petavatthu, Karma in Buddhism, Naraka. Mauritius: Beta Script Publishing, 2010.
Ayurveda Ayurveda, considered a major world medicine and pharmacopeia by the World Health Organization (WHO), is emerging as a respected alternative holistic and natural healing modality in the American landscape of Complimentary Alternative Medicines (CAM.) Two major organizing principles influence its spread in America: the emphasis on food as medicine and the role played by emotions and meditation in total health. Ayurveda identifies poor digestion leading to accumulated ama (undigested toxic food waste) as the root cause of all illness, acute or chronic. A welldeveloped kitchen consciousness regarding the antiseptic, healing, and digestive qualities of spices, herbs, and foods pervades Indian communities everywhere. At home and in South Asian restaurants, medical intervention by household recipe modification and selective ordering is a common and conscious Ayurvedic maneuver. Americans taking college courses on Indian philosophy and culture are learning about Ayurveda as informed classmates and friends of Indian students. The Ayurvedic food emphasis combines favorably with green, locally grown, organic, and environmental movements. Ayurvedic restaurants are springing up with prix fixe and carry-out menus showcasing classic, one-size-fits-all spice and herb combinations, educating about the five tastes (rasa) of foods, offering dishes to balance the body and recipes with sattvic (calming) qualities. Spice-herb mixtures are applied as everyday poultices at home. Ayurvedic spas and clinics are emerging that again highlight food as medicine in personalized regimes, and include practices of panchakarma (cleansing and fasting). A booming trade in Indo American specialty grocery markets and restaurants supports this understanding and buys locally and fresh. Internet businesses in medicinal herbs, spices, Ayurvedic beauty treatments, medicinal massage oils, books, magazines, media profiles, Ayurvedic doctor directories, clinics, and spas focus national attention on Ayurveda. Visas for Indians Living Abroad facilitate back-and-forth travel by Indians, some of whom take cures with well-regarded Ayurvedic doctors in India, and often carry pictures of ill friends or family members with them to facilitate a diagnosis by main dosha (body type) and symptoms, returning stateside with a personalized
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formula for someone. Americans frequent clinics and spas in India and the United States as a growing form of medical tourism. The second major trend and appeal of Ayurveda is its medical emphasis on soul-mind-body interaction and use of meditation techniques to eliminate toxic emotions and their health impacts. This enduring emphasis stems from the Ayur Veda’s position as a sacred text of India (Veda) Ayurveda’s highest understanding relates medicine to the mystical core of Hindu philosophy and supra-conscious meditation leading to God-realization and the transformation of the physical and emotional bodies into perfect health, calm, and unity. Ayurveda’s totalizing medical interventions restore balance in the subtle nadi-marma network pervading the human form by (1) needling or massaging sensitive points (marmas); (2) plant pharmacopeia formulas and foods tuned to directions, flow, and obstructions in the nadi-marma complex; (3) supra-conscious tubular meditation applied to the body’s core nadis (channels) through the crown chakra to magnetize a commanding vertical column known as the ida-pingala-sushumna pathway along the chakras (energetic wheels), a pathway manipulated with difficulty by needles. Tubular meditation is initiated by masters. Less intense meditation is effective and more common. Americanized Ayurveda avoids clean needle technique, disposal, and insurance issues by emphasizing meditative and food-based protocols. Indian needles, slightly different and more expensive than the Chinese, are not strictly necessary. Marma massage is to Ayurveda what acupressure is to TCM. Medicinal herbs and spices impact nadis as much as needling. Hybrid Ayurvedic-Western practices supervised by licensed MDs fluent in Ayurveda proliferate, as the famed Dr. Deepak Chopra illustrates. Hybrid clinics trend toward Western boutique medicine and spas. American universities, licensing boards and scholars are becoming more aware of common origins, nuances and history of Ayurveda-acupuncture, diffusion of ancient Vedic medical texts at ancient international higher-learning institutions at Taksasila and Pataliputra, and WHO paradigms. Greater equity, uniformity, and clarity for Ayurveda is emerging in US credentialing debates. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Indian Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing.
Further Reading Chopra, Deepak. (Any of the works of Dr. Chopra offer a good, generalized introduction to the mind-body relationship in medicine, and a general overview of Ayurveda related to western medicine.) Frawley, David, and Vasant Lad. The Yoga of Herbs. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 1988. Gerson, Scott. Ayurveda: The Ancient Indian Healing Art. Rockport, MA: Element Books, 1991.
Indian Americans: Children’s Folk Songs Ros, Frank. The Lost Secrets of Ayurvedic Acupuncture. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1995.
Web Sites Ayurveda Cafe´ Web Site: http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/ayurveda-cafe. Ayurvedic and Natural Remedies with Newsletter: http://www.ayurvediccure.com. Ayurvedic Health and Massage Center Web Site: http://www.ayurvediccenter.com. Ayurvedic Herbal Products, Healthcare and Research (university affiliated): http://www .himalayahealthcare.com and http://www.himalayausa.com. Ayurvedic Herbs Web Site: http://www.ayurvedicherbsdirect.com. India Currents magazine Web Site: http://www.indiacurrents.com.
Children’s Folk Songs India is a linguistically diverse country with many national and regional languages. This is demonstrated in the variety of popular children’s folk songs. There are several different types of categories of children’s folk songs such as lullabies, nursery rhymes, birthday songs, and educational songs. These folk songs are taught in a multiplicity of methods ranging from classroom lessons to organic methods derived from home and community instruction. Even though, in Indian culture, children’s songs are often used to teach moral lessons or to convey good tales, many songs are sweet and fun natured. One song that most children learn is India’s national anthem “Jana Gana Mana,” which translates as “Thou Art the Ruler of All Minds.” This song is often taught in school. Other patriotic songs include the national song of India, “Vande Mataram,” which was the national anthem of India before “Jana Gana Mana” was chosen in 1950. In India there are a variety of songs to help teach Hindi words to children. One popular song is “Aloo Bolaa,” which teaches the words for vegetables in Hindi. It also contains a moral message encouraging children to eat vegetables, as each vegetable offers a different benefit. There are countless Indian folk songs that are regionally and linguistically associated with the many different parts of India. There is a Hindi version of the popular English nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffet” called “Muffety Mai.” The message and concept are the same as the English version; however, the lyrics have been changed to Hindi. The English nursery rhyme “Johnny Johnny, Yes Papa” has also been translated into Hindi as “Guddu Guddu, Haan Papa.” Guddu is the Indian version of the name Johnny. —Shereen Bhalla
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Further Reading Beck, Brenda E. F., Peter J. Claus, Praphulladatta Goswami, and Jawaharlal Handoo, eds. Folktales of India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Mines, Diane P., and Sarah E. Lamb, eds. Everyday Life in South Asia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002. Renard, John. The Handy Religion Answer Book. Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press, 2002.
Clothes and Jewelry The clothes and jewelry of Indian Americans are world famous for their color, texture, and designs, often produced using special weaving, hand dying, or embroidery techniques. In Indian American communities, the extravagance of one’s clothes and jewelry is an important indicator of one’s wealth, prosperity, and social status. Therefore, although Indian Americans usually wear professional attire at work (skirts, blouses, and suits), they wear traditional Indian apparel for special events like festivals, weddings, and formal religious occasions. Weddings, particularly, give Indian Americans a chance to demonstrate their social status by wearing expensive clothes and jewelry. Traditionally, during such special events, Indian American women wear sari, salwar kameez (loose pants and tunic), or lehanga choli (long skirt and traditional blouse). Of these, the salwar kameez, whose pajama pants and tunic come in many bright colors, designs, and textures, is considered particularly modest and graceful. However, it is the sari—several yards of light material worn over a matching blouse and petticoat and beautifully draped around the lower and upper body—that is considered the authentic traditional dress of Indian American women and the epitome of the Indian feminine image. Although Indian American men usually wear western attire (pants, shirt, and coat) as professional and regular wear, on special occasions they dress in the traditional loose-fitting pajama suit, the sherwani or kurta pajama, which for celebrations may be made of expensive fabrics like white or gold silk. Overall, Indian American clothes, such as the auspicious red bridal dress and special costumes for the seven or eight prenuptial ceremonies, are extremely colorful. Jewelry, as a manifestation of wealth and living standard, is also a vital part of Indian American dress, one not only fashionable but propitious, especially on special occasions like marriages and religious festivals. During weddings the display of jewelry is often sumptuous: the bride and groom are gifted gold and diamond jewelry by their parents, in-laws, relatives, and friends as both a form of blessing and a symbol of giver and receiver’s socioeconomic status. Hindu gods and goddesses are also decorated with silver, gold, and diamond jewelry that is influenced by 5,000 years of history and tradition. Made of gold or
Indian Americans: Dance
silver and set with precious stones and gems, the differently designed pieces reflect the culture of the particular state or region; for example, the filigree of Orissa, the meenakari of Rajasthan, the kundan of Delhi, or the famous temple jewelry of the South. In the United States, many Indian Americans purchase their traditional clothes and jewelry from the Little Indias spread all around the country. Favorite jewelry pieces for Indian American women are nose pins and toe rings, which, once a symbol of the married woman, are now a fashion for all young women and becoming popular in the United States among other ethnic groups. Indeed, the various designs and colors of Indian American clothes and jewelry are now evident even in major U.S. stores, a reflection of the globalization that is turning the world into a small village. —Rajrani Kalra See also: Indian Americans: Little India.
Further Reading Lynton, Linda, and K. Sanjay Singh. The Sari: Styles, Patterns, History, Technique. London: Thames and Hudson, Inc., 2002. Strone, Susan, Nima Smith, and J. C. Harle. A Golden Treasury: Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent. London and Ahmadabad: Victoria and Albert Museum, in association with Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 1988. Untracht, Oppi. Traditional Jewelry of India. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997.
Dance Indian folk dances originated from rural communities. Different regions of India feature distinct dance and music styles. Bhangra is the folk dance and music style from the Punjab region of India. Garba dance is another folk dance originating in Gujarat, India. Indian folk dances are conducted during festivals, holidays, celebrations and other social functions. “Indian classical dance” is a term that covers various traditional sacred dance styles performed in temples and other sacred space. To learn classical dance involves years of disciplined training that includes musical skills, theater, costume and adornment, study of literature and philosophy, as well as dance movement. Both the folk dance tradition and the classical styles are supported and promoting within the Indian communities in the United States. Collegiate events showcase multicultural art, music, and dance. Some universities have Indian student associations who organize dance performances that include traditional folk dance, Indian classical dance, as well as modern fusion dance style such as Bollywood.
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Indian temples, spiritual centers, and cultural organizations within the United States also continue the tradition of both folk dance and Indian classical dance. These centers maintain the Indian cultural heritage by observing the annual religious festivals of India. The temples also feature dance recitals of Indian classical dance. These centers help to preserve and promote Indian dance by offering these events. Master Indian classical teachers and dance studios are another group continuing the tradition of folk and Indian classical dance in the United States. Indian newspapers and magazines feature ads for Indian classical dance schools as well as dance studios. Both the classical and folk dance styles are featured in local and national Indian Krithika Rajkumar, 9 (left), and Novni Vinod, dance competitions in the United 11, dance with the Hindu Temple Rhythms dance group at the Detroit Historical Museum States. The dance studios have also added cardio dance classes that incorin Detroit, Michigan, during the East Indian Cultural Workshop. The workshop featured porate folk dance steps or Bollywood traditional Hindu dance performances and fusion-style dance. discussed and explained different aspects of Technology has also helped to proEast Indian culture and the Hindu religion. mote and preserve Indian folk and (AP Photo/Paul Warner) classical dance in the United States. Dance instructors have extended their reach beyond local students by creating instructional dance videos. Indian grocery stores and Indian music shops offer a selection of Indian dance videos to its customers. The Internet has also provided a valuable service to promote and preserve Indian dance. Web services such as Youtube host clips of Indian dance recitals and dance competitions performed throughout the United States and worldwide. Indian dance is well integrated within the Indian community. Temples and community organizations maintain the tradition of festivals that include dance and music. Master teachers and dance studios provide formal dance training within the local Indian community. Television and the Internet provide another outlet to showcase Indian dance both to the Asian Indian community and communities worldwide. —Renuka Gupta
Indian Americans: Domestic Religious Practices
Further Reading Rangrass, Govind. “From Punjabi Villages to College Frenzy.” Dance Magazine 82(11) (2008). Venkataraman, Leela, and Avinash Rasricha. Indian Classical Dance: Tradition and Transition. New Dehli: Roli Books, 2004.
Domestic Religious Practices Sizable populations of Indians can be found at New Jersey, New York, and California in the United States, and British Columbia, Canada. In Indian American family homes, especially among the majority Hindu Americans, a sacred space known as puja is created for domestic religious rituals and worship. Indian Muslims also have a sacred space in their home for daily prayers—one of the five pillars of Islam. Indian Sikhs have a special place set aside for the Sikh scripture, or Guru Granth Sahib. Among Hindus, the home shrine consists of images of Hindu deities (murit), icons, flowers, incense, candles, and other material religious artifacts: for example, a bell, which worshippers ring to alert the gods and invite them to the home to receive the puja; or a diva lamp, which symbolizes the god’s presence once it is lit. There are also incense holders and incense sticks, which are used to purify the air and space around the home shrine as well as transform the offerings and deliver them to the gods. There are also a bowl for water and a spoon. The water is offered to the gods, a process that blesses it. Later, the water is added to water that is offered to visitors and guests, blessing the visitors. During the early morning, when the mother in the family performs the family rituals, she washes the images of the gods with water as a sign of respect and devotion. There are also containers for kum kum powder, which is used to mark the forehead with a sacred tilak as a sign of devotion and respect for the gods, as well as a sign to others that one has been blessed. Food offerings, usually fruit, rice, and oil, are called prashad. No meat products may be offered. After the ritual, the food offerings are eaten by the family members, and because the food has been in contact with the gods, it is considered blessed and therefore special. It is common to see the elephant-headed god, Ganesh, or the beloved dark blue god Krishna, as well as goddesses. The deities typically face east, which reflects a preoccupation with the vastu, or sacred geography prominent among South Indians. Lighting incense and playing devotional songs from mp3s have become commonplace. The sacred calendar, or panchang, has also fallen into disuse, and now only some sacred days are celebrated. The rituals and worships performed at home compliment the rituals and worships performed at the Hindu temples in the United States. Daily religious rituals
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are a way of life for many first-generation Hindu Americans. They offer Hindu immigrants, especially mothers, a way to seek protection from the gods and goddesses found in Hinduism for their family in the United States, in addition to asking for health, wealth, and peace. The performance of religious rituals and daily offerings reveals the close relationship that Hindus share with their divinities. Hindu gods are not in India, nor n another realm far away—they are more immediate, living side-by-side with their devotees. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and K. N. Sethi See also: Indian Americans: Hindu Temples in America; Jain Temples; Muslim Mosques; Mythological Hindu Deities; Religion.
Further Reading Chakravarti, Sitansu. “A Diasporic Hindu Creed: Some Basic Features of Hinduism.” In John Stratton Hawley and Vasudha Narayanan, eds. The Life of Hinduism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. Mazumdar, Shampa, and Sanjoy Mazumdar. “Creating the Sacred: Altars in the Hindu American Home.” In Jane Naomi Iwamura and Paul Spickard, eds. Revealing the Sacred in Asian & Pacific America. New York: Routledge, 2003. Narayanan, Vasudha. “Hinduism in Pittsburgh: Creating the South Indian ‘Hindu’ Experience in the United States. In John Stratton Hawley and Vasudha Narayanan, eds. The Life of Hinduism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.
Dying and Death Rituals Rituals surrounding death and dying vary according to the religious traditions and the personal preferences of the individuals involved, as well as the legal requirements of local government. In terms of religious tradition, Indian Americans do not adhere to any single faith. As is the case in India, many are Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh, with many others identifying as Buddhist, Jain, Christian or Parsi. Indians of all faiths describe a permanent soul inhabiting a temporary body that is discarded after the soul’s departure. Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains generally cremate the dead, while Muslims practice burial exclusively. In Indian Hindu tradition, relatives and friends of the deceased carry the body to the cremation ground on the day of death, and the eldest son is required to ignite the cremation pyre. Legal and practical issues in the United States place limitations on such customs, though Indian American places of worship often negotiate with local funeral industries to accommodate Indian families. Funeral homes can make arrangements for specific crematory worship, and many American crematoriums accommodate Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh families by allowing their presence at cremation and permit a
Indian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
family member to push the button that starts the process. It is common for Indian American family members to travel to India with the ashes of their loved ones to spread them in a sacred body of water. Parsi funerals consist of prayers and rituals that aid the soul’s passage to heaven. Parsis in the Indian city of Mumbai (home to the majority of the world’s Parsis) still practice the tradition of “sky burials,” in which the dead body is laid in a “tower of silence,” to be devoured by vultures. In the United States, this practice is illegal, so families choose cremation or burial, even though these practices are technically forbidden by the Parsi scripture. While Indian immigrants to the United States may describe the American medical system as superior to India’s, the realities of Medicare, Social Security, ambulances, and 911 calls are often at odds with Indian notions of death and dying. Regardless of one’s culture, the thought of dying while hooked up to a series of medical machines on a cold hospital bed can be troubling. And for Indians— who may have in their cultural memory the idyllic notion of death as a family affair, one that takes place in an intimate domestic setting—the apparent Western conception of death as a uniquely medical process can be especially conflicting. Some Indian traditions transfer easily to an American hospital setting. When a Muslim nears death, for example, it is hoped that he or she will be surrounded by family who recite key Quranic passages and encourage the dying to speak the key article of Islamic faith: “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah.” Hindus will sit close to the dying and recite the name of the god Rama into that person’s ear and remind the dying to speak it also. A few drops of water (sometimes brought directly from the sacred Ganges River in India) may be placed in the dying person’s mouth. But when the dying person’s family, or the patient herself, asks for help lifting the dying body from the hospital bed and placing it on the floor, many hospital staff refuse because of policy, logistics, or simply confusion. There would be no such confusion in a Hindu household in India, where this ritual return to Mother Earth’s lap is considered essential preparation for the soul’s departure. Indian Americans must think not only of dying in the New World, but also of their aging parents and relatives in India. Regardless of actual family structures in an increasingly globalized Asia, many Indians of all religions describe the importance of a joint family system, in which the young take care of the aged as a loving reversal and consequence of their own upbringing. This system is severely challenged when families are spread across the globe and is often the cause of great anxiety. —Ian Woolford
Further Reading Lamb, Sarah. Aging and the Indian Diaspora: Cosmopolitan Families in India and Abroad. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009.
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Festivals and Holidays Festivals and rituals are considered very important and play a significant role in the life of Indian people all over the world including the United States. Wherever they live, people of Indian origin celebrate different festivals based on their religious faiths and beliefs. Indian Americans identify with their culture through their religious beliefs and practices, which are expressed through celebratory festivals and holidays. While there are certain festivals that are common to people belonging to more than one Indian religion (Diwali/Deepavali), there are other festivals that are unique to Indian people belonging to Hinduism (Shivarathri), Christianity (Christmas), Islam (Ramazan/Ramadan), Buddhism (Vesak/Visakah), Jainism (Paryusana Parva), Sikhism (Hola Mohalla) Parsi , Zoroastrianism (Feast of Passover), Judaism (Purim), and other religions. Some countries outside of India have declared national holidays on major festival days. Although many of the Indian festival days in the United States may not fall on holidays, Indian Americans continue to identify with these special holidays by holding smaller-scale celebrations at home on the festival day and celebrating on a larger scale in religious or cultural centers on weekends. Indian festivals fall on certain days each year depending on the position of the sun, moon, and stars and are forecast by the official astrological calendar
Two Indian American women talk during the Diwali Hindu New Year celebration at a Hindu Temple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (David H. Wells/Corbis)
Indian Americans: Festivals and Holidays
followed by the different religions of India. Hindu astrological calendars, called panchangams, are available in different languages, and there are some differences between them based on whether solar or lunar months are used in counting the days of the year. Due to these differences, some festivals are celebrated on different days by Hindus coming from different regions of India. Also, dates for special ceremonies such as weddings and other special family events are set based on the panchangams. Muslim festivals, which fall on different days each year, follow the Islamic calendar, which has fewer days than the solar year. Other religions, such as Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, also follow their own calendars in determining the dates for their festivals. According to these calendars, festival dates for Indians in the United States may fall on days that are different from dates when these festivals are observed in India and so are celebrated on a flexible schedule. Local culture has a big influence on how festivals are celebrated in different regions of the world and what names are given to them. Indian festival celebrations usually begin with special prayers, worship, and ritual practice either at one’s home or at the temple/mosque/church, followed by elaborate feasts and other joyous festivities. This often includes studying of scriptures, recounting of spiritual teachings by saints, chanting of melodious bhajans, lighting of lamps, cleaning of houses, festive decorations, fasting, feasting, wearing new clothes, visiting/ inviting relatives and friends, etc. Temples in India often celebrate festivals on their premises in the form of Yatras or Jatras or Utsavas, where idols/images are taken out on special procession in a palanquin (pallaki), a chariot (rath), or on special vehicle or animal mounts (vahanas). In some festival celebrations, animals are sacrificed in front of the shrine or deity. Villages and local neighborhoods also celebrate festivals and fairs where there are folk dances, music, bull fights, village games, ethnic attire, food, and so on. These festivals can range from one to several days, and many people travel far to participate in them. Indian Americans, like other Indians living in different countries, have modified their festivals to suit the land they live in. On festival days, families perform the religious puja, or prayer, at home; prepare a special family meal; decorate their home; don new clothes; and invite/visit family or friends. During the weekend, they participate in the festival celebrations hosted either by the local temple or by their individual ethnic associations dressed in their finest ethnic/traditional dresses and jewelry. Hindu temples in the United States celebrate festivals by holding special prayer sessions, singing of bhajans, serving ethnic food, cultural performances, and so on, either on the festival day or during the weekend. Ethnic associations also provide an opportunity for their community members to intermingle with each other and showcase their talents through various cultural programs and activities during the weekend. To cater to the diversity among Indian Americans who are participating, the religious sessions and activities are planned
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with the goal of including different ways of celebrating one festival or combining the different festivals that fall around the same time. Indian festivals and celebrations vary in their meaning and significance and form an integral part of Indian culture. Some festivals such as Diwali, Maha Shivarathri, Navaratri, Rama Navami, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chathurti, Durga Puja, Mahalakshmi Vrata, and Christmas are celebrated to worship different incarnations of gods, their birthdays or their victory over evil forces. Other festivals such as Holi, Pongal, Ugadi, Onam, Lohri, Kartik Purnima, and Jamshed Navroz are for celebrating the New Year or for honoring the seasons (e.g., harvest season). Muharram, Vesak Puja, Guru Purabs, Maghi, Mahavir Jayanti, Zarthost No Deeso, and Gandhi Jayanthi are occasions that signify either the birth and death anniversaries or martyrdom of certain religious heads or other leaders and are observed by their followers. Karwa Chauth and Raksha Bandan celebrate relationships between people. Other celebrations such as Ramadan, Bakrid, Avani Avattam reinforce certain principles of sacred religious scriptures. Most Indian Americans experience their religion through celebration of their festivals. Festivals serve as a reminder of their identity and allegiance to Indian traditions and ideals, and helps them rededicate themselves to their faith. Outside India, festivals provide a window into Indian religions for the non-Indian populations and reflect Indian culture civilization and history. —Geetha A. Mandayam
Further Reading Al-Jibaly, Muhammad. Festivals and Celebrations in Islam. n.p.: Al-Kitaab & as-Sunnah Publishing, 2005. Bhalla, Kartar. Singh. Festivals of India. New Delhi, India: Star Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2005. Denver Art Museum. Indian Festivals in the United States. Denver, CO: Denver Art Museum, 1957. Dorga, Ramesh Chander, and Urmila Dorga. Hindu Fasts, Festivals and Ceremonies. New Delhi, India: Aditya Prakashan, 2008. Fenton, John Y. Transplanting Religious Traditions: Asian Indians in America. New York: Praeger, 1988. Kurien, Prema A. A Place at the Multicultural Table: The Development of an American Hinduism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007.
Folk Music The third-largest Asian American population at approximately 2.8 million individuals is the Indian (South Asian) group. The largest populations are found in California, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Illinois. The broad genre of Indian
Indian Americans: Foods and Foodways
music includes a number of subtypes from classical Carnatic and Hindustani music, to folk, rock, rap, techno, dance, and alternative. The most common instruments in Indian American folk music incorporate the sarod, sitar, dholak drum, tabla drums, santoor (dulcimer), shenai (oboe), and Bansuri (flute). The influence of Asian and European musical traditions directly impacts Indian American musicians today. For instance, Bansuri flute-master Steve Gorn creates instrumental music inspired by India’s classical music traditions. In the same manner, the sitar has played a role in meditational and yoga music for years. Furthermore, contemporary Indian American musicians identify with the musical elements of Indian diaspora for compositions on soundtracks, TV ads, and rap and hip-hop groups, jazz ensembles, and pop singers. Interestingly, Indian American musicians are heavily influenced by the electronic music forms of the United Kingdom, South America, Europe, and parts of Asia. Some of the purveyors of Indian pop/electronica include Tabla Beat Science, Karsh Kale, Anoushka Shankar, and Shaheen Sheik. The role of collaboration is inherent in many types of music, especially in hip-hop, electronica, and dance. For instance, Karsh Kale is a musician and composer of electronic music that frequently collaborates with sitarist Anoushka Shankar and the tabla-beat collective Tabla Beat Science. A recent singer, California’s Shaheen Sheik, mixes hip-hop with dance, trip-hop, lounge, and pop. Most electronic groups integrate a combination of keyboards, synthesizers, bass, dholak drum, sitar, tabla, sarangi, sax, and flute. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Punjabi Americans: Gurbani Kirtan.
Further Reading Arnold, Alison. South Asia: The Indian Subcontinent. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Vol. 5. New York: Routledge, 1999. Lavezzoli, Peter. The Dawn of Indian Music in the West. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2007.
Foods and Foodways India is characterized by incredible diversity, containing more distinct ethnic groups than the entire European continent. The cuisines of the vast region encompassed by the country exhibit even greater variance than the ethnicities, as cuisines within a specific region can vary noticeably by simply crossing a river or traversing the highway, or dirt road, to another village. Each state, and often many specific regions within the state, is known for specific aspects of its cuisine, which is a byproduct of the varied cultures that have influenced it. The numerous factors
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influencing regional cuisine include the presence of colonizers, class, caste, religion, and availability of produce. Food can certainly be viewed as an ethnic marker for many South Asian Americans. Specific dishes from various sites in South Asia evoke their places of origin, while simultaneously identifying the native soil of their consumers. In an early study of Indian Americans, one researcher found that the food consumed by the different peoples of South Asia has considerable ethnic significance, as critical a marker of ethnicity as language. Food also plays a prominent role in the homeland nostalgia most immigrants share, while also sustaining them in the midst of the whirlwind of immigration. It draws distinct ethnic boundaries between diasporic South Asians, and offers fertile ground for critiquing oppressive gender roles within South Asian America. Adding to the complexity of the foodways of Indian Americans is the ethnically salient factor of religion. Religious identity is often augmented by migration into a forbidding, hostile environment, as the United States is for many non-Christian immigrants of color from India. In addition, religious minorities that have suffered discrimination in India—like Muslims and Sikhs—tend to have a much stronger sense of their religious identity as their primary ethnicity. As such, South Asian American immigrants generally adhere even more closely to their religious identity in their new homelands, seeking both safety and belonging in the often alienating atmosphere they encounter upon migration. This increased emphasis on religious identity among U.S. immigrants is often reflected in food consumption. Members of India’s largest faith, Hinduism, are enjoined from consuming meat. Some Hindus also refrain from eating such things as onions and garlic. But there have also always been Hindu communities near rivers or the ocean who have pragmatically eaten seafood. And with the increasing influence of Western transnational culture, the number of strict vegetarians in India has declined tremendously in recent decades. Followers of Jainism and Buddhism also are usually forbidden from eating meat, while Sikhs are only allowed to eat meat killed humanely with a single stroke. Muslims are forbidden from eating pork, and are only to eat food killed in a certain way, accompanied by the recitation of specific prayers. However, as with all faiths, adherents exhibit various measures of observance to the theological dictates of their faith tradition, both in India and the diaspora. In terms of gatherings that include South Asian Americans of diverse ethnicities, a similar eating pattern can definitely add to the enjoyment of the guests, while a dissimilar one can detract from it, or even alienate people. This matter can have a potentially significant effect upon relations between South Asian Americans as they struggle to create a cohesive identity within the multiracial milieu of the United States. —Jaideep Singh
Indian Americans: Henna
Further Reading Fisher, Maxine P. The Indians of New York City: A Study of Immigrants from India. Columbia, MO: South Asia Books, 1980. Mannur, Anita. Culinary Fictions: Food in South Asian Diasporic Culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2010.
Henna Henna, or mehandi, is used to create temporary designs on skin for bridal parties, holiday celebrations, and women’s parties. The leaves of the henna plant are harvested and dried. There are different recipes for making henna paste as well as different application methods. This traditional art to adorn the skin is seen in Mughal paintings and noted in Indian literary references. The traditional use of henna is maintained and promoted in American Indian communities. Local Indian grocery stores carry several brands of henna powder as well as henna paste. Booklets of henna designs are also available for purchase. Indian henna patterns are noted for detailed elements especially as seen in bridal patterns. Henna artists advertise their business in Indian community newspapers, magazines, and community bulletin boards. Henna artists are hired for bridal parties, festivals, and social events. Many beauty salons within the Indian community have henna adornment as part their service menu. The traditional bridal henna party, or mehandi night, is scheduled a day or two before the wedding date. The women relatives gather around the bride to prepare her, to transform her, to beautify her. The rituals, ceremonies, songs, and dancing provides the focus to change her status in the community from being a single youth to a youthful bride. The gathering is a show of support and approval of the marriage. The henna design becomes symbolic of the recognition of the marriage. The intricate bridal design creates colorful shades of orange red to dark maroon lace designs on the palms, back of the hands, forearms, legs, and feet. Other members of the bridal party get smaller and less intricate designs. Their designs serve as a reminder of the bridal party and the wedding day. Wedding photographers include shots featuring the bridal henna adornment. The traditional art of henna is well established in the Asian American community. Bollywood movies include scenes of bridal henna gatherings. Henna booths are common to Indian festivals and Indian-owned beauty salons. The desire to be adorned with this traditional art continues to be popular today within the Asian Indian community in the United States. —Renuka Gupta
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Further Reading Khandelwai, Madhulika S. Becoming American, Being Indian: An Immigrant Community in New York City. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002. Vasishtha, R. K. The Art of Rajasthan: Henna and Floor Decoration. New Dehli: Abhinav Publications, 1995.
Heroes and Heroines There are several gods/people identified as heroes and heroines in the Indian scriptures, religious texts, mythology, history, and literature, and the Indian American community continues to remember and recognize them in various ways. Indian heroes in the past are characterized by their possession of courage, endurance, strength, intelligence, wisdom, sacrifice, special powers, and their ability to be victorious in their fight against evil persons or characters (villains). Heroines are characterized by their beauty, strength of character, religiosity, selfrighteousness, self-sacrifice, motherhood, virtuousness, loyalty, and faithfulness to their spouses. Oftentimes temples are built for these heroes/heroines in India, and there are some Sanskrit verses (shlokas) that lists them (e.g., the five mythical heroines Ahalya, Sita Tara, Mandodari, and Draupadhi, who are considered very virtuous and loyal to their spouses). Indian Americans who are Hindus follow the tradition of their ancestors and chant these shlokas on special religious occasions and life events. The various Indian festivals and pujas celebrate the victory of divine heroes/heroines (Lord Rama, Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna, Goddess Durga, etc.) over evil powers such as demons/asuras/rakshasas (Ravana, Bhasmasura, Narakasura, Kamsa, Mahishasura, etc). They are known to have special qualities, attributes, powers, weapons, and vehicles in the form of animals (lion, bull, eagle, snake, peacock, etc.). Others, such as Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira, are considered heroes because of their conquering of base impulses (greed, hatred, delusion), their attainment of enlightenment (nirvana/moksha), and their ability to lead humanity to salvation. There are several religious heads/leaders/acharyas (Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya) and saints/gurus (Guru Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh) who are considered heroes because of their contributions as religious teachers or community leaders. Ancient Indian kings and queens have become heroes because of their courageous and noble deeds in the interest of humanity (Emperor Ashoka, Emperor Akbar, Jhansi Rani Lakshmi Bai) or because of their immortal love for their spouse/lover (Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal). Indian political leaders, such as Gandhi, Nehru, Subash Chandra Bose, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, were instrumental in bringing
Indian Americans: Hindu Temples in America
independence to the country leading the Indian freedom movement. Indian American people have special days on which they remember some of these heroes and heroines. Bollywood movies are very popular amongst Indian Americans of all ages, and so are its heroes/heroines. In these movies, the hero/heroine is portrayed as young, handsome/beautiful, charming, intelligent, capable, and righteous with high moral and ethical standards. He/she always supports the poor, the powerless, or the exploited and fights for their well-being and rights against the evildoers. Some current heroes in the Hindi cinema world are Abhishek Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, and Kamala Hasan, while heroines include Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, and Kajol. These stars are liked for their looks, acting ability, versatility, and the roles they play (Shivaji, Akbar, Jodha Bai, etc). They also play an important role in educating/reinforcing the Indian culture, history, traditions, and lifestyles among younger Indian Americans. —Geetha A. Mandayam
Further Reading Allen, J. C. Heroes of Indian History. Honolulu: University Press of the Pacific, 2003. Barnett, Lionel D. Hindu Gods and Heroes: Wisdom of the East. Delhi: Hesperides Press, 2006.
Hindu Temples in America Migrant Hindus in the United States have constructed temples in their new communities in order to transplant their religious faith. A place of worship becomes a vehicle to express the particular group identity in a plural society. The temples become important centers for performing rituals and also interacting with friends and relatives. Hindus gather at temples during important festivals and holidays. In addition, many non-Hindus from other ethnic and cultural communities are welcome to attend services at Hindu temples, both in America, and in India. Hindus, in the United States and India, generally go to a temple for darshan. Among Hindus, darshan is understood as a way of “touching God with your eyes” or “perceiving or knowing God” or “focusing on God.” Hindu temples always have divine icons (vigrahas or murthis) or symbols of different deities made either of black stone or metals (pancha loha) installed in the innermost sanctum of the temple called “Garbha Gruha,” which the devotees are not allowed to enter. The larger stone idol set permanently in stone is called the “Mula Murthi,” and the smaller metal idol, which is transferrable, is called the “Utsava Murthi.” These icons are believed to have divine powers and are worshipped by Hindus with daily pujas and temple rituals performed by a priest (pujari), who has
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Sri Venkateswara Hindu temple in Malibu, California. (Joseph Sohm/Visions of America/ Corbis)
specialized training in religious mantras. Priests performing pujas in temples in the United States usually come from India, are knowledgeable in different puja practices and often speak several Indian languages, which makes them capable of serving all types of devotees. Pujas and rituals include sacred bathing of the icon (Abhishekam), decoration (Alankaram), food offerings (Neivedyam), and offering of oil/camphor lamp (arati), with the priests chanting/reciting sacred mantras while performing these rituals. Temples can be either large, with complicated architectural design, or very small, with just a room over the icon of the presiding deity. Larger traditional temple buildings have tall towers (gopurams/ shikharas), which vary in architectural style depending on their geographical location. Most North Indian temples have beehive-shaped (Nagara-style) gopurams, and South Indian temples have pyramid-shaped (Dravida-style) gopurams. Also there are some temples that have the hybrid design known as (Vesara-style) gopurams. The traditional temple structure is built by architects trained in temple building scriptures (Agama Shastras and Vastu Shastras), and they are invited to build such temples in the United States. Although temples are sacred and divine places of worship for Hindus, it is not mandatory for a Hindu to visit the temple on a regular basis or during his or her whole life. Unlike other organized religions, it is not necessary for a Hindu to
Indian Americans: Hindu Temples in America
perform rituals such as marriage, or naming of a child, in a temple. Many Hindus go to a temple on auspicious occasions or on religious festivals or holidays. Older people also go on pilgrimages (thirthayatras) to visit sacred lands with temples (divyadesams). Modern-day temples have evolved from simple places of worship into institutions engaging in several social, cultural, religious activities, and philanthropic or charitable services. These institutions play a significant role in the lives of Hindus in the United States, and serve the needs of their community. Establishing sacred sites similar to those in the homeland resulted in a proliferation of Hindu temples in the United States. The icons of gods and goddesses, along with architectural design, are replicated as closely as possible. There are “330 Million” deities in the Hindu pantheon. Consequently, Hindu immigrants have erected temples dedicated to many gods. The Council of Hindu Temples in North America was established in 1984 to give uniformity for temples in their style of functioning and management. There is at least one Hindu temple in each state of the United States. The construction of Bharatiya temple in Detroit was finished in July 1981. The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago was built in the 1970s and later expanded, and a temple dedicated to Lord Rama was opened in 1981 in Lemont, Illinois. Some notable temples in the United States include Ganesha temple of Flushing, New York; Malibu, California’s Sri Venkateswara temple; a temple in Pearland, Texas dedicated to Sri Meenakshi; and the United Hindu Temple of New Jersey. Some of the temples retain their connection with and draw inspiration from temples in India. The famous Tirupati temple situated in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, India is dedicated to Lord Venkateswarar. It is a template for many such temples constructed in the United States. In the 1970s, the temple was replicated in Pittsburgh. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, who manage the affairs of the temple in India, supported construction of many such temples in the United States. This organization supplied artisans as well as priests. It is estimated that 150,000 persons visit the Pittsburgh temple annually. The temples also publish books and periodicals on Hinduism. The temple authorities involve themselves in charitable works. The Hindu temples sometimes face difficulties in getting trained priests from India because of immigration problem. Many times the chief priest of a temple does not give necessary support to the new entrants. There are also disputes among the persons managing the temples. Hindu temples in the United States provide an opportunity for immigrant Hindus to learn about Hindu philosophy and scriptures in the American context and help them cope with life problems and develop solutions consistent with Hindu values. Unlike traditional orthodox temples in India, temples in the United States encourage people to ask constructive questions about their tradition and thus develop new ways of thinking about it. They often provide the much-needed link to Indian culture and traditions for Indians and their children who are living
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in the United States and help develop a strong sense of Indian identity and values through special religious and cultural programs or events for all ages. The temples have become the embodiment of cultural and religious identity for Hindu immigrants. The varied activities of the diaspora community in these temples generates interest in Hinduism itself. The Hindu temple is not an ivory tower for American Hindus only; it endeavors to mingle in the mainstream of American tradition. In several American Hindu temples, prayers were organized in January 2009 to seek divine blessings for the administration of President Barack Obama. —Geetha A. Mandayam, Patit Paban Mishra, and Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Indian Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Jain Temples; Muslim Mosques; Mythological Hindu Deities; Religion.
Further Reading Hanumadass, Marella L. A Pilgrimage to Hindu Temples in North America. Oak Brook, IL: Council of Hindu Temples of North America, 1994. Kurien, Prema A. A Place at the Multicultural Table: The Development of an American Hinduism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007. Mehra, B. “Hindu Temples and Asian-Indian Diasporic Identity in the United States.” Detroit Monographs in Musicology 40 (2004): 93–102. Panchapakesan, Krishnamurti. Bharat Rekha in America: A Study of Hindu Temples in USA. Topeka: Kansas Medical Publishers, 2005.
Home Decoration There are many home decorations found in every Indian American home. As many of these homes may have Indian artwork or religious paintings showcased, it is difficult to determine what central elements make an “Indian” home. One commonality is a home worship center or scared shrine. These are spaces deemed scared, and contain many Hindu religious figurines and pictures. A home worship center does not have to be a particular size or design; it can be modest, even a small shelf in a closet. Having this shrine allows Hindus to worship in their own homes, making attendance at a Hindu temple for religious holidays or specific prayer sessions no longer mandatory. The prayer at a scared Hindu shrine, whether at home or a Hindu temple, is referred to as a puja. A home puja allows the individual to directly communicate with his or her gods and goddesses one-on-one, which is different than worshipping at a Hindu temple where the priest is mediating the communication. Pujas are typically either held once a day in the home, where
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all members of the household attend, or are performed individually at a time they deem appropriate. Pujas at home help bless the home and those who live there by bringing in religious energies and ridding the home of negative auras. The personalization of a home worshipping center is limitless. Performing a puja in the home allows the individual to ask for fulfillment of personal and family wishes and guidance on family matters. Additionally, as there are many gods and goddesses within the Hindu culture, it is up to the family to display the deities they feel the most connected too. While some may feature many of the Hindu deities, some may only feature a couple. Other elements of a home worship center may include incense and a incense burner, flowers, and food items, which are then enjoyed by the family once the puja is completed. Many Indian homes contain religious and cultural art to display their heritage. Often religious artwork is displayed in the personal shrine portion of the home. However, contemporary religious artwork is starting to become prominent and is often displayed in more visible parts of an Indian home. Depictions of the epic Hindu texts the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have become popular Indian artwork. Pivotal scenes from these texts have been translated into beautiful images that capture important moments in these epics. Additional Indian artwork extends to the landscapes of India, capturing the diversity of people, land, religion, and culture. Some Indian homes may feature a replica of the Taj Mahal, as a display of one of the seven wonders of the world and one of the UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. Some Indian families discourage this practice and instead feel that since the Taj Mahal houses a tomb, having that energy in the house is undesirable and could ultimately lead to a death or energies that promote the passing of individuals. This is, of course, a personal belief. It is also common to see the swastika symbol in Hindu homes. The word “swastika” is derived from the Sanskrit term svastika, which translates to “all is well.” While not to be confused with the Nazi actions used to promote racial purity and Aryan ethnocentricity, the Hindu meaning of the swastika symbol is associated with the gods Vishnu and Shiva. It is believed that if the swastika is faced right, it symbolizes the evolution of the universe, and when faced left it represents the involution of the universe. As the swastika symbol is considered extremely holy and auspicious in the Hindu religion, it is commonly used to decorate Hindu cultural artifacts, religious designs, and is often seen on the sides of temples and religious scriptures. The elephant god Ganesh is often shown sitting on a lotus flower on a bed of swastikas. The symbol is so revered in Indian culture that there is a popular magazine called Swastika in the Kolkata region of India. —Shereen Bhalla
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Further Reading Aigner, Dennis J. The Swastika Symbol in Navajo Textiles. Laguna Beach, CA: DAI Press, 2000. Bharadwaj, Monisha. The Indian Luck Book. Middlesex, UK: Penguin Compass, 2003. Gardner, Nicky. “Multiple Meanings: The Swastika Symbol.” Hidden Europe, 11 (2006): 35–37. Mines, Diane P., and Sarah E. Lamb, eds. Everyday Life in South Asia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002. Renard, John. The Handy Religion Answer Book. Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press, 2002. Tammita-Delgooda, Sinha Raja. A Traveller’s History of India. New York: Interlink, 2003. Waterstone, Richard. India: The Cultural Companion. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2005.
Indian American Writers Indian Americans have made their presence felt in American society, culture, politics, and business. Writing about common people, immigrant experience, identity, spiritualism, racism, East-West relations, feminism, sexuality, life in the United States and the Indian diaspora, Indian American writers have carved a niche in the world of English literature. They are astute observer of human behavior, writing with elegance, perception, clarity, and humor. Some of these writers are academics, teaching in American colleges and universities. They have produced anthologies, poems, novels, short stories, plays, and essays. Born and brought up in Kolkata, Dhan Gopal Mukerji (1890–1936) was one of the earliest Indian American writers. A writer of children books, Mukerji, who had settled in New York in the 1920s, wrote his magnum opus, Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon, in 1927. He received the Newbery Medal for the book in 1928. Educated in India and France, Raja Rao (1908–2006) was a professor at the University of Texas, Austin, from 1966. Notable writings by this prolific author include Expiation of a Heretic (1932), Kanthapura (1938), The Serpent and the Rope (1960), Cat and Shakespeare (1965), Comrade Kirillov (1976), The Policeman and the Rose (1978), On the Ganga Ghat (1988), The Meaning of India (1996), and Great Indian Way: A Life of Mahatma Gandhi (1998). Rao’s work incorporates Indian philosophy, Gandhian thoughts, the Indian independence movement, Marxism, and the theme of the destiny of an individual. Differences in attitude toward love between Indian and Western mind are portrayed with tenderness and sensitivity in The Chess Master and His Moves (1988). Rao’s writings have helped the West looked toward the East. The quintessential writer of the Great Indian diaspora, he was the most influential among India American writers.
Indian Americans: Indian American Writers
Indian American writing broke new ground from the 1970s on. With the relaxation of immigration laws, Indians migrated to the United States in large numbers. One consequence of this has been a proliferation of women writers. In large American cities, one can easily find their books. Their readership has widened, with many women reading novels and short stories in order to learn about their own communities. Indian American women authors write about experiences of immigrant life, which become reading materials for thousands of immigrants. The proliferation of book clubs headed by women and the networking of women writers have made their writings popular. Their themes are sometimes controversial, including multiculturalism, problem in family, cultural alienation, adultery, and incest. Compared to their counterparts in India, the life of a female author is easier in the United States. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, Anita Desai (1938–), a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has written Cry, The Peacock (1963), The Village by the Sea (1982), Journey to Ithaca (1995), Fasting, Feasting (1999), Diamond Dust and Other Stories (2000), and The Zigzag Way (2004). Bharati Mukherjee (1940–), a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, immigrated in 1961. An advocate of assimilation with mainstream American culture, she has written The Tiger’s Daughter (1971), Wife (1975), The Middleman and Other Stories (1988), Jasmine (1989), Desirable Daughters (2002), and The Tree Bride (2004). Gita Mehta (1943–), daughter of Biju Patnaik (1916–1997), a famous politician of Orissa, and wife of Ajai Singh Mehta (1944–), the president of publishing house Alfred Knopf, is a notable Indian American dividing her time among the United States, India, and Britain. She writes with wit about India mysticism in Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East (1979). The Raj, a Novel (1989), A River Sutra (1993), and Eternal Ganesha: From Birth to Rebirth (2006) are some of her famous works. The tradition of Indian American literature begun by earlier authors has been continued by other women writers in the last two decades with new themes and styles. Meena Alexander (1951–), a professor of English at Hunter College and the City University of New York Graduate Center, is a renowned poet and novelist. Her works like The Storm (1989), Night Scene: The Garden (1992), River and Bridge (1995), and The Shock of Arrival: Reflections on Postcolonial Experience (1996) deal with subject of migration. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (1956–), cofounder of a helpline for South Asian women and professor of English at the University of Houston, has written about Indian immigrants. Her important writings are Arranged Marriage: Stories (1995), Sister of My Heart (1999), The Mistress of Spices (2005), and The Palace of Illusions (2008). Bharti Kirchner (1940–) is an author of novels and cookbooks. Her novel Sharmila’s Book describes an immigrant’s journey in her homeland, India. Shiva Dancing is a story about forbidden love and treachery. Shauna Singh Baldwin (1962–), a Canadian
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American novelist of Indian origin living in Milwaukee, has authored What the Body Remembers (2002) and The Tiger Claw (2007). Jhumpa Lahiri (1967–) received the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her short story collection Interpreter of Maladies (1999). Her novel The Namesake (2003) deals with the generation gap between migrant parents and their children. Ginu Kamani’s Junglee Girl (1995), a collection of 12 short stories, explores female sexuality. Indira Ganesan, Kirin Narayan, and Anjali Banerjee are also noted Indian American writers. The recipient of the Booker Prize for Fiction in October 2006, Kiran Desai (1971–), daughter of Anita Desai, is the author of the novels The Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (1998) and The Inheritance of Loss (2006). Her portrayal of the cultural alienation of immigrants in the United Sates has been widely acclaimed. Samina Ali (1970–) immigrated to the United States with her parents from the city of Hyderabad in the year of her birth. In her debut novel, Madras on Rainy Days (2004), she delineates the travails of Muslim women. Samina Ali cofounded the American Muslim woman’s organization Daughters of Hajar. Amitav Ghosh (1956–), a professor in comparative literature at Queens College, City University of New York, is the author of The Circle of Reason (1986), The Shadow Lines (1990), The Calcutta Chromosome (1995), The Glass Palace (2000), The Hungry Tide (2004), and Sea of Poppies (2008). Ghosh takes up historical themes in his novels. Vikram Chandra (1961–), who teaches creative writing at University of California, Berkeley, is the author of Red Earth and Pouring Rain (1995) and Love and Longing in Bombay (1997). Akhil Sharma was the recipient of Hemingway Foundation/PEN award for the novel An Obedient Father (2001). Abraham Verghese’s memoir My Own Country was one of the top books in 1994. Govindas Vishnudas Desani (1909–2000), a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, is the author of All about H. Hatterr and Hali and Collected Stories. The Indian American theatre looks promising as well with works such as Shishir Kurup’s Assimilation (1994) and Jyoti Thotam’s Interrogations (2002). Indian American authors have received bouquets as well as brickbats. Their writings reflect the cultural identity of Indian immigrants in the United State along with their social and economic transformations. Writing from an Indian American perspective, these writers have addressed the issue of diaspora through the characters of stories and novels. The thought processes of these writers move in two worlds: place of birth and present residence. In the folkloric tradition of India, they describe life and culture in an alien world, giving Indian readers a glimpse of American customs and beliefs. The American folklore tradition is enriched by descriptions of experience of Indian Americans. —Patit Paban Mishra See also: Indian Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Indian Americans: Jain Temples
Further Reading Adams, Bella. Asian American Literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008. Brians, Paul. Modern South Asian Literature in English. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2003. Cheung, King-Kok, ed. Words Matter: Conversations with Asian American Writers. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000. Gupta, Monika, ed. Women Writers in the Twentieth Century Literature. New Delhi: Atlantic, 2000. Singh, Manjit I. Contemporary Diasporic Literature: Writing History, Culture, Self. Delhi: Pencraft International, 2007. Srikanth, Rajini. The World Next Door: South Asian American Literature and the Idea of America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004.
Jain Temples Jains are followers of an Indian religion known as Jainism. Jainism developed contemporaneously with Buddhism in India; thus, it shares some basic fundamental religious principles with Hinduism and Buddhism such as the relationship between karma and the cycles of reincarnation (samsara) and rebirth. Together with Buddhism, Jainism stresses compassion (metta) and nonharming (ahimsa). The principle of nonharming in Jain is so great that it informs nearly all aspects of Jain lifeways, such as observing vegetarianism and not doing any type of work that harms any other sentient beings. There are two major schools of Jainism: Digambara (Sky-Clad) and Svetambras (White-Clad). Digambara practice complete nudity and have two material possessions: a peacock feather broom and a gourd for water. The peacock feather broom is used to delicately sweep the floor while walking or before sitting to remove any creature that may be accidentally harmed. Svetambras wear white and cover their nose to avoid accidentally killing a sentient creature while breathing or speaking. There are about 10 to 12 million Jains in the world today. It is also considered the smallest world religion. Although it is small in numbers, its teachings, especially on nonharming and compassion, have had a great impact on world civilization. Mahatma Gandhi was known to be inspired by Jain teachings. In the early 1970s, the Jains started arriving in significant numbers to the United States. At the moment, there are nearly 100 Jain temples and centers in the United States and about 100,000 Jain Americans. Two events before the 1970s anticipated the arrival of the Jains. First, the construction of a Jain temple at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904–1905. At that time, there were no Jains in the United States. After the fair, it was dismantled and rebuilt in Las Vegas, only to be taken down in the 1960s. Now that Jains live in the United States, the remains of the
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building have been acquired by the Jain Society of Los Angeles. The second event was the arrival of Virachand Gandhi, who is considered the father of American Jainism. Today, there are more Jain temples and communities in the United States than in any country outside India. As a group, the Jains are more affluent than other people in India and also in the United States as most of them are in white-collar professions that do not harm other living creatures. In India, Jains go to the market and purchase animals such as pigs, chickens, and goats and give them sanctuary in a “zoo” near the temple. They also house and nurse injured animals in their temple-zoo. This is not the case in the United States. However, many Jain Americans volunteer at the Humane Society and foster dogs and cats for adoption. Some of the basic features of Jain temples in the United States are the use of marble, which reflects the medieval western Indian architecture of Rajasthan. In the United States, the emphasis on the arches found in Rajasthan vernacular architecture—like the curtain at the entrances and the spacious main hall combined with the sanctum—is typical of Jain temples in the United States. Marble statues of Mahavira (founder of Jainism), Parsvanatha, Rishabadeva, and modern saints (e.g., Acharya Sushil Kumar Ji) are enshrined as objects of worship in the mandapas, or halls. Similar to Jain temples in India, Jain temples in the United States are sites of religious festival celebrations, daily worship, the ritual tradition of darshan (divine seeing), and distribution of prasada, or ritual offerings. Because of the Jain tradition of complete compassion and nonharming, Jain temples in the United States have attracted many non-Indians. Jain temples are located in roughly 19 states, including New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Wisconsin. Jain temples and the Jain communities in the United States will continue to inspire others to live and create a world free from suffering and violence. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Indian Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Hindu Temples in America; Muslim Mosques; Mythological Hindu Deities; Religion.
Further Reading Rangaswamy, Padma. Namaste America: Indian Immigrants in an American Metropolis. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000.
Web Sites The Federation of Jain Associations in North American (JAINA): http://www.jaina.org/ (accessed April 21, 2010). Young Jains of America: http://www.yja.org/ (accessed April 21, 2010).
Indian Americans: Literature and Folklore
Literature and Folklore Sanskrit literature has had a major influence on Indian American literature and has been in demand in the United States throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. During this period, Indian thought and philosophy in Hindu scriptures were studied and manifested in American literature by many American writers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson (Selected Essays, Lectures, and Poems), William James (Writings 1902–1910), Herman Melville (Moby-Dick), Walt Whitman (Leaves of Grass), Henry David Thoreau (Walden), and many others. Hindu Vedic literature consists of the Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras, Puranas, and Darshanas. The most comprehensive, universal, and important of all ancient Indian Scriptures are Vedas, Upanishads, and Sutras, which form the core of Indian philosophy and are the basis of all Hindu doctrines. They contain spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of life, and are a guiding force in life of Indian Americans. Puranas are narrative accounts of various gods, sages, and ancient kings (Srimad Bhagavatam, Vishnu Puranam, and Siva Puranam) and can be a combination of both mythology and history. Darshanas are schools of ancient Hindu philosophical thought. Several scholars have written commentaries on these scriptures that are read by Indian Americans to gain spiritual knowledge. There are other devotional literary works in Hinduism, such as the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, and Mahabharata. Bhagavad Gita contains the teachings of Lord Krishna to his disciple Arjuna and discusses in detail about one’s duty (dharma) in life. The epics of Ramayana (by Srimad Valmiki) and Mahabharata (by Sage Veda Vyasa) are mythological stories of a very ancient past and are part of the Smriti tradition. The most read epics, they are available in several different Indian languages and are very popular amongst Indian Americans. Some Indian groups in the United States often get together in their communities on festival days or special occasions to recite the Bhagavad Gita or study the great epics. Indian legendary stories (“Savitri and Satyavan,” “Nala and Damayanti”), fairy tales (Jataka Tales, “Vikram and Betal” stories), and fables (“Panchatantra,” “Hitopadesa”) are popular amongst Indian American children. The Indian fairy tales are a collection of popular ancient Indian stories, some connected to Lord Buddha. Fables and trickster stories are short narratives that use animal characters with human features to convey folk wisdom and to help readers understand human nature and human behavior. These stories or tales are often passed on to the younger generation by Indian Americans and are also available in the form of comics or books. Modern-day Indian American literature focuses on several common themes including the life experiences of immigrants from India, finding one’s own ethnic identity, marriage and family life, relationships with friends, lovers and relatives,
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and so on. Indian American writers integrate their unique issues, identity, perspectives, personal, and community’s experiences into their work. Some of popular Indian American writers are Bharati Mukherjee, Chitra Banerjee, Vikram Chandra, Ginu Kamani, Hanif Kureishi, Gita Mehta, Kiran Narayan, and Salman Rushdie. —Geetha A. Mandayam See also: Indian Americans: Mukherjee, Bharati (1940–).
Further Reading Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna. A History of Indian Literature in English. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Monti, Assessandro. Discussing Indian Woman Writers: Some Feminist Issues. Lighthouse Point, FL: Prestige Books, 2002. Whalen-Bridge, John, and Storhoff, Gary. The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature. Albany, NY: State University Press, 2009.
Little India The generic name “Little India” is commonly applied to a social and cultural milieu created by Indians outside their home country. Most particularly, it refers to a collection of streets or locales that contain a large concentration and eclectic mix of businesses and entrepreneurs from India. Also known as Indian Street, India Bazaar, or India Town, these milieus offer their own spatial and functional characteristics and tourist attractions. In the United States, a substantial immigrant population from India, known as Indian Americans, has carved out immigrant/ethnic enclaves in major cities, keeping their traditions and culture alive and active by celebrating festivals and national and religious events. In many ways, such activities and celebrations become a microcosm and serve the role of the mother country for those living far away. Little India also becomes a gathering place for Indian Americans and like-minded South Asians, including Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Nepalese, and Sri Lankans, and all those who love Indian food, culture, ethnic goods, clothes, music, and Bollywood films. Another attraction of such ethnic enclaves is the temples, gurdwaras, mosques, and other religious institutes built within them or close by. Because Little India reflects India’s cultural diversity in terms of language, religion, cuisine, worship, and different marriage traditions, its various businesses cater to all Indian Americans and their culture. Little India is therefore a symbol and expression of cultural pride and political and ethnic consciousness. Over the past several decades, the number of Indian Americans has increased dramatically. For example, in 2000, the United States Census Bureau reported 1.9 million Indian Americans, who now constitute 12 percent of Asian immigrants and
Indian Americans: Little India
4 percent of all immigrants. Roughly 83 percent of Indian immigrants are Hindus, with another 14 percent Muslims, and about 3 percent from other religious groups. Of these, Hindi speakers constitute the largest group, followed by Gujarati, Punjabi, and Bengali speakers. Indian Americans in general are among the wealthiest and best educated Americans, with nearly 65 percent possessing a graduate degree, higher than any other single group and exceeding the average educational level of the white population. Almost three-fourths of Indian immigrants are in professional or managerial occupations, including information technology, higher education, engineering, medicine, and consulting. The remainder operates small businesses such as convenience stores, jewelry shops, sweet shops, beauty salons, boutiques, gas stations, (traditional) clothing stores, movie theaters, and specialty shops like those that carry Bollywood films and Indian music or South Asian imports. Many immigrants own restaurants that offer delicious red-tinted chicken tandoori, curries, kababs, chaat (traditional snacks), and spicy vegetables, and mouth-watering breads like garlic naan and aloo (potato) paranthas. Some Indian Americans own hotels, and the number of Indian family-owned motels, more than one-quarter of all motels in the United States, has produced the saying, “No motel without a Patel.” Others engage in small enterprises like taxi and truck driving or paan (betel leaf) shops. Today, many Indian Americans are also opting for more nontraditional careers like art, advertising, or media, or as agents for travel or cultural services. In terms of location, unlike some black, Hispanic, and Asian immigrant communities, Indian American immigrants are not segregated from the mainstream. There are, however, five regional concentrations: (1) along the northeast megalopolis, centered in New York; (2) a location in Edison, New Jersey, known as Oak Tree Road; (3) along the west coast of California, centered in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area; (4) the Houston and Dallas areas; and (5) Illinois, centered in Chicago. A few Indian American enclaves are also found in Newark, New Jersey; Chicago; Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Cincinnati, and San Jose. As is apparent, these Little Indias, all of which play a significant role in diffusing Indian folklore to Indian Americans and keeping the culture alive, tend to be concentrated in large metropolitan areas, particularly in the suburbs. This concentration can be attributed to higher socioeconomic status, a better knowledge of English, and lower segregation than in many other ethnic groups. Indian Americans are also doing very well in the United States because they tend to be young, vibrant, and constantly growing in numbers. Every regional concentration has its hub for shopping, dining out, and entertainment. In New York City, the heart of Little India is 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens. In Chicago, it is Devon Avenue, also known as Gandhi Marg, in the epicenter of Chicago’s South Asian community between Hyde Park and Oak Park. In Artesia, Southern California, Pioneer Boulevard (roughly between 183rd and 187th Streets) contains another agglomeration of Indian American commerce—including
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eateries, markets, and specialty stores selling handicrafts, jewelry, and textile— whose heart lies at the intersection of Pioneer Boulevard and 186th East Street. In Northern California, Little Indias are found in El Camino Real, Santa Clara, and Fremont in the Bay Area, as well as along Chatham Street in Cary, North Carolina, and in Millbourne, Pennsylvania. Communities in these locations organize many cultural events and festivals like Indian Independence Day, Diwali, and Eid celebrations, thereby retaining the culture and diffusing it to nearby areas. Not surprisingly, these events impact the local culture, becoming a focal point not only for Indian Americans but for other ethnic groups. In this manner, the culture, folklore, and values of India are disseminated to second-generation Indian Americans and to other ethnicities. For example, one cultural tradition that has become popular among both Indian Americans and non-Indians is the art of mehendi (henna) decoration applied to women’s hands and feet on special occasions. Henna, besides being part of folk culture (i.e., to distract the bride from wedding jitters during the prenuptial celebrations), is also used by Vedic and Buddhist communities for medicinal purposes, as well as for fingernail dye and hair colorant and conditioner. Thus, many of Little India’s products, including folklore, language, culture, history, and food, are impacting and transforming the American urban space. —Rajrani Kalra
Further Reading Joseph, George. “Edison Celebrates Indian Independence Day.” India Abroad 38(47) (2008): A38. Joshi, Monika, and Rajendran, P. “When They Come Here, It’s Like a Little India.” India Abroad 36(48) (2006): C1. Kaplan, David H., and Wei, Li, eds. Landscapes of the Ethnic Economy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Khandelwal, S. Madhulika. Becoming American, Being Indian: An Immigrant Community in New York City. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002. Pais, J. Arthur. “Finding India in North America.” India Abroad 36(39) (2006): M2. Rangaswamy, Padma. Namaste America: Indian Immigrants in an American Metropolis. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000.
Mukherjee, Bharati (1940–) Born and brought up in Kolkata (Calcutta), Bharati Mukherjee came to the United States in 1961 to attend a Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. This was a turning point in her life, and she settled in Canada after getting married to the
Indian Americans: Mukherjee, Bharati (1940–)
American-born Canadian author Clark Blaise. She was immersed in the world of literature in an elite school of Kolkata, and as a teenager wrote short stories. In her student days at the University of Iowa in the early 1960s, Mukherjee was virtually the lone female writer of Indian origin. The Tiger’s Daughter was her first novel published in 1971. Her living in Kolkata along with her husband in joint family in 1974– 1975 moved her from the Indian ethos, and she felt suffocated, Indian neither in mind nor spirit. In 1975, her second novel, Wife, came out. Mukherjee and her husband finally settled in the United States in 1980. Her career as a writer blossomed. Mukherjee’s experi- Indian-born American author Bharati Mukherjee. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Jerry Bauer) ences in India, Canada, and the United States, along with her perceptions about immigrant life, inspired the characters of her novel. Mukherjee was moving between two worlds and finally opted for her place of residence, becoming American rather than Indian American in mind and spirit. She became an immigrant in a land of immigrants. Mukherjee wrote about the problems of immigrants in the folkloric milieu of the United States rather than brooding over a past life in the homeland. She strove for assimilation without a connection to a nostalgic past. Mukherjee coauthored, with her husband, Days and Nights in Calcutta (1977) and The Sorrow and the Terror: The Haunting Legacy of the Air India Tragedy (1987). She had also written her own nonfiction books, including Kautilya’s Concept of Diplomacy: A New Interpretation (1976), Political Culture and Leadership in India (1991), and Regionalism in Indian Perspective (1992). Her short story collections include Darkness (1985) and The Middleman and Other Stories (1988). The latter work won the National Book Critics Circle Award for 1988. Jasmine (1989), The Holder of the World (1993), and Leave It to Me (1997) are novels she wrote in the last decade of the 20th century. In the new millennium, she had published Desirable Daughters (2002) and its sequel The Tree Bride (2004). The former narrates the lives of three sisters, Tara, Padma, and Parvati, who have charted different paths spanning two continents. In the sequel to Desirable Daughters, Mukherjee juxtaposed late-19th-century colonial Bengal and contemporary San Francisco in a brilliant and incisive manner.
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A Fellow of the American Academy, Mukherjee holds the prestigious position of professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. Her career is an example of women empowerment not only among the migrant community but in American society itself. —Patit Paban Mishra
Further Reading Alam, Fakrul. Bharati Mukherjee. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996. Bagul, A. S. The Fiction of Bharati Mukherjee. Kanpur: Chandralok Prakashan, 2007. Banerjee, Mita. The Chutneyfication of History: Salman Rushdie, Michael Ondaatje, Bharati Mukherjee and the Postcolonial Debate. Heidelberg: C. Winter, 2002. Byers-Pevitts, Beverley. “An Interview with Bharati Mukherjee.” In Farhat Iftekharuddin, Maurice Lee, and Mary Rohrberger, eds. Speaking of the Short Story: Interviews with Contemporary Writers. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1997. Kumar, Nagendra. The Fiction of Bharati Mukherjee: A Cultural Perspective. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 2001. Leong, Liew-Geok. “Bharati Mukherjee.” In Robert L. Ross, ed. International Literature in English: Essays on the Modern Writers. New York: St. James Press, 1991. Mukherjee, Bharati. Desirable Daughters: A Novel. New Delhi: Rupa, 2003. Parmar, Virender. Home Elsewhere: A Study of Short Fiction of Jhumpa Lahiri and Bharati Mukherjee. Jalandhar: ABS Publications, 2006.
Muslim Mosques Indian Americans who are followers of Islam are often referred to as Muslims. Muslims pray at a place of worship known as a mosque. The Arabic term for a place of Muslim worship is masjid, literally a “place of prostration.” Mosques are found all over the world, and there is a distinction between a small, privately owned mosque and a larger, collective one that offers a place for community and social amenities. Even though the praying can be done in private at home, many Muslims attend mosques for prayer or salat. The mosque offers a place for individuals to collect information, become more educated about the Muslim religion, as well as counseling services. The leader of the prayer is known as the “Imam.” There are five formal prayers each day, spaced for a constant reminder of God’s gifts. Mosques around the world are varied in design and materials, depending on each Muslim community. However, most mosques have the following characteristics: minaret, prayer hall, prayer rugs, mihrab, minbar, dome and shoe shelf. A minaret is a decorative tower that rises above the mosque and often varies in
Indian Americans: Mythological Hindu Deities
style and height. Minarets were originally used as a high point to make the call to prayer. It is not uncommon today for mosques to have computerized prayer calls. The prayer hall is a bare room in which the participants can pray by kneeling directly on the floor. There are often a couple of chairs or benches for elderly and disabled worshippers. Copies of the Qu’ran and other religious reading materials are held in this room. Prayer rugs are kept in the prayer hall and help keep the prayer space clean. Though the prayer hall may be carpeted, individual rugs are often available for use. The mihrab is a doorway-shaped indention in the wall of the mosque. They are often decorated and ornate. In the mosque, near the front of the prayer room, there is a platform known as the minbar. This is where religious speeches or sermons are given from. The minbar is sometimes covered by a small dome. Many mosques are decorated with a dome rooftop. The dome is an aesthetic design of the mosque and is often decorated with floral or geometric patterns. There is no spiritual or symbolic connotation to the dome. Muslims remove their shoes before entering a mosque, to maintain cleanliness. A shoe shelf offers a practical space for these shoes to be organized. —Shereen Bhalla See also: Indian Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Hindu Temples in America; Jain Temples; Mythological Hindu Deities; Pakistani Americans: Religion; Punjabi Americans: Gurdwara; Sri Lankan Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. London: Sage, 2003. Renard, John. The Handy Religion Answer Book. Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press, 2002. Rippin, Andrew. Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Mythological Hindu Deities Many observers of Hinduism are struck by the multitude of Hindu deities, often depicted in colorful posters and elaborate statues, on display in Hindu American homes. Most of these homes have a special area dedicated for worship—whether an entire room or a simple corner where the deities are said to reside. While the term “Hinduism” covers a wide variety of religious practices originating in India, and includes worship of many regional and pan-Indian deities, there are certain deities whose images will be displayed by most Hindu Americans. These include representations of the so-called Hindu trinity (Bramha the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer), the gods Rama and Krishna (believed to be
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incarnations of the god Vishnu), and various forms of the mother goddess (including Durga, Lakshmi, Sawasvati, and Kali). These deities are depicted as having human form, though some may take on additional characteristics—such as the popular monkey god Hanuman and the beloved elephant-headed Lord Ganesha. Most of the post-1965 Hindu immigrants to the United States have been urban, upper-class professionals, so local Indian village deities are therefore not heavily represented in Hindu American homes. Many Hindus, especially those in the United States, do not view these deities as completely separate entities, and instead explain the apparent multitude of gods as differing aspects of one single supreme being. Many Hindu temples have been established in the United States since the 1970s, and most U.S. cities now have at least one temple. There is often a primary deity associated with each temple, and the temple’s lore and history may describe how this deity found his or her way to the New World. The Sri Venkateshwara temple in Penn Hills, Pittsburgh, for example, has produced a cassette of devotional songs that describe Penn Hills as one cosmic home of the god Venkateshwara. The garden at the Barsana Dham temple outside of Austin, Texas, is a miniature replication of the childhood home of the god Krishna. Temple visitors are encouraged to stroll through this landscape and to consider it equivalent to visiting Krishna’s actual birthplace in India. In this way, the builders of American temples have transplanted the Indian geography associated with certain deities onto American soil. Several publications based in India have gained a wide audience in the United States, and play an important role in the dissemination and creation of information about Hindu culture and deities. The Indian English-language periodical Hinduism Today, for example, often gives advice on how to raise Hindu families in the United States and sometimes includes suggestions on how to welcome Indian deities into the American setting. In the late 1980s, the periodical’s founder created a new festival for late December and gave instructions for its celebration. Named Pancha Ganapati after a form of the popular Hindu deity Ganesh, it is intended as a Hindu American alternative to Christmas. The five-day family-centered celebration takes place in individual homes, where a statue of Ganesh is decorated with flashing lights, colorful ornaments, and boughs of pine trees. Families sing hymns in praise of the deity, children dress the deity in colorful robes, and all place gifts and sweets at his feet. These gifts are distributed and opened on December 25th, the festival’s final day. Some Hindu American families include this in their yearly celebrations. Another important publication is the popular Indian comic book series Amar Chitra Katha (Immortal Picture Stories, founded in 1967), which seeks to immortalize India’s mythological deities and historical heroes. These comics have found a substantial market in the United States, where Indian immigrant families have
Indian Americans: Names and Name Giving
used them to teach their children about the culture of their ancestral home. The series includes many comics that retell the ancient Sanskrit narratives on Rama, Krishna, Shiva and other deities. In 2009, the popular series was digitally relaunched for viewing on iPhones and other mobile devices. —Ian Woolford See also: Indian Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Hindu Temples in America; Jain Temples; Muslim Mosques; Religion.
Further Reading Kurien, Prema A. A Place at the Multicultural Table: The Development of an American Hinduism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007. Mazumdar, Shampa, and Sanjoy Mazumdar. “Creating the Sacred: Altars in the Hindu American Home.” In Jane Naomi Iwamura and Paul R. Spickard, eds. Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America. New York: Routledge, 2003.
Names and Name Giving Indian names and their naming have a great significance in Indian American families. Name giving is a festival and a ceremony celebrated with pomp and joy in almost all Indian American cultures. It is believed that a person’s name determines his or her virtues, personality, and future outlook. According to the history of the Indian naming process, a child’s name is derived from his or her physical appearance, qualities or visual traits, place of birth, and clan or names of the child’s parents or grandparents. Most Indian Americans of South Asian origin have two names—a nickname that family members and friends use and an official name used by classmates or colleagues at work or in other professional arenas. Also, the official name is used for identification and registration to get a driver’s license, bank account, social security number, passport, school enrollment, and certification purposes. Some families name their children in honor of gods, goddesses, social reformers/ leaders, and flora and fauna. For example Rama, Shiva, Sita, Parvati, Surya, and Krishna are some popular names of gods and goddesses from religious scriptures and mythologies. Some people believe that the selected name should have an attractive or compelling story and/or a meaning associated with it. The idea of selecting a name is not only for identification but also to bring good luck, success, and charm. Thus, some Indian American names are based on language, religion, social class, and region of the country. The name is considered a warehouse of culture.
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There are first names, second names, surnames, nicknames, and also pen names. In several regions it is not permissible to address an elder with his or her official name. Typically, grandparents are never addressed by their first name not only by their relatives but neighbors and community members as well. To address a senior or a relatively older person by first name is considered impolite. Normally, one would address him or her in the same way as one would address a person of his or her age in one’s own family, such as uncle, aunt, brother, sister, grandfather or grand-mother. A suffix such as Ji is often attached at the end of the reference term—for example, uncleji, auntyji, or brotherji—as a mark of respect. In Hindu tradition, those from the north of India typically have a given name and a surname. The surname is also called the family name and is reflective of one’s caste. But in South India, surnames are less common, and one mainly uses the initial of one’s father’s name prefixed with one’s given name. Also, marriage of a girl leads to a change of her last name from her family name (parents’ last name) to her spouse’s family name. Many Indian American Muslims do not have surnames, but they suffix their father’s name to their own name with the connector “bin”—for example, Muhammad bin Tughlak. Also, having the title “Hajji” (male) or “Hajjah” (female) before one’s name emphasizes that one has made the trip to Mecca. Furthermore, Indian American Sikhs use the last name “Singh” (male) and “Kaur” (female). They take this on either as the surname or as a connector name to the surname. Interestingly, many people change their name to a more astrologically auspicious one. This is particularly common in the Bollywood (Hindi) film industry, which inspires ordinary people to follow suit. There is a naming (Naam Karan) ceremony organized 10 to 11 days after the child’s birth. A priest is invited along with other family members and friends. The priest identifies the alphabetical letter of the first name after the calculation of the astronomical position of the child’s date and time of birth, and he or she is then named. Thus, the naming of an Indian American is an important social custom as it is associated with values, rituals, traditions, and morals, and is believed to be an important part of one’s persona. —Rajrani Kalra
Further Reading Hallan, Vinod. Asian Names: Guide to Assist Understanding of the Naming Systems of People from the Indian Subcontinent. New Delhi: Equal Opportunities Unit, 1993. Mehrotra, Raja Ram, ed. Book of Indian Names. New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 1994. Sharma, D. D. Panorama of Indian Anthroponomy: An Historical, Socio-Cultural and Linguistic Analysis of Indian Personal Names. New Delhi: Mittal Publications, 2005. Soundar, Chitra. Gateway to Indian Culture. Singapore: ASIAPAC Books PTE, Ltd., 2003.
Indian Americans: Narrative Folktale
Narrative Folktale While India has a wide variety of ethnic, religious, and linguistic backgrounds, it is difficult to generalize about narrative Indian folklore. However, there are many different traditions of this genre that encompass social traditions. Heroic ballads and epic poetry are two examples of the oral tradition that have been preserved in both Sanskrit and diverse regional languages. Indian folklore extends beyond religion to encompass the oral tradition as its sole method of maintenance and preservation. One strand of folklore is based on Hinduism and explains the rationale behind the religious traditions. The existence of religious customs and temple location are explained through these religious folktales. This type of folklore carries a very high status in Indian culture. Religious and cultural epics such as the Ramayana, Bhagavad-Gita, and Mahabharata were oral traditions long before they were written down in Sanskrit. Drawing from numerous cultural myths and heroic religious legends, over time they have become standardized literary epics. Prevalent social issues such as the Hindu caste system have also become a part of the narrative folklore tradition. However, as members of India’s lower classes have not been educated in Sanskrit, oral traditions that often parody these folktales have been constructed. Occupations associated with the lower classes, such as farmers and cobblers, become the heroes of these local epics. Themes such as social hierarchy and mobility appear as the heroes of these epics fight battles and achieve success through courageous acts. The main goals of Indian folktales are to achieve national identity and to strengthen religious practices and cultural traditions and rituals. These folktales also help maintain the religious stories associated with the many deities of Indian religions. Indian folklores are still prevalent in communities across the world, while they continue to develop and maintain an active role in Indian cultural and religious traditions. —Shereen Bhalla See also: Literature and Folklore entries in the Indian Americans, Punjabi Americans, and Sri Lankan Americans sections.
Further Reading Beck, Brenda E. F., Peter J. Claus, Praphulladatta Goswami, and Jawaharlal Handoo, eds. Folktales of India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Tammita-Delgooda, S. A Traveller’s History of India. New York: Interlink, 2003. Waterstone, R. India: The Cultural Companion. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2005.
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Nature and Animals In Hinduism, there is no distinction between life-forms, and all living objects are seen as manifestations of the divine. Animals are included in that category and play a special role in both Hinduism and the way of life in India. Hinduism sees the evolution of animals, within the realm of reincarnation, as lower forms but not inferior creations as they are still manifestations of God. Animals are often seen as vehicles for gods and many of the Hindu gods and goddesses are presented as animals, contain animal parts, or resemble animals. This is clearly evident in the god Hanuman, who has the likeness of a monkey. In the epic Hindu text the Ramayana, he is credited as assisting Lord Rama against the evil king Ravana as well as helping Lord Rama in locating his wife, Sita. Additionally, within the Hindu religions there is an elephant-headed god—Ganesha, who is the son of Lord Shiva and Parvarti and one of the more widely recognized figures in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Animals have also been said to be incarnations or aspects of Vishnu and Shiva, and elephants are associated with the Goddess Lakashmi as symbols of wealth. As the Hindu faith developed near the Indus River, esteem for animals and their existence has been an essential practice in Hinduism that still exists today. As animals are seen as symbols within the Hindu religion and in Indian culture, they are seen as representatives of energies, noted qualities (both bad and good), and skills. While it is common knowledge that the cow is considered a sacred animal of both India and the Hindu religion, it is the meaning behind this reverence that often becomes lost. Hindu mythology states that the cow was created along with the god of creation, Brahma, and while it is believed that early Hindus ate beef, the reverence for the animal has been clearly defined. As Hinduism in an interpretative religion with no set boundaries, the belief that cows are sacred is a central theme in religious texts that is still upheld by Hindus around the world. Lord Krishna is a Carving of the elephant-headed Hindu god, central figure in religious texts that Ganesha, in Flushing, New York. discuss the admiration for cows, as it (Arvind Balaraman/Dreamstime)
Indian Americans: Proverbs and Maxims
is believed that he worked as a cowherd. From these texts, Lord Krishna has been recognized as a gopala, which translates to the Lord of Cows. Other descriptions include a bala-gopala as the child who safeguards the cows and govinda, another holy name given to Krishna, meaning “the one who brings satisfaction to the cows.” Further Hindu religious texts refer to the cow as a maternal figure of many gifts, such as milk and meat that it provides to its followers, similar to what a mother provides. As every part of the cow is said to be divine and a much-needed product, cows are left to roam free in India and are often fed and looked after by Hindus in India. Religious rites often call for cow’s milk, excrement, and urine, and these products are used in ceremonial procedures and homeopathic medications. As Hindus consider killing cows and eating their meat a serious taboo, cow meat is a rarity in restaurants and homes. Even the popular McDonald’s chain in India carries no beef. While some believe that the free roaming of cows in India is creating traffic, population, and sanitary issues, they continue to be held in high esteem. —Shereen Bhalla
Further Reading Beck, Brenda E. F., Peter J. Claus, Praphulladatta Goswami, and Jawaharlal Handoo, eds. Folktales of India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Juergensmeyer, Mark. Global Religions: An Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Mines, Diane P., and Sarah E. Lamb, eds. Everyday Life in South Asia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002. Renard, John. The Handy Religion Answer Book. Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press, 2002. Waterstone, Richard. India: The Cultural Companion. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2005.
Web Site PBS Online: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/holycow/hinduism.html.
Proverbs and Maxims Indian Americans are greatly influenced by the proverbs and maxims of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and other great Indian religions, which illustrates to them a general truth or fundamental principle of life, provides them insight into religious ethics or morals, and guides their life by describing rules of conduct. Ancient Indian maxims play a very important role in contemporary India as well as in the Indian American population, and are widely discussed by scholars who provide different interpretations and commentaries to them. Several popular
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proverbs originate in ancient Sanskrit and classical literature (“Nara Seva Narayana Seva,” Service to mankind is service to God), different ancient Indian religious books (“One should give even from a scanty store to him who asks,” Buddhism Dhammapada), Indian mythology (“He is a fool that practices truth without knowing the difference between truth and falsehood,”- Krishna to Arjuna), and modern Indian literature and Indian poetry (“You cannot cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water,” Rabindranath Tagore). Some of the proverbs are found in Indian folk stories (“A thief is a thief, whether he steals a diamond or a cucumber,” or “One who cannot dance blames the floor”) and are very useful in teaching moral character and good behavior to children in the Indian American community. The several Hindu philosophical maxims belong to the different Vedic schools of thought (Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa, and Uttara Mimamsa/Vedanta) and the later non-Vedic schools of thought (Jain and Buddhist). Maxims from scriptures (Vedas, Upanishads, and Sutras) describe the knowledge of ultimate self and Hindu ethics that help navigating daily life as well as the spiritual journey. According to the Vedic Advaita maxim “Brahma alone is real, the world illusory, the individual and universal soul are one,” the “true self” is the same as Brahman/God/Divine Creator, who is present in each individual’s body although they are all separate. Maxims from the Bhagavad-Gita, such as “Your business is with deed and not with the result,” teaches that a person can find salvation by adhering to his duty (dharma) to the best of his ability, with devotion to God and without personal ambition. Buddhist maxims hold the view that attachment to a permanent self in this world of change is the cause of suffering and the main obstacle to liberation. Jain maxims in different sutras (“Don’t kill any living beings . . . Don’t try to rule them,” Acaranga Sutra) describe the path of nonviolence/ahimsa, nonpossession, and respect for the rights of other living beings. The core maxims of Islamic law help guide the lives of Indian American Muslims in identifying their priorities and primary social obligations and in acquiring the means to achieve them. There are other ancient Hindu maxims (Manu Dharma Shastra, Arthasashtra, and Neetisashtra) that illustrate Hindu morals, societal rules/practices, economic rules/practices, people’s behavior, and ideal ways of life. Several of these proverbs and maxims are available in different Indian languages and play a significant role in the lives of the contemporary Indian Americans. —Geetha A. Mandayam
Further Reading Abd-Allah, Umar Faruq. Living Islam with Purpose. A paper published by the Nawawi Foundation, Glenview, Illinois, 2007. Fallon, S.W., Richard Carnac Temple, and Dihlavi Fakir Chand. A Dictionary of Hindustani Proverbs: Including Many Marwari, Panjabi, Maggah, Bhojpuri and Tirhuti
Indian Americans: Religion Proverbs, Sayings, Emblems, Aphorisms, Maxims and Similes. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2009. Jacob, George Adolphus. A Handful of Popular Maxims Current in Sanskrit Literature. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2010. Morley, Henry, and Charles Wilkins. Fables and Proverbs from the Sanskrit: Being the Hitopadesa. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2010. Saxena, Sanjay. A Short Collection of Proverbs from India. Bloomington, IN: X libris Corporation, 2008.
Religion Indian Americans belong to many different religions, some of which originated in India, such as Hinduism (before 2000 BCE), Buddhism (c. 500 BCE), Jainism (c. 600 BCE), and Sikhism (c. 15th century CE). Other religions were brought to India by traders, foreign invaders, European missionaries, or immigrants, such as Judaism (c. 562 BCE), Christianity (c. 52 CE), Islam (c. 7th century CE), Zoroastrianism or Parsiism (c. 7th century CE), and Bahai’ism (c. 19th century CE). There is a vast diversity in the religious philosophy, beliefs, traditions, and practices of Indian Americans based on their fundamental religious differences and lifestyle changes due to immigration. While some religions are monotheistic and believe in the presence of one supreme being/God (e.g., Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Judaism, and Bahai’ism), others believe in two supreme powers/dualism (e.g., Zoroastrianism), or in multiple gods/polytheism (e.g., Hinduism). Others believe in the absence of a supreme creator and in the oneness of nature/universe and god (e.g., some forms of Buddhism and Jainism). Hinduism, the Vedic religion of Ancient India that came to the United States during the 19th century, is very complex with many subsects, philosophical beliefs, and values that are still found amongst the Indian Hindu community in the United States. Hinduism, there are multiple gods and goddesses e.g., Brahma/Vishnu/Shiva/Ganesha and Saraswati/Lakshmi/Parvati) and their incarnations, gods of nature (e.g., Surya, Agni, Varuna, Shani), and other animal gods (e.g., Hanuman, Garuda, Naga). Hindus also believe in life after death/rebirth of soul (punarjanma/samsara), liberation of the soul (moksha/nirvana), one’s moral and ritual duties (karma), and a caste system. Although similar to Hindus in India, many Hindus in the United States exhibit differences in the gods and goddesses they worship and their methods of worship, rituals practiced, sacred texts used, meditation techniques practiced, festivals observed, and lifestyle activities followed.
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The three other major Indian religions—Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism— originated in India as an alternative to Brahmanic/Hindu philosophy, and later appeared in the United States due to immigration of people belonging to that faith during the 19th and 20th century. Buddhism, founded by Gautama Buddha, is also a complex religion with three major divisions (Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana) currently found in the United States. The Indian American Buddhists believe in the existence of a god who has no form, the four noble truths of Buddhism (the truth of suffering, the cause/origin of suffering, the ending of suffering, and the path to alleviation of suffering), and the practice of eight daily observances (eight noble paths) that leads to salvation. Jainism, propagated by Lord Mahavira, emphasizes liberation of the soul by conquering ignorance through meditation and practice of nonviolence/ahimsa toward all forms of life. Indian American Jains practice strict vegetarianism and participate in animal rights projects. Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak, believes in the presence of an invisible god whose presence can be felt by following the path of devotion, meditation, moral and ethical conduct, service to fellow beings, and adhering to the teachings of gurus. Indians belonging to Islamic, Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, and Baha’i faiths who immigrated to the United States, identify themselves with their larger religious community in their religious or philosophical beliefs, but have integrated some of the cultures and traditions from their homeland into their religious practices. Indian Muslims in the United States believe in the five fundamental principles of Islamic faith founded by Prophet Mohammad: the oneness of supreme-being Allah, divine justice of supreme being, prophethood, leadership of mankind by the twelve Imams, and the resurrection and trial of the dead. These principles guide Muslims in their religious and everyday life duties, which include faith in Allah, performing five obligatory prayers, payment of Zakah, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca/Makkah. Indian American Christians belonging to Catholic, Protestant, or other denominations mostly identify with their respective religious congregations in the United States and follow the Christian way of life. While they all believe in one God/eternal being who created the universe, they differ in their beliefs about the nature of God. Judaism, founded by Abraham, believes in one God/creator and is considered a way of life by the people of this faith, who are guided by their sacred text the Torah in leading a spiritual and ethical life. Indian people belonging to Zoroastrianism (an ancient religion of Persia/Iran), which was founded by Zoroaster, believe in the concept of heaven and hell, existence of supreme good and evil spirits (Ohrmazd and Ahriman) in the world, the need for individuals to choose good over evil, extensive rituals, and sacrificial offerings that revolve around sacred fires. Baha’ism, founded by Baha’u’llah, believes in one God, the oneness of all humankind, and the need for unity of the great religions of the world.
Indian Americans: Rites of Passage
There are vast differences in the degree of religious identification and behavior amongst people of Indian decent in the United States, ranging from total identification to total rejection of their religious beliefs and activities. Some strictly adhere to their religious beliefs and principles and engage in their religious practices with great dedication, interest, and fervor, which may surpass their counterparts in their homeland. Many have made modifications of their religious beliefs and are flexible in their practice, either to suit their current life situations in American society or due to influences of their religious peers (i.e., other Asian Buddhists) from other nations. Others do not identify themselves with any of the religious institutions or participate in religious activities in their community, but still believe in the philosophies of their religion and follow its principles. Some younger-generation Indian Americans practice other religions in addition to their own and incorporate into their lives the beliefs and practices of the different contemporary religions they are exposed to. Currently, Indian religious traditions have a strong foothold in the United States and are practiced by many other Americans in addition to people belonging to the Indian American community. —Geetha A. Mandayam
Further Reading Coward, Herald, John R. Hinnells, and Raymond B. Williams, eds. The South Asian Religious Diaspora in Britain, Canada and the United States. New York: State University of New York Press, 2000. Fenton, John. Y. Transplanting Religious Traditions: Asian Indians in America. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1988. Tweed, Thomas, and Stephen Prothero, eds. Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Rites of Passage Rites of passage—or life-cycle rituals—mark a major transition in an individual’s life. The rituals move a person from one stage of life to another (e.g., from childhood to adulthood, or from bachelor to householder). Commonly recognized rituals are those associated with childbirth, marriage, or death. Several ancient Hindu and Muslim sources lay out schemes for the ideal life. Hindu texts describe four stages (asramas), in which a person moves from student, to householder, to hermit, to renunciant. These exact phases are not fully observed in either India or the United States, but they do form the basis for many Indian life-cycle rituals. In the New World, these rituals are often modified to reflect their fresh setting, either by incorporating new Western customs or by making them more gender
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Puja and Rahul (the bride and groom) take part in their Hindu marriage ceremony in New York City. (Najlah Feanny/Corbis)
inclusive. Many life-cycle rituals in the Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, and Hindu religions (and, to a lesser extent, in Islam) resemble each other in name and practice. In the United States, the temple has become the center for many Hindu lifecycle rituals, although some (such as the child’s naming ceremony) may still be performed at home. There is a variety of life-cycle rituals practiced by Indian Americans, and no single way they are performed. A ritual that one family may practice as an intimate home affair with no guests or priest may be conducted by another family as a large celebratory temple event with many guests. Many important life-cycle rituals are rarely performed without consulting a professional astrologer to determine the date of the ritual (weddings must be scheduled on an auspicious date, for example), or to determine the ritual’s exact content. Hindus often perform life-cycle rituals for a mother while her child is in utero. Toward the conclusion of pregnancy, some families perform the “parting of the hair ceremony” (simantam), during which a woman’s husband—or sometimes a female family member—parts her hair, a gesture intended to protect the child during delivery. In some parts of India, pregnant women undergo an “adornment” ceremony, during which they receive clothes and jewelry. This custom is easily merged with the American baby shower tradition. The naming of an Indian American child may necessitate a ritual. Sikhs, for example, bring newborn children to their place of worship (gurdwara) and introduce
Indian Americans: Rites of Passage
them to their holy text, the Guru Grant Sahib. A random verse is selected—the first letter of which becomes the first letter of the child’s name. Other common childhood rituals include the child’s first intake of solid food and the first haircut. Most Muslim boys are circumcised as infants—a procedure that American Muslims often have carried out by medical professionals when the child is seven days old. The ritual may be followed by a well-attended celebration. Various “coming of age ceremonies” have become an important way for Indians in the United States to reassert and define their identity. The small number of Indian American Parsis—followers of the ancient Zoroastrian religion—celebrate a child’s initiation ceremony (Navjote) when the child is between 7 and 12 years old; during this ritual, the child receives his or her cotton undershirt (sudreh) and hand-woven wool cord (kusti), the external symbols of Zoroastrian faith. The Hindu counterpart to this ritual is the “sacred thread ceremony,” during which a boy receives the thread that he wears for the rest of his life, after which he is allowed to begin learning the sacred scriptures. Today, and especially in the United States, versions of this ceremony are increasingly performed for girls, or may be incorporated into new hybrid ceremonies such as the “graduation pujas” developed by some temples. Marriages in the Indian American community are often so-called “love marriages,” although they may be arranged or semiarranged. Restrictions against marriage across caste and religious boundaries are often relaxed in the United States, although several communities maintain “marriage registries” to collect the contact information of eligible men and women of a particular religion or heritage. Indian American weddings are often shortened from their Indian counterparts (which may take many days). Indian Americans find many ways to adapt their wedding rituals to the U.S. setting, such as the appointment of groomsmen and bridesmaids, or the interruption of Sanskrit chants with English translations. Many Hindu American attendees may be expected to sit and quietly watch an Indian American wedding. This can be a confusing task for relatives visiting from India, where weddings have something of a carnival atmosphere, during which attendees can socialize and move around even during the most important rituals. —Ian Woolford
Further Reading Collver, Andrew. “The Family Cycle in India and the United States.” American Sociological Review 28(1) (1963): 86–96. Kurien, Prema A. A Place at the Multicultural Table: The Development of an American Hinduism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007. Sutherland, Gail Hinich. “The Wedding Pavilion: Performing, Recreating, and Regendering Hindu Identity in Houston.” International Journal of Hindu Studies 7(1/3) (2003): 117–146.
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Social Etiquette and Customs Indian Americans are Americans of Indian ancestry that the U.S. Census Bureau also terms “Asian Indians” to avoid confusion with American Indians. The many traditions and customs they practice vary according to religion, caste, and culture. One easily recognizable element of Indian social etiquette is the greeting namaste, a way of saying hello with folded hands. Mostly, it is the younger people who wish the older people namaste, showing respect for elders and in some instances even touching the feet of older relatives and seeking their blessing. Garlands—usually made of white jasmine, roses, or orange marigold flowers—are also a common way of welcoming or showing respect. These are used in weddings and at temples, and to welcome guests or relatives at social or family events. However, Indian Americans generally do not show affection in public; for example, kissing between couples is considered a very private affair, and culture and tradition forbid any physical contact between a man and a woman in public. Such modest behavior is also considered a sign of respect for the older members of the society. Another tradition of Indian American women is to wear a bindi, derived from the Sanskrit word bindu, or dot, when dressed in traditional Indian clothes. Once worn on the forehead by married women, the bindi has now become a fashion item for the unmarried too and enhances the beauty of many Indian American women. Available in Little Indias and in many grocery and clothing stores or beauty salons, bindis come in all colors, shapes, sizes, and designs and are often selected to match a woman’s dress. Today, however, not only Indian American women wear bindis, particularly on special occasions and festivals; their use is also gaining popularity in American culture. At many religious sites like Hindu temples and gurdwaras (Sikh temples), Indian Americans take off their shoes and enter barefoot to worship the gods and ask for blessings. In many households, people even remove their shoes before entering the home. Men and women also cover their heads out of respect when they go to a Sikh temple, the men with a scarf and the women with the top portion of their sari or a scarf (dupatta). Although customs and traditions vary according to region and culture, one very interesting custom that most Indian Americans observe is that they always say no when offered anything for the first time. This polite refusal of the first offering of, for example, food or drink is considered correct social etiquette, even though the offering is generally accepted the second or third time. Likewise, in an Indian American household, it is impolite to call elders by their first names; instead, they are given titles of respect depending on their age and gender. Hence, despite regional and ethnic variations, there is always a consciousness of social order and a hierarchy of social relationships. All or most of these Indian American
Indian Americans: Superstition and Taboo
customs and traditions are reflected in Little India and/or in the many festivities organized by the Indian American community to keep the culture alive and disseminate it to surrounding communities. —Rajrani Kalra See also: Indian Americans: Clothes and Jewelry; Little India.
Further Reading Kolonad, Gitanjali. Culture Shock! India: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International, 2005. Rangaswamy, Padma. Namaste America: Indian Immigrants in an American Metropolis. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000.
Superstition and Taboo Indian culture, like any other, has a long history with unique beliefs and superstitions. Many have noted that Indian superstitions have been created to protect individuals from evil spirits. Like any cultural tradition passed from generation to generation, the reasons behind many of the superstitions and taboos have been lost. Superstitions play a large role in Indian culture because they can be either good or bad, and they generally hint at future occurrences. Many of the superstitions are connected to animals, and encounters with specific creatures have predicted outcomes. A prime example is, when leaving one’s home a sighting of an elephant is considered good luck. As an elephant represents Lord Ganesha, the Hindu God who is the omen of good luck and removes obstacles, an encounter with one would ensure that this trip is lucky and troublefree. Similarly, seeing a peacock on a journey is also considered lucky, but hearing its shrill sound is bad. Indians feel happy if a bird builds a nest in a new house because it predicts good financial luck. The daily lives of Indians are also governed by superstitions related to religious beliefs. Mondays are considered an inauspicious day for shaving, while Tuesdays are bad days for hair cutting, and hair washing is strongly discouraged on Thursdays. Women who are menstruating are not allowed to enter a religious temple and are discouraged from entering a kitchen, as menstrual fluid is considered unclean. Astrology is highly regarded in the Indian culture. Before embarking on any new ventures, businesses, trips, or becoming engaged, Indians will consult with an astrologer to examine their chart. From the astrological charts, auspicious days and times are determined and these big events take place on these favorable days.
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Taboos in Indian culture center around the concept of maintaining a clean image. For example, it is considered inappropriate to be overly affectionate with one’s significant other in public; even hand-holding is strongly discouraged. While Indian food encourages eating with the hands, only the right hand should be used; the left hand stays underneath the table so that it may remain clean. Feet are also considered unsanitary, and touching them is frowned upon. —Shereen Bhalla See also: Superstition and Taboo entries in the Pakistani Americans section.
Further Reading Bharadwaj, Monisha. The Indian Luck Book. Middlesex, UK: Penguin Compass, 2003. Renard, John. The Handy Religion Answer Book. Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press, 2002. Waterstone, Richard. India: The Cultural Companion. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2005.
Threshold Designs Domestic threshold designs are among South Asia’s most transferable aspects of folk culture to the United States, as they are inexpensive, ephemeral works of art with universal appeal. Drawn with powdered rice, sandstone, or limestone upon the ground by women and girls just before daybreak (when the gods look upon humans), with regional names such as kolam, rangoli, rangavalli, or chowkpurana, they may embody many meanings, or simply the sheer pleasure of the moment of creating and viewing them. Beside linking mothers and daughters in a cooperative project, as a common thread of “women’s art” that synthesizes diverse Indian cultures, threshold designs reinforce cultural identity because they announce to the visitor in the American setting that “we are Indian.” In recent years some Americans with no genetic connection to the subcontinent have begun to learn this art. Common motifs include organic objects such as the lotus and geometrical patterns ranging from simple drawings to complex arrangements requiring hours to complete. Visitors are allowed to walk on threshold designs, and rain may wash them away before the day is through, but women simply make another one with no sense of loss. Besides their beauty, threshold designs function as physical and social boundary markers, sanctifying and purifying a household that, for ritual and practical purposes, is open to extending hospitality. Death is considered inauspicious, so no kolam will be created to invite guests then, a time of ritual pollution. Conversely, although some life-cycle events like birth or the onset of menarche are
Indian Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
also ritually polluting in Hinduism, their auspiciousness inspires complex, timeconsuming designs. Inside a house, kolams may sanctify a kitchen. As women’s art, threshold designs may affirm the value of living in the world while enjoying a pious life in the association of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of auspiciousness, good luck, and wealth, driving away evil influences. These designs remind Indians in the United States of their cultural heritage, and may be an example of orthoprax habits rather than orthodox attempts to influence divinities for favors. Like the pottu, the dot worn on the forehead by Hindu women, kolams may also call down blessings for the day. As protective designs they are used by Americans interested in vastu and feng shui, and are also important cultural markers for Muslims and Christians. Flower kolams have become popular in the United States, where South Asian immigrants stage kolam competitions at temples and cultural centers. When used in temples, kolams are considered spiritually charged and not walked upon. In an American domestic setting, their religious significance, as in South Asia, may or may not be important. Their inclusion in the holiday decoration of American churches shows the growing influence of the South Asian community in American mainstream culture. —Michael James Gressett
Further Reading Huyler, Stephen P. Painted Prayers: Women’s Art in Village India. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1994. Nagarajan, Vijaya Rettakudi. Threshold Designs, Forehead Dots, and Menstruation Rituals: Exploring Time and Space in Tamil Kolams. In Tracy Pintchman, ed. Women’s Lives, Women’s Rituals in the Hindu Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Traditional Medicine and Healing India has had a long history with alternative medicine and treatments. Despite having the most advanced technology and latest research on modern medicine, Indians, and Indian Asian Americans, still widely accept and follow homeopathic medical treatments. These alternative remedies focus on treatment of the mind and body. These medical antidotes include, but are not limited to, naturopathy, homeopathy, Ayurveda, acupressure, acupuncture, and yoga. Ayurveda refers to Indian medicine performed in other parts of the world as an alternative to traditional medicine. Ayurveda is a Sanksrit word and translates as “life related to knowledge.” In the Western world, this alternative medical practice is considered a form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Ayurveda
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is founded on the metaphysics of the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether, considered to have composed both the universe and the human body. It is a holistic medical approach that deals with the human body as a whole instead of concentrating on just the ailment. This encourages its followers to focus on the prevention of a disease as opposed to its cure. However, if disease were to occur, then Ayurveda treatments would work to cure it. Across the world, yoga has found a following and remains one of the most popular examples of Ayurveda’s alternative treatment. The word “yoga” literally means “union,” uniting one’s soul with God through mental and physical abilities. The benefits of yoga are plentiful, and many see it as a more than a spiritual exercise, reaping the physical rewards it offers. Yogic exercises require deep breathing in tune with various postures that are correlated with specific ailments and/or parts of the body. Trained instructors help ensure that individuals follow these exercises properly to receive all of the benefits yoga offers. Another popular example of Ayurveda treatment is massage rejuvenation therapy. Rubbing and kneading specific body parts reactivates the blood circulation while relaxing the patient. This goal of this frictional heat is to stimulate the blood flow, reduce body fat, relax the muscles, and rest the tired flesh. —Shereen Bhalla See also: Indian Americans: Ayurveda; and the Traditional Medicine and Healing entries in the Pakistani Americans, Punjabi Americans, and Sri Lankan Americans sections.
Further Reading Daniel, E. Valentine, and J. F. Pugh, eds. South Asian System of Healing. Boston: Brill, 1984. Nichter, Mark. Anthropology and International Health: South Asian Case Studies. New York: Springer, 1989. Waterstone, Richard. India: The Cultural Companion. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2005.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Language in Indian culture is as diverse as its people are. Since colonization, many British influences have infiltrated Indian culture, including the popularization of English among the Indian people. Due to the Three Language Formula of India, English has become a commonly taught language in the Indian schools. Additionally, the Constitution of India has stipulated Hindi and English as the two languages of communication for the federal central government. Hindi is still the principal official
Indian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
language. English is an associate language and is used by the states (primarily Southern) of India that do not claim Hindi as their state language. As with many societies where there are two dominant languages, English has been mixed with Hindi to get the mixed form called “Hinglish,” which is widely used by educated urban social groups. Hinglish refers to the combination of Hindi and English words in both written and spoken form. Spoken Hindi has borrowed extensively from English and has been hybridized with it in many situations, in India and across the world as both Hinglish and “Hindlish.” The combination of spoken and written Hinglish has become popular not just in India but globally due to its usage and popularization by both Bollywood movies and Indian journalism. Hinglish is not just a stylish/informal method of communicating for many young Indians both in India and abroad; it also stands for a social identity construct. Genres of popular Indian culture have incorporated Hinglish in their poems, advertising, music, movies, and television among other media. Hindi-language Bollywood films are a prime source of this phenomenon. The concern with the popularization of Hinglish is whether the language of Hindi will be lost all together. Since Hinglish is commonly used in the United States, India, and in the United Kingdom, some Indians worry that Hinglish will be the language of their future. If Hinglish was rooted in only in one subculture, it would be less of an identifiable phenomenon, but since it is an international code-switch, it is considered “real” and may be recognized as a formalized language. —Shereen Bhalla See also: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner entries in the Pakistani Americans and Punjabi Americans sections.
Further Reading Kachru, Braj B. “English as an Asian language.” Links and Letters 5 (1998): 89–108. Kachru, Yamnua. “Mixers Lyricing in Hinglish: Blending and Fusion in Indian Pop Culture.” World Englishes 25(2) (2006): 223–233. Kamwangamalu, Nkonko M. “Code-Mixing and Modernization.” World Englishes 8(3) (1989): 321–332. Sedlatschek, Andreas. Contemporary Indian English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2009. Shankar, Shalini. Desi Land. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008.
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Indonesian Americans History, People, and Culture Large-scale migration of Indonesians to the United States is a relatively recent occurrence and has resulted in a population composed of temporary migrants as well as naturalized citizens and permanent residents. Although many Indonesians in the United States, particularly sojourners or recent arrivals, may self-identify more as Indonesians than “Indonesian Americans,” this term will be used to refer to all members of this group living in the United States. While some people of Indonesian ancestry such as the Eurasian “Indos” settled in the United States beginning in the 1950s, much of the migration of Indonesians to the United States commenced in the late 1990s. At this time, economic and sociopolitical crises in Indonesia contributed to several thousand migrants entering the United States, many on tourist visas, to seek employment or asylum. Indonesian Americans of various ethnic and religious backgrounds have since formed communities in several states, most notably Arizona, California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Characteristic of the range of these communities, Indonesian Americans in Philadelphia predominantly live in a concentrated area and estimate their population at around an average of 5,000 people, whereas approximately 17,000 Indonesians live in widespread enclaves throughout the greater Los Angeles area. There are perhaps fewer small children and elderly adults in these communities than among Asian groups who have lived in the United States for a longer period of time, though this is changing as families of those who have settled begin to expand. While smaller than other Asian American communities, Indonesian Americans have nonetheless made significant impacts upon the nation’s social landscape through diverse contributions. They have also proved to be a significantly transnational population via the maintenance of ties with their homeland.
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History Two historical factors predominantly help to explain why Indonesian Americans are a smaller and more recently established group than other Asian American populations. First, prior to recent developments, Indonesians had a longer tradition of permanent and temporary migration to The Netherlands or Japan due to significant colonial and wartime relationships with these countries; unlike other Southeast Asian groups such as Filipino Americans or Vietnamese Americans, Indonesian Americans lacked ties with the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries either via colonialism or war that would have resulted in the emigration of larger numbers. Second, in addition to older immigration regulations among other factors, recent policies have limited the volume of Indonesian migration to the United States as well as the number of Indonesians who have been able to settle here. Basic Demographics The 2000 U.S. Census approximated a total of over 70,000 people of Indonesian birth living in the United States. If Indonesian Americans born in the United States as well as others not represented in the census are accounted for, the population is likely quite a bit larger. At present, Indonesian Americans constitute the 13thlargest single Asian American ethnic group in the United States. They are the sixth-largest Southeast Asian American group following the Filipino, Cambodian, Lao, Hmong, and Thai communities. Their population, which has more than doubled from the 30,085 Indonesian Americans estimated in the 1990 U.S. Census, has certainly increased within the past decade. However, between the return of a number of sojourners and the arrival of decreased numbers of migrants, it is unlikely that the 2010 Census results will show as significant a growth rate as previously seen. U.S. Immigration Policies and Indonesian Migration Like other Asian Americans, Indonesians were significantly impacted by exclusionary immigration policies passed in the first half of the 20th century. Javanese and Sumatrans, among others from the Indonesian archipelago, were included by name among the Asian groups barred from entry to the United States under the Immigration Act of 1917 and declared ineligible for citizenship in other early 20th century legislation. Although Asian exclusion was abolished in 1952, facilitating the arrival of a small number of mostly temporary Indonesian migrants such as students and diplomats, Indonesians continued to be subject to strict restrictions until the Immigration Act of 1965 removed a national origins quota system in place since 1924. Yet despite immigration liberalization, only limited migration of Indonesians to the United States would occur. This changed when the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and social unrest following the fall of Indonesia’s second president, Suharto,
Indonesian Americans: History, People, and Culture
propelled many individuals to seek visas to enter the United States and other countries. The communities that would result from this influx of migrants faced a challenge following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Indonesians would be among migrants from 25 countries required to participate in the 2002–2003 Special Registration Program. Designed to facilitate the identification of possible national security risks, this program obligated males 16 years of age and older to report and register at immigration offices. Several Indonesian migrants who had overstayed their tourist visas and did not have a pending immigration case, such as an asylum claim, were deported or left the United States voluntarily to avoid being removed. Since this time, many potential migrants in Indonesia have found entry to the United States much more difficult, while improved conditions in Indonesia have prompted fewer individuals to migrate here. Consequently, the Indonesian American population continues to remain relatively modest in scope and scale. However, the arrival of some new migrants in addition to the birth of subsequent generations of Indonesian Americans will ensure continued, if moderate, growth in their communities.
People Indonesia is a nation of extraordinary ethnic and linguistic diversity. While many of its various peoples have sojourned or settled in the United States, some groups such as the Batak, Javanese, Minahasans, or Tionghoa (ethnic Chinese) predominate in Indonesian American communities. Although those who arrived in the decades preceding the 1990s laid the roots for some of these communities, more recent migrants must be particularly acknowledged for their roles in establishing a majority of the Indonesian American enclaves in the United States. Early Migrants People of mixed Dutch and Indonesian heritage known as Dutch Indonesians or “Indos” were the earliest group of Indonesian Americans. Following the Indonesian National Revolution (1945–1949) that marked the end of the Dutch colonization of the East Indies, approximately 60,000 Indos, many having spent a few transitional years in The Netherlands, arrived in the United States as refugees between the late 1950s and early 1960s. Sponsored by church and religious organizations, they settled predominantly in Southern California, where a small and mostly elderly, though prominent, community remains. In addition to these settlers, temporary Indonesian migrants also arrived to the United States during this time. This group was largely made up of Indonesian diplomats as well as individuals continuing their studies at American colleges, universities, and training facilities. Unlike many South Asian migrants, for example, who arrived as students in the 1960s and would eventually settle in the United States,
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Indonesians studying in the United States either were called back to their homeland on order of the Indonesian government following widespread political violence during the mid-1960s or had returned on their own prior to this order. Many among them would eventually become future political and business leaders or prominent writers, artists, and intellectuals in Indonesia. The Newer Indonesian Americans While some groups of Indonesians, such as the Batak of Sumatra, Minahasans of Sulawesi, or several Tionghoa families, would settle in the United States between the 1970s and early 1990s, the largest concentration of Indonesian Americans arrived here approximately between 1997 and 2001. They originated from major urban areas such as the capital city of Jakarta, or Indonesia’s second largest city, Surabaya, as well as smaller towns and villages throughout the archipelago ranging from Malang in East Java to Manado in North Sulawesi. The majority of the migrants of this period were Tionghoa, but a sizeable number of Javanese, additional numbers of Minahasans, and smaller quantities of those from other ethnic groups such as the Acehnese also emigrated at this time. Some of these individuals were fleeing interethnic and religious violence that flared during the transition from the Suharto regime when tensions between Muslims and Christians and Tionghoa and ethnic Indonesians ran high. Many more chose to apply for entry into the United States due to decreases in employment, income, and quality of living caused by the Asian Financial Crisis. Some left for both reasons. Entering on tourist visas with the intention to work as day laborers proved a common trend among Indonesians who came to the United States between 1997 and 2001. A segment would file asylum claims and eventually be able to adjust their immigration status to become citizens or permanent residents. However, the majority of those who entered as tourists would remain as imigran gelap (illegal aliens). Although a number of Indonesians in this category migrated to the United States as families, many more migrated alone. Several among them continue to live and work in Indonesian American communities across the United States. Among the most recent Indonesian Americans are refugees who came to the United States following the 2004 tsunami that devastated the region of Aceh, located in Sumatra. These new arrivals joined the Acehnese who had migrated as refugees or asylum seekers in the late 1990s. They have settled predominantly on the East Coast, where many have become active in forming community organizations or partnering with migrant assistance agencies to help construct an identity and space for their ethnic group within Indonesian American communities as well as United States society more broadly.
Indonesian Americans: History, People, and Culture
Culture The professionals, students, day laborers, diplomats, restaurateurs, religious workers, and storekeepers that comprise Indonesian American communities across the United States interact with each other to varying degrees. Many interactions take place between those of similar ethnic or religious backgrounds through social and spiritual gatherings. However, community members also come together in the spirit of their shared heritage for celebrations or in times of community need.
“Unity in Diversity” Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, or “Unity in Diversity,” is the national motto of the Republic of Indonesia. This is perhaps an equally apt phrase to describe many Indonesian American communities. To be sure, divisions do exist between Indonesian American subgroups, sometimes reflected in intergenerational, linguistic, or ethnic differences; the contrasting lifestyles of the imigran gelap and legal residents; or separate fellowship and worship practices of communities of faith. Nonetheless, much of the essence of this phrase continues to be retained and exhibited as Indonesian Americans build their communities throughout the United States. For instance, many individuals unite through participating in activities, meetings, and events held at organizations such as the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Washington, DC., one of the five Indonesian Consulate Generals, or locally established community-level groups and clubs. National organizations such as the Society for Indonesian Americans or the Indonesian American Association also join together members of various communities across the country. Indonesian American-owned restaurants and groceries are often additional sites where people interact with one another and find common ground in the consumption of familiar foods and the practice of traditional foodways. Indonesian Americans of diverse backgrounds also join together when issues in their communities call for a united front or to recognize events that emphasize shared heritage or homeland ties. For example, in Philadelphia in 2004, Indonesian American secular and religious leaders worked jointly with city and nonprofit representatives to host a town-hall style meeting to build trust and promote increased communication between Indonesian migrants and the police. Following the tsunami that occurred at the end of that same year, relief efforts were organized in Indonesian American communities across the United States as organizations such as the Society for Indonesian Americans took an active role in coordinating various initiatives. Community members also unite for celebratory purposes, such as cultural festivals or the annual recognition of Indonesian Independence Day, an event enjoyed by Indonesian Americans of all backgrounds.
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Through the maintenance of ties with Indonesia in the form of travel between their adopted home and country of origin, or migrants’ remittances to family members who remain behind, Indonesian Americans are a very transnational population. As their traditions, practices, and communities continue to grow, at least two outcomes should occur. While their history and heritage as Asian Americans becomes more complete, leading to increased inter- and intracommunity interactions, Indonesian Americans will likely begin to facilitate a stronger and increasingly meaningful relationship between the United States and Indonesia that will benefit both countries. —Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan
Further Reading Cunningham, Clark E. “Unity and Diversity among Indonesian Migrants to the United States.” In Huping Ling, ed. Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008. Kwik, Greta. The Indos in Southern California. New York: AMS Press, 1989. Lee, Erika. “American Gatekeeping: Race and Immigration Law in the Twentieth Century.” In Nancy Foner and George Fredrickson, eds. Not Just Black and White: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States. New York: Sage Publications, 2005. Schenkhuizen, Marguerite. Memoirs of an Indo Woman: Twentieth-Century Life in the East Indies and Abroad. Edited and translated by Lizelot Stout van Balgooy. Athens: Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1994. Setiyawan, Dahlia G. “Indonesia.” In Anita Schillhorn van Veen, ed. Immigrant Philadelphia: From Cobblestone Streets to Korean Soap-Operas. Philadelphia: The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians and The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2004.
Web Sites Acheh Center Web Site: http://www.achehcenter.org. Indonesia Media Web Site: http://www.indonesiamedia.com. Indonesian American Association Web Site: http://www.indonesianamericanassociation .org. Society for Indonesian-Americans Web Site: http://www.sianews.org. U.S. Census Bureau Web Site: http://www.census.gov.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Ancestor, ghost, and spirit reverence lives on in Indonesian America across wide spectra of behaviors from lightly enacted nostalgic rituals to more serious veneration, propitiation, and even self-defense rituals against spirit influence. A serious
Indonesian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
syncretism and deeply esoteric appreciation of the spirit world applies in some form across all diverse religious traditions. Associated rituals require training, meditative, and often hereditary esoteric skills not readily available in the United States. Such skills remain the major province of groups not traditionally emigrating, who then provide a necessary connection to village rituals, shrine administration, ancestral cemeteries, the annual esoteric village cleaning, Indonesian sacred spirit landscapes, vegetation, animals, and local Indonesian spirit genealogies. Overseas connections are activated by discreet go-betweens, international travelers, family, and friends via telephone and Internet below the radar of Muslim officialdom. Death and dying spirit rituals and slametans (ritual communal feasting) are now conducted internationally via Internet expressions of intentions, declarations, photographs, and other postings. Mystical rituals at village shrines are conducted by shrine caretakers, members of initiatic sects, and sometimes the discreet services of a dukun (curer or sorcerer). Tujuls (familiar personal spirits), demits (place spirits), danjangs (guardian protective spirits) and danjang desas of the village kumaran (four cornered and sound reverberation area of a village) are helpful and guiding spirits. Memedis (frightening spirits) and lelembuts (possessing spirits, setans, satans, shaytans, demons) are dangerous, and encounters can result in insanity, physical illness, or death. Unrestricted by ordinary space and time, spirits are international and follow the internal geomancy carried by Indonesians in their individual persona. Versions of the Javanese creation myth, Babad Tanah Djawi, identify the Danjang Dewi (Principal Guardian Spirit) of all Java who presides over lesser danjangs, as Semar, the Javanese sacred shadow theatre character. Semar affirms the presence and eventual return to power of the indigenous Javanese spirits who have temporarily retreated to the volcanoes dotting this archipelago along the earth’s volcanic belt. Semar is a sacred storyteller of the spirits gone underground in an Indonesian fairy tale under the radar of colonialism and recent waves of religious intolerance. To Indonesians, the spirit world remains intact and cannot be avoided by change of place or nation. Meditation and contemplative discipline, prayer, and fasting are the primary medicine to strengthen the soul, make effective contact with protective dewis (Hindu devas), and resist spirit possession, disease, or torment by lelembuts. Ritual execution is fitted to symbolisms and auspicious days calculated by complicated Indonesian numerologies (petungan) worked cooperatively across continents. An extended, living Indonesian geomancy is pegged to the individual body-spirit persona of individuals who literally orient, carry, and complete the compass wherever they are. The goal is to create an organic, aesthetic pattern of harmonic fittingness (tjotjog). The spirit world is fitted (tjotjogged) into space and time. Space is symbolically square with four cardinal directions and colors and a multicolored human body-spirit integral at the center. Time is pulsative, creating five- or seven-day weeks, complicated by 12 Muslim sacred lunar months, other
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ethnically diverse petungan (numerologies), and eight windu years. Ancestors follow on with immigrants, and spirits may be “sent” as ensorcelments by dukans (healers, sorcerers) for a fee. Cremated, placated, and ritually freed spirits are more likely to help and less likely to torment relatives and others. Offerings are made to propitiate friendly spirits and to keep errant bad spirits away, especially near doorways, in apartments, houses, businesses, automobiles, workplaces, and within the wallet or change purse. Spirits are served with the essences of flowers, incense, and food offerings. Bad spirits are chased in simplified Americanized household re-enactments of yearly village cleanings. Some Indonesian Americans guardedly admit keeping miniaturized figures or puppets as spirit containers, a loved one’s personal possession bound in sacred batik, setting table places, and providing spirit visiting places in their American homes. Talking and visiting with ashes is common for many. In the United States, small shops, vendors, and restaurants are the word-of-mouth locus and living web for finding the occasional expatriate with hereditary, performative, and meditative ability to diagnose and activate complex spirit rituals of the left and right. Some Indonesian Americans discreetly commission sacred wayang shadow plays performed in Indonesia by a dalang (sacred puppeteer), village sacred barong (tiger-dragon mask) rituals, amulets, Arabic letters written as efficacious calligraphic sacred symbols by a mystically initiated village or American practitioner, and Quranic verses made into amulets by ethnic American jewelers and fair-trade artists in brisk international Internet trade. Elaborate and costly Balinese cremation towers and rites, communal feasts, and Javanese cremation and slametan feasting in Indonesia and in the United States may require special herbal embalming, esoteric, and ritual methods to hold and placate a deceased relative’s body in the home in Indonesia until sufficient monies are raised to pay for an effective and costly ritual cremation and communal feast in villages, often paid for by more affluent Indonesian Americans for their relatives. Younger generations and professional people shrug off “old ways” but remain reluctant to criticize elders or ancestors, and retain affectionate participation and nodding assent, possibly expressing more a self-conscious generational appreciation of material modernity and cautions about official theocratic censorship than any outright disavowal or disbelief. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Indonesian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals; Javanese Puppets; Traditional Medicine and Healing.
Further Reading Beatty, Andrew. Varieties of Javanese Religion: An Anthropological Account. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Covarrubias, Miguel. Island of Bali: With an Album of Photographs by Rose Covarrubias. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (Random House), 1965.
Indonesian Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration Geertz, Clifford. The Religion of Java. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960. Zoetmulder, Petrus Josephus. Pantheism and Monism in Javanese Suluk Literature: Islamic and Indian Mysticism in an Indonesian Setting. Translated by M. C. Ricklefs. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1995.
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration Indonesia has excellent traditional and modern arts and crafts from natural elements including grass and reed, plants, clay, stone, metal, wood, and shells. Different regions develop unique art forms while sharing production processes and motifs taken from nature, myths, legends, and religions. Some arts and crafts are created for daily uses and decoration; others are used in rituals requiring specific forms, materials, and motifs. Depending on their beliefs, Indonesian Americans include certain arts and crafts in their homes to meet their spiritual, functional, or decorative needs. Many regions of Indonesia have textiles whose motifs and designs reflect the wearer’s or owner’s social status and role. Three Indonesian textiles—ikat, songket, and batik—continue to attract international attention and have been adopted as generic terms for techniques of dying and weaving. Many artisans create paintings on fabric, canvas, or tree barks using paints, wax, or natural dyes. Others embroider golden or silver threads on various fabrics. Carvings on wood, stone, metal, or ivory are widespread throughout Indonesia. Carvings decorate the roofs, pillars, ceiling, walls, and panels of many houses and temples. Many houses in Java and Bali have wall-size mahogany room partitions carved with leaves and flowers, called gebyok. Carvings also embellish vehicles (carriages and boats) or home supplies and de´cor. Certain motifs adorn weapons such as daggers, swords, tridents, axes, spears, and blow pipes. The Asmat create impressive woodcarvings to connect the living and the ancestors’ spirit. Metal craftspeople produce jewelries, weaponries, kitchen supplies and utensils. Indonesian traditional costumes include gold and silver jewelries (necklaces, bracelets, earrings, hair pins, and headdresses) for the female or daggers (kris, rencong, or mandau) for the male. Other metal crafts include decorative or ceremonial sets such as the betel sets, bowls, tea sets, or gamelan instruments. In the coastal areas, shells are turned into household or decorative items. Various arts and crafts are made from wood, bamboo, grass and reed, clay, and coconut trees. Wooden puppets dressed in traditional attire of batik or leather puppets intricately shaped and painted represent characters from Ramayana and Mahabarata in wayang performances. Bamboo is widely utilized as building
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materials, including bamboo strips woven into panels (gedek); kitchen supplies and utensils (steamer, ladles, spoons, plates, or besek); or musical instruments (angklung, calung, suling, and sasando). Functional basketry and pottery can also become art objects, and so can objects from coconut trees. In Java and Bali, coconuts leaves are attached to bamboo poles (janur) to welcome guests, or weaved into containers for daily offerings (sajen), rice cake shells (ketupat), and other food wraps. Individually, the stiff midribs are used as toothpicks, skewers, or spears. As a bunch, tied at the sturdy end, they serve as garden brooms or mattress/carpet beaters (sapulidi). The trunks are used for construction and carvings, while the husk makes good mats, brushes, floor polishers, and packaging materials. The hard shells are fashioned into ladle, water dipper, musical instruments (tehyan), bags, ashtray, or buttons. —Trikartikaningsih Byas
Further Reading Ave, Joop. Indonesian Arts and Crafts. Jakarta, Indonesia: Bab Publishing Indonesia, 2008. Indonesian Committee of the New York World’s Fair 1964–1965. Arts and Crafts in Indonesia, 1964. Soebadio, Haryati, and others. Art of Indonesia from the Collections of the National Museum of the Republic of Indonesia. New York: The Vendome Press, 1992.
Web Site Living in Indonesia. “Indonesian Arts and Handicrafts.” http://www.expat.or.id/info/ art.html (accessed November 20, 2009).
Children’s Folk Songs Indonesian American folk songs are the same songs, traditionally, sung by the common people living in the various villages of Indonesia. Folk music may have several different meanings, but generally refers to traditional music. Many folk songs have been around so long that nobody is sure who composed them. Nowadays, most of these songs have been written down and translated into English so that Indonesian American children can learn them. Sometimes, folk songs are accompanied by folk instruments—such as gamelan, kecapi, seruling (traditional flute), angklung, rebana, and so on—and incorporates traditional melodies. The topics of folk songs are usually improvised in relation to social and political issues such as work, war, and popular opinion. This improvisational method of folk singing also is popular among Indonesian Americans. Indonesian Americans have a variety of folk music and instruments, depending
Indonesian Americans: Children’s Folk Songs
on which region in Indonesia their ancestors come from. For example, Java Island has several ethnic groups such as Javanese, Sundanese, Tenggerese, Osing, and so on, who have their own folk songs. Even in one ethnic group, folk songs often exist in several versions or with regional variations. Folk music is seen as the authentic expression of a way of life now, in the past, or that which is about to disappear (or in some cases, to be preserved or somehow revived). Indonesian American children’s folk songs are part of the general cluster of folk songs that are usually sung by children, and sometimes by adults when they play with children unaccompanied. The songs’ topics are more related to nature, animals, human body, the environment, play, and moral education. The more popular the songs—the wider area of original distribution—the more likely they are to be known by Indonesian American children. Some popular Indonesian children folk songs are “Aku Seorang Kapiten” (I Am a Captain), “Balonku” (My Balloons), “Bintang Kecil” (Little Stars), “Burung Hantu” (The Owl), “Burung Kakatua” (The Cockatoo), “Burung Kutilang” (The Thrush—a bird), “Di mana-mana Hatiku Senang” (I Am Happy Everywhere), “Dua Mata Saya” (I Have Two Eyes), “Gundhul-Gundhul Pacul” (a song about a boy with shaved hair), “Ibu Jari” (The Thumb), “Kapal Api” (The Ship), “KringKring Ada Sepeda” (Ring-ring There Is a Bike), “Kucingku Belang” (My Tubby Cat), “Kulihat Awan Seputih Kapas” (I See Clouds as White as Cotton), “Lihat Kebunku” (Look at My Garden), “Naik Delman Istimewa” (riding a special horse-drawn carriage), “Naik ke Puncak Gunung” (climbing the top of a mountain), “Naik Kereta Api” (riding on a train), “Nama-nama Hari” (name of the days), “Nenek Moyangku” (My Ancestors), “Nina Bobo” (lullaby song), “Pelangi . . . Pelangi” (Rainbow . . . Rainbow), “Potong Bebek Angsa” (Cut the Swan Duck), “Satu-Satu” (One and One), “Soleram” (lullaby song), “Tepuk Tepuk Tangan” (hand-clapping song), “Tik-Tik Bunyi Hujan” (the sound of the rain), “Topi Saya Bundar” (My Round Hat), “Bapak Jakob” (Father Jacob), “Di mana Kamu, Di Mana Kamu?” (Where Is Thumbkin, fingerplay song). Examples of songs that are specific to a particular region and less likely to be known by Indonesian Americans are “Kampuang nan Jauh Di Mato” (Faraway Homeland) from Minang (Sumatera Island), and “Kodok Ngorek” (the sound of frogs) from Java. Most children’s folk songs are short, easy to memorize, have cheerful notes, and are thus fun to sing. In the United States, parents who out-migrated from Indonesia like to sing those songs for their children to entertain them when the children are cranky, or just for fun when playing with them. Sometimes during family gathering, they sing children’s folk songs to introduce the songs to the younger generations or for fun. Indonesian Americans also like to have a “bazaar” every year to sell Indonesian food. This is a time to get together, eat together, and get to know one another. Sometimes during a bazaar the people build a stage and sing
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traditional songs. Singing and eating are two activities Indonesian Americans like to do together at a gathering. —Myrtati Dyah Artaria
Further Reading Middleton, Richard. Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press, 2002.
Clothes and Jewelry Clothing, textiles, and jewelry in Indonesian America express traditional Indonesian passion and fluency with many kinds of fine woven cloths, symbolic designs and colors, and finely engraved symbolic jewelry. Dressing up and moving about for work, errands, or in the late afternoon and evening for a stroll is an Indonesian American habit. From street fairs to consular events and outings with friends and family, one notices the fondness for fabric, especially quality cottons but also wools and synthetics of the United States, familiar imported Indian and Chinese silks, and new soft bamboo synthetics of island origin that provide entrepreneurial opportunities for Indonesian Americans. Fine Indonesian cottons remain the base for the famous batik, ikat, tie-dyed, select weaves and embroideries abundantly imported from the islands to the United States, where they are bought from Indian fabric stores featuring bolt materials and offering on-site tailoring to ethnic communities for saris, paijamas (pajamastyle outfits), dhotis, sarongs, and other tied, draped, and wrapped material pieces. Traditional clothing and accessories are still worn by some at Indonesian American festivities and at home. A discriminating taste for other fabrics A batik artist applies liquid wax to fabric with a tailored into westernized garments is canting batik tool, which is used in traditional apparent. Fine fabrics are customized Indonesian batik making. Batik is a wax-resist for the home in curtains, bedspreads, dyeing technique used on textiles. tablecloths, pillows, and ritual uses. (Justin Guariglia/Corbis)
Indonesian Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
Many Indonesian American women earn extra money as tailors. Indonesian-Indian single ikat embroidered fabrics, dying only warp threads, are produced on Sumatra for worldwide export as the famous palampores (tree of life curtains) coveted by connoisseurs, still seen in Indonesian American homes. Another Javanese single ikat process, originally a Gujarati (India) technique, results in complex flower, bird, and elephant scenes enclosed in embroidered trellises. It appeals to Muslim American Indonesians, reminiscent as it is of sacred garden prayer carpet motifs. Simpler ikat produces the still-favored ancient (Indian khaniari) zigzag pattern, which when narrowed forms a v-shape, different front to back. Indonesian double ikat is gaining recognition in the United States as a connoisseur gold standard. Garment districts, American fashion institutes, museums, university programs, and Indonesian Americans are keenly aware of double ikat as a pinnacle art form. Perfected as a Balinese art (at Tenganan), it is also practiced on Java, Sumatra (Palembang), and Sumba. Double ikat originates from an Indian Gujarati patola silk process that dyes both warp and weft in precalculated designs hand-dyed onto individual threads, then arranges strands on the loom prior to weaving to create a design, exactly the same on both sides, that emerges gradually during weaving. An ancient and labor-intensive art where a single miscalculated thread ruins an entire weave, it is diffuse in North India, Asia Minor, the Indonesian islands, and the PR China. Chinese two-sided framed embroidery screens in silk or hair are popular with Straits Chinese Indonesian Americans. No other process gives the same astonishing two-sided effect. Cotton, silk, and metallic threads are preferred by Indonesian Americans. Especially sought in warm seasons and latitudes by Indonesian Americans is apparel with ancient tie-dyeing, printing, and dye-painting (Indian cunari) done on breathable cottons, a design process diffuse throughout the islands. Cotton batik, a distinctive wax-resist fabric-drawing process derived from Indian qalmdar, is extremely popular. Block-printed fabrics, an art of high Indian antiquity, is practiced on Java and imported along with Balinese block and tinsel gold leaf printed fabrics for connoisseurs. Woven multicolored textiles embroidered with circular pieces of dull glass appeal to Muslim Indonesian Americans. Magic fabrics of highest quality, especially the sacred black and white check and cottons with gold threads, are reserved for private sale, ritual, protective, and sacred costume purposes. They are discreetly worn as daily accessories, protective sashes, belts, talismanic fabric flowers, handkerchiefs, artfully wrapped turbans, hair bows, and ribbons at ritual events, private celebrations, and street festivals. Magic squares are in evidence at the backs of sacred shadow puppet (wayang kulit) costumes and on checkered tiles and cloth wrappings on wood support beams. Checks, plaids, and ginghams of American polyester and cotton shirts, women’s short blouses, dhotis, and sarongs are now American. Imperfect ikat is sold to untrained eyes. Distinctive fabrics are available in the United States from Indian
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and Muslim bolt fabric shops offering on-site tailoring, by Internet fair-green trade artisans and traveling Indonesians. Elaborate, finely engraved, hammered gold and silver earrings, ear plugs, head and hair ornaments, some wrapping the side of the head, others fluttering on springs, feature flower, leaf and vine motifs, especially the hibiscus, worn with natural flowers for formal and festive affairs. Metal and conch shell bracelets and shell items remain Indonesian American favorites. Elaborate, relaxed S-curved hammered gold and silver ornaments wrap and frame the top and one side of the head, face, and ear, twisting reminders of anciently revered conch shells and their approximate sacred feminine divine sound. Other motifs include everyday earplug circumferences replaced on festive occasions with solid precious-metal conical spirals also distantly symbolic of sacred shapes. A trend toward pierced earrings rather than plugs is evident. Indian, Greek, and Indonesian jewelers skilled in cire perdue and engraving cater to Indonesian tastes, as do many artisan Internet and fair-trade networks and traveling friends. Finely engraved Quran verses in jewel-studded, precious-metal book pendants, abstract jewel-studded replicas of sacred starbursts under mosque domes, rings, and elaborately tiered gold earrings and pendants with stones, emeralds, seed pearls and pearls symbolic of spheres, and hanging forms descending from heaven into human reality are favored by Muslim Indonesians. —Barbara A. Amodio
Further Reading Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India. Foreword by Thomas R. Trautmann. Oxford, UK: Pan Macmillan Ltd (Picador), 2004. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1972. Covarrubias, Miguel. Island of Bali with an Album of Photographs by Rose Covarrubias. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965. McVey, Ruth. T., ed. Indonesia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1963.
Dying and Death Rituals Dying and death rituals in Indonesian America are complicated by the enormous religious diversity accumulated from ancient times in the giant Indonesian archipelago and the relatively recent ascent of a Muslim theocracy. The five broad Pantjasila (Five Unities) of Sukarno loom large as a continuing basis for pan-Indonesian unity, calling to mind Indonesian American concerns about pluralism, humanitarian rights, and mutual religious tolerance. Major issues for Indonesian Americans surfacing at death center on conflicts between the full-body burial and rites of Muslim officialdom as contrasted with the pan-Indonesian preference
Indonesian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
for cremation, cremation types, and the accommodation of diversely nuanced indigenous and ethnic religious rites. Non-Muslim Indonesian Americans clearly prefer cremation, largely to free the soul from the body faster, and frequently wish to transport bodies or ashes of loved ones to Indonesia for cremation and burial in ancestral village plots, near relatives who can serve the spirits with offerings of flowers, incense, or food, and engage the services of uniquely skilled ritual practitioners not easily found among expatriates. Ritual services are drawn from a diverse series of appropriate ethnic rites coordinated to auspicious calculations of days from the complicated sets of sacred petungans (numerologies) of diverse ethnic groups. These include rituals by mystical initiates at village and other sacred shrines embedded in the Indonesian primal sacred landscape, address of classes of spirits including memedis, lelembuts, tujuls, demits, danjangs, and the Danjang Desa of all Indonesia, often personified as Semar in sacred wayang kulit shadow theatre. The Internet, travel, and trade encourage open if discreet communication regarding activation of such rituals well under the radar of official government censure. Occasionally, someone of inherited or known educated mystical practice and ability is located in the Indonesian American community by word of mouth, but full ritual activation requires the Indonesian sacred landscape at critical points. Regarding cremation, Chinese Indonesians and many with primal ancestries prefer “whole body” cremation available by word of mouth in the United States from funeral directors experienced in working with the more established Chinese American community. Converts to Islam, often Straits Chinese Indonesians and others with complex mixed and primal heritages, living in mixed marriages, privately express confusion and strangeness at the idea they will be buried rather than cremated, with reluctant willingness. Body transportation, requiring consular and U.S. assistance, to Indonesia is easier for Muslims, including nominal Muslims, when desired than for other groups. Transportation of cremated ashes remains problematic and at variance with Quranic officialdom. Indonesians blend Islamic beliefs liberally with indigenous, Hindu, Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, Sufi, and even Taoist customs where monotheism, monism, and indigenous animism are compatible aspects of the same unified split pea. A surgical thread of silent, supraconscious meditation focuses on the soul, annihilating contentious word disputes. It is facilitated by rich use of integrating contemplative symbolism expressed across traditions in sacred aesthetic devices and ritual punctuations. Real feelings of primal sacred oneness with an Indonesian sacred geography integrating cosmological belief into concrete lived textures, personalizes the cosmos in the living body, and for Indonesian Americans, continues to anchor and expand that sacred geography to wherever Indonesians live. The human body literally becomes the living limit, orientation, and application of four sacred cardinal directions. The body remains a “wet” or living “Book” written as easily by God (Allah) as by ancient primal and Saivite-Vaisnavite Hindu sects into
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the living Qiblah, or sanctuary of an Indonesian heart, vividly connecting diverse Indonesian religions and persons to expanded Indonesian memory anchored in a moving sacred landscape that frankly challenges and transforms Muslim literalisms into Indonesian symbolisms. Forms of effigy, such as symbolic figures made from anything from leaves to coins to fine cloths to paper to coconut parts, are laid out to appease and venerate the spirits, in the symbolism of a profile by which to capture the essence of the soul. Refined imported textiles in the magic protective cloth pattern of black and white checks or white and metallic weaves, even the famous ikat weaves, checks, and gingham prints, are laid out, some eventually burned with the body, accompanied by ritual communal feasting. The official Muslim norm of full-body burial—in a white shroud tied in three places, untied, and opened at the face, laid on its side in the grave awaiting resurrection, the Profession of Faith whispered thrice into the ear before dirt is piled over, performed as soon as possible after death—can be accomplished in the United States by a growing network of Imams or Sheikhs guiding and coordinating all services at freestanding mosques and mosques rented from other denominations. Indonesian rites for nominal Muslims in the United States may be guided by a sympathetic Sheikh or Imam. Consular assistance, necessary for body transport to Indonesia, is reportedly difficult to obtain for cremated remains. Personalized washing and address of the needs of a loved one’s dead body by relatives or friends is an Islamic practice diffuse in diverse pre-Islamic Indonesian religious traditions, representing the widespread Indonesian value of iklas, the ability to maintain flat, detached, but aware emotional affect as a soul-discipline. Village burial with memorial ritual punctuations keyed to diverse ritual calendars, involving ancestral soil and skilled ritual practitioners not easily available in the United States, is achieved by official or unofficial means. The Indonesian slametan, an anciently rooted ritualized communal feasting, has moved into new exponents. Americanized slametans feature Internet eulogies, photographs, poetic postings, and traditional slametan declarations delivered in printable Internet form, and are conducted by friends and family gathering in several cities. The slametan remains a performative vehicle giving slamet, the peacefully blessed feeling resulting from submission to God, a real meaning of islam, diffuse throughout Indonesian sacred cultures. A multicolored rice cone volcano can still be observed, ultimately representing the mountain of spinal chakras climbed in meditation, surrounded by smaller colored rice cones set in four cardinal directions, now flattened by death into spirit cakes distributed to the living, or imported Indonesian chips, all symbolizing the soul’s lost phallic projection into the world and its return to the cosmic void. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Indonesian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit.
Indonesian Americans: Family and Community
Further Reading Beatty, Andrew. Varieties of Javanese Religion: An Anthropological Account. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Covarrubias, Miguel. Island of Bali: With an Album of Photographs by Rose Covarrubias. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (Random House), 1965. Geertz, Clifford. The Religion of Java. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960. Zoetmulder, Petrus Josephus. Pantheism and Monism in Javanese Suluk Literature: Islamic and Indian Mysticism in an Indonesian Setting. Translated by M.C. Ricklefs. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1995.
Family and Community Indonesian American families are as varied as families in Indonesia, who come from a variety villages in different regions with their own distinct religious practices and cultural traditions. Moreover, the history of their ancestral country of origin dates back to more than a million years ago, when Homo erectus lived in this area. Indonesia is composed of about 13,000 islands, 6,000 of which are inhabited, and spans some 5,000 kilometers, widthwise, across the sea. Approximately 300 different ethnolinguistic cultural groups live in Indonesia. As well, there are large indigenous cultural communities such as Deuteromalayid, Protomalayid, and Dayakid and other groups such as Europeans, Arabs, Indians, and Chinese who have made their home in Indonesia. Thus, Indonesian American families come from diverse and multicultural backgrounds too. Like their multicultural counterparts in the United States, they continue to influence and be shaped by local cultures with whom they intermingle in daily life. Traditional village families in Indonesia worked together to plant and harvest crops and raise animals. Sometimes several families live in the same house. However, as they out-migrated across the seas to the United States, they became Westernized, although most, if not all, Indonesian Americans continue to open their homes to family and friends, and, in that respect, are still based on the extendedfamily model. Most Indonesian Americans pass down their family name through their sons, although some—for example, those who identify with the Minang culture of Western Sumatra—trace their ancestral links through daughters. While Indonesian Americans mainly live in nuclear families, many have sponsored and brought their relatives to live with them in the United States—thus forming an extended family. Most new migrants coming from Indonesia, who grew up in large traditional-family households, find it difficult to manage home chores, child care, and working at the same time without help from extended kin. They also face other challenges such as loneliness, in the context of a nuclear family in the United States.
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Consequently, Indonesian American families tend to have fewer children because they do not have their extended family living nearby. Also, having a nanny is very expensive as compared to “nannies” in Indonesia who are free because they are part of the extended family living in the same house. Indonesian people are predominantly of the Islamic faith, although some follow other religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other local beliefs. Conservative Muslim Indonesian Americans recognize the males as the main provider for the family. Women are taught to respect their husbands and are the primary caretakers of the family. They are responsible for maintaining the domestic aspects of the family. However, many modern-day Indonesian American families, regardless of religion, prefer to have both husband and wife working to earn more money. Indonesian Americans continue to teach their children to respect their parents and elders. They consider family closeness and loyalty very important. In Javanese, there is a proverb, “Mangan ora mangan asal ngumpul” (It is all right if we do not have enough to eat, as long as we stay together). Most children live with their parents until they get married. Although Indonesian American families are not living in the original country anymore, many continue to teach traditional Indonesian values to their children who are born in the United States. They still feel respect for older people and that family closeness should be retained among them, and among their children. —Myrtati Dyah Artaria
Further Reading Graeme, Hugo. “Effects of International Migration on the Family in Indonesia.” Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 11(1) (2002): 13–46. Hull, Terry. “Demographic Perspectives on the Future of the Indonesian Family.” Journal of Population Research 20(1) (2003): 51–66.
Web Site Amal, S. H., S. Novriaty, K. Hardee, K. Eggleston, and T. Hull. Family Planning and Women’s Empowerment in the Family: http://www.fhi.org/en/RH/Pubs/wsp/fctshts/ Indonesia2.htm (accessed November 22, 2009).
Festivals and Holidays Indonesian Americans observe many of the same secular and religious holidays as in their homeland and also have initiated new traditions as participants in cultural events in the United States, some of which they have originated. The yearly
Indonesian Americans: Festivals and Holidays
commemoration of the founding of the Republic of Indonesia is one of the most widely celebrated holidays among Indonesians in the United States. Within their respective religious communities, Indonesian Americans also gather together during holidays such as Christmas and Ramadan. In several cities, Indonesian Americans have participated in Asian and Asian American festivals or have organized their own events to share their cultural traditions, foods, and crafts with others across the United States. Indonesian American communities commemorate Indonesian nationalists’ August 17, 1945, declaration of independence from Dutch colonial rule with festivities of various types and sizes. Particularly for migrants who maintain close ties to Indonesia, this holiday is a significant one. Formal Independence Day celebrations are held at the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Washington, DC, as well as at the five Indonesian Consulate Generals spread throughout other areas of the country. The main event of these official celebrations, which are open to the public, is a ceremony called the upacara bendera that features the hoisting of the Republic’s bicolor flag accompanied by the singing of the Indonesian national anthem. Indonesian Independence Day celebrations organized on the community level are lively affairs that typically feature activities such as games, singing contests, and sports competitions as well as vendors selling traditional foods, drinks, and handicrafts. Indonesians in the United States represent six predominant faiths: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism; however most Indonesian Americans are followers of the first three religions. Two key religious holidays recognized in their respective communities are Christmas and Idul Fitri, a celebration of that marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. In addition to attending religious services, many Indonesian Americans like to enjoy these holidays by gathering with family and friends. Indonesian American Christian and Catholic congregations frequently host pageants and plays to commemorate the Christmas holiday. For Muslims, an important Idul Fitri tradition is paying visits to the homes of family and friends to ask forgiveness for any faults committed during the past year. In states, cities, and regions such as Arizona, California, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, the Washington, DC, area, and Texas, Indonesian American communities have participated in regional Asian and Asian American heritage festivals as well as organized their own cultural celebrations. Some examples of festivals that have prominently featured Indonesian American music and dance performances, foods, and crafts include the Arizona Asian Festival, Philadelphia’s Asian Festival, and the weeklong Asian American Festival in Chicago. Indonesian Americans in Southern California represent one community that has been very active in hosting heritage events, increasingly in collaboration with the Los Angeles Indonesian Consulate General. The community’s annual “Indonesian Day,” a capstone celebration
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of events honoring the birth of the Republic, is now officially recognized by the City of Los Angeles. —Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan See also: Indonesian Americans: Foods and Foodways; Religion.
Further Reading Kahin, George McT. Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1970. Setiyawan, Dahlia G. “Unity in Diversity: Community Building among Indonesian Immigrants in Philadelphia.” M.S.Ed. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 2005.
Web Sites Asian American Coalition of Chicago Web Site: http://www.aacchicago.org. Indonesian Consulate General of Los Angeles Web Site: http://www.kjri-la.net. Philadelphia Asian Festival Web Site: http://www.asianfest.org.
Folk Dance and Performance Indonesia and Indonesian America demonstrates cultural diversity with 300 ethnic groups having their own folk dances and performances. The diversity results from integrating new religious and cultural influences into the indigenous traditions over time. An integral part of the cultural life, these performances serve ritualistic, religious, and entertainment purposes. Indonesian Americans preserve the traditional dances and performances while continuing to create new ones by incorporating novel elements. The indigenous dances, such as Tor-Tor and Saman, consist of repetitious hand movement accompanied by chants, handclaps, or drum beats. These dances are still performed in Batak, Gayo, Iban, and Asmat regions. The Hindu influence can be seen in Javanese or Balinese dances, which have fixed patterns of movement and costumes. Islam influenced the development of shadow puppets (wayang kulit) in Java and inclusion of Islamic messages in the chants accompanying Saman dance. European influence (Spanish and Dutch) is visible in dances from North Sulawesi (Katrili and Poloneis). Indonesian traditional performances generally combine various artistic forms. Lenong from Jakarta blends theater with music to entertain and convey moral lessons, while Randai from Sumatra mixes music, dance, singing, drama, and martial arts (silat) to convey messages based on local legends and folktales. Maengket performance from North Sulawesi and Wayang from Java and Bali combine theater,
Indonesian Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
dance, and music to impart the community spirit or stories from Mahabarata and Ramayana. An ensemble of gongs, chimes, metallophones, drums (gamelan), and singers (sindens) accompany a wayang performance. Either dancers (wong) or puppets— made of wood (golek) or leather (kulit) and maneuvered and narrated by the puppeteer (dalang)—enact the characters of the story. Originally a religious performance, it requires years of training to be a part of wayang. Due to the high cost of maintaining a wayang company, only the royal family could afford complete wayang performances. The common people adapted the performance into ketoprak (Central Java) or ludruk (East Java), which takes stories from popular folk legends or history and is accompanied by less elaborate music. Besides gamelan, Indonesians create musical instruments from other natural elements. West Java is famous for its bamboo instruments including angklung (vertical tubes attached to a handheld horizontal rod that is rattled by the player), calung (bamboo xylophone that is hit by the player), and suling (flutes). Rote has sasando, which is made from bamboo, palm leaves, and strings; while Minahasa is known for its wooden xylophone ensemble (kulintang). Indonesian musicians also create new genres of music from the instruments introduced to them. When the Portuguese introduced braguinha and guitar in the 15th century, Indonesian musicians created a new genre of music characterized by the interlocking pentatonic style called keroncong. The Betawi people in Jakarta combined some gamelan instruments and Chinese string instruments to create Gambang Kromong in the early 20th century. In the 1970s, Rhoma Irama created the Dangdut genre by combining Melayu, Arabic, Hindustani, and rock sounds. Many Indonesian Americans learn the traditional dances, music, and other performances to participate in their religious rituals, while others learn various artistic forms for educational and entertainment purposes. —Trikartikaningsih Byas
Further Reading Brinner, Benjamin. Music in Central Java: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Descutner, Janet. Asian Dance. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2004. Frederick, William. “Rhoma Irama and the Dangdut Style: Aspects of Contemporary Indonesian Popular Culture.” Indonesia 34 (1982): 103–130. Gold, Lisa. Music in Bali: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Hatley, Barbara. Javanese Performances on an Indonesian Stage: Contesting Culture, Embracing Change. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008 Pauka, Kirstin. Theater and Martial Arts in West Sumatra. Athens: Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1998.
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Sounds of Indonesian Performing Arts Joglo Semar Web site. “Kroncong Music.” History and sample sounds of Keroncong. http://www.joglosemar.co.id/keroncong.html (accessed November 18, 2009). Saung Angklung Udjo. “Video.” Collection of Angklung performances. http://www .angklung-udjo.co.id/sau/video.php (accessed November 18, 2009). University of Michigan. “Gamelan: Venerable Lake of Honey.” Information on gamelan and sample gamelan sounds. http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/gamelan/gamelanVT2.html (accessed November 18, 2009). University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. “South and Southeast Asia Video Archive.” Annotated List of Digital Collection of Performances from South and Southeast Asia. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SEAvideo (accessed November 18, 2009).
Foods and Foodways Indonesian American food and foodways represent many of the cuisines, customs, and cultures of the diverse islands of the Indonesian archipelago while reflecting the lifestyles and needs of Indonesians in the United States. Among numerous other influences, Javanese, Sundanese, Chinese, Malay, and Dutch tastes and cooking styles have contributed to the many flavors of what can be called “Indonesian” food. As Indonesian American communities multiply across the United States, the variety of restaurants, cafe´s, and groceries offering such fare continues to grow, permitting American Indonesians to enjoy many of the same foods as in their homeland. Indonesian cuisine favors spicy or sweet flavors with some regional foods and beverages such as the Padang dishes of West Sumatra or the tea served in East Java respectively known for their liberal use of chilis or sugar. Pork and alcohol, though avoided by practicing Muslims, are nonetheless enjoyed by Indonesians of other faiths or ethnic backgrounds. The staple of many Indonesian American meals is rice, often accompanied by chicken, beef, seafood, vegetables, soups, or stews, which are typically eaten with a spoon and fork or the right hand. The preferred condiment for many Indonesian Americans is sambal, made from chili peppers, garlic, salt, sugar, lime juice, and terasi, a pungent shrimp paste also used in cooking. Krupuk, or shrimp crackers, are also a popular complement to many dishes. Some widely embraced Indonesian foods in the United States are sate, meats flame-grilled on bamboo skewers; rendang, beef cooked in spices and coconut milk; and fried fermented soybean cakes called tempe. Other dishes Indonesian Americans have introduced to the United States are soto ayam, a turmeric-based
Indonesian Americans: Foods and Foodways
This Indonesian grocery store located in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, provides the Indonesian American community import goods from Indonesia. (Dahlia G. Setiyawan)
chicken soup; and gado-gado, a salad made from lightly boiled green vegetables, cucumbers, fried tofu, potatoes, and bean sprouts and served with peanut sauce and steamed rice cakes. On celebratory occasions such as births or weddings, some Indonesian Americans serve nasi tumpeng, fragrant yellow rice shaped into a cone and served with various side dishes on a decorated plate. Numerous eating and food shopping establishments can be found wherever Indonesian Americans have formed communities in the United States. In particular, there are several Indonesian restaurants, cafe´s, and groceries in cities and states such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Virginia and New York. While some existed prior to the first large wave of Indonesian migration to the United States in the late 1990s, many were founded by Indonesians who arrived at this time. Such establishments have not only introduced a wider variety of Indonesian cuisine to the United States, but have also been instrumental in meeting the dining, shopping, and socializing needs of migrants looking for familiar tastes and to connect with others from their homeland. While the sidewalk stalls and mobile street vendors that are fixtures throughout Indonesia have not carried over to the United States, similar informal sector options exist.
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Some Indonesian Americans run small catering businesses from their homes, cooking and delivering meals to a clientele ranging from students to migrant laborers. Indonesian American festivals also offer an opportunity to sample the fare of such vendors. —Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan See also: Indonesian Americans: Festivals and Holidays; Restaurants and Cuisine.
Further Reading Setiyawan, Dahlia. “Indonesia.” In Anita Schillhorn van Veen, ed. Immigrant Philadelphia: From Cobblestone Streets to Korean Soap-Operas. Philadelphia: The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, 2004. Sze, Lena, ed. Chinatown Lives(s): Oral Histories from Philadelphia’s Chinatown. Philadelphia: New City Community Press, 2004.
Web Sites “Indonesian Cuisine Popular in the United States.” Voice of America Web Site: http:// www.voanews.com (accessed March 2006). Moskin, Julia. “From Asia, Rapture in a Bowl.” New York Times Web Site: http:// www.nytimes.com (accessed January 2009).
Heroes and Heroines Indonesian Americans compose the 15th-largest group of Asian Americans in the United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, there are some 63,073 people who identify themselves as Indonesians living in the United States. The first inmigrating group arrived shortly after the 1965 Nationalization and Migration Act but also as a result of a military coup d’e´tat that had occurred in Indonesia. General Suharto overthrew President Sukarno (1946–1967) and assumed the Presidency. This caused a great deal of political instability and turmoil in the country as many Indonesians fled abroad, especially to the United States, in search of new opportunities to settle down and build a new life for their families. The second notable group of Indonesians to move to the United States, similarly, came after the 1998 democratic people’s movement forced President Suharto out of office and brought Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri (2001–2004) into power. Since Indonesian Americans migrated to the United States relatively recently, they have brought with them their folklore, legends, and myths of heroic figures. Stories of heroes and heroines are passed down through the generations by verbal communication. There are national Indonesian heroes as well local ones who are specific to
Indonesian Americans: Heroes and Heroines
a particular Indonesian American’s ancestral place of origin. Traditionally, the title, National Hero or Heroine is awarded by the Indonesian government to people considered to have made a significant contribution to the fight for independence or development of the nation. Indonesian Americans continue to pass down knowledge about national heroes and heroines to their children through verbal communication. The types of titles bestowed on national heroes in Indonesia are (1) Proclamation Hero: awarded to Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, who proclaimed Indonesian independence; (2) National Independence Hero: used during the administration of President Sukarno; (3) Heroes of the Revolution: awarded to those killed at the September 30, 1965 coup attempt; and (4) National Hero: used since the beginning of President Suharto’s administration. The criteria to be awarded the status of a national hero was defined in Presidential Decision No. 241/1958. It stated that a National Independence Hero is “a person who throughout his or her life, because of love for the nation did great service or led an organized activity to oppose colonialism in Indonesia, fighting enemies from overseas, or who did great service in the area of politics, statesmanship, socioeconomics or culture by fighting for independence and the development of Indonesia.” This definition was improved in Presidential Regulation No. 33/1964, which stated that a hero is “somebody who died in action or as a result of heroic acts fighting to defend the nation or who although not killed at the time, was proved to have made sacrifices defending the nation and whose subsequent life was unmarred by any actions that detracted from his or her heroic status.” This definition remains today. Some of the heroes and heroines known by most people originating from Indonesia, including those who live in the United States, include Dewi Sartika (Bandung, West Java, a pioneer for the education for women in Indonesia); Prince Diponegoro (a prince in Java who fought the Dutch occupation); Douwes Dekker (born in Pasuruan; Indonesian freedom fighter and politician of Dutch descent); I gusti Ngurah Rai (Badung, Bali Island); Kartini (a Javanese princess and pioneer for native Indonesian women’s rights); Ki Hajar Dewantara (Minister of Education and Culture in 1949 who built Taman Siswa, a school for Indonesians); Mohammad Hatta (known as one of the “proclamators,” or proclaimers of Indonesian independence, first vice president of Indonesia); Multatuli (a famous Dutch writer, wrote the 1860 satirical novel Max Havelaar condemning colonialism in the colony of the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia); Pattimura (or Thomas Matulessy, born Mat Lussy, nicknamed Kapitan Pattimura, a Muslim Ambonese soldier who led a rebellion against Dutch forces on Saparua in Maluku Islands); Sam Ratulangi (a Minahasa politician, journalist, and teacher from North Sulawesi); General Soedirman (military commander of Indonesian forces during the country’s fight for independence); Sukarno (born Kusno Sosrodihardjo, first president of Indonesia,
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the proclamator who with M. Hatta helped the country win independence from the Netherlands); Sultan Agung (literally, “Great Sultan” or “Majestic Sultan,’ a Javanese ruler and fighter against Dutch colonialists in the form of the Dutch East India Company); Supriyadi (PETA officers who led a rebellion against Japanese troops); Soetomo (known as Bung Tomo, an Indonesian military leader during the Indonesian National Revolution against the Netherlands, a central role in the “Battle of Surabaya” when the British attacked the city in October and November 1945); Teuku Umar (led a guerrilla campaign in Aceh during the period of the Dutch occupation); Tuanku Imam Bonjol (a hero from West Sumatra in the Indonesian struggle against the Dutch); W. R. Supratman (an Indonesian songwriter who wrote the national anthem of Indonesia—“Indonesia Raya”); and Yos Sudarso (an Indonesian naval officer killed in a battle between Dutch and Indonesian vessels). For Indonesian Americans, the knowledge of the Indonesian heroes and heroines naturally is not universal, as they are not being taught at the U.S. schools. But this knowledge lives through the memories of parents who retell these stories to their children. —Myrtati Dyah Artaria
Further Reading Album Pahlawan Bangsa (Album of National Heroes). Jakarta: Mutiara Sumber Widya, 1999. Ricklefs, M. C. A History of Modern Indonesia since c.1300. 2nd ed. New York: MacMillan, 1991. Sudarmanto, Y. B. Jejak-Jejak Pahlawan dari Sultan Agung hingga Syekh Yusuf (The Footsteps of Heroes from Sultan Agung to Syekh Yusuf). Jakarta: Penerbit Grasindo, 1996. Winda, D. A., ed. Profil 143 Pahlawan Indonesia (Profiles of 143 Indonesian Heroes). Jakarta: Pustaka Timur, 2009.
Identity Indonesian Americans have a unique cultural identity and rich historical heritage. Although their cultural identities and self-constructions are largely influenced and shaped by their adaptations to life in the United States, they also continue to trace their collective cultural identity to Indonesia. Most have come to the United States relatively recently, after the resignation of President Suharto, who ruled the country from 1967 to 1998. There was an economic downturn after his ouster from power that caused many to seek a better life in the United States. These immigrants carried with them many cultural traditions and practices that are taking root
Indonesian Americans: Identity
and continue to shape their cultural identity, even as it changes and takes on new local expressions. Indonesia has a long history, and its culture is the product of influences by Islam, Buddha, Hindu, and Dutch colonialism. Indonesia is composed of various and distinctly different cultures that share a common national identity. Java, for example, is the most densely populated island, where the capital is located. Politically, the Javanese are the single most influential ethnic group in Indonesia. However, the official language is Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language), a variant of Malay, which originated from Sumatra. This language rather than Javanese was selected by the government as the national language to promote a national identity transcending that of Java alone. Although most Indonesians are Muslim, they continue to be influenced by local variations of indigenous animism, Hinduism, and Buddhism that were widespread before the arrival of Islam in the 13th century. In addition, in several rural regions like Java, Islam has been adjusted to fit the earlier beliefs, and sometimes is called Kejawen. Other parts of Indonesia, such as Bali and Tengger in the Bromo area in East Java, are largely Hindu. The signs of ancient Hindu kingdoms still can be seen as in Borobudur and Prambanan temples. The enormity of these ancient kingdoms brings a sense of pride to the nation that is still felt by Indonesian Americans. Below are highlights of several important episodes in the history of the people and country of Indonesia: 6–8th centuries: Borobudur and Prambanan temples built 13th century: Islam spreads throughout the islands 16th century: Portuguese establish trading posts 1602: Netherlands East India Company (VOC) forms, attacks Jakarta in 1619 1796: VOC bankrupt, control taken over by the Dutch government 1942–1945: Japanese occupation 1945: Independence declared on August 17 1946–1949: Dutch try to resume control and guerrilla war started 1950: President Sukarno elected 1959–1965: Period of Guided Democracy 1965: Unsuccessful coup attempt by some army officers, a period of crisis 1965: New Order government under President Suharto late 1980s: Non-oil exports exceed oil exports; Indonesian economy undergoes steady liberalization and internationalization 1998: President Suharto resigns in the face of economic crisis and political opposition
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1998: Habibie government contains crisis, and prepares for the next elections 1999: Democratic elections result in Wahid government Wahid was known as “The Father of Pluralism”; he died at the end of 2009. Wahid gained respect for his views and efforts in bridging the gaps between the ethnic groups and between various religions and beliefs. After Wahid, there was a female president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is the daughter of Indonesia’s first president. The current president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or SBY, has been elected for the second time. Megawati was the first female president in Indonesia. In the nation with the largest number of Muslims, a female president can vividly reflect the view of the Muslims in Indonesia. It was believed that most Muslims would reject a female leader, but Megawati proved that was not the case. Part of what forms the identity of Indonesian Americans is the feeling that they came from a country that fought for its independence. This gives a feeling of pride, which remains when Indonesians move to another country such as the United States. Furthermore, they have come from a country that is an archipelago with a warm and humid climate. This enables the plants and animals to thrive. The essentially easy life in the homeland has given most of the people—especially those from the fertile areas—a laid-back attitude and a friendly disposition. For more than 2,000 years, continuous ancient civilizations existed in Indonesia, endowing it with a rich cultural system that embraces several religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. Indonesian Americans have a tendency to follow a syncretic type of religion, irrespective of their affiliation, that is influenced by different waves of religious undercurrents. This syncretism is also reflected in their adaptation to life in the United States, where the people also have plural origins. Many of the immigrants from Indonesia to the United States are Chinese Indonesians. In Indonesia, relations between Indonesian Chinese and native Indonesians have always been problematic. Some of the causes are the treatment by the Dutch when colonial policy favored Chinese, who established economic dominance. Furthermore, Dutch regulations ranked Chinese as a higher caste than native Indonesians, so that they did not want to assimilate with the local people. The Chinese Indonesians’ economic advantage remains, so that the gap between the Chinese and the Malay, or locally born, Indonesian persists. Furthermore, most Chinese are not Muslims, despite the fact that Islam continues to be the majority religion of Indonesia. During Suharto’s presidency, the Chinese were instrumental in developing the national economy, and many grew wealthy; but at the same time they were marginalized and discriminated against in other domains such as politics, culture,
Indonesian Americans: Identity
public service and employment, and in terms of language. Therefore many decided to migrate to other countries such as the United States. The new country and environment in the United States may not change the morals and attitudes of the Indonesians who have migrated there. Morals and attitudes are the core of a culture. When internalized, they are difficult to change. The identity of Indonesian Americans is reinforced by family socialization, which is unique for every family. —Myrtati Dyah Artaria
Further Reading Arto, Soegih. Indonesia and I. Singapore: Times Editions, 1964. Benda, Harry J. “The Structure of Southeast Asian History: Some Preliminary Observations.” Journal of Southeast Asia History 3(1) (1962). Chang-Yau Hoon. Chinese Identity in Post-Suharto Indonesia: Culture, Media, Religion and Language. London: Gazelle Book Services, 2008. Church, Peter, ed. Focus on Southeast Asia. ASEAN Focus Group. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1995. Emerson, Donald K. “One Nation Under God? History, Faith, and Identity in Indonesia.” In Religion and Religiosity in the Philippines and Indonesia: Essays on State, Society, and Public Creeds. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005. Fox, James J. Islam and Identity in Eastern Indonesia. Hull: University of Hull Press, 1999. Heryanto, Ariel. State Terrorism and Political Identity in Indonesia. London: Routledge, 2007. Kahin, George McTurnan. Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1952. Kuipers, Joel. Language, Identity, and Marginality in Indonesia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. McCoy, Alfred. The Historiography of World War II: Southeast Asia under Japanese Occupation. New Haven, CT: Yale University SEA Studies, 1980. Ricklefs, Merle Calvin. History of Modern Indonesia. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1993. Suryadinata, Leo. “Indonesian Nationalism and the Pre-war Movement: A Reexamination.” Journal of Southeast Asia Studies 9(1) (1978): 99–113.
Web Sites Budhisantoso: http://ignca.nic.in/ls_03015.htm (accessed November 22, 2009). Ferguson, R. J. Nationalism and Identity: Indonesia, Australia and East Timor, 2000: http://www.international-relations.com/wbip/wblec3.htm (accessed November 22, 2009). Indonesian Chinese History: http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Indonesian_Chinese _History/id/5159201 (accessed November 22, 2009).
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Javanese Puppets Javanese puppets are universally recognized, respected, and even worshipped by American Indonesians, who consider them a unique art form emblematic of an important ancient and enduring Indonesian cultural heritage. Various ideas exist regarding the origin, purpose, sacredness, evolution, and symbolic meanings of stylized puppet characters and episodes. Not commonly staged in the United States are the all-night sacred performances of classic shadow puppets (wayang kulit) dancing in a curtain of light cast by the coconut oil lamp of a mystically initiated and anointed puppeteer (dalang). Yet, Indonesians in the United States nostalgically view Internet videos of such performances from Indonesia, attend classical Javanese sacred puppet theatre when visiting Indonesia, view consular and university stagings of selected episodes accompanied by ever-present gamelan music, admire puppets in museums and new shops, support indigenous artists and puppet makers with fair-trade Internet vending, and frequently own at least one carefully chosen stylized puppet, proudly displayed. The wayang and especially the classic wayang kulit retain an undiminished power to evoke deep feelings, a sense of cultural unity, and a sacred appreciation of life as an ethical struggle of cosmic proportions. Javanese puppets represent in vivid memory fascinating heroic, tragic, compassionate, and comic-satiric characters from timeless sacred narratives depicting forces of good and evil in the modern expatriate world. Puppet vehicles politely express and explore with the human and Indonesian dilemma that passes across inherited experiences of island fragmentation, ethnic insularity, exported class and professional stratifications and inequalities, and memories of recent, violent interethnic conflict percolating under the surface in IndonesianAmerica communities. In the United States, the wayang offers a diluted but preserved ritual hope and catharsis through shared puppet characters, sacred drama, and conversation. Many discreet performances are commissioned in Indonesia to ritually mark life events in the United States or to promote good fortune. Choosing one’s puppet(s) is never accidental in the United States or Indonesia. The choice leads into a psychological and symbolic zone where applied ethics, character, cosmology, and comic relief meet. The fundamental episodic formula and battle between good and evil stem from India’s ancient sacred epics, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagavad-Gita, where all characters are close relatives and friends fighting within the human family. Puppets thus reflect a universal human history not unfamiliar to modern, ethnically diverse Indonesians engaged in forging a pluralistically cohesive expatriate community under a welcome umbrella of American religious freedom, tolerance, and peace. Animistic beliefs are alive under the umbrella in the puppets, viewed from certain ethnic perspectives as able to manifest ancestral and eternal spirit forces. No puppet is ever
Indonesian Americans: Literature and Folklore
totally ordinary. Semar, the beloved comic God-in-Disguise, and his sons cavort in wise, witty, and compassionate counterpoint alongside refined (alus) Indian heroes and heroines, bringing to the surface hidden meanings. Stylized Christian wayang wahyu shadows feature Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Nativity scenes. Jesus confronts good and evil in a scenically illuminated wayang boat. Semar faces the forces of good and evil on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Among the Sudanese, three-dimensional costumed wayang golek rod puppets are used. These three-dimensional puppets also are popular with the Javanese Straits Chinese and indigenous Pandji of Bali. Wayang wong create popular inversions in which the actor plays the puppet. The special Javanese Genungan, a leaf-shaped, densely symbolic panorama shadow, is prized by American connoisseurs. It opens and closes all performances and signals scene and mood changes by expressive positions without a word. Expertly crafted puppets with eyes ritually painted and opened by a dalang are discreetly purchased in Indonesia and brought to the United States. —Barbara A. Amodio
Further Reading Baird, Bill. The Art of the Puppet by Bill Baird. New York: Bonanza Books, 1973. Blumenthal, Eileen. Puppetry: A World History. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2005. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1972. McVey, Ruth. T., ed. Indonesia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1963. See especially Chapter 10, “The Enduring Tradition: Music and Theatre in Java and Bali” by Mantle Hood.
Web Sites Cultural calendars, news, articles, and research: http://www.unesco.org. Fair trade arts, artists, performance, and rare educational videos, and journal (NOVICA News): http://www.novica.com and http://
[email protected]. Indonesian gamelan, wayang kulit, performance photos and videos, calendars of cultural performances, and directories of arts associations: http://www.indonesianewyork.org and http://www.indo.com/tplan/embassy.html.
Literature and Folklore Indonesian American literature and folklore vary accordingly to the islands and regions of origin in Indonesia. Traditional Indonesian American literature shares some common features with that of Malaysian American literature due to Malay being the international language of maritime trade in ancient Southeast Asia. However, modern Indonesian American literature largely is translated and derives
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from Bahasa, the national language of Indonesia, and differs in terms of the vocabulary used from that of Malayan origins. For example, stir in Bahasa Indonesia would be aduk but in Malaysian it is kacau; in Indonesia, kacau literally means “turmoil.” The Indonesian accent and pronunciations are different from those from Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. This is caused mainly by the strong linguistic influences of Dutch and Javanese in Bahasa Indonesia. Most Indonesian Americans are bilingual. They are likely to be fluent in English, Bahasa Indonesia, as well as one or more of the various local languages spoken in Indonesia. Indonesian Americans generally identify themselves according to the region they came from in Indonesia, and each region has its own unique literature and folklore. There are many tribes including Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Batak, Manggarai, Dayak, Ambonese, Madurese, and others. Furthermore, Dutch, British, Portugese, and Japanese colonial influences and Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian ideas have enriched the literature and folklore of Indonesia. Linguistic influences, from Sanskrit, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, and English, also have been incorporated into the various Indonesian languages and literatures. Indonesian Americans have carried their national literature and folklore into the United States, where it continues to flourish. It is publicly transmitted through the use of language, music, dance, theatre, photography, film, fine art, design, architecture, and through the administration of community-based associations that promote education on Indonesian culture in the United States. Indonesian American literature has been influenced by Asian world religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam as well as Christianity, the latter being first introduced by the early European colonizers, especially the Dutch. For example, the book Max Havelaar (1860), authored by the Dutchman Multatuli, criticized the colonial treatment of Indonesians, which gained him international attention. Indonesian Islamic literature, which emerged in Indonesia in the 14th century and has taken deep root in Indonesian American communities, is similarly based on moral precepts. Indonesian literary traditions are also influenced by the cultures of China, Persia, and India. One of the most famous writers in Indonesia is Pramoedya Ananta Toer. He won the prestigious Magsayasay award and was considered for the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature. Another outstanding author and poet is Chairil Anwar who is remembered for his courageous and inspirational involvement in the Indonesian independence movement. Indonesian literature, from which Indonesian American literature derives, may be divided into 10 overlapping periods: Pujangga Lama: the “Literates of Olden Times” (traditional literature); Sastra Melayu Lama: “Older Malay Literature”; Angkatan Balai Pustaka: the “Generation of the [Colonial] Office for Popular
Indonesian Americans: Literature and Folklore
Literature” (from 1908); Angkatan Pujangga Baru: the “New Literates” (from 1933); Angkatan 1945: the “Generation of 1945”; Angkatan 1950–1960-an: the “Generation of the 1950s”; Angkatan 1966–1970-an: the “Generation of 1966 into the 1970s”; Angkatan 1980-an: the “Decade of the 1980s”; Angkatan Reformasi: the post-Suharto “Reformation Period”; and Angkatan 2000-an: the “Generation of 2000s.” In written poetry and prose, a number of traditional forms still remain such as pantun (quatrains made up of two seemingly disconnected couplets), babad (chronicles or histories), syair (traditional narrative poetry), hikayat (animal fables, stories, chronicles, fairy tales), and gurindam (aphorisms). However, younger generations of Indonesians have slowly abandoned these traditional forms. They prefer literature that is simpler and uses more contemporary language, such as Ayat-ayat Cinta (Love Verses), Laskar Pelangi (The Soldier of Rainbow), Sang Pemimpi (The Dreamer), and others. Meanwhile, young Indonesian Americans’ access to Indonesian literature is more limited, so they are often more familiar with contemporary American literature. Indonesian literature and folklore are passed to the next generation through their parents, and the community when they get together. Another means of passing on Indonesian literature is by having “Indonesian literatures appreciation” meetings, usually held by the Indonesian American communities. This process helps Indonesian American children remember their ancestral descendants and histories. Indonesian Americans can access older Indonesian literature through free digital copies made available online. The Internet has removed the boundary of space and time. Although not all literature and folklore is available in digital form, huge progress has been made in this area. Indonesian American literature and folklore also represent a rich verbal art form. The verbally transmitted songs and poems sometimes have a religious function. Improvisation normally happens in stories, poems, prose, and songs. The prose includes fables, fairy tales, adventure stories, myths, legends, puzzles, riddles, anecdotes, and jokes. Examples of traditional forms of verbal art in Indonesia are the didong poetry of Aceh or the tekena epic tales of the Kenyah of East Kalimantan, which are transmitted through oral-traditional performance. Indonesian Americans born in the United States sometimes are familiar with Indonesian verbal art through bedtime stories told by parents. The stories are fun to tell and offer a moral education for the children. —Myrtati Dyah Artaria
Further Reading Knippling, Alpana Sharma. New Immigrant Literatures in the United States: A Sourcebook to Our Multicultural Literary Heritage. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
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Indonesian Americans: Names and Name Giving Nelson, Emmanuel S. Asian American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000.
Web Site Czermak, K., P. Delanghe, and W. Weng. “Preserving Intangible Cultural Heritage in Indonesia.” A Pilot Project on Oral Tradition and Language Preservation, 2003: http:// www.sil.org/asia/ldc/parallel_papers/unesco_jakarta.pdf (accessed April 28, 2010).
Names and Name Giving Most Indonesian American children carry their father’s last name; however, some have no surname, while others may inherit their mother’s last name. The particular naming practice used by a specific family at the individual level varies according to where they trace their ancestral lines in Indonesia. Naming customs and practices among Indonesian Americans generally reflect the polycultural and polyglot nature of their ancestral homeland. In the islands of Java, Bali, and Madura, when a woman marries, according to tradition she does not always automatically take the husband’s name. Also, Balinese, Javanese, and Madura people do not have surnames. As in Indonesia, variations in naming patterns also is found in diverse Indonesian American ethnic and cultural communities. Some people may use only one word in a name such as Slamet, Harianto, or Suharto, but others employ two to four words in a single name, with or without a surname, such as Maria Magdalena Aminatun Ruth. The words used in naming may be short, such as Paijo, or long, such as Wignjosoebroto. When there is a surname, it could be the last name or the first name. Naming traditions sometimes correspond to and derive from the particular family’s religious affiliation. In the Hindu tradition—in Bali, for example—the naming tradition used by a given family is closely related to their caste or social status. The name reflects the caste, not the family surname. There are four castes in Balinese American communities: Brahmana, Ksatria, Waisya, and Sudra. Brahmana is the highest caste, while Sudra is the lowest. Caste designations originally were invented in ancient societies influenced by Hinduism to describe and categorize people according to the type of work they did. Religious affairs are served by the Brahmana caste. The function of ruling the country is served by the Ksatria caste. Waisya has its charge in economic sector, and Sudra mostly are servants. However, Balinese castes have always seemed to be based more on genealogy than on function. In Balinese communities in Indonesia and the United States, although someone may have achieved a high educational and economic station, he or she still honors people from a higher caste who have inherited, rather than necessarily earned, their higher social status. The language used for each caste,
Indonesian Americans: Names and Name Giving
as well as the treatment, attitude, and place of each caste in terms of where they sit and are positioned in a communitywide event, can vary widely, even in the United States. The birth order of children also plays a role in the Balinese American naming system, such as Wayan, Gde, or Putu for the first child; Made or Nengah for the second child; Nyoman or Komang for the third child; and Ketut for the fourth child. The fifth child would be named Wayan, Gde, or Putu again. Gender is sometimes shown by a Balinese American’s name. The name of men begins with “I” (pronounced “ee”), and women’s names begin with “Ni” (pronounced “nee”). A person named I Nyoman Naya Sujana would be a man who is the third child in the family. There are names to indicate the caste of a Balinese American. Brahmana caste are Ida Bagus (abbr. I. B.) for the men and Ida Ayu (abbr. I. A.) for the women. The number of the child’s birth order in the family is not usually used for the official names of Brahmans but as nicknames in the family. Some examples of the names of Ksatria caste are Cokorda, Anak Agung, and I Gusti Agung for the men; and Anak Agung Ayu, Dewa Ayu, and Desak Ayu for the women. Ancient Sanskrit influences are reflected in the names of Balinese and other Indonesian American cultural communities. The ending “a” usually is for males and “i” usually for females; examples include Putra and Putri, Dewa and Dewi, Rukmana and Rukmini, etc. Some people originated from Indonesia such as Balinese, Sundanese, Madurese, Tenggerese, Javanese, and many other tribes do not have surnames. Each person has his or her own names. Furthermore, a wife does not have to take the husband’s name. Sometimes a woman, or a man, takes her/his first child’s name. For example, when a couple has a child named Agus, the name of the mother becomes Bu Agus and the father Pak Agus (the mother/father of Agus). Similarly, Batak American males originally from Sumatra do not want to be called by their first name because it is a taboo. They prefer to be called by the son’s name, such as Bapak Ucok or Ayah Ucok, which means the father of Ucok. When he is older, he is called by the name of the grandson, such as Opung Togar, which means the grandfather of Togar. However, more modern people do not mind being called by the first name. In addition, fewer people have many children, which increases the possibility of having no sons. In the 1980s, many people from Indonesia who migrated to the United States began using Western names for their children, to sound “more modern,” such as Katrin, Richard, Sony, Tommy, Vincent, Amy (pronounced “Ah-mee”), and so on. Most Indonesian Americans who are Christians like to use Western names, but some non-Christian people such as Balinese (Hindu and Buddha in Bali) and Minang (Muslim from West Sumatra) also like to use Western names for their children. Many Chinese Americans who were born in Indonesia have Western names as well as Christian names. They also have surnames (She) like Chinese in other
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countries. However, after the 1966 coup d’etat in Indonesia around the time of the Vietnam American War, Chinese Indonesians were urged by the government to change their Chinese names into Indonesian names. Hence, some Indonesian Chinese Americans adopted Indonesian names that are close to the sound of their Chinese surnames, such as Handoko for Han, Ongkowijoyo for Ong, Lumenta for Lu, Salim for Liem, etc. Other Chinese Indonesian Americans preferred to conceal their Chinese identity and adopted Indonesian names without surnames, so that they would better assimilate with local indigenous people. When Chinese Indonesians migrate to the United States, some still use their Indonesian surnames, while others use their original Chinese surnames. Some Indonesian Americans have Arabic surnames such as Assegaf and Shihab, because their ancestors were Arabs who migrated and settled in the Indonesia. Also, some indigenous people, such as the Batak people from North Sumatra, Manggarai people from Flores Island, Ambonese of the Moluccan Islands, Manado of North Sulawesi, and the Nias people who live on a small island near Sumatra, use clan names. Indonesian Americans of Minang descent from West Sumatra have a matronymic type of naming tradition. Minang has matrilineal culture, and is the fourthlargest ethnic group in Indonesia. A child belongs to the clan of the mother, not the father. In general, Indonesian names are categorized into the following: • A single name, such as Sukarno and Suharto • Two (or more) names without a surname, such as Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono • Two (or more) names with a surname such as Benny Nasution, Vinsensio Marcellino Dugis • Two (or more) names with a patronymic, such as Guruh Sukarnoputra Among Javanese Americans, there are names that imply a low social status and other names that refer to a high social status. Names such as Paimin, Poniman, and Sukarjo are used for men, while Ngatinah, Paitun, and Tuminem are women’s names that typically refer to people coming from the countryside to work in cities. Names that sound more modern among middle- and high-status groups are usually Sanskrit, Arabic, or Western names such as Dyah Arimbi, Arsyad Saputra, Johny Setiawan, and so on. Indonesian Americans also adopt American surnames and family names. This is especially so for those who do not originally have a family name, in which case they use the last name of the father as their family name. Some Indonesian Chinese Americans who moved to the United States use their adopted Indonesian
Indonesian Americans: Narrative Folklore
last names, instead of their Chinese names, as their family names; others continue to use their original Chinese family name. The way someone addresses another is very important in Indonesian American communities. Names are considered sacred. People are used to addressing each other with respect, such as Bu for older and respected women, Pak for older and respected men, Mbak (in Java) or Kak (in most non-Javanese people) for slightly older and respected women, Mas (in Java), or Bang (in most non-Javanese people), or Bli (in Bali) for slightly older and respected men, and dik for younger and respected men or women. People are not used to calling each other by a nickname or first name, unless they have an intimate relationship or are very close to each other such as good friends. Sometimes people use saudara to address someone who is not very close, or on formal occasions such as debates, trials, or speeches, saudara literally means “brother” or “sister.” When people are talking to an older person or respected person, they do not say kamu (you) but use the more polite term anda, or “honorable thy.” Otherwise, they would say the name of the person after Bu or Pak, for example: Bu Yani, Pak Agus, etc., instead of saying kamu. Some Indonesian Americans who are used to this tradition still practice it among themselves and teach their children to do the same to the older and respected people. However, within the context of intercultural marriages between Indonesian and American couples, these naming traditions and ways of addressing others are mostly likely no longer being practiced. —Myrtati Dyah Artaria
Further Reading Kuntjara, Esther. The Hybrid Language of the Chinese Indonesian in Surabaya. 3rd International Conference of Institutes & Libraries for Chinese Overseas Studies, 2005. Vom Bruck, Gabriele, and Barbara Bodenhorn. The Anthropology of Names and Naming. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press India, 2009.
Narrative Folklore Indonesia, which spans more than 3,000 miles from Sumatra to Papua, is a diverse country of more than 300 ethnic groups and languages. Each group has its own myths, legends, and stories that constitute a rich folklore. Despite the diversity, Indonesian folklore conveys universal themes of honesty, respect, collaboration, hard work, humility, and patience that will triumph over arrogance and selfishness. Many stories also highlight the value of maintaining harmony within and between the two worlds—tangible (human, flora, and fauna) and intangible (God, gods, and
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spirit). Although most Indonesian folklore was transmitted orally, Indonesia also has the longest written poetry entitled I La Galigo, which is written in the ancient Bugis language. The characters in Indonesian folklore represent the diverse ethnic groups, and the fables feature animals common to the regions. One animal, the mousedeer named Kancil, is an important character in Indonesian folklore, even though the animal only lives in parts of Sumatra. Kancil represents cleverness and calmness, which are highly valued in Indonesia. Some ethnic groups, such as Dayak and Bugis, have stories of creation (I La Galigo). Other areas have stories that explain how things came to be, including “Why Shrimps Are Crooked” and “The Origin of Banyan Tree.” Most regions have their version of “The Origin of Rice” and many stories involving rice, which is to be expected since rice is the staple diet of Indonesia. Many stories from different regions emphasize respect for parents, especially mothers, and the older generation. Supernatural punishments to ungrateful children are chronicled in stories such as “Malin Kundang” and “Manik Angkeran.” Other stories allude to the importance of consultation, consensus, and collaboration to overcome common problems, which might require an agile mind as supposed to brute force as in “The Victorious Buffalo” and “No Tigers in Borneo.” Some stories underscore the connection within and between the tangible and intangible worlds. “The Frog,” for example, teaches that appearance is skin deep, while “Jaka Tarub” points out that a human being and a spirit can live together, even as husband and wife, as long as they respect the agreed-upon terms. Many legends about places in Indonesia include a character receiving assistance from the spirit world, such as “Bandung Bondowoso” on the making of Thousand (Sewu) Temples; or a character having supernatural power, such as “Sangkuriang,” who overturned the boat in West Java, or “Bujang Beji,” who split and carried the mountain in West Kalimantan. Many stories stress the power of honesty and truthfulness over lies and deception (“The Origin of Lake Lau Lawar” and “Lahilote”) or humility over arrogance (“True Strength”). Others, such as “The Woodcarver’s Love” and “The Caterpillar Story,” focus on being true to one’s heart, kindness, determination, and perseverance in achieving one’s dream. The stories in Indonesian folklore make children imagine the life, trials and tribulations, success and accomplishments of the princes and princesses, farmers, and heroes in the stories, thereby fostering the development of positive characteristics valued by the society. —Trikartikaningsih Byas See also: Indonesian Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Indonesian Americans: Proverbs and Maxims
Further Reading Abidin, Andi Zainal. “The I La Galigo Epic Cycle of South Celebes and its Diffusion.” Translated by C. C. Macknight. Indonesia 17 (April 1974): 161–169. Bunanta, Murti. Indonesian Folktales. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2003. De Leeuw, Adele. Indonesian Legends and Folktales. New York: Thomas Nelson & Son, 1964. Suyenaga, Joan. Indonesian Children’s Favorite Stories. Singapore: Periplus, 2005. Terada, Alice M. The Magic Crocodile and Other Folktales from Indonesia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
Proverbs and Maxims Proverbs concisely contain words of wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional cultural views, while maxims, metaphorically and briefly, describe customary forms of proper behavior. Indonesian American proverbs and maxims are used for giving advice to others in a way that is inoffensive and respectful, especially to young people. Most Indonesian American proverbs are translated directly into English from Bahasa, which is the national language of Indonesia, and share some stylistic features as follows: (1) Alliteration; for example, translated from Indonesian: “Where there is smoke, there is fire,” which means that there’s a cause for everything. (2) Parallelism: for example, “The teacher urinates while standing, the pupil urinates while running,” which means that a junior will always mimic what the senior does. Another example is “The winner is turned into charcoal, the loser is turned into dust,” which describes a no-win situation. (3) Rhyme: for example, “Practice makes perfect,” which means if one practices enough, one can do really well. Another example is “Paddle upstream, swim down to the edge. Go through pain or hardship first, then experience fun and happiness,” which means “No pain, no gain.” (4) Ellipsis: for example, “After taking the sweet, someone throw away the residue,” which illustrates someone enjoying sugar canes. After the sweet part is consumed, the residue is thrown away. This means that one calls one’s friends only when one needs help. Once the friends are not needed, one abandons them. (5) Assonance, the repetition of a vowel, is also exploited in several Indonesian proverbs to form the artistic sound. For example, “Where there are no eagles, I am the one, said the grasshopper.” The rhyme of words is found in the three times repeated words in Indonesian. This means that an underdog will be seen as superior in a place where there are no top dogs. Other forms of proverbs are hyperbole, paradox, and personification. These can be found in Indonesian proverbs as well. An example of hyperbole proverb is
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“No matter how sharp a knife is, a tongue is even sharper.” This reminds one to be careful of what one says as hurting someone’s feeling is more painful than hurting someone with a knife. An example of paradox in Indonesian proverb is “There is no ivory that is not cracked,” which means nothing is perfect in this world. An example of personification in Indonesian proverb is “When there were no lions in the jungle, a nearsighted monkey could be the king.” Among Indonesian Americans, some Indonesian proverbs are still being used when they speak Bahasa Indonesia. The main purpose of proverbs is to pass on spiritual wisdom. Most people believe it is good to transmit proverbs to the next generation. Therefore, most Indonesian American parents like to reiterate proverbs to their children. —Myrtati Dyah Artaria
Further Reading Mieder, Wolfgang. Proverbs: A Handbook. Greenwood Folklore Handbooks. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. Mieder, Wolfgang. Wise Words. Essays on the Proverb. New York: Garland, 1994. Mieder, Wolfgang, and Alan Dundes. The Wisdom of Many: Essays on the Proverb. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1994.
Religion The government of the Republic of Indonesia officially recognizes the faiths of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, and has recently acknowledged Confucianism. Consequently, most Indonesians in the United States adhere to one of these beliefs. The majority of Indonesian Americans are Christian, Catholic, or Muslim. Indonesian Americans have joined existing congregations in the United States and have also established their own places of worship, many with ties to religious organizations in Indonesia. As interreligious group relations tend to be cordial, on certain occasions Indonesian Americans of different faiths unite in the spirit of mutual fellowship and assistance.
Indonesian American Christians and Catholics Indonesian American Christians represent numerous, largely Protestant, denominations including Lutherans, Pentecostals, and Baptists. Churches and religious organizations in the United States have sometimes facilitated the migration of groups such as the mixed heritage Dutch Indonesians or “Indos” who arrived as refugees in the 1950s and 1960s. More recently, Christian churches have sent
Indonesian Americans: Religion
religious workers to establish Indonesian American congregations and serve Indonesian migrant communities throughout the country. While a number of Indonesian American Christian congregations are multiethnic, certain churches consist of congregants of a dominant ethnicity. Among Indonesian American Christians, three ethnic groups have been particularly active in establishing Indonesian language churches and communities of faith in the United States. Batak migrants indigenous to North Sumatra who began to arrive in Southern California in the 1970s founded the Huria Kristen Batak Protestant (HKBP) Church in Ontario, California, as well as branches of the Indonesian Seventh Day Adventist Church in cities such as Redlands and San Bernardino. The Minahasans of North Sulawesi who settled in and around Seacoast New Hampshire in the 1990s have established many churches including the Immanuel Indonesian Church, a member of the New England Lutheran Synod. Finally, ethnic Chinese (Tionghoa) Christians have been instrumental in launching branches of churches they traditionally attend in Indonesia. Most notable among these are the International Full Gospel Fellowship (IFGF) Church and the Bethany International Church, two communities of worship with congregations in Indonesia and around the world. Indonesian American Catholics have tended to join existing congregations rather than found their own churches. In states such as California, Georgia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Catholic parishes with significant numbers of Indonesian American congregants offer weekly or monthly Indonesian language masses. These masses and other services are conducted by priests from Catholic Archdioceses in Indonesia sent to American parishes in need of clergy to minister to rising numbers of Indonesians who had migrated to the United States and began attending masses in the late 1990s. In one example, the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in a neighborhood of South Philadelphia that is home to many Indonesian sojourner migrants officially began serving Indonesian Americans in 2001 when community and church leaders united to recruit an Indonesian priest from East Java as a visiting clergy member. In addition to being places for everyday fellowship, worship, and prayer, churches that minister to Indonesian American populations often are sites for congregants to celebrate major holidays such as Christmas and Easter through special services, concerts, pageants, and plays. Churches are also important resources for Indonesian American Christians and Catholics seeking English lessons, contacts with immigrant service providers, and other forms of assistance.
Islam in Indonesia America Nearly 90 percent of people in Indonesia are followers of Islam, making it the largest Muslim-majority nation in the world. In the United States, there are fewer Indonesian American Muslims than Christians and Catholics. While some
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Muslims arrived prior to the large influx of Indonesian migrants in the late 1990s, many originated from this period. Most Indonesian Americans are Sunni Muslims from the Acehnese, Javanese, Madurese, and Sundanese ethnic groups. The fasting month of Ramadan, the Idul Fitri holiday that marks the end of this period, or the Idul Adha holiday recognizing Ibrahim’s (Abraham) sacrifice of his son Ismail (Isaac) are significant events in the Islamic calendar year celebrated by Indonesian American Muslims. Indonesian American Muslims often worship at existing masjid (mosques), in prayer rooms at places such as one of the five Indonesian Consulate Generals, or at Islamic centers and organizations. Some have also established their own places of worship. One of these is the Masjid Al-Hikmah in Queens, New York. The Masjid was established in 1995 through funds raised by Indonesian American Muslims as well as through a donation by an Islamic foundation in Indonesia headed by then-president Suharto. As a place to gather for Jum’atan, a Friday prayer service conducted by an Imam, the spiritual leader of a mosque, and for rites of passage, religious study, and community fellowship, masjid play a significant role in the lives of many Indonesian American Muslims. Gathering for pengajian is another practice widely shared by Indonesian American Muslims. Led either by an Imam or an Islamic scholar in the community, pengajian are get-togethers held in congregants’ homes or in the masjid in which the Quran is recited and discussed. These meetings are frequently, though not always, divided by gender and often conclude with a social element such as the enjoyment of a meal together. Pengajian groups also often become important networks for members of the community. Members organize rites of passage such as circumcisions and marriages, or provide help in times of need such as at the birth of a baby, a family’s move to a new residence, a sojourner’s return to Indonesia, or the death of a loved one. Some pengajian groups have been instrumental in the building of mosques and the formation of congregations, such as in the case of Masjid Al-Hikmah. Others have initiated the founding of local and national organizations ranging from the Indonesian Muslim Community of Greater Philadelphia to the Indonesian Muslim Society in America.
Inter-Religious Relations Many Indonesian Americans tend to marry within their respective faiths. However, cooperation and mutual assistance between members of different religions occurs as well. Temporary migrants such as students and diplomats attend public or private events such as holiday celebrations hosted by Indonesian Americans or other individuals and groups representing faiths different from their own. In some cases, notably in the Indonesian American community in Philadelphia, religious leaders
Indonesian Americans: Restaurants and Cuisine
have offered the use of their own congregation’s facilities to those of different religious backgrounds seeking a place to hold services or events. —Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan See also: Indonesian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Festivals and Holidays.
Further Reading Cunningham, Clark E. “Unity and Diversity among Indonesian Migrants to the United States.” In Huping Ling, ed. Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008. Setiyawan, Dahlia G. “Unity in Diversity: Community Building among Indonesian Immigrants in Philadelphia.” M.S.Ed. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 2005. Swazey, Kelli A. “Carrying Culture and Re(creating) Nation through Christianity: Minahasan Culture and Identity in Transnational Indonesian Churches in New England.” MA thesis, University of Hawaii, 2008.
Web Sites Gennaro, Lorraine. “Faith in Each Other.” South Philly Review Web site: https:// www.southphillyreview.com/view_article.php?id=6212 (accessed October 2007). International Full Gospel Fellowship Web Site: http://www.ifgf.org. Masjid Al-Hikmah Web Site: http://masjidalhikmahny.org.
Restaurants and Cuisine Indonesian American restaurants and cuisine are breaking out of the home, where they have been traditionally most comfortable, to give new nuances to the meaning of fusion cooking, fast food, and celebratory feasting for both Indonesians and Americans. Distinctive Indonesian restaurants, polished cookbooks, and food journalism articles abound promoting Indonesian foods and food habits, securing a respectable place in the American ethnic restaurant scene that nearly duplicates the setting of a village communal feast, or slametan, now expanded to American friends, the inquisitive of many cultures, and Indonesian Americans feasting together to commemorate threshold events and the occasions of a lifetime without fuss in the home. Indonesian Americans are continuing their national pastime of nibbling, snacking, grazing. and noshing compatibly within the faster pace of American life, particularly in the cities. Begun at the peripheries of numerous Chinatowns or nestled in the heart of Indian neighborhoods, Indonesian restaurateurs are spreading out from ethnic enclaves to privately owned places or small national chains within upscale urban and rural American neighborhoods. Lacking
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a traditional indigenous hereditary class of restaurateurs accustomed to dressing food for a wide public, Indonesians are following the lead of a few pioneering Indonesian professional chefs and cooking instructors who encouraged pride and artistry in Indonesian food, a country whose regional foods are themselves a fusion phenomenon. Indonesian Americans of several stripes are successfully copying the restaurant and entrepreneurial traditions of other Indonesians who brought these traditions finely honed with them to Indonesia, notably the Straits Chinese and Muslim Indonesians. The Straits Chinese Delicious and affordable Indonesian foods are available at Indonesia Java Restaurant in Indonesians, having long incorporated indigenous Indonesian (bumiputra) the Inner Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Diners rave about the elements into their own cuisine, samosas, Indonesian pancakes, coconut present distinctively Chinesecurry, meat skewers, and popular spicy fries. Indonesian blended cuisines called (Jonathan H. X. Lee) nonya, the tradition of the “Grandmothers” or “Ladies,” who for generations combined and handed down foodways for their Indonesian husbands and families. Nonya cuisine is an important part of Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean kitchens, and a freestanding Indonesian American phenomenon. Many Straits Chinese Indonesian Americans intermarried with Muslim entrepreneurial populations who also settled along the Straits and sea trade routes bordering mainland Malaysia and Indonesia present Nonya cuisine in their American homes blended with Muslim halal (ritually and humanely killed) meats and other PanIndonesian techniques and ingredients. Nominal Muslim Indonesians discreetly enjoy aboriginal and nonya pork recipes and imbibe Mango Cosmos in Indonesian American and Pan-Asian establishments. Subtle disputes over nuances of traditional ingredients, recipes, and preparation methods erupt in American restaurant food blogs, expressing latent intraethnic conflicts over authentic “Indonesian” cooking in which the aboriginal Indonesian voice is increasingly heard amid the dimensional struggles embedded in Indonesian statehood and recent political memory. Indonesian recipes are gaining popularity in menus of emerging PanAsian restaurants, following Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, Filipino and Vietnamese entries.
Indonesian Americans: Restaurants and Cuisine
The pervasive tradition of street food vendors, warungs (semi-permanent eating houses), rumahs or restorans (eating houses or rustic restaurants), and rumah makan Padangs (Padang-style establishments with table service of a dozen or more changing dishes served tableside without a menu or printed price by waiters) translate to smaller neighborhood carry-out and eating shack arrangements in urban and suburban America. These feature exotic and spicy fast food and appetizer-type grazing for American neighborhoods that stay up into the night, an easy lifestyle transition for Indonesian Americans. Fast food easily available from stalls appeals to Indonesians used to warungs and the equal days and nights of sultry tropical walkabouts in their new on-the-go American setting. Indonesian spicy fried chicken (Ayam mBok Berek) purchased from street vendors or packed up as carryout competes with and complements American fried chicken, a natural transition fusing both cultures. Middle-class Indonesian women, as in Indonesia, cater prepared traditional foods and earn extra income without the stigma of menial labor. Their clientele is the Indonesian American community, American friends, international students and business entrepreneurs living alone, and Indonesian restaurants. Indonesian American cooking methods are characterized by the ancient imported Indian technique of pounding spices and herbs into pastes to release aromatic oils and blend flavors before adding them to recipes. Performed with mortar and pestle, the process is Americanized with an electric grinder or food processor. Many Indonesian Americans proudly grow pepper plants as colorful houseplants or in the garden. All Indonesian dishes lavishly incorporate types of peppers— white, black, and red—and the indigenous vegetation and spices of their respective islands. Aboriginal Indonesian dishes are especially resplendent with chili paste bases that easily evolve into complex pastes from the same base. Exotic ingredients are flown fresh for sale in Indian and Asian groceries catering to Indonesians, including tamarind, galangal, lemongrass, knotgrass, coconut milks and creams, kaffir lemon leaves, palm sugar, Indonesian-flavored rice chips, banana leaves and flowers, and bamboo tubes, among others. Typical aboriginal (bumiputra) recipes indicate the affiliations of an American restaurateur, and include Eggs in Spicy Red Sauce, Fragrant Coconut Rice with numerous sliced indigenous herbs, and Sliced Beef with Red Chili Sauce. Sticky and glutinous rice and recipes tending toward the sugary of all kinds appeal to Indonesian Americans who prefer to eat at home with the fingers and to use the stickiness, and sweetness, of the extra starch to advantage on the plate. A sugary preference carries over for very sweet rice puddings and porridges made with condensed milk and the caramelized taste of palm sugar used to sweeten milk drinks, coconut milks, and other sweets. Sticky Yellow Festival Rice topped with an edible orchid and colored with light doses of turmeric, piled high in a festive volcano mound, adorn public and private dessert feastings, lightly reminiscent of many diverse sacred symbolisms
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of Indonesian traditions and geomancies. Spiced Sparerib Soup to which numerous Ayurvedic and Chinese medicinal herbs are traditionally added continue to reflect the Indian philosophy of food as medicine. Numerous handheld Indian roti (pancakes), including roti jala (lacy pancakes) and roti canai (puffed croissant-like pancakes) and others, are useful to wrap fast foods for the hand. From a land where cinnamon trees, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cardamom, pepper vines, coconuts, and much more grow in abundance, home of the Moluccas (Spice Islands), Indonesians are trending into the American organic and locally grown movements and demanding freshness of high-grade spices from specialty American merchants. Scattered advertisements for pet stores, some owned by Southeast Asians, accompany Indonesian Web site postings for markets, restaurants, and supplies, indicating a discreet link for a minority of indigenous expatriates who eat dog, preferably puppy, and know how to prepare it. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Indian Americans: Ayurveda; Indonesian Americans: Foods and Foodways.
Further Reading Hwang, Christina Sjahir. Singaporean, Malaysian & Indonesian Cuisine. Monterey Park, CA: Wei Chuan Publishing, 2002. Owen, Sri. Indonesian Regional Cooking. New York: Doubleday (St. Martin’s Press), 1994.
Web Sites Ethnic cultural and food journalism around the world and in the United States at its finest by featured writer Brett Martin: http://www.brettmartin.org. Noncommercial, journalistic, and professional Web site on Indonesian and pan-Asian foods and locales: http://eatingasia.typepad.com. Penang and Nonya cuisine of the Straits Chinese Indonesian kitchen: http://www .penangusa.com/location. Penzey’s Spices: http://www.Penzeys.com. Yelp Food and Restaurant blog. Yelp features “real people—real reviews” at http:// www.yelp.com and see also http://www.yelp.com/biz/new-malaysia-and-indonesia -new-york.
Rites of Passages Indonesians celebrate rites of passages related to birth, puberty, marriage, and death. They regard these rituals as necessary in maintaining and creating harmony within and between the two worlds—tangible (human, flora and fauna) and
Indonesian Americans: Rites of Passages
intangible (God, gods, and spirit). The rituals vary from region to region depending on the dominant traditions and religions. Some rituals have evolved to include and accommodate elements from religions and cultures that came later. Balinese Hindu families hold a ritual on the 42nd day after birth to cleanse the mother and the newborn of impurities, and another on the 210th day to prepare the baby’s feet to touch the ground. A week after their baby’s birth, Muslim parents hold a ritual (aqiqah) to show gratitude to the Creator and to announce the birth to the community by slaughtering a goat, naming the baby, and cutting the baby’s hair. As they grow, Muslim children will learn to recite the Quran in Arabic. When they complete reciting the whole Quran, their parents will hold tamat kaji celebration. Many communities have coming-of-age rituals for the male children. Muslim boys are circumcised before they reach puberty. The West Sumatrans bid farewell to the young men who decide to leave their hometown (merantau) in search of knowledge and livelihood; Balinese perform tooth-filing (metatah) to cleanse the youth of malignant forces. The Asmat people prepare soul boat (wuramon ) and initiation (je-ti) rituals to welcome young men into the men’s house, while the Nias stage a stone hurdle jumping (hombo batu) ritual for the young men to prove their physical maturity. Seen as a unification of two families, the wedding, from the proposal to the reception, involves the extended families. The prewedding rituals for the bride include gift-giving from the groom’s family and beautification with female friends and relatives. The ceremony and the reception usually showcase the couple’s heritage. Artifacts typical of their region decorate the stage, which is also furnished with traditional seats for the couple and their parents. Wearing traditional outfits, the couple and their parents stay on the stage throughout the reception to receive well wishes from guests. The artistic performances entertain the guests, who mingle with friends and family while enjoying the regional food served buffet-style. When a woman is seven months pregnant, the family holds a ritual (mitoni or selapanan) for a safe pregnancy and birth. The ritual includes showering the woman with water containing seven kinds of flowers, breaking coconuts engraved with characters from Mahabarata, and having the woman change clothing seven times. While the burial for Muslims usually occurred within 24 hours after death, traditional burial in some regions, such as cremation (ngaben) in Bali, Ayah Besar in Tumon Dayak, Rambu Solo in Toraja, and Bi Pokomban in Asmat require longer preparation and funds. Since the rituals are necessary to send the deceased relatives through a transition to the next life, families who cannot afford the rituals right away would bury the deceased until they can exhume the body and complete the rituals. —Trikartikaningsih Byas
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Further Reading Barth, Fredrik. Balinese Worlds. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1993. Konrad, Gunter, and Ursula Konrad, eds. Asmat: Myth and Ritual: The Inspiration of Art. Venezia: Erizzo Editrice, 1996. Yamashita, Shinji. “Manipulating Ethnic Tradition: The Funeral Ceremony, Tourism, and Television among the Toraja of Sulawesi.” Indonesia 58 (Oct. 1994): 69–82. Zahorka, Herwig. “A Tumon Dayak Burial Ritual (Ayah Besar): Description and Interpretation of Its Masks, Disguises, and Ritual Practices.” Borneo Research Bulletin, January 2001.
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos Indonesians are generally spiritual and value self-control to maintain harmony within and between the tangible (human, flora and fauna) and intangible (God, gods, and spirit) worlds. People must know their place in society, which is often determined by age, role in society, experience, and knowledge. Parents and the older generation are to be respected, and consulting them in important matters is highly valued. The group is more important than the individual, thus maintaining group harmony is vital, even at the individual’s expense. A demonstration of civility and respect, greeting is important in Indonesia. When greeting or leave-taking, Indonesians slightly bow, put both hands in front of their chest, nod their heads, or shake hands. Hugs are only exchanged between close friends, and kissing is not common. When meeting for the first time, many shake hands, but not always in the case of opposite genders. Indonesians usually introduce themselves by their complete name, which might not contain a last name. People address each other using the first name, but add an honorific, such as Pak, Bu, Mas, or Mbak to show respect. Indonesians value outward forms of courtesy such as a smiling face, genial demeanor, politeness, respect, a pleasant voice, as well as nonthreatening words and gestures that demonstrate self-control. They curb expression of anger or aggressive behavior that indicates a lack of self-control. They often go beyond their means to show respect and entertain their guests. When shown admiration for their belongings, they often offer them as gifts. Alcohol and swine products are avoided in public gatherings since the majority of Indonesians are Muslims, unless only non-Muslims attend. Though religious, many Indonesians believe in supernatural power. It is considered important not to disturb the harmony between the two worlds—tangible and intangible. Many Javanese, for example, bring offerings to the goddess of the South Indian Ocean (Nyi Roro Kidul) to avoid problems there. Others consult the Javanese “numerological divinations” (primbon) to determine the best day to
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do things like getting married or moving. Many also believe that everything happens for a reason and that small, seemingly unrelated things might influence future events, such as when the right palm is itchy, they will receive good fortune. Balinese cover objects they regard as sacred with black and white checkered cloth. Indonesians treat people according to their place in society, thus, it takes time to establish a comfortable relationship. To prevent confrontation or disharmony, Indonesians often hint at their meaning rather than saying it directly. And they do not discuss sex or express affection in public. However, Indonesians tolerate crowding and do not require much personal space. They regard standing akimbo as a sign of arrogance. Indonesians consider shoes dirty, and most take off their shoes before entering the house and places of worship (mosques and temples). Showing the sole of the shoes when sitting is deemed rude, as is pointing with one’s shoes. They also avoid offensive gestures such as using the left hand when giving things or eating. —Trikartikaningsih Byas See also: Indonesian Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Bacon, Derek, and Terry Collins. Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette: Jakarta. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2007. Hall, Barbara, and Cathie Draine. Culture Shock: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette: Indonesia. Portland, OR: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, 1991. Saunders, Graham. Customs & Etiquette of Indonesia. London: Simple Guides, 2007.
Traditional Medicine and Healing Healing and traditional medicine in Indonesian America liberally blend elements of more developed traditional Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic herbal formularies more readily available in the United States, the Indo-Indonesian use of spices as medicinal and culinary, wide degrees of attainment in blended meditative disciplines, and traditional Indonesian spirit curing, magic, and sorcery in diluted but available Americanized forms. Jamu (traditional Indonesian herbal medicine) sources plants throughout the archipelago composed of formulae loosely and unsystematically related to developed Chinese and Ayurvedic medical systems, selling numerous all-purpose wonder drugs in a mostly unregulated international Internet market that evades official regulation and safety efforts. In the United States, though rare, the traditional dukun (curer, sorcerer, and ceremonial specialist) with some degree of hereditary and trained skill can, with discreet inquiry, still be found. Since illness may be “sent” by spirits, weak-mindedness, physical or emotional debilitation,
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and black magic managed from Indonesia or the United States by a dukun, Indonesian Americans discreetly seek out syncretic uses of Hindu, Muslim, and indigenous primal healing mantras, Arabic prayers, and sacred Arabic letters modified as sacred mantra (in sound) and sacred yantra (in writing.) The dukun is found by word of mouth in the core of urban expatriate centers. Indonesian Americans make regular outings to such hubs to purchase herbs, find a practicing dukun, shop in Indonesian groceries and markets, buy fabric for clothing and ritual use, employ tailoring services, and dine out in specific restaurants and eating houses of particular reputation. Cash curing businesses and much general trade exist off the side of any credit card, check, or receipt. It is often the restaurant that organizes a vast network of services extending well beyond the urban hub. Family and friendship ties in the Indonesian melting pot of traditions easily facilitate cross-continent ritual diagnosis, prescriptions, and products by travel, intermediaries, Internet, letters, and phone. A general Indonesian American attitude considers Western medicine merely another form of magical address, one not fitted to address spirit-induced illness. Educated Indonesian Americans who can afford and make greatest use of Western medicine consider it a boon only for physical ailments, but do not dismiss the performative powers of traditional dukuns, who can be solicited for magic and healing of both the left (evil) and right (good) across every Indonesian ethnic tradition, including Muslim majorities and Christian minorities. The remedy for a “sent” spirit illness, insanity or possession of weakened and emotionally debilitated souls and suggestible minds, and bad luck is another dukun of greater power. Much like the choice of an attorney, dukuns frequently reflect the left or right character of clients. Those of powerful reputation fit into well-documented syncretic traditions ultimately rooted in Indian and indigenous systematic contemplative practices diffusely mutated in the Indonesian consciousness. American dukuns, mostly men, are recognized, feared, and appreciated as persons of considerable power who, by the more educated appraisal, have fallen off the spiritual ladder leading to God-consciousness while retaining supraconscious powers (siddhas) known to tempt any yogi/yogini from God to demon, anciently influential and enumerated by Patanjali during eras of Hindu expansion in Indonesia. Others, frequently female dukuns, are themselves temporarily and suddenly possessed with powers. Highly endowed dukuns breathe spells into indiscriminately chosen medicinal blends and symbolic objects for ritual healing and ensorcelment. Others ritually spit their power, against all American sanitary, pharmaceutical, and restaurant codes, making Indonesian Americans particular and observant about how food comes to them. Dukuns diagnose illnesses psychologically, conversant with petungan (numerology) correlations, diverse sacred calendars, intuitive insight, meditation, and symptom analysis especially when Western medicine has failed, often collaterally with TWM (Traditional Western Medicine.) Many spells are frankly Muslim in flavor in strict opposition to Muslim officialdom in
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both the United States and Indonesia. Indonesian Americans trend toward TWM and Ayurvedic medicine, perceiving affinities with both populations, and noting greater standards of regulation, effectiveness, and availability in the United States. A central American role is conserved for meditative practices, ritual prayer, and fasting to calm and strengthen mind and spirit. Meditation, prayer, and fasting remain the ultimate curative therapeutic preventive and defensive practices against “opportunistic” and “sent” spirit-induced illnesses. Hospital stays are no more popular in American culture than in Indonesia as they are the locus of already debilitated spirits who easily attract the malicious, opportunistic spirit forces of the left. The technological big guns of TWM pertain in the Americanized Indonesian consciousness to physical problems only, and no one enters the American hospital without subtle spiritual armor of some discreet type. Western psychological and psychotropic interventions are less well regarded than meditation. Dukuns, employed in other respectable bread-and-butter American professions, remain both dangerous and helpful last resorts. The ease of taking Western medicine, though preferred, is abused by less educated persons in the underground of cheap, unregulated Internet prescription buying; self-prescribed doses; and perceptions that Western pharmaceuticals are “scientific herbs” that can be taken with good psychological intent similar to a dukun’s spell or prayerful intention. American drifts toward TWM and Ayurveda reflect, if anything, the inherently less systematic character of indigenous Indonesian plant medicine, and its more fundamentally psychological, spiritual, and meditative basis. Injection of metal slivers (gold, silver) with or without clean needle practices and the ingestion of mercury in the United States are rare and clandestine practices. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Indian Americans: Ayurveda; Indonesian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Dying and Death Rituals.
Further Reading Aranya, Swami Hariharananda. Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali. Trans. and introduction by P. N. Mukerji. Albany: SUNY Press (State University of New York), 1983. Kaptchuk, Ted J. The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine. Chicago: Congdon & Weed (Contemporary Books, Inc.), 1983. Ros, Frank. The Lost Secrets of Ayurvedic Acupuncture. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1995.
Web Sites Ayurvedic Health and Massage Center Web Site: http://www.ayurvediccenter.com. Ayurvedic Herbal Products, Healthcare and Research (university affiliated): http://www .himalayahealthcare.com and http://www.himalayausa.com.
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Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of the Republic of Indonesia, is the predominant language spoken by many Indonesians in the United States. Based on a variant of Malay, it is a blend of regional tongues and Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, Portuguese, and Sanskrit loan words. When conversing with others of their ethnic group or social background, most Indonesians in the United States additionally use their own regional languages and dialects. While adopting and popularizing new vocabulary terms, Indonesian Americans have also retained many of their language traditions, particularly the use of honorifics as a way of expressing respect. A number of Indonesian words have long been familiar to people in the United States, having been co-opted by speakers of American English. In Indonesia, the national language is spoken by almost the entire population of nearly 250 million people. As many Indonesians use their regional languages and dialects among family and friends, Bahasa Indonesia functions as the official language of education, government, and mass media. Communicating in Indonesian likewise facilitates connections between migrants to the United States hailing from the diverse areas of the archipelago. Many Indonesian Americans who speak and read the national language are also devoted followers of the written and visual news and entertainment media imported from Indonesia or created in the United States, most of which is produced in Bahasa Indonesia. Reflecting the diversity of their communities, other tongues spoken by Indonesian Americans include the Batak dialects of North Sumatra; Bahasa Manado, a language popular among migrants from North Sulawesi; and variants of Javanese, such as the distinct dialects associated with Indonesia’s two largest cities, Jakarta and Surabaya. Many second-generation Indonesian Americans possess a greater command of American English or their family’s regional tongue than Bahasa Indonesia. Consequently, some pursue study of formal Indonesian as heritage learners in language courses offered in U.S. colleges and universities. Communities of Indonesian Americans have adopted certain colloquialisms, for instance referring to their adopted homeland as Amrik (America) or Negeri Paman Sam (the Land of Uncle Sam). Indonesian migrant workers have additionally popularized new words and phrases that describe the conditions of their lives in the United States, such as collectively referring to themselves as kuli dollar, a term that invokes the image of coolie laborers working for hard-earned U.S. currency. A language tradition that continues to be practiced by Indonesian Americans is the use of honorifics in spoken and written communication. An honorific is a term of address that connotes respect for another person. Among Indonesian Americans the terms bapak and ibu, tante and om are used to address older or higher-status individuals. Having the respective literal meanings of father and mother, aunt
Indonesian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
and uncle, they can be used to refer to one’s relatives and also hold the American English equivalent of the words “sir” and “ma’am.” Other honorifics used by Indonesian Americans are bang, mas, and mbak to address co-equals or younger individuals and the male and female address terms saudara and saudari, most often used in formal communications. —Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan
Further Reading Snedon, James N. The Indonesian Language: Its History and Role in Modern Society. Sydney, Australia: UNSW Press, 2003.
Web Site “Learning Indonesian on the Internet.” Northern Illinois University Center for Southeast Asian Studies Web Site: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Indonesian (accessed March 2009).
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Japanese Americans History, People, and Culture Japanese American history is shaped by immigration and community, exclusion and racism, wartime removal and confinement, civil rights activism and redress, new immigration and interracial marriage.
Immigration Japanese immigrants entered the United States in the greatest numbers from 1886 to 1908, with a second wave of immigration peaking between 1916 and 1920. In 1969, the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony was the first organized group of immigrants to California. This first colony contributed to California’s agricultural diversity by bringing mulberry trees, silk cocoons, tea plants, and bamboo roots. Due to crop failure, this original colony did not survive, but immigration from Japan continued to grow. By 1870, the United States Census indicates that 55 Japanese immigrants were living in the United States. In 1880, the U.S. Census shows 148 Japanese immigrants living in the United States, 86 of whom resided in California. Most of this early immigration was considered illegal by Japanese law. It was not until 1884 that Japan signed an agreement with Hawaiian sugar plantations to allow labor migration to the island, which in turn led to increased migration to the United States. After Japan agreed to permit immigration to Hawaii in 1884, immigration to the United States accelerated rapidly. The majority of early immigrants arrived first in Hawaii, and later immigrated to the mainland. Early Japanese immigrants remained primarily single and male. In the 1900 U.S. Census, 23,916 of 24,326 Japanese immigrants were male and only 410 were female. The ratio of women to men shifted after 1908, when the United States and Japan signed the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” that restricted the migration of unskilled laborers from Japan to the United States, but did not cut off the migration of wives, or family members of permanent residents. The period from 1908 to 1924 was dominated by the arrival of “picture brides.” These were women who migrated to join husbands they
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had married either during a return trip to Japan or by proxy. This period also initiated the rapid growth of the second generation of Japanese Americans and the growth of Japanese American communities and a distinct Japanese American culture.
Generations of Japanese Americans Japanese American history is so strongly defined by the immigration experience that terminology used to identify various groups of Japanese Americans defines their relationship to the immigrant generation. Immigrants are known as the Issei, or first generation; their American-born children are called Nisei, or second generation; the third generation is called Sansei; the fourth is called Yonsei; and so on. Nikkei refers to all Japanese Americans regardless of generation or citizenship status, and Kibei refers to those children born in the United States but educated in Japan.
Communities and Culture Japanese American communities flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. Communities built both Christian and Buddhist churches, Japanese language schools, and established judo clubs. The Buddhist Missions of North America, later called the Buddhist Churches of America, epitomized the emergence of a distinctly Japanese American culture as even the interior of Buddhist temples resembled the interior of American protestant churches inthe United States more than the interior of traditional Buddhist temples in Japan. Most of the early temples were built in rural areas to serve the needs of a predominantly rural Japanese immigrant population. In addition to establishing churches and building temples, immigrants developed cooperative associations as well. Farmers created growers’ and canning cooperatives. Community leaders organized protective and banking institutions. Communities organized picnics and parades, established space for Japanese Americans in local cemeteries, and celebrated the New Year by pounding rice to make mochi. They also celebrated the traditionally Buddhist Obon festival but eventually transformed it into a truly Japanese American celebration of identity and community tradition. The Obon festival is celebrated in the fall to honor the dead. This festival became an increasingly secular tradition over time that included Buddhist and non-Buddhist community members and became a time to celebrate Japanese American culture and identity. In Los Angeles, Japanese American community leaders developed Nisei Week in 1934 to support Japantown business and inculcate a sense of pride among the second generation in their ancestral heritage and to encourage group solidarity. Obon festivals; Nihonmachi, or Japantown Street Fairs; and Nisei Week remain important events in Japanese American communities today.
Japanese Americans: History, People, and Culture
Exclusion and Citizenship Japanese American communities faced increasing restrictions against immigration, citizenship, property, and basic civil rights over the first four decades of the 20th century. First, as Japanese immigrants first entered the United States, they found a society already ordered by racial hierarchies, segregation, and the recent passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. It did not take long for Japanese immigrants to become targets of race-based attacks and exclusionist efforts to cut off immigration from Japan. The Gentlemen’s Agreement, signed in 1907 and implemented in 1908, restricted the migration of unskilled laborers from Japan. Second, the Supreme Court confirmed in Takao Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922) that Japanese immigrants were not eligible to become naturalized citizens of the United States on the basis of racial restrictions against immigrants who were neither white nor of African descent. In 1913, California passed the Alien Land Law, restricting aliens ineligible for citizenship from owning land. This law was strengthened in 1920 and expanded to states throughout the West from 1920 to 1923 to include a ban on long-term leases or rental of land to aliens ineligible for citizenship. These laws specifically targeted Japanese immigrants. Finally, in 1924, Congress passed the most restrictive immigration laws in its history, cutting off immigration from Japan along with immigrants from other countries throughout Asia. The majority of second-generation Japanese Americans, otherwise known as the Nisei, were born between 1910 and 1940. Unlike their immigrant parents, the Nisei were born in the United States and according to the Fourteenth Amendment and United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), they were automatically citizens of the United States. As citizens, the Nisei had the right to own property. Nisei children became bridges between their parents and American society legally and culturally. Many Issei parents purchased land in their children’s names. When tested in court, the California State Supreme Court upheld the right of even the youngest Nisei child to own property as a right of citizenship (Estate of Tetsubumi Yano [1922] 188 Cal. 645, 648).
World War II, Confinement, and the Law World War II marked a tragic turning point in Japanese American history. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, authorizing the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Under the authority of EO9066, and a subsequent executive order creating the War Relocation Authority, 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes and property and move into government detention facilities euphemistically called “Assembly Centers” and “Relocation Centers.” Some individuals were placed under government control in a variety of other facilities ranging from Department
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of Justice internment centers to segregation facilities and even federal penitentiaries. The first Japanese Americans detained during World War II were community leaders, language-school teachers, judo instructors, and businesspeople. These early detainees, arrested by the F.B.I. as early as December 1941, were sent to facilities such as the Department of Justice internment camp in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Crystal City, Texas; and Fort Missoula, Montana. Additionally, 2,264 individuals of Japanese ancestry were sent by 12 countries in Latin America for detention in the United States during the war. While the exact purpose of this international transfer of individuals was unclear, common speculations include a plan to use Japanese Latin Americans for hostage exchange purposes. Most of the remaining Japanese Americans detained during the war were kept in camps that defied legal classification. Scholars still debate the terminology that best describes the facilities used to detain Japanese Americans. Although the word “internment” is commonly used to refer to the confinement of all Japanese Americans, only those aliens arrested by the F.B.I. and held under the authority of the Department of Justice were housed in internment camps. During the war, some had already begun using the term “concentration camp” to describe the facilities that help the majority of Japanese Americans, but today the use of this term is less common due to its close association with the concentration camps that housed Jews and other groups targeted by Nazi Germany for extermination in what might be called death camps. Other common terms are “detention facilities,” “confinement centers,” or “virtual prisons,” but none are precisely accurate. What scholars can agree on is the power that the government wielded by creating a facility that defies legal or any kind of satisfyingly accurate terminology. Japanese Americans challenged their treatment during World War II both in formal and informal ways. Four cases made it all the way to the Supreme Court. Min Yasui challenged curfew, Gordon Hirabayashi challenged curfew and exclusion from the West Coast, Fred Korematsu also challenged exclusion from the West Coast, and Mitsuye Endo’s writ of habeas corpus challenged indefinite detention without due process. Only Endo’s case received a favorable ruling during the war. Hirabayashi and Korematsu both had their cases overturned at the federal court level in 1984, but the Korematsu case in particular remains unchallenged at the Supreme Court level and continues to be used as precedent for cases that require “strict scrutiny” because they have the potential of affecting only a specific population of people.
Cultural Forms of Resistance Japanese Americans resisted their wartime treatment in more informal ways, as well, by going on strike, demonstrating, renouncing their citizenship, or continuing to practice or reinvigorating the practice of Japanese folk traditions or
Japanese Americans: History, People, and Culture
religious practices. In the camps, Japanese Americans found strength, endurance, and resistance in the form of cultural and folk practices that in some cases were unique to the camp experience and in some cases resonated with Japanese traditions reinvigorated during this time of stress and trial. In the camps, Japanese Americans came together to celebrate the New Year with rice pounding and mochi. They continued to teach and practice judo in the camps along with baseball and basketball, while some performed Noh dramatic dances. They also continued to celebrate the Obon festival, adapting dances to whatever music they had available, since many Issei had destroyed or lost all of their traditional music during the evacuation process. In the most tumultuous camp, the Tule Lake segregation center, the revival of folk traditions like Senryu poetry became central to those who looked to Japanese traditions as a source of strength during the war. In Tule Lake, Nisei who might not have known about hinotoma, or a fireball or light that represented a person’s soul, sometimes seen as an bad omen or a ghost, began telling stories about seeing these fireballs. Legends of the transforming animal spirits, such as the fox, dog, cat, and badger, became more common in Tule Lake times of conflict. Rumors spread about people who refused to renounce their citizenship, who were said to be possessed by animal spirits, or bewitched by cat spirits. The resurgence of legends, myths, and omens of bad luck and death were short-lived, rising sharply when tensions rose in camp, but ending once the centers were closed. Art created an outlet for many either as a means of documenting the internment experience or as just passing the time or beautifying life in a dreary, depressing place. Many famous Japanese American artists painted their impressions of camp in an attempt to make sense of their experiences or document camp life. Some explained that with camera equipment being banned for the first years of the war, art was the only means available to document life in camp. Chiura Obata started an art school for children in Topaz, Utah, for example, and Mine Okubo published her drawings of life in camp in 1946. Her book became the first Japanese American autobiography published after the war, and remains today a poignant record of camp life because of its graphic nature. Others used materials available to create more common folk art, such as wooden birds or brooches made out of seashells from ancient Lake Bonneville in the Utah desert. These artifacts are being collected by museums today as classic expressions of what some call the “art of gaman,” or the artistic expression of Japanese American endurance.
Postwar Silence After the end of World War II, Japanese Americans worked hard to restore their lives and recover from the devastation of having been imprisoned without due process during the war, but few wanted to talk about their experiences. Nisei became
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notorious for keeping their wartime experiences from their children. Within Japanese American families, silences became omnipresent in stories about the past, and most people marked their lives as “before camp,” or “after camp,” but few wanted to talk about camp. Sansei, or third-generation Japanese Americans, recall hearing stories their whole lives about “camp” but realizing later in life that they did not know what “camp” meant.
Civil Rights and Redress Sansei grew up during the postwar era of civil rights and race pride. Despite silences in individual families about the horrors of camp during World War II, Japanese Americans did not forget their lost rights during the war and worked vigilantly to secure greater civil rights for themselves and others. While the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) was criticized heavily for cooperating with the government in all of their policies during World War II, lawyers and lobbyists for the JACL worked hard to assist in the overturning of laws banning interracial marriage, segregation, and restricted rights to citizenship and immigration based on race. The end of race-based immigration quotas allowed immigration from Japan to be restored, yet new immigration remained low due to a booming postwar economy in Japan. Those Japanese who did immigrate to the United States after the war often came because of family ties, such as marriage to a U.S. soldier, and became the first generation of Japanese immigrants no longer barred from naturalized citizenship due to racial restrictions. From the late 1960s through the 1970s, the JACL; National Council for Japanese American Redress (NCJAR); National Coalition for Redress/Reparations; Japanese American politicians, such as Senator Daniel Inouye, Senator Spark Matsunaga, Congressman Norman Mineta, and Congressmen Robert Matsui; lawyers; and activists worked tirelessly to achieve redress for Japanese Americans interned during the war. Some, like the NCJAR, did so through the courts, while others lobbied Congress. In 1988, the Civil Rights Act was passed acknowledging that the U.S. government had committed a grave injustice against all those who were interned. Each surviving individual received a check for $20,000 as a token payment for the losses incurred because of their internment. Some people returned the checks out of protest, arguing that money could never repay them for all that they lost. One of the most significant outcomes of redress was the resurgence of stories about camp. Oral history projects flourished as people began talking more openly about what really happened during the war, including conflicts over the draft resisters, the loyalty questionnaire, those who answered the loyalty questionnaire “no-no,” those who renounced their citizenship, and about the collaboration between the JACL and the government. Having achieved redress, many
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Japanese Americans felt vindicated and could finally tell their stories to children and to the public without feeling shame or guilt.
Multiracial Identities Today, some of the pressing issues facing Japanese Americans are the result of 100 years of pressure to assimilate and Americanize as well as civil rights victories ending restrictions against interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia 388 U.S. 1 [1967]). Rates of interracial marriage accelerated after the war, and today, artists, academics and Japanese Americans are talking about happa or mixed race identities and culture. Communities are working to maintain certain cultural traditions as a way of resisting a complete loss of Japanese American identities. Nisei Week, organized annually in Los Angeles, celebrates all Japanese Americans and not just the Nisei. The Cherry Blossom Festivals in San Francisco and Los Angeles celebrate Japanese and Japanese American culture and are designed to bridge generation gaps, international boundaries, and educate the public about Japanese/ Japanese American culture and art. While other institutions, such as print Japanese American newspapers, struggle to survive in a digital world, festivals such as Oban, Japantown or Nihonmachi street fairs, Day of Remembrance held in February around the date Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt, and pilgrimages to the sites of wartime confinement and New Year celebrations all keep Japanese American cultural traditions alive as traditions that evolve as Japanese American communities grow and face new challenges. —Cherstin M. Lyon
Further Reading Bahr, Diana Meyers. The Unquiet Nisei: An Oral History of the Life of Sue Kunitomi Embrey. Palgrave Studies in Oral History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Daniels, Roger. “Words Do Matter: A Note on Inappropriate Terminology and the Incarceration of the Japanese Americans.” In Louis Fiset and Gail M. Nomura, eds. Nikkei in the Pacific Northwest: Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians in the Twentieth Century. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2005. Hirasuna, Delphine. The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942–1946. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2005. Irons, Peter H. Justice Delayed: The Record of the Japanese American Internment Cases. Middleton, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1989. Murray, Alice Yang. Historical Memories of the Japanese American Internment and the Struggle for Redress. Asian America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008. Obata, Chiura. Chiura Obata’s Topaz Moon: Art of the Internment. Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 2000. Okihiro, Gary Y. “Religion and Resistance in America’s Concentration Camps.” Phylon 45(3) (1984): 220–233.
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Japanese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Okubo, Mine´. Citizen 13660. New York: Columbia University Press, 1946. Opler, Marvin K. “Japanese Folk Beliefs and Practices, Tule Lake, California.” The Journal of American Folklore 63(250) (December 1950): 385–397. Yoo, David. Growing Up Nisei: Race, Generation, and Culture among Japanese Americans of California, 1924–1949. The Asian American Experience. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Notions of ancestor, ghost, and spirit within Japanese America are generally made up of culturally defined beliefs in religious, paranormal, and supernatural folklore. Japanese American funerary rites and religious traditions, including the animism of Shinto and the honoring of ancestors within Buddhism, allow for the recognition of many preternatural concepts. Perhaps the annual three-day Obon festival event attracts the most attention toward ancestral worship for Japanese Americans. Celebrated in several major American cities in California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington, this festival allows many Japanese Americans to exercise this Buddhist tradition by visiting their ancestors’ burial place and honoring their memory through Bon-odori, or Obon dance. In addition to the ancestral celebration of the Obon festival, Japanese Americans also recognize a number of yokai, little monster or spirit-like figures, as part of the folkloric list of the preternatural. The proliferation of contemporary yokai lore is largely attributed to the work of Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) in his 1904 book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. In Kwaidan, Hearn documents the legends of the yokai and provides a glimpse of their appearances and undertakings. One particularly popular yokai figure is Yuki-onna, or the Snowwoman. Although stories about her appearance and actions vary, in general she is described as an older woman with nearly transparent skin, who appears to stray travelers during snowstorms. She is said to either freeze travelers to death with her icecold breath or lead them astray so they will freeze alone. A similar yokai figure that is often mistaken for Yuki-onna due to the similar pronunciation of their names and actions is Yama-uba, or mountain crone. According to legend, Yama-uba is said to be a homely mountain dweller who feeds on the bodies of wayward travelers. Either by leading them astray or finding them after they have lost their way, Yama-uba captures her victims and then devours them. Zashiki-warashi, or floor-mat child, is another popular yokai figure. According to legend, Zashiki-warashi is a six year-old childlike figure with a red face and black bob hairstyle. He is said to inhabit houses that are well cared for and is
Japanese Americans: Arts and Crafts
accompanied by good fortune; yet if he is mistreated and decides to leave, so too does this fortune. As a childlike figure, he is said to be fond of playing harmless pranks on residents, including rearranging household items and leaving visible traces of his whereabouts throughout the house. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia and Ayumi Hidaka See also: Japanese Americans: Cherry Blossom Festival; Domestic Religious Practices; Literature and Folklore; Religion; Superstition and Taboo.
Further Reading Addiss, Stephen. ed. Japanese Ghosts and Demons: Art of the Supernatural. New York: George Braziller Inc., in association the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, 2001
Arts and Crafts Japanese American arts and crafts is a field of extraordinary quality. From the beginning of settlement, first in Hawaii and then on the mainland, Issei artisans produced lovely and functional handicrafts. At first, many of these items reflected their makers’ Japanese heritage. Thus, among those items produced were baskets, pottery (including teaware), dolls for the hana matsuri festival, shoji screens, and calligraphic signboards for businesses. Some masterpieces of folk art even became well known outside the community. For example, Tochihiro Kawai’s wooden drum bridge in the Japanese garden at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, was acclaimed as a treasure. Nevertheless, it was during World War II, when Japanese Americans were confined en masse in government camps, that their arts and crafts achieved particular visibility and renown. Production was stimulated by the confluence of conditions. On the one hand, inmates were confined in spartan conditions in camps in desert and swamp climates. Assigned to barren barrack rooms, they were forced to construct their own chairs, boxes, and tables out of scrap (or pilfered) lumber. To ease travel along rain-soaked or dusty paths, they carved walking sticks or geta (Japanese clogs). Meanwhile, many inmates, especially women, who faced unaccustomed leisure compared to their arduous prewar farm labors, had time to pursue crafts and sought to reduce boredom through handicraft production. Forced to forage for materials, they used such diverse materials as string, pipe cleaners, and shells from prehistoric lakes. Their products included dolls, decorative teapots, butsudan (family shrines), and origami. Although their crafts were heavily Japanese-influenced, they included American elements such as patchwork quilts.
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Tochihiro Kawai's wooden drum bridge in the Japanese garden at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. (Katrina Brown/Dreamstime.com)
Japanese Americans continued to produce crafts after World War II. Some achieved particular fame in this period. Sculptor Isamu Noguchi developed the art of akari (paper lampshades). The gardener John Naka, a pioneer of the art of western bonsai, created outstanding specimens from local flora. The woodworker and furniture maker George Nakashima gained renown for his coffee and dining tables, which he constructed out of large slabs of wood attached with butterfly joints, and featuring smoothly polished tops and natural exteriors. Japanese Americans today continue to take pride in their crafts and their craftsmanship. —Greg Robinson See also: Japanese Americans: Japanese American Artists; Origami.
Further Reading Eaton, Allen H. Beauty behind Barbed Wire: The Arts of the Japanese in Our War Relocation Camps. New York, Harper & Bros., 1952. Hirasuna, Delphine. The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942–1946. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2005.
Japanese Americans: Chanoyu ( Japanese Tea Ceremony)
Chanoyu ( Japanese Tea Ceremony) The vitality of chanoyu (ocha, chado, or sado) as an artistic folk practice comes from it being the transmitter of a time-honored tradition that reflects patterns of life to people inside and outside Japan. The terms chanoyu, chado, sado, temae, chaji, and chakai are all translated as “tea ceremony.” Chado is simply the making of tea for a guest. Chanoyu refers to hot water for tea. Chado and sado refer to the discipline or path of study. Temae refers to a specific preparation of tea for a guest. There are many ways of preparation depending on the season and utensils used. Chaji refers to a series of temae done for a guest or guests, usually lasting three to four hours. Chakai refers to a meeting for tea, either private or public, that is for multiple guests. Studying chanoyu is encouraged for anyone who wants to learn and understand Japanese culture, especially those of Japanese ancestry living in other countries. Therefore, it has become part of American Japanese practice and adds to the folkways of Japanese Americans. The original home of the custom of drinking tea is China. Early records indicate Shomu Tenno (724–749 CE) was the first to offer tea ceremonially in Japan. While several important individuals contributed to the creating of a unique art form using tea, a particularly influential person in its development was Sen Rikyuˆ , whose innovations have indelibly stamped the character of modern chado. While chado began in the Kyoto area, as a result of its popularity, it is practiced all over Japan. The practitioner is not only a person who takes or teaches lessons (keiko), conducts chaji (four-and-a-half hour meeting for tea) and chakai (public gatherings for tea), but may also be a person who collects students and makes a living from their fees (ocha no sensei). Learning the history, arts, and stories of the development of the art is part of learning what it means to be Japanese American. The 14th Urasenke Grand Master Tantansai and his son, Hounsai, have promoted chanoyu study in many countries of the world, especially the United States. They were the first to invite non-elite and non-Japanese participation. Chanoyu was taught in Japanese communities in the United States until World War II. Many teachers were discouraged from teaching Japanese cultural arts at this time. The internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans interrupted the teaching and practice of chado. While young, the Urasenke Grandmaster studied at the University of Hawaii and with local teachers founded the Hawaii Shibu and the Tea Ceremony Club. Several chashitsu (tea houses) were built in Hawaii for lessons. A chashitsu was built for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York and also for the Montreal Expo of 1976. Urasenke and Omotesenke teachers give lessons in major U.S. cities, such as Honolulu, San Francisco, New York, Los Angles, Chicago, and Seattle. Urasenke has spent the most energy
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and resources to teach chado all over the world as part of Grandmaster Hounsai’s “Peace through a Bowl of Tea” crusade. —Barbara Lynne Rowland Mori
Further Reading Austin, Lewis. Saints and Samurai: The Political Culture of the American and Japanese Elites. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1975. Sadler, Arthur L. Cha-No-Yu: The Japanese Tea Ceremony. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1962. Sen, Soshitsu. Tea Life, Tea Mind. Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1979.
Cherry Blossom Festival The Cherry Blossom Festival (CBF) in the United States is a Japanese cultural festival celebrating the blooming of cherry blossom trees, which signals spring. Produced in American cities with large, tradition-conscious Japanese American populations, the festival aims to display and promote Japanese culture and heritage to the public, and to recognize the contributions of the Japanese American community to American life. The festivals, staged by volunteers, vary in length from two days (Los Angeles), to two weeks (San Francisco), to two months (Honolulu). The communitywide festival typically schedules performances and demonstrations of Japanese cultural arts, foods, and talent, such as traditional dancing, taiko drumming, flower arranging, tea ceremonies, and the martial arts. The festivals sponsor scholarships and contests for designing a festival poster, or writing an essay on Japanese cultural contributions; and are forums for announcing leadership or community service awards. These events are often showcased free at street fairs, which also feature celebrity appearances and vendors peddling ethnic foods, arts, and crafts. In Los Angeles and San Francisco, the festival climaxes with a street parade of floats, marching bands, dancers, CBF pageant winners, and dignitaries. Other festival events that involve cost, sometimes for charity, may include fashion shows, golf tournaments, receptions, concerts, beauty pageants, and coronation balls. The Cherry Blossom Queen Pageant is a prominent feature in some festivals such as Northern California’s and is central to the one in Honolulu. Organized by the Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1953, the Hawaii Japanese CBF is the oldest in the United States and was constructed around the Queen Pageant. As a beauty competition, the Queen Pageant generates public excitement and interest in the festival. The public appearances of the contestants at shopping malls, festival events, and their visits to convalescent homes all draw press coverage. The queen represents the Japanese American community as a model of their
Japanese Americans: Children’s Literature and Songs
values and gender ideals (there was never a swimsuit competition). She also links the Japanese American community to its ethnic homeland. One of the pageant prizes is the goodwill tour to Japan. The queen, her court, and their entourage are treated as dignitaries during their publicized trip, the highlight of which is the Pageant Queen’s audience with a member of the Japanese royal family. The requirements for the Cherry Blossom Queen have changed to reflect the increasingly diverse multiethnic Japanese American community. Prior to 1998, the contestants had to be of 100 percent Japanese ancestry; now it is 50 percent. To encourage contestants with leadership and community service accomplishments, the CBF raised the age limit to 26, which fostered a candidate profile of college coeds or graduates. Ethnic festivals galvanize a community by refocusing on its heritage. The first Northern California CBF in San Francisco in 1967 brought community groups together amidst the social turbulence and dissensions over the Vietnam War. In Hawaii, the CBF created a positive image of Japanese culture and of Japanese Americans as civic-minded citizens in the aftermath of World War II. They unified the Japanese community, instilling it with cultural pride. —Linda Sun Crowder
Further Reading Yano, Christine R. Crowning the Nice Girl: Gender, Ethnicity, and Culture in Hawaii’s Cherry Blossom Festival. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006.
Web Sites 57th Cherry Blossom Festival—Honolulu, Hawaii. 2009: http://www.cbfhawaii.com/. 2009 Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia. 2009: http://jasgp.org/ cherryblossomfestival/. Brooklyn Botanical Garden: Sakura Matsuri 2009: http://www.bbg.org/exp/cherries/ sakura.html. Cherry Blossom Festival of Southern California. 2009: http://www.cherryblossomfestival socal.org/. National Cherry Blossom Festival, Official. 2009: http://nationalcherryblossomfestival .org/events/eng/event_daily.php3. Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival. 2009: http://nccbf.org/home/.
Children’s Literature and Songs Japanese American children’s literature and songs represent the unique macro and micro cultures of over seven generations of Japanese North American experiences. Since many Japanese Americans have direct familial connections to the
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World War II camp survivors, most of the group’s literature has focused on the experiences of the earliest generation of Japanese Americans who lived through times of anti-Asian exclusion. However, groups such as the descendants of new Japanese immigrants and multiracial Japanese Americans have redefined the parameters of Japanese American identity. Since the 1990s, more children’s songs and stories have more accurately represented the diversity within the Japanese American community. Japanese American children’s literature encompasses a diverse range of novels, picture books, poems, and short stories. The primary audience are Japanese American children and youth ages 3 to 18. The settings are usually situated within a North American/U.S. context, and the majority of the authors themselves personally identify as Japanese American. As prominent library scientist Violet Harada notes, Japanese American children’s literature has primarily functioned to preserve the legacy of Japanese American history for the younger generations to help them understand how the 1940s impacted both the United States and Japanese America. At the same time, the literature has served a broader purpose of educating American children from all backgrounds with an emphasis on universal childhood themes of family, friendship, and growing up American while touching on the unique circumstances that Japanese American children and their families endured during World War II. Critically acclaimed Japanese American authors include Ken Mochizuki, the author of Baseball Saved Us and Heroes; Allen Say, who wrote classics such as Grandfather’s Journey, Kamishibai Man, and Tree of Cranes; and Yoshiko Uchida, a well-known author of such works of historical fiction such as Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family, Jar of Dreams, and The Bracelet. More recent Japanese American’s children’s literature touches on contemporary Japanese American experiences. Kimiko Sakai’s Sachiko Means Happiness and Chieri Uegaki’s Suki’s Kimono center on the lives of two Japanese American girls without any reference to the World War II experience. Books on biracial Japanese Americans include Toyomi Igus’s Two Mrs. Gibsons, a beautifully illustrated picture book that focuses on a young girl whose African American grandmother and Japanese-born mother have raised her as bicultural, and Geneva Cobb Iijima’s The Way We Do It in Japan, where the protagonist is a young boy whose family suddenly moves from San Francisco to Tokyo. Iijima’s book is significant for portraying a multiracial family with a Euro-American mother and Japanese-born father. Prominent organizations such as the Japanese American National Museum and Polychrome Publishers also offer authentic and high-quality Japanese American children’s books. The songs of Japanese America are more evenly split between American and Japanese cultures. Most Japanese Americans grow up learning all-American children’s songs at American schools such as “Row Your Boat” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” However, some of the music of Japanese America pertain to
Japanese Americans: Domestic Religious Practices
co-ethnics who have strong primordial cultural ties to Japanese culture. Japanese children’s songs are learned from adult relatives or through formal institutions such as Japanese American heritage schools or Japanese-language schools. Some songs are learned as part of certain Japanese celebrations and holidays. For instance, many Japanese American communities celebrate Hinamatsuri or Girls’ Day in March and sing classic Japanese songs such as “Churippu” (Tulips) and “Sakura” (Cherry Blossoms). Ethnic organizations such as the Japanese American National Museum sell Japanese song collections such as Haru ga Kita (Spring Has Come) and Zoo-san (Mr./Ms. Elephant). Japanese American children’s literature and songs are uniquely rooted in Japanese American culture with selective adaptations from Japanese folklore. Hero and trickster tales with reference to the natural and supernatural are common in Japanese American folklore. Moral teachings are also common in songs and stories to encourage young children to embrace norms such as integrity, respect for elders, and social responsibility. —Rachel Endo See also: Japanese Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Harada, Violet. “Caught between Two Worlds: Themes of Family, Community, and Ethnic Identity in Yoshiko Uchida’s Works for Children.” Children’s Literature in Education 29 (1998): 19–30. Jenkins, Esther C., and Mary C. Austin. Literature for Children about Asians and Asian Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992.
Domestic Religious Practices Japanese Americans practice a wide variety of religions, especially Mahayana Buddhism (i.e., Jodo Shinshu, Jodo Shu, Nichiren, Shingon, and Zen), Shintoism, and Christianity. They are influenced by the cultural values and traditions of these religions. The majority practices Buddhist and Shinto ritual activities, although some observe Christian rituals, and others appear to be secular in terms of their religious beliefs and practices, since they participate in rituals only on occasion such as at the New Year or times of birth, marriage, and death. Most Japanese Americans trace their descent through their ancestors who came to the United States a long time ago, first arriving in Hawaii in 1868. (This is not counting the small group of sailors who landed and settled in Hawaii in 1802.) Most Japanese Americans migrated to work on the sugar plantations in Hawaii and, later, agricultural fields on the mainland. The largest group came from Japan
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to the United States between 1885 and 1920. It is to these migrants that the current Japanese American community traces its religious and cultural heritage, including domestic religious practices. While there are some new migrants, they are less numerous than this earlier migration flow. Perhaps this is due to modern-day Japan’s political and economic stability, which makes it a very attractive place to live. However, another possible explanatory factor is that people in Japan are aware of the early history of Japanese America. Early Japanese who migrated to the United States faced many racism and discrimination. They especially suffered, tremendously, during World War II, particularly on the West Coast, where whole families were rounded up and placed in internment camps. Japanese American religious beliefs and practices have been instrumental in assisting them in overcoming huge obstacles and achieving greater economic and political equality in the United States, although there is still progress to be made. Japanese American religious beliefs and practices, while continuous with cultural traditions in Japan, represent a different and uniquely American form of Buddhism, Shintoism, and Christianity, among other religions, as Japanese American individuals and families are as various as Americans are in general. Although in Japan, during the mid-1800s, governmental regulations and edicts mandated a separation between the Shinto and Buddhist religions, this did not affect the syncretistic form of Buddhism and Shintoism brought to the United States by the early group of Japanese working on the sugar plantations and agricultural fields of the United States. They adhered to a set of religious beliefs that incorporated Buddhist and Shinto components into their way of life. This flexible belief structure made it possible for them to be at once Buddhist and Shintoist and even Christian. Japanese Buddhism was influenced by Christianity, which, in turn, was transformed by Buddhism. Japanese American Christianity includes a notion of creation spirituality. That is, God’s love for creation is expressed through nature and people such as in the blossoming of a flower or when human beings help one another. These religious influences are visible in the form of Japanese American domestic religious practices. For example, Japanese Americans personally create, or purchase, beautiful butsudan and other devotional items to decorate their homes, which are handcrafted out of materials available from nature. The butsudan is a home shrine or ornate cabinet that enshrines and protects a religious icon, typically a statue or painting of a Buddha, Bodhisattva (Saint), or sacred scroll. The doors are opened to display the religious icon during religious observances and prayer, and closed at sunset. A butsudan usually contains an array of other religious objects such as candles, incense burners, and platforms used for offering food and nourishment. Some include memorabilia and sacred scrolls for deceased relatives. In Japanese American homes, the butsudan is the focus of personal religious devotions. For some it has become a visible sign of the Japanese American way
Japanese Americans: Draft Resisters during World War II
of life, so it is important to attend to it regularly. The ritualistic way a family member approaches the butsudan has changed over the years. It is said that firstand second-generation Japanese Americans were very concerned with showing proper ritual respect by demonstrating great diffidence in approaching the butsudan for fear of offending the ancestors. However, subsequent generations seem to be more innovative and creative in adapting new ways of expressing reverence and prayer, without regard for replication of formulaic bodily movements. Invariably, however, the butsudan symbolizes the continuity of the Japanese American cultural and religious way of live that has been influenced by Buddhism but also assumes other closely related religious influences. It stands for a sense of connectedness with the past, linking the current generations and their responsibilities to their ancestors, past and future. —Kathleen Nadeau See also: Japanese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Internment Camps; Religion; Superstition and Taboo.
Further Reading Hardacre, Helen. “Japanese Buddhism in America.” Pacific World, Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 3(5) (2003): 233–235. Koda, Tara K. “Aloha with Gassho: Buddhism in the Hawaiian Plantations.” Pacific World, Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 3(5) (2003): 237–253.
Draft Resisters during World War II During World War II, approximately 310 Japanese Americans resisted the draft. They protested their conscription while they remained excluded from the West Coast and confined without due process. Some protested being drafted to serve in segregated combat units in the Army. Others protested being drafted on the same basis as other American citizens while still being treated like an enemy alien by the government. Often confused with the “No-No” boys, the draft resisters mainly answered the loyalty questionnaire either with “Yes-Yes,” blended their answers, or wrote qualified answers, such as “under the present circumstances I am unable to answer these questions,” or “Yes, I will serve in the military once my citizenship has been clarified.” Tule Lake resisters answered the loyalty questionnaire with a “No-No” during the “registration crisis” of 1943 and then again refused the draft in 1944. The remaining resisters are distinct and separate from the “No-No” boys.
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The resisters from Heart Mountain, Wyoming, were the only organized group of draft resisters. Kiyoshi Okamoto organized the Fair Play Committee with six others and held meetings and advised others about their constitutional rights. The seven leaders of the Fair Play Committee were charged with conspiracy along with James Omura, English editor for the Rocky Mountain Shimpo, for counseling others to resist the draft. Charges against Omura were dropped, but the seven Fair Play Committee leaders were convicted and sentenced to three years of prison in Fort Leavenworth. In December 1945, their convictions were overturned by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals because the original jury had not considered the right of civil disobedience in their defense. Japanese Americans resisted the draft individually at the nine other War Relocation Authority camps and beyond. Other resisters included 111 from Poston (Arizona), 81 from Heart Mountain (Wyoming), 36 from Minidoka (Idaho), 31 from Amache (Colorado), 26 from Tule Lake (California), 11 from Hawaii, 5 from Topaz (Utah), 5 from various mainland states outside of the camps, 3 from Rohwer (Arkansas), and 1 from Jerome (Arkansas). Scholars point to Japanese cultural traditions as well as the overwhelming power of wartime patriotic fervor, threats of criminalization, and Japanese American–initiated pressure to Americanize as reasons why more did not resist the draft. Common sayings, like shikata ga nai (it can’t be helped), gaman suru (just endure it), or “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” explain some Japanese cultural forces against resistance. Threats of lengthy prison terms and large fines along with the shame that might accompany being labeled a felon dissuaded many. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) promoted voluntary service or at least compliance with the draft as the only option for Japanese Americans who wanted to be accepted by mainstream American society. The JACL’s emphasis on Americanization and 110 percent Americanism stemmed from a long-standing faction within the Japanese American population that favored assimilation as the path for immigrants and their children. The internal pressure exerted against those who considered criminal resistance proved to be the most likely explanation why resistance was not more common in all of the camps. Punishment for resistance varied widely. Judge Goodman dropped all charges against the resisters from Tule Lake, because drafting individuals already imprisoned was “shocking to the conscience.” In 1945, Judge Dave Ling charged resisters from Poston just a penny fine and ruled their time served. On average, though, resisters were sentenced to anywhere from six months to three years in federal prison, with the average resister receiving a one- to two-year sentence. All Japanese American draft resisters were pardoned by President Truman in December 1947 when the presidential commission determined that the resisters
Japanese Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
were drafted under unreasonable circumstances. Japanese Americans took much longer to reconcile their differences. Some resisters had trouble finding work after the war, were asked to move out of their communities, or were refused marriage, but all were nearly forgotten or ignored by history. In 2002, JACL held a public ceremony officially apologizing to the resisters for their poor treatment and recognized them as “Resisters of Conscience” for their acts of civil disobedience. —Cherstin M. Lyon See also: Japanese Americans: Internment Camps; No-No Boys.
Further Reading Abe, Frank. Conscience and the Constitution. Hohokus, NJ: Transit Media, 2000. Chin, Frank. Born in the USA: A Story of Japanese America, 1889–1947. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002. Fujitani, Takashi. “Cultures of Resistance: Japanese American Draft Resisters in Transnational Perspective.” In Mike Mackey, ed. A Matter of Conscience: Essays on the World War II Heart Mountain Draft Resistance Movement. Powell, WY: Western History Publications, 2002. Hohri, William, ed. Resistance: Challenging America’s Wartime Internment of JapaneseAmericans. Lomita, CA: The Epistolarian, 2001. Muller, Eric. Free to Die for their Country: The Story of Japanese American Draft Resisters in World War II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001. Omori, Emiko, et al. Rabbit and the Moon. San Francisco: Wabi-Sabi Productions, 1999.
Dying and Death Rituals The quality of jusosei (being porously stratified), an expression coined by the Japanese philosopher Watsuji Tetsuro (1889–1960), best characterizes the ritual cycle that marks significant events in the transition from life to death and ancestorhood typically observed by Japanese Americans. Underlying the ritual cycle are archaic beliefs in the continuum of life and death and the reciprocity between corporeal and spiritual worlds. In the “old country,” these beliefs have been reinforced and modified by Indian Buddhist ideas of karma, Confucian notions on filial piety, and Shinto belief of personhood. Varying degrees of acculturation and enculturation to the American experience and modernity have been and are being layered onto the “traditional” late life, mortuary, and memorial cycle. The late life celebrations, mortuary, and memorial rites commonly observed by Japanese Americans mark the progressive transformation of an individual
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from a physical to a spiritual being; they also highlight the importance of filiality and intergenerational responsibilities. The ritual transformation begins with the 60th birthday, or kanreki, celebration that marks the completion of one life cycle according to the Chinese Zodiac, and the beginning of a new life cycle. The 70th, 77th, 80th, 88th, 90th, and 99th birthdays are also significant milestones. The seventieth year is koki, or “rare age celebration.” In ancient China, the average life span was 50 years; a life of 70 years was indeed a rare event. An elder’s 77th year is kiju; the 80th year is sanju. Beiju, or 88th year, is especially auspicious. The 90th year is sotsuju; the 99th year is hakuju. In addition to giving elders milestones to look forward to, these celebrations are public expression of filiality. Confucian filiality is normally understood as a child’s obligation toward his or her parent; but filiality also commits parents to mentor self-cultivation and self-transformation; the elder, in short, models wisdom and virtue. The Buddhist mortuary and memorial cycle sponsored by the living descendents are expressions of filiality and continue for 33 or more years. The funeral is a community event, and traditionally the family would sponsor a memorial service every 7th day until the 49th day (these first seven rituals mark the most opportune moments for rebirth according to Indian Buddhist lore); thereafter there are the 100th day, 1st, 3rd, 7th, 13th, 17th, 25th, 33rd, and more recently even the 50th- and 100th-year anniversary of death. Unless the person is especially noteworthy, the 33rd year memorial service is the last service dedicated specifically to the memory of an individual. In Okinawa, a living repository of archaic Japan, the 33rd-year service marks the complete transition of the individual to an ancestral spirit, or kami. Thereafter the deceased is honored as an ancestor with all other ancestors. In return, the ancestor ensures health and prosperity for the family. The present-day Japanese America Buddhist community has abbreviated the traditional memorial cycle. Families often live great distances apart, and modern work schedules make it difficult to observe the traditional memorial cycle. Memorial services can be held at the temple or at home before the family butsudan, or Buddhist shrine. At either venue, the focus of the ritual is the ihai, or spirit tablet on which the homyo (Buddhist name) of the deceased is inscribed; this practice is a reminder of the ancient Chinese belief that the spirit of the deceased resides in the tablet. In addition, Buddhists honor all ancestors, including persons who have no descendants (muen botoke) to honor and remember them at the annual Etaikyo, or perpetual memorial service; this service is normally observed in November at the local temple. While non-Buddhist communities typically observe the late life rituals to honor their elders, they do not normally sponsor memorial rituals for their ancestors. —Ronald Y. Nakasone
Japanese Americans: Dynasty Warriors
Further Reading McLaren, Ronald. “Kawaiso: Justice and Reciprocity: Themes in Japanese and Western Ethics.” In Jackson H. Bailey, ed. Aesthetic and Ethical Values in Japanese Culture. Richmond, IN: Earlham College, 1990, 5–21. Nakasone, Ronald Y. “Late Life, Mortuary, and Memorial Rituals in the Japanese Community.” Journal of Religious Gerontology 15(4) (2003): 3–14.
Web Site Stanford Geriatric Education Center: http://sgec.stanford.edu/.
Dynasty Warriors Dynasty Warriors is an action-based video game originating in Japan. Released in 1997 by video developer Omega Force, under the video game publisher and distributor Koei Co. Ltd., it has become a popular example of Japan’s transnational influence upon video game-based entertainment. Omega Force developers based Dynasty Warriors’ action theme loosely on Luo Guanzhong’s 14thcentury Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. For Asian Americans in particular, Dynasty Warriors is an interactive audiovisual facet of contemporary culture that synchronizes modern technology with historical references to East Asian literature. Dynasty Warriors began as a popular hand-to-hand combat competition and eventually evolved into highly innovative gameware with elaborate storylines and sophisticated graphics. In its more advanced versions, players have the option of choosing characters that reference historical figures that fought during the tumultuous second and third centuries in China. As one of the most attractive features of these advanced versions, developers of Dynasty Warriors were able to depict many of these characters with some accuracy, as well as amplify their original characteristics through digital enhancement and cleverly crafted storylines. By the fifth version, there were a total of 48 usable characters, which has been reduced to 41 in version six. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia See also: Japanese Americans: Poke´mon.
Further Reading Allison, Anne. Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. Kelts, Ron. Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
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Family and Community The structures of Japanese American families and communities have been influenced by Japanese cultural norms. In Japan, the well-being of the community and family are valued over the individual, with emphasis placed on behaviors such as conflict-avoidance, group harmony, and filial piety. Japanese parents, particularly mothers, have played a central role in socializing their children to maintain moral fidelity between the uchi and soto (inside/home and outside). The Japanese phrase kodomo no tame ni (for the sake of the children) symbolizes how Japanese American families have traditionally made significant personal sacrifices to facilitate their children’s educational and social success. However, Japanese American families and communities have changed significantly over the past century. Factors such as the internment, postwar resettlement, and social integration into predominantly Euro-American communities have led to some major transformations within the family and community structures. From the 1880s to the 1940s, restrictive U.S. immigration and labor laws discouraged Asian migrants from establishing permanent residency. The first Japanese migrants were predominantly unmarried men who were recruited by American capitalists to work as semiskilled laborers. The understanding was that they would eventually return to Japan. However, demands for Japanese labor increased and created conditions for Japanese migrants to become permanent residents. Japanese picture brides arrived to help the men start families. While many Westerners attribute Japanese culture with extreme patriarchy, Japanese American women have made major contributions to their ethnic communities and families through their labor and leadership. Nevertheless, the early Japanese Americans underwent major hardships. Since they were denied the right to equal citizenship, Japanese immigrants relied on their children to help mediate the bridge between their ethnic community and mainstream society. For instance, Japanese immigrants often purchased property in the names of their American-born sons to circumvent discriminatory laws that tried to restrict them from equal access to property ownership. During World War II, incarcerated Japanese American families lost their constitutional rights and their personal property. Authors and scholars have written extensively on how the Japanese American family unit broke down in the camps. For instance, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s critically acclaimed memoir Farewell to Manzanar recalls the events leading to her family’s incarceration when she was only eight years old. In painstaking detail, Houston explains how her family broke apart in Manzanar as they struggled to cope with the trauma of losing their freedom and property. Thousands of other incarcerated Japanese American families endured similar experiences of grief and hopelessness.
Japanese Americans: Festivals and Holidays
After the war ended, many Japanese American families were directed to resettle in predominantly white communities to encourage assimilation and integration. However, regardless of their place of resettlement, Japanese Americans have made special efforts to maintain their ethnic communities. After the war, small waves of Japanese immigrants and transnational expatriates arrived to the United States and usually formed their own social circles outside of established Japanese American communities. Many of the new Japanese are affluent professionals who believe they have little in common with a predominantly English-speaking Japanese American population whose ancestors primarily come from working-class backgrounds. However, Japanese American communities are still maintained through ethnic-run businesses such as Japanese grocery stores, formal institutions such as Japanese-language schools, and organizations such as the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). In recent years, initiatives such as the Japanese American National Museum’s Discover Nikkei Project have promoted group unity by encouraging the descendants of Japanese migrants from around the world to share their family histories and stories to rebuild a larger community narrative. —Rachel Endo
Further Reading Fujita, Stephen, and David O’Brien. Japanese American Ethnicity: The Persistence of Community. Seattle: Washington University Press, 1994. Hoobler, Dorothy, and Thomas Hoobler. The Japanese American Family Album. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki, and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar. San Francisco: Bantam, 1972.
Web Site Discover Nikkei Web Site: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/.
Festivals and Holidays Japanese American holidays mainly consist of New Year’s (Shinto) and Bon (Buddhist) festivities. Buddhist religious holidays are most widely practiced, while Boy’s Day and Girl’s Day and other seasonal holidays continue to be popular in Japanese America. New Year’s traditionally is a time of purification rituals. Japanese Americans clean their homes and businesses to make food offerings to their ancestors and gods. They don their finest clothes and travel to make offerings at community shrines in temple centers. They also may purchase a talisman or sacred object to protect themselves, their home, or their business. During the Bon season,
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Japanese American women in traditional Japanese dress play the koto during the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. (Catherine Karnow/Corbis)
traditionally, festivals are held to honor ancestors. During these times of festivity, for example, a community of families may float beautiful tiny sailing ships made from flowers down a river, carrying poetic prayers, to revered ancestors. Individual families in the privacy of their homes, will redecorate the butsudan, or family household shrine, and make special offerings of food and flowers. The end of the Bon season traditionally has also been a time of great festivity and dancing. Another famous Japanese American holiday is the Cherry Blossom festival, especially the National Cherry Blossom Festival held in Washington, DC, in commemoration of the 3000 cherry trees that Tokyo gave to the capital city of the United States. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is an annual two-week celebration that features 200 international cultural performances and numerous special events, ranging from arts and exhibits to cuisines and sports. The beautiful cherry blossoms along Memorial Drive have become a national treasure, marking the arrival spring and the (local) tourist season. Many Japanese holidays and festivals mark periods of transition and change in accordance with the human life cycle. These special celebrations continue to be practiced among Japanese American communities, although they are not elaborately ritualized as in Japan. For example, as in Japan, Japanese Americans may travel great distances to attend a ceremony for the passing of a close relative or family friend. Traditionally, the first seven days after a death are a time of great
Japanese Americans: Floral Arrangements
abstinence. Meals that may be consumed by the grieving usually consist of modest vegetarian fare. On the seventh day, a common feast consisting of fish and wine is served in celebration of the end of abstinence. However, this traditional ritual practice has been slightly modified in the United States, where the end of abstinence ceremony usually is held on the same day as the funeral. Another example, yakudoshi, a celebration of good luck as a way to offset a “bad luck” year, according to the Japanese and Chinese horoscope, has become an occasion for a party for Japanese Americans who may continue to celebrate this holiday. In Japan, yakudoshi consists of a series of rituals. Also, in the United States, some holiday events such as New Year’s celebrations are not exclusive to the Japanese American community. Some Japanese Americans also celebrate Christian feast days and other secular holidays such as Christmas, which is a national holiday in the United States. —Kathleen Nadeau See also: Japanese Americans: Cherry Blossom Festival.
Further Reading Koda, Tara K. “Aloha with Gassho: Buddhism in the Hawaiian Plantations.” Pacific World, Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 3(5) (2003): 237–253. Thursby, Jacqueline S. Funeral Festivals in America: Rituals for the Living. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2006.
Floral Arrangements Ikebana literally translates to “living flowers.” The whole spiritual basis for floral arrangement within Japanese American culture suggests the unity of mind, body, and soul. Practitioners of this traditional art, which incorporates the use of natural stems of plants and flowers in a minimalist arrangement, often focus on developing their appreciation for nature. The goal is to capture the true essence of nature within the arrangement, and to utilize certain techniques that produce a realistic representation of flowers found blooming during each of the four seasons. Thus, there is a cycle of seasons that may be perpetuated through the spirituality of live flowers within Japanese American homes on a year-round basis. Japanese American flower arrangement practices are continuous and find their origins in ancient Japan. For centuries, the Japanese people have developed a long and deep affinity for plants and flowers. The Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan, 720 CE) is the oldest and official historical documentation of Japanese history, and has been quoted as a reliable source for all things Japanese. In this document, it states, “all plants can speak to us.” Thus, it was interpreted by some, if not
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all, of the early Japanese immigrants to the United States that trees and flowers in nature talk to us using the same spiritual “language” as human beings. The ancient Japanese had revered every element of nature as the “divine” and developed the notion of yorishiro (summoning divinities) through the talk between human beings, flowers, and plants. This spiritual belief continues to be passed down through the generations by Japanese Americans in the United States. In this regard, many Japanese Americans believe that by making votive offerings in home shrines and community-based religions centers, one can experience a sense of communion with nature. There are special ceremonies and festivals known as kami mukae (deity welcoming) during certain times in a given season. To guide these deities to the landmark shrine, tall plants are used as a sort of antennae to “catch” these floating divinities for prayer sessions. This is to ensure the presence of these divinities for certain ceremonies held at the shrines such as weddings. Generally speaking, plants such as evergreens are utilized as a fitting shelter for divinities whose appearances are honored at a given shrine and even at home through a simple floral arrangement called kuge. This type of arrangement consists of evergreen branches and a few stem of flowers. It represents the beginning stages of ikebana as part of a religious offering to the divinities in home shrines and shrines at local community Buddhist/Shinto centers. For Japanese Americans, the practice of flower arranging thus originated with a sacred act of welcoming the spirits of nature and one’s deceased ancestors’ to one’s home. Through ikebana, these cultural traditions retained some aspects of these religious practices from Japan. The sacredness of offering flowers to the divinities to communicate with them is the source from which the world of ikebana has developed over the last 500 years of Japanese history. This simple act of offering flowers to a home-based shrine continues to flourish in Japanese American communities today. As an example, the way of kado, or “plant arrangement,” is a common practice for the Japanese to erect pine boughs called kadomatsu at the entryway to their homes. The cultural understanding garnered in this offering is to welcome the shichifukujins, or the “Seven Gods,” especially on New Year’s Day. Flower arrangement practices were first imported to the United States by early Japanese immigrants who came after the start of modern political reformation during the Meiji Period (1868). The first known Japanese immigrants were from the town of Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima prefecture. A small group of 21 members started a silkworm colony in Coloma, California, in 1869, just after the Boshin Wars. Subsequent immigration patterns from Japan established a stronger basis for the proliferation of these floral arrangements as part of preserving Japanese-styled cultural traditions at local Buddhist churches and/or Japanese American community centers throughout the United States. Moreover, this type of floral arrangement has changed over time and developed into new schools of
Japanese Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
thought in response to the changing circumstances of Japanese Americans’ everyday lives. As established from tradition, the ideas generated from early Japanese history, the cultural essence of Japanese flower arrangements is the employment of minimalism. Most arrangements consist of only a few stalks and leaves, and a few full-blossomed flowers that provided a hint of seasonal reference. Generally, the structure of Japanese American flower arrangement is based on a scalene triangle and organized by three main points, and this is done with twigs and branches that symbolize the heaven, earth, and humankind. The organic elements combined in this triangular pattern must inspire a naturalism that is preserved through various techniques of cutting, trimming, and placement within a container. The use of various pottery containers is the key focus of composition for Japanese American floral arrangements, but what inspires the creator is the desire to experience a deeper connection with nature itself. In sum, the contemporary use of the art of floral arrangement has moved toward an appreciation of nature in a self-contained expression that must evoke a naturalness to be complete. As a result, the various schools that teach this form of floral arrangement believe that there can be some source of communion with nature itself. —Ruby Toshimi Ogawa See also: Japanese Americans: Arts and Crafts.
Further Reading Kawase, Toshiro. The Book of Ikebana (bilingual version). Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2000.
Folk Dance and Performance Folk dance and performance in Japanese America generally ranges between audience-directed performance and personal expression. Where the former includes artistic performances expressing traditional adaptations of culture and folklore, the latter is made up of personal performances, often in accordance with religious-based rituals. Although Japanese Americans have formed a relatively distinct identity from their Japanese forefathers, they nonetheless share a number of similar characteristics with regard to meaning, movement, and appearance. One popular audience-directed performance is traditional Japanese percussion known as taiko. Originating from China between 500 BCE and 300 CE, taiko is often performed by groups of drummers in a variety of religious, as well as secular, festivals. In the United States, taiko groups, such as the San Francisco
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Taiko Dojo and San Jose Taiko, are well-known practitioners of this art. In addition, a Los Angeles based group made up of several young Japanese Americans known as the TAIKOPROJECT, have crafted an innovative form of taiko that blends Japanese and American themes to create a unique transnational performance. Another well-known performance found among Japanese Americans is traditional Kabuki, performed in front of live audiences. This form of dancing originated during the Edo Period (1603–1868) in Japan. Kabuki dancing is entertainment that conveys both traditional and historical events through a display of elegant movement. It has been performed in front of American audiences in such major cities as Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle. In 2009, the Japan Foundation sponsored a lecture and performance event entitled Kabuki: Backstage to Hanamichi that traveled through several West Coast cities of the United States. Japanese Americans also perform personal dances in accordance with religious rituals. The Obon festival, a Buddhist celebration honoring ancestors, features various dances known as bon-odori. The bon-odori is a collective dance that involves clapping and graceful hand gestures performed to a variety of traditional Japanese music. Scores of Japanese Americans perform these dances every year during Obon. Several foundations serving the Japanese American community within the United States are frequent sponsors of organized festivals featuring performances and dances that reinforce and revitalize Japanese cultural traditions. Each year in the Los Angeles area of Little Tokyo, for example, the Nisei Week Foundation offers various activities including a Queen and Court contest, cultural exhibitions, and taiko drumming. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia and Ayumi Hidaka See also: Japanese Americans: Folk Music; Taiko Performance.
Further Reading Petersen, David. An Invitation to Kagura: Hidden Gem of the Traditional Japanese Performing Arts. Lulu.com, 2007.
Folk Music The folk music traditions of Japanese Americans are closely tied to most areas of American popular music in some respect. The Japanese American population of approximately 1.3 million is mostly confined to California, Hawaii, Washington, New York, and Illinois. The traditional folk music of Japan is not well represented
Japanese Americans: Folktales
in the United States as distinct genres. The most pervasive folk tradition is taiko. Historically, taiko has been used in Japan as a sacred drumming ritual to drive away evil spirits and crop pests. While the drum is the primary taiko instrument, it can be accompanied by other traditional instruments such as biwa, koto, shamisen, shakuhachi, and shinobue. Today, taiko is primarily performed at colleges, corporate events, festivals, and cultural centers as a surviving relic of Japan’s past. The most prolific taiko performer in the United States is the San Francisco Taiko Dojo. It combines historical, theatrical drumming displays, brilliant costumes, and martial arts. The music of Japanese Americans is not limited to a specific genre, instrument, or location. The most successful Japanese American pop singer is New York-born Utada Hikaru. The music of Utada incorporates dance, techno, pop, and electronic, which are characteristic of “J-Pop” or “Japanese-Pop.” The millions of albums sold in the United States and abroad since 1998 testify to the musical staying power of Utada’s work. As with most Japanese American musicians, Utada sings in Japanese and English. In addition to J-Pop, there is a growing assimilation of musical styles and genres among Japanese American enclaves. Beyond folk and pop music, there have been a number of performers in contemporary American popular music, including Rachael Yamagata (piano/blues), Jake Shimabukuro (ukulele), Pat Suzuki (Broadway tunes), and Anne Akiko Meyes (violinist). Importantly, there are other musicians in the hip-hop, rap, classical, new age, and jazz genres. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Japanese Americans: Folk Dance and Performance; Taiko Performance.
Further Reading Asai, Susan Miyo. “Transformations of Tradition: Three Generations of Japanese American Music Making.” The Musical Quarterly 79(3): 429–453.
Web Site Music Institute of America. Available from http://sftaiko.com/about_taiko.html (accessed January 3, 2010).
Folktales There are no distinct Japanese American folktales as there are in the African American and some other Asian communities. Since most Japanese Americans have gone through the U.S. school system, they will be more familiar with the
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Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, or Aesop’s fables. However, while most Japanese Americans may be unfamiliar with classic Japanese folktales, they may hear or see elements of them in various arts, literature, or celebrations being revived by Japanese American organizations. The classic Japanese tale of Songoku or the Monkey King has been given a modern twist through the Dragon Ball manga and anime series, widely popular not just among Japanese Americans but with mainstream North American youth. The Dragon Ball series bases its main character on the Monkey King tale, which traces its origin to the Indian Sanskrit classic Ramayana. In China, Ramayana became the “Journey to the West” before reaching Japan. Songoku, the Monkey King and the Jeweled The Tanabata celebration, literally Hare by the Moon, by Yoshitoshi, 1891. the “Seventh Evening,” is also seeing (Library of Congress) a revival in California. The event takes place on the seventh day of the seventh month to celebrate the once-a-year union of Orihime, the weaver princess, and Hikoboshi (sometimes referred to as Tentei), the cow herder, across the Milky Way. While most Japanese folktales have Shinto or Buddhist influences, the folktales most known among Japanese Americans and Westerners are the ghost stories introduced to the West in the 1800s by Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904), who took the name Koizumi Yakumo after becoming a Japanese citizen. During the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese immigrant Atsushi Iwamatsu began publishing children’s books in the United States under the pseudonym Taro Yashima. His book Seashore Story, published in 1967, won Newbery and Caldecott awards, and is based on the classic Japanese folktale “Urashima Taro,” about a fisherman who saves a sea turtle. The sea turtle is so grateful that he invites Urashima Taro to the Sea Palace at the bottom of the ocean, where the fisherman is treated like a king. But Urashima Taro eventually misses his family and asks to return home. Unbeknownst to the fisherman, so much time had passed that his family members are all gone and no one recognizes him. Glen Grant (1947–2003), a Hawaiian historian and folklorist, compiled Hawaiibased ghost stories through interviews and newspaper articles, and popularized the
Japanese Americans: Foods and Foodways
ghost stories through his Chicken Skin anthologies and a radio show by the same name. Many of the collected ghost stories are a mixture of Japanese and Native Hawaiian folktales and legends. Other characters from Japanese folktales familiar among Japanese Americans include Momotaro, the boy who was born from a peach and slays the ogre; Kaguya Hime, the princess born from bamboo, who repays her human foster parents with riches; and the kappa, a mischievous water sprite. —Martha Nakagawa
Further Reading Hideyo, Konagaya. “Taiko as Performance: Creating Japanese American Traditions.” Japanese Journal of American Studies 12 (2001): 106–124. Takaki, Ronald. “Ethnic Solidarity: The Settling of Japanese America.” In Strangers from Different Shore. New York: Back Bay Books, 1998.
Foods and Foodways Perhaps the most familiar image of Japanese cuisine is its distinctive use of raw seafood and seaweed. However, Japanese cuisine also makes extensive use of grains (especially rice), beans, vegetables, fruits, and chicken. While salads can be found on the Japanese dining table, Japanese tend to prefer their vegetables stir-fried rather than raw and cold. Buddhism—perhaps the single most influential religions heritage in Japan—traditionally frowns on eating meat, and so Japanese cuisine even today maintains a notable vegetarian component. Postwar Japanese have learned to appreciate wheaten products and have increasingly been eating meat due to Western influence. Indeed, the younger generation of Japanese these days probably appreciates hamburgers almost as much as do their American counterpart. Nonetheless, the Portuguese were the first to introduce the grilling of meats in Japanese cuisine during the 15th century, and the familiar meat dish known as sukiyaki (as well as some related dishes such as shabushabu) is probably of Portugese origin. Seasoning stock is often made from sea tangle (a type of thick seaweed) and dried small sardines. Soy sauce, miso (soybean paste), sake, sweet sake (mirin), starch syrup, and rice vinegar are also used for seasoning. Compared to other cuisines, only a limited amount of oil is utilized, and the kinds of spices and herbs used are also limited. Japanese food is generally high in salt and low in fat. A Japanese meal is served all at once, with each selection served in small dishes. The custom is to sample each dish in turn rather than finishing one dish and going to another. The first course is typically miso soup made of fermented
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soybean paste and a broth. More informal meals consist of rice, soup, condiments (e.g., pickles), and fish or meat. Japanese foods were introduced to the United States in the late 19th century when Japanese immigrants began settling in California for mining, agriculture, and domestic service. At that time, Japanese food was consumed primarily by Japanese communities in part due to the unfamiliarity (or limited availability) of its raw ingredients. It was not until the 1980s that Japanese foods began to be found throughout the United States. Today the freshness, healthiness, exotic taste, and interesting textures of Japanese cuisine have gained popularity among American diners who traditionally did not eat raw fish and had little appetite for tofu. The most typical Japanese foods that are served in the contemporary United States include sushi, sashimi (thinly sliced raw fish), teriyaki (thinly cut strips of chicken or fish served with its own special sauce), yakitori (baked chicken with sweet or salty sauces), tempura (sea food and vegetables dipped in a special batter and deep-fried), ramen (wheat noodles and always served hot), zaru soba (noodles made with buckwheat and served cold with a unique sauce), and oden (a soup with many ingredients including soy sauce, sugar, and sake). Japanese foods in the United States have gone through major changes in style and taste, so that new ingredients and seasoning have been incorporated into the traditional recipes. For example, Japanese American sushi contains many ingredients that are never used in original sushi, such as crawfish, avocado, spicy sauce, and cream cheese. Japanese American foods now also include different sorts of deep-fried meats. Some traditional Japanese ingredients (e.g., shiitake mushroom and tofu) are widely used for other cuisines. As such, Japanese American dishes have been well assimilated into the American diet. In turn, most Japanese people coming from Japan would probably find that Japanese American foods have hardly maintained any substantial degree of authenticity. In fact, Japanese American foods are often served at other Asian restaurants. Many Japanese and Americans probably realize that Japanese American foods are being prepared by chefs without any serious training or proper knowledge of traditional Japanese cuisine. Thus, Japanese American food is often modified or mixed together with Chinese and Korean styles of cooking. —Isao Takei See also: Foods and Foodways entries in the Chinese Americans and Korean Americans sections.
Further Reading Booth, Shirley. Food of Japan. New York: Interlink Books, 2002. Cwiertka, Katarzyna J. Modern Japanese Cuisine: Food, Power and National Identity. London: Reaktion Books, 2007.
Japanese Americans: Hawaii Sugar Plantation Hosking, Richard. A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients and Culture. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 1997. Omae, Kinjiro, and Yuzuru Tachibana. The Book of Sushi. New York: Kodansha International, 1995. Shimbo, Hiroko. The Japanese Kitchen: 250 Recipes in a Traditional Spirit. Boston: The Harvard Common Press, 2000.
Hawaii Sugar Plantation Today, there is a common conception of Hawaii as an interethnic, interracial Asian American paradise. Contemporary life, culture, and practices in the state reflect generations of settlement by various Asian American communities: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and more recently, post-1975 and the Fall of Saigon, Southeast Asians. Asian American communities have settled in Hawaii and intermixed with native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. One way to uncover the folk mystique of Hawaii is to examine the history of its sugar plantations that lured many Asian immigrants to its fragrant shores beginning in the 1840s. The beauty, friendliness, and charm of Hawaii as an interethnic paradise belies its history, which is marked by the economic, social, and political racialization of Asians in its early history. The sugar industry dominated Hawaiian life from the 1850s to the 1950s. The American Civil War raised Northern demand for Hawaiian sugar, when the Union could no longer obtain the commodity from the Southern states. In 1876, tariffs were dropped, making Hawaiian sugar price-competitive in the United States. The need for cheap labor convinced planters to recruit contract workers from China, the Pacific Islands, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, as well as Puerto Rico, Europe, and California. The unique racial/ethnic mix in contemporary Hawaii is due to this background. The largest group of workers came from Japan. Unlike other Asian groups, the Japanese included significant numbers and percentages of women workers. Despite the harsh conditions, immigrant workers established ethnic communities quite different from those of native Hawaiians. They are important resources for the histories of women, workers, industrial agriculture, immigration, families, and community-building, among others. These items date back to the early 1900s and are rich in detail. Between 1900 and World War II, Japanese Americans constituted nearly 40 percent of the population and were highly significant in creating the complex ethnic, racial, and class structures in the Islands. Their stories are critical to understanding Hawaii’s history as well as that of Asian and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Until the 1970s, Japanese Americans were the largest single ethnic group among Asian Americans, and their history in Hawaii was longer, more sustained,
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and more significant than anywhere else in the United States. Japanese American labor organizations led to Hawaii’s largest sugar strikes in 1909 and 1920, and their presence provoked a unique variant of a segregated public school system in the 1920s–1960s. The legacy of racial politics from that period catapulted a generation of World War II veterans, including Senator Daniel Inouye, into the local and national political arenas. —Noriko Sanefuji and Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Okihiro, Gary Y. Pineapple Culture: A History of the Tropical and Temperate Zones. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009. Okihiro, Gary Y. Island World: A History of Hawaii and the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Heroes and Heroines Japanese American heroes and heroines are largely made up of individuals that have had successful careers as public figures within art, literature, politics, sports, and entertainment. Talented artists such as the famous landscape architect and sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) and architect of the New York City World Trade Center Towers Minoru Yamasaki (1912–1986) are among the thousands of Japanese Americans who have become heroes and heroines to the Asian American community. During World War II, some 120,000 Nisei were subjected to internment under United States Executive Order 9066. Several, including such celebrated authors as Hisaye Yamamoto (1921–), John Okada (1923–1971) and Toshio Mori (1910–1980), would go on to write short stories and literary critiques of their experiences in the camps. Despite the injustices of interment, an estimated 33,000 Japanese Americans served the United States in World War II. A famous military infantry known as the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army was an Asian American outfit made up almost entirely of Japanese American soldiers. At least two of these heroic soldiers would go on to serve in public office: former United States Senator Spark Masayuki Matsunaga (1916–1990) and United States Senator and Medal of Honor recipient Daniel Ken Inouye (1924–). An ever-increasing number of Japanese American professional athletes have competed with some of the best athletes from around the world. Perhaps one of the most heroic feats by any Japanese American athlete occurred when Wataru
Japanese Americans: Identity
Misaka (1924–) became the first Asian American to break the major league basketball color barrier. Today, athletes include figure-skating star Rena Inoue (1976–), eight-time speed-skating Olympic medalist Apolo Anton Ohno (1982–), and professional skateboarder Christian Hosoi (1967–). Japanese Americans have also established a significant presence within the media and entertainment industries. Some of these heroes and heroines include Sesame Street actor Alan Muraoka (1967–); successful singer and songwriter Hikaru Utada (1983–); enka singer celebrity Jero (1981–); anchorwoman of NBC’s Today Show Ann Curry (1956–); New York Times literary critic and American Pulitzer Prize winner Michiko Kakutani (1955–); and former KNBCTV anchor Tricia Toyota (1947–). —Salvador Jimenez Murguia and Ayumi Hidaka See also: Japanese Americans: Inouye, Daniel K. (1924–); Mori, Toshio (1910–1980); Noguchi, Isamu (1904–1988); Okada, John (1923–1971); Yamamoto, Hisaye (1921–).
Further Reading Buruma, Ian. The Japanese Mirror: Heroes and Villains in Japanese Culture. New York: Penguin Books, 1985. Goldstein, Margaret J. Japanese in America. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 2006.
Identity A Japanese American may be defined as an individual of Japanese ancestry residing in the United States who also identifies as a member of the ethnic community. The label “Japanese American” is rooted in specific sociohistorical contexts related to the experiences of Meiji-era Japanese immigrants and their descendants. While some Japanese Americans simply identify themselves as Japanese, activists have insisted on using “Japanese American” when referring to the group to highlight the community’s American roots. The term “Nikkei” refers to any individual of Japanese descent residing outside of Japan and includes Japanese Americans. Examples of designated names for subgroups include hapa for biracial persons and Shin Nikkei for the descendants of postwar Japanese immigrants. Japanese Americans do not necessarily share the same awareness or interpretations of their cultural and ethnic identities. As Japanese Americans acculturate, they selectively embrace, modify, and reject aspects of both Japanese and Japanese American culture according to their individual preferences and social circumstances. Japanese American identity has largely been defined within simplistic theories of assimilation or cultural difference. Many sociologists have argued that Japanese
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Americans are one of the most assimilable ethnic groups in the United States because of perceived or real similarities between Japanese culture and EuroAmerican values. The model-minority stereotype, or the idea that Asian Americans are hardworking minorities who succeed in society, has largely been fueled by assimilationist theories that Japanese Americans will give up their cultural identity to gain acceptance from the dominant culture. Conversely, theories of cultural difference posit that Japanese Americans have distinctively foreign cultural values rooted in Japanese traditions. However, prominent scholars in Asian American Studies such as the late Ronald Takaki have pointed out that inaccurate racial stereotypes are fueled by misconceptions that Asian American people are more culturally Asian than American. In reality, both theories of assimilation and cultural difference are not sufficient for explaining the spectrum of Japanese American experiences and identities. The Japanese American Citizen’s League (JACL) and the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) are two prominent national organizations that seek to preserve a collective Japanese American identity. The JACL, which was founded in 1929, is the oldest Asian American civil rights organization and is structured under three tiers of leadership: national office, seven regional districts, and 123 locally run chapters. However, the JACL has alienated some of its members due to its cooperation with the U.S. government during the World War II internment, current focus on the internment as the central community narrative, and marginalization of groups such as Japanese immigrants and multiracial Japanese Americans. Nevertheless, many Japanese Americans belong to the JACL to affirm and celebrate their ethnic identities. Some premature conclusions have been made that Japanese American identity is becoming extinct through intermarriage and structural assimilation. Japanese Americans do have the highest rate of intermarriage among all Asian American groups, with over three-fourths of the population marrying non-Japanese persons, although several activists have argued that Nikkei identity is fluid and not solely based on ethnic purity. Another speculation, since they have been in the United States for over seven generations, is that Japanese Americans have weak attachments to their ethnic identities and presumably only identify as unhyphenated Americans. However, many Japanese Americans participate in efforts to maintain their ethnic identities. For instance, Japanese Americans across the nation participate in the Day of Remembrance on February 19 of each year to memorialize when President Franklin D. Roosevelt legalized the internment. In recent year, Japanese Americans have also embraced a panethnic identity with other Asian Americans who come together to share their common cultures, experiences, and struggles. Web sites such as Angry Asian Man, Asian Nation, and Gold Sea Supersite have redefined Asian American culture through cartoons, humor, and personal writings. —Rachel Endo
Japanese Americans: Inouye, Daniel K. (1924–)
Further Reading Asakawa, Gill. Being Japanese American: A JA Sourcebook for Nikkei, Hapa . . . and Their Friends. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2004. Kitano, Harry H. L. Generation and Identity: The Japanese American. Needham Heights, MA: Ginn Press, 1993.
Inouye, Daniel K. (1924–) Nisei Daniel Ken Inouye is one of America’s most decorated World War II veterans and longest-serving United States senators. Over the course of his career, he has broken many glass ceilings in the military and American politics. Inouye, son of Japanese immigrants Kame Imanaga and Hyotaro Inouye, was born on September 7, 1924, in Honolulu. He grew up within the predominantly Japanese American community of Mo’ili’Ili in Honolulu. His family, like other Asian Pacific Americans in Hawaii, struggled to survive after the unjust sugar plantation system ended. This system separated and pitted different Asian immigrant labor groups against each other to increase wage exploitation. Despite this, Inouye thrived by taking part-time jobs, such as parking cars and giving surf lessons. Inyoue’s life changed on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed the Pearl Harbor Navy base located on the island of O’ahu. This surprise attack killed thousands and plunged the United States into World War II. The lives of Japanese Americans were irreparably changed by this event. Curtis B. Munson, charged by the government with investigating the sympathies of Japanese Americans, found that they were loyal to the United States. Despite the 1941 Munson Report, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted Executive Order 9066, which interned around 110,000 Japanese Americans, declaring them “4-C” or “enemy aliens.” This undeserved status was lifted in 1943, enabling Inouye to join the army. He was assigned to the famous “Go for Broke” 442 Regimental Combat Team, which became the most decorated U.S. army unit. In the 1945 Colle Musatello battle in Italy, Inouye, by then promoted to platoon leader, was shot in the abdomen and arm. Injured, he kept fighting until his troops were safe. He saved his platoon but in the process lost his right arm. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and three Purple Hearts. Many in his regiment believed that had he not been Japanese American, he would have been awarded the military’s highest honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor. Inouye was honorably discharged in 1947 with the rank of captain. He was later shipped back to a New Jersey army rehabilitation center where he learned how to live with one arm. There he met future presidential candidate and fellow U.S. Senator Bob Dole, who urged him into a life of public service. Due to the loss of his arm, Inouye did not pursue medicine as he had intended but
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instead majored in political science. In 1950, he graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and married Margaret Awamura. They moved to Washington, DC, where in 1953 Inouye earned a J.D. from George Washington Law School. On August 21, 1959, Inouye was elected Hawaii’s first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, and in 1962 he began to serve the first of seven consecutive terms in the United States Senate. He is now the third most senior representative in the U.S. Senate. He delivered the keynote address at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, and in the 1970s gained national prominence for his service on the U.S. Senate Watergate Committee. In 2000, his Service Cross was upgraded to the Congressional Medal of Honor. —Jenny Banh
Further Reading Dole, Bob. One Soldier’s Story: A Memoir. New York: Harper Collins, 2005. Goodsell, Jane. Daniel Inouye. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1977. Inouye, Daniel K., with Lawrence Elliott. Journey to Washington. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1967. Perry, Paul, and Heather Haunani Giugni, directors. Daniel K. Inouye: An American Story. 2003. DVD. Smith, Larry. Beyond: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003.
Web Sites “Daniel K. Inouye.” Medal of Honor: The Bravest of the Brave. Available online at http:// w.w.w.medalofhonor.com/DanielInouye.html. Official Website for Senator Daniel K. Inouye: http://www.senate.gov/~inouye/.
Internment Camps After the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the Pearl Harbor naval base on the thenU.S. territory of Hawaii on December 7, 1941, over 100,000 Japanese Americans, in addition to thousands of Japanese Canadians, Japanese Peruvians, and other Japanese of the diaspora during the World War II era, were rounded up and placed into government-funded prison camps. The illogic of racial sameness, coupled with decades of anti-Japanese sentiment, led many Euro-American lawmakers to label Japanese Americans as dangerous and disloyal enemies of the United States. Conversely, while some German and Italian immigrants were detained during World War II, their entire communities were not subjected to wholesale incarceration, which is attributed to their racial advantage: they could more seamlessly blend into the dominant culture. Over two-thirds of Japanese American internees were
Japanese Americans: Internment Camps
Japanese citizens wait in line for their assigned homes at Manzanar, a War Relocation Authority internment camp in California, March 24, 1942. Manzanar was one of the internment camps to which persons of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast were sent after the attack on Pearl Harbor. (AP Photo)
American-born citizens, and even groups such as the elderly and young children were not exempt from the incarceration. The presence of armed military personnel and barbed-wire fences, coupled with the U.S. government officially calling the centers concentration camps, highlights the reality that commonly used words such as “evacuation” or “relocation camps” marginalizes the conditions the Japanese Americans confronted during World War II. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 to authorize the Secretary of War and Military Commanders to designate military-restricted zones to prevent supposed national-security breaches by dangerous individuals. While the order did not identify Japanese Americans by name, those residing in California, Oregon, and Washington became the prime targets due to the erroneous belief that the West Coast Japanese posed an espionage threat due to the region’s imaginary geospatial proximity to Japan. Interestingly, Japanese Americans in Hawaii were mostly exempt from the incarceration because the then-U.S. territory needed their labor to sustain its extensive agricultural economy. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) established 10 permanent camps
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sites: Jerome and Rohwer in Arkansas; Poston and Gila River in Arizona; Manzanar and Tule Lake in California; Granada in Colorado; Minidoka in Idaho; Topaz in Utah; and Heart Mountain in Wyoming. The camps were hastily built to house thousands of Japanese American families. Depending on the region, extreme weather including blizzards, dust storms, extreme heat waves, and heavy winds created miserable living conditions. Privacy was minimal or nonexistent. For instance, many camp restrooms were not built with partitions, and strangers were often packed together in the same barrack. Japanese Americans were also placed under strict surveillance and were subject to Jim Crow-style restrictions such as designated curfews and strict limits to the size of group gatherings. In spite of their circumstances, Japanese Americans attempted to maintain a sense of normality in the camps. Children attended school during the weekdays and made friends with the other Japanese Americans in the camps. Families participated in cultural activities such as dance, gardening, and hosting such traditional Japanese holidays as New Year’s Day. However, several families struggled with their circumstances. For instance, mealtime, once a central affair in the typical Japanese American family, became a rarity for many families in the camps. Young children became more interested in playing with friends than spending time with their families. Consequently, many adults, especially Japanese immigrants, became chronically depressed as their parental authority became diminished. Young Japanese Americans struggled with their bicultural identities in light of the negative treatment that their families confronted in the camps, and many would subsequently grow up feeling inferior to white Americans in the years following their release. Group harmony was not always maintained in the camps. Riots broke out when the community became divided over issues such as fighting for their civil rights versus providing their unconditional loyalty to the country that violated their basic rights. In February 1943, the U.S. War Department asked all Japanese American men to fill out a “loyalty” questionnaire. Question 27 of the survey asked them to indicate their willingness to serve in the U.S. armed forces, and Question 28 asked them to swear “unqualified allegiance” to the United States. Many argued that Japanese Americans should refuse to answer yes-yes because they were prisoners in their own country; many saw hypocrisy in joining their fellow Americans oversees to fight for democracy in light of the unconstitutionality of their own situations. Others posited that Japanese Americans should answer yes-yes to prove their loyalty and patriotism to the United States. Rioters who were labeled as troublemakers were eventually sent to Tule Lake camp, an infamous maximumsecurity detention center. Some Japanese Americans were repatriated back to Japan after facing pressure to renounce their citizenship. Japanese American survivors of the camps lost millions of dollars in assets, were stripped of their constitutional rights, and many were emotionally
Japanese Americans: Internment Camps
traumatized from being abruptly uprooted from their homes. After World War II ended and Japanese American families reintegrated into mainstream society, many camp survivors elected to downplay or silence their memories to the younger generations because they hoped that forgetting the past could expedite their recovery. Consequently, many postwar Japanese Americans were raised to displace their Japanese culture and rapidly assimilate into Euro-American society for the primary reason that their parents were trying to prove that their children were indeed all-American citizens. However, during the Asian American and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, many camp survivors and their descendants began forging solidarities with plans to educate the public about the injustices that Japanese Americans endured during World War II. After years of planning, what is known as the redress movement led to the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 that was initially signed by President Ronald W. Reagan on August 10, 1988. The act subsequently materialized into $20,000 reparations for each camp survivor, and a formal apology letter from the federal government signed by President George H. W. Bush in October 1990. Since the redress movement, Japanese Americans have been actively involved in domestic and international efforts to combat social injustices such as homophobia and racism. Japanese Americans have been vocal in reminding Americans that their incarceration serves as a critical reminder of the need for the United States to uphold its promise of constitutional rights, due process, and equal citizenship for all Americans. Prominent Japanese American community leaders have supported social justice initiatives such as equal rights for gays and lesbians and monetary reparations for historically exploited groups including African Americans and Native Americans. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, groups such as the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) have advocated to protect the rights of Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and South Asian Americans who became the targets of racially motivated hate crimes because of the similar illogic of racial sameness that led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans in the 1940s. Many Japanese Americans lived by the Japanese phrase Shikata ga nai or “it can’t be helped” to survive through the World War II years and other times of hardship. However, Japanese Americans have also revived the internment experience as a narrative to reclaim their heritage and lost stories through art and poetry. Artists such as Mine Okubo and Roger Shimomura have depicted camp life through their artwork by combining Japanese-influenced forms such as woodblock print with political satire. In this respect, the internment has become a major narrative within the Japanese American community. Postwar oral history projects have documented the narratives of hardship, hope, and survival that Japanese Americans collectively and individually endured. —Rachel Endo
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Japanese Americans: Japanese American Artists See also: Japanese Americans: Draft Resisters during World War II; Pearl Harbor; Pilgrimage to Japanese American Detention (Internment) Sites.
Further Reading Lawson, Fusao Inada. Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience. San Francisco: Heydey, 2000. Weglyn, Michi. Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America’s Concentration Camps. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1976.
Web Site Japanese American Citizens League Web Site: http://www.jacl.org.
Japanese American Artists Japanese American artists have excelled at traditional Japanese arts, Western fine arts, and modern art. Their works can be characterized by an unorthodox, often postmodern, use of techniques, symbols, and media. They utilize symbols from Japanese American religion, history, childhood memories, stereotypes, and fantasy. The most visible Japanese American artists are models, actors, and directors. These artists excel at manipulating stereotypical images. For example, Cary Tagawa, a film actor, often portrayed yellow peril villains, but with the intensity to be taken as a serious threat instead of a comical straw man. Bacon, Derek, and Terry Collins. CultureShock! —a pornography actor, writer, and entrepreneur—played with hypersexual femininity to create her own fantasy scenes and Web site. Other writers of plays, literature, and poetry examine the underside of Japanese American life. Playwright Philip Kan Gotanda in After the War described the intra- and interracial tensions of Japanese Americans in postwar San Francisco, and illustrated how dignity is difficult to maintain without a general sense of propriety and security. After the War also highlighted Japanese American jazz, which was in place before internment. Jazz, taiko (drumming), and hip-hop have expressed the psychic impact of internment on the community. Miya Masaoka (jazz koto) painted the barren landscape of an internment camp in “Topaz Reflections.” Anthony Brown (jazz drums) and San Jose Taiko teamed up in Big Bands Behind Barbed Wire to express the energy of the memory of internment, while Mike Kenji Shinoda (hip-hop) put himself in the place of those interned in “Kenji.” Artist and musician Mike Shinoda—aka Fort Minor—painted the cover of the Fort Minor album The Rising Tied, as well as creating a shoe line. Shinoda and
Japanese Americans: Japanese American National Museum
other painters in oils, watercolors, comics (manga), and graffiti contrast the circular and angular, expressing the duality of being silent and disturbed. Well before internment, Henry Kitayama (manga) drew about the open racism in the United States, and during internment Mine Okubo (manga) illustrated the lack of space and privacy of internment. Similarly, after internment, Chizuko Judy Sugita de Queiroz (watercolors) painted her internment memories, contrasting life with industrial imprisonment. Gardeners and landscape architects have beautified the homes and churches of Japanese Americans with a mixture of plants symbolic of religious themes, the unity of all life, serenity, community, a connection to an idealized Japan, and success in agriculture. They have been employed often by non-Japanese who desired an “oriental” garden in their homes, hotels, and city parks. Thus, gardeners have excelled at stereotypical Japanese images as well as authentic representations of Japanese American history. Sculptors, including rock gardeners, illustrate traces of the past. There are sculptors in metal, plaster, wood (including furniture), paper (origami and giftwrapping), and flowers (ikebana). For example, Ruth Asawa combined wood, paper, and metal sculpture in her fountains in San Francisco’s Japantown; these fountains combine the shapes and tactileness of origami with the flowing lines of wooden baskets. Thus, the fountains bring together the experiences of learning to fold origami with Asawa’s childhood memories of the flowing impressions of her feet dragging behind the back of a pickup truck. —Brett Esaki
Further Reading Creef, Elena Tajima. Imaging Japanese America: The Visual Construction of Citizenship, Nation, and the Body. New York: New York University Press, 2004. Hirasuna, Delphine. The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942–1946. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2005.
Web Site Japanese American National Museum online collections: http://www.janm.org.
Japanese American National Museum The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) is headquartered in the Little Tokyo Historic District east of downtown Los Angeles in the heart of one of the nation’s oldest Japanese American communities. It is a member of the Smithsonian Institution Affiliation Programs and one of the world’s most prominent museums
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that specifically pays tribute to Japanese American contributions and experiences. Its mission is to “promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience.” The JANM became a nonprofit organization in 1985 and officially opened its doors in May 1992, nearly 50 years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the incarceration of Japanese Americans and only days after the Los Angeles Riots dissipated. The museum was first located in the historic Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo. Major renovations eventually led to the opening of facilities exceeding 100,000 square feet in 1999. The JANM houses over 60,000 collections including artworks, documents, films, photographs, and other artifacts. The museum regularly sponsors exhibitions and programs related to Japanese American culture, experiences, and histories but also supports events that highlight the Japanese American community’s interracial connections. As a nonprofit organization, the JANM’s structure includes a board of directors, curators, general members, and volunteers. The museum’s board of directors include prominent Japanese American businesspeople, politicians, and professionals from across the United States as well as leaders from other ethnonational groups that support JANM’s mission. Establishing the JANM took several years of careful planning. Initial discussion began when prominent entrepreneurs in Little Tokyo and World War II veterans discussed plans to institutionalize the Japanese American legacy. Bruce T. Kaji, a prominent Japanese American banker, along with esteemed war veterans Col. Young Oak Kim and Yoshio “Buddy” Mamiya, are the three founders of the JANM. Initial funds to build the museum came from the City of Los Angeles and the State of California, as well as corporate and personal donations. During the 1980s and 1990s, the museum was partially funded by wealthy Japanese corporations. At the start of strong anti-Japanese sentiment during the rise of the Japanese automobile and electronic industries, the Japanese government was seeking to rehabilitate negative images of Japan and saw the JANM as a crucial educational space to attain this goal. The transnational ties between the JANM and Japanese businesses also allowed the Japanese American community to serve as a symbolic cultural broker between Japan and the United States. Clearly central to the decision-making process were collaboration and interracial coalitions; that is, multiple stakeholders were invested in sustaining the JANM as a major crosscultural and educational institution. The JANM was initially a volunteer-based community organization that was run mostly by second-generation and third-generation Japanese American activists. However, to gain legitimacy as an educational public institution, the founding leaders agreed that the organization needed an annual budget, operational procedures, and a trained staff. To help establish the museum’s credibility, key leaders pushed to hire academicians who specialized in areas such as Asian American studies and historical research to assist with program-building.
Japanese Americans: Japanese American National Museum
The JANM initially focused its programming on narratives of assimilation and patriotism, particularly highlighting the contributions of Japanese American war veterans. The museum now hosts a variety of public awareness events including educational tours, exhibits, film screenings, national conferences, and workshops. Preserving the legacy of Japanese American history, especially the Japanese American experience during World War II, is central to the organization’s strategic plan. The stories are mostly told from Japanese American perspectives, which is a significant milestone given the reality that the community’s history has frequently been distorted or misrepresented by outsiders. Further, since many Japanese American families had their property destroyed, sold, or stolen, restoring cultural artifacts and personal documents has been a significant means for the JANM to help the community revive its collective memory of their turbulent past. While the JANM’s programming still centers on promoting an awareness of Japanese American history, the museum has recently focused on building multiracial coalitions and situating the Japanese American experience within comparative and transnational perspectives. For instance, Looking Like the Enemy, a 52-minute documentary that won critical acclaim, highlights the racism that Japanese Americans and other servicemen of color confronted during their service during World War II and the Vietnam War. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the JANM board collaborated with Arab American, Muslim American, and South Asian American communities to host public events on the problems of maintaining homeland security and civil liberties concurrently in times of wartime hysteria. The JANM has become a major source of preserving Japanese American narrative and visual culture. Lost stories have been revived through artwork, exhibitions, and oral history projects. The museum has also sponsored cultural awareness events showcasing the Japanese aspects of Japanese American culture. For instance, the JANM has sponsored events including obon (dance) festivals and taiko (drum) demonstrations. Common Japanese cultural motifs are displayed or sold at events including Japanese teapots, kokeshi dolls, and the Maneki Neko (lucky cat). —Rachel Endo
Further Reading Kikumura-Yano, Akemi, Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, and James A. Hirabayashi. Common Ground: The Japanese American National Museum and the Culture of Collaboration. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2005. Takashi, Fujitani. “National Narratives and Minority Politics: The Japanese American National Museum’s War Stories.” Museum Anthropology 21 (1997): 99–112.
Web Site Japanese American National Museum Web Site: http://www.janm.org.
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Japantown Japantown (also known as Nihonmachi) refers to ethnic neighborhoods or communities with substantial numbers of Japanese-origin persons or Japanese-related businesses located outside of Japan. In the United States, Japantowns were most prominent during the first few decades of the 20th century in California. Today, Japantowns in the United States have been largely transformed from Japanese American residential neighborhoods to commercial and sightseeing areas. Japantowns were formed when Japanese immigrants began settling on the West Coast of the United States, especially in California, during the first decade of the 20th century. Japanese initially immigrated to the United States to become lowwage laborers in mining, agriculture, and domestic service particularly after Chinese immigration was legally restricted in 1882. San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, and Los Angeles served as the main ports of entry for Japanese immigrants arriving California. Japanese neighborhoods in those metropolitan areas were established near existing urban Chinatowns. These neighborhoods began to evolve into Japantowns as the number of new arrivals increased. More limited communities of Japanese also simultaneously arose in smaller towns nearer the agricultural areas in which many Japanese worked. At one time, there were more than 40 different identifiable Japantowns in California. These Japantowns had long served as the residential, business, and cultural centers of Japanese Americans. In addition to business centers, such communities included Japanese-language schools for immigrant children, Buddhist temples, churches, Japanese hospitals, and assembly halls. The construction of such ethnically dense communities in part reflects the realities of racial discrimination against Japanese and other minorities in 20th-century America. The populations of Japantowns waned after the 1924 Oriental Exclusion Act, which barred further immigration from Asia (except for some diplomats and businessmen). After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government took Japanese Americans on the West Coast into custody and imprisoned them in internment camps. Most of the Japantowns thereby declined drastically or disappeared altogether, while local Japanese businesses closed or were taken over by others. Japantowns were to some extent reconstructed after World War II by some devoted Japanese American leaders who advocated for the necessity for Japanese ethnic centers. While some Japanese American residents came back to Japantowns, the role of Japantowns as a haven for ethnic solidarity and economic activity had been systematically changed. First, the majority of Japanese Americans no longer preferred to live in ethnic enclaves, and many moved into middle-class white neighborhoods. Second, the large cohort of native-born (Nisei) Japanese
Japanese Americans: Lemon Notebook (Remoncho)
American population aged into adulthood with a high level of educational attainment and often found professional and other white-collar employment outside of the traditional ethnic enclave. Third, American society generally became more accepting of Japanese Americans as racial discrimination against them declined. Therefore, rather than being ethnic neighborhoods for Japanese Americans, today’s Japantowns are better characterized as business and tourist-oriented areas, with many Japanese-owned hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, shopping malls, hotels, banks, and stores serving visitors and tourists from Japan. In addition to the reconstruction of Japantowns, the diminishing economy in Japan since the 1990s has resulted in additional hardships for some local Japanese Americans whose businesses in Japantowns have relied on U.S. branches of Japanese corporations. Due to the reduced economic stimulus from Japan, many small businesses previously owned by Japanese Americans came to be owned by Korean and Chinese Americans, and are now serving a growing number of nonJapanese Asian American populations. Today, there are only three recognized Japantowns left in California—San Francisco, San Jose (where they are both known as a “Japantown”), and in Los Angeles (where it is referred to as “Little Tokyo”). Although these Japantowns still celebrate major festivals and hold various cultural exhibitions and community events they have been substantially transformed by commercialization, reconstruction, and declining Japanese American populations. —Isao Takei
Further Reading Avakian, Monique. Atlas of Asian-American History. New York: Checkmark Books, 2002. Jenks, Hillary. “The Politics of Preservation: Power, Memory, and Identity in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo.” In Richard Longstreth, ed. Cultural Landscapes: Balancing Nature and Heritage in Preservation Practice. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008. Min, Pyong Gap, ed. Asian Americans: Contemporary Trends and Issues, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2006. Niiya, Brian, ed. Encyclopedia of Japanese American History, Updated Edition: An A-to-Z Reference from 1868 to the Present. New York: Facts on File, Inc, 2001.
Lemon Notebook (Remoncho) Among the many cultural practices brought by the Issei (first-generation Japanese immigrants) to the United States was that of literary study and composition by nonprofessionals, “amateurs” in the original and best sense of the term.
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While serious belletristic activity was probably not prevalent among the very earliest immigrants, at least by the second decade of the 20th century there is evidence of the formation of coteries for the study, composition, and publication of various forms of literature in Japanese—a practice that continues today among postwar immigrants. Through such gatherings and publications, the Issei shared with each other the joys and hardships of their everyday lives and continued a rich Japanese tradition of poetic composition by nonprofessionals, in the process negotiating their identities as Japanese Americans and planting the seeds for the creation of a distinct Japanese American literature. One such publication is the Lemon Notebook (Remoncho), a journal edited and published in Upland, California, by an agricultural worker named Jikihara Toshihei (all Japanese names are given in their traditional order, last name first). Publication began in late 1914 or early 1915 and continued until the early 1920s. Thirteen issues from 1916 through 1919 may be found in the Japanese American Research Project collection housed at UCLA. Lemon Notebook (Remoncho) was the coterie magazine of the Lemon Poetry Society (Remon Shisha), a small group of laborers and housewives who met informally to read and critique each other’s poetry and whose modest membership fees supported the publication of the journal. Their main focus was the free-form haiku (jiyuritsu haiku) then gaining popularity in Japan, but essays, fiction, and other kinds of poetry also were featured regularly. The extant issues of this journal provide an unprecedented glimpse into both the daily and literary lives of the first generation of Japanese Americans, particularly those living in Southern California. And in that literary life may be found one of the beginnings of Japanese American literature. As recorded in the pages of Remoncho, this was a literature that declared itself to be part of the Japanese literary mainstream, yet became separate, sometimes in subtle ways. It was also a literature in which were inscribed many aspects of the lives of the Issei, from the mundane details of daily living, to heartfelt cries against hardship and prejudice, to the turmoil of cultural conflicts. The pages of Remoncho became a space within and through which the Issei contributors negotiated their separation from their homeland and struggled to build their new, Japanese American lives, in the process creating also a new Japanese American literary culture. The following are three free-form haiku (not in 5-7-5 format) from an early 1919 issue: Foku kakagete miwataseru heiranchi no ki ni moe moyuru (Shimoyama Eitaro) Hoisting my pitchfork, I look across the hay ranch—the yellow burns and burns. Koto utta zeni daiji ni shimai ban no okazu o kangae (Kubo Tsunako)
Japanese Americans: Literature and Folklore
Carefully I put away the money and plan tonight’s dinner—the money from selling my koto (lute/zither). Waga hansei no chi no hibiki natsukashi amaoto (Saijo Mokucho) Memories—the sound of rain—echoes of the land where half my life was spent. (Composed when returning to Japan after the death of his wife.) —Eri F. Yasuhara
Further Reading Yasuhara, Eri F. “Voices from the Margins: A Preliminary Report on Two Issei Literary Journals, 1916–1919.” Ritsumeikan Studies in Language and Culture (Ritsumeikan gengo bunka kenkyu) 4:6 (March 1993). Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan. Yasuhara, Eri F. “Remonchoo: Early Japanese American Literature in Southern California.” Ritsumeikan Studies in Language and Culture (Ritsumeikan gengo bunka kenkyu). 8:5–6 (March 1997). Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.
Literature and Folklore Japanese American Literature and folklore have intertwined in creative, if sometimes uncertain, fashion since their origins at the dawn of the 20th century. A number of early Issei creative artists made use of Japanese popular traditions and folk material in their English-language writings. Ken Nakazawa reworked folklore for his fantasy narrative The Weaver of the Frost (1927). Henry Yoshitaki Kiyama’s multilingual graphic novel The Four Immigrants Manga (1931) adapted Japanese comic art and social commentary. Even actor Sessue Hayakawa’s 1926 potboiler The Bandit Prince drew from the monogatori tradition in its mix of historical events and romance. Postwar Japanese American writing, in comparison to Chinese American literature (most notably Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior), has seldom drawn directly from the canon of ancestral legends. True, certain folktales are frequently referenced in vernacular literature. For example, the story of Momotaro the Peach Boy is the subject of a play and children’s book by Taro Yashima, and figures as an exemplary story in Canadian writer Joy Kogawa’s Obasan (1981). Similarly, Wakako Yamauchi interpolates folk song lyrics into stories such as “And the Soul Shall Dance” (1966), as does Tooru Kanazawa’s novel Sushi and Sourdough (1989). More often, the influence is indirect. Yoshiko Uchida, whose first book, The Dancing Kettle (1949), was a collection of Japanese folktales, flavored later narratives such as The Invisible Thread (1991) with folk imagery.
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The title and content of Cynthia Kadohata’s novel The Floating World (1989) reference both the Buddhist folklore of rootless life and the popular block print art of the Edo period. Hisaye Yamamoto’s “The Legend of Miss Sasagawara, (1949), which tells of a woman driven by her wartime confinement into acting out sexually, makes an ironic reference to folktales of Buddhist saints achieving nirvana by casting off passions. Conversely, Japanese American communities developed their own popular folklore, including distinctive expressions, jokes, and foods. Some of these have made their way into literature. An early example is Ernest Michio Matsunaga’s lyric “Buddhahead Blues” (1942), which facetiously includes derogatory slang for Nisei to dramatize the injustice of wartime confinement. Milton Murayama’s All I Asking For is My Body (1959) and its sequels feature Hawaiian pidgin and local Japanese slang, thus not only giving voice to its working-class characters but also valorizing their mode of expression. Philip Kan Gotanda’s play Yankee Dawg You Die (1989) examines the conflict between (stereotyped) images of Asians in mainstream American folklore and the experience of Asian Americans. Finally, the wartime confinement of Issei and Nisei in government camps—the central event in Japanese American history—has given rise to a rich store of folklore surrounding conditions in the camps and the lives of inmates. This, in turn, has marked Japanese American literature. Stuart David Ikeda’s What the Scarecrow Didn’t Say (1996) includes a satirical account of the legendary visit to camp by Eleanor Roosevelt, while Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s autobiographical novel Farewell to Manzanar (1972) relates stories of inmate jazz bands refusing to play the hit song “Don’t Fence Me In.” —Greg Robinson
Further Reading Kitano, Harry H. L. Japanese Americans: The Evolution of a Subculture. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969. Yoo, David K. Growing Up Nisei: Race, Generation, and Culture among Japanese Americans of California, 1924–1949. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2000.
Martial Arts The martial arts from different Asian countries have become popular in the United States, and are practiced more as a sport than as a spiritual or character-building pursuit. Among the Japanese and Japanese Americans, one of the more popular martial arts is judo, which translates as the “gentle way.”
Japanese Americans: Martial Arts
Yoshitsugu Yamashita is credited with introducing judo to the United States in 1903. Yamashita was a student of Jigoro Kano, the father of modern judo. Kano had taken elements of jujitsu, which focused on breaking bones and dislocating joints, and transformed it into judo, a martial arts form that taught participants how to defend themselves in unarmed combat without purposely injuring the opponent. During the early 1900s, Japanese immigrant parents enrolled their Americanborn children in judo or kendo, the way of the sword, as a means to teach physical and moral character. Most judo dojos were built next to Japanese-languages schools. Since the Japanese immigrants had limited resources, they improvised the dojos. Sometimes the walls and roofs were merely corrugated tin. For flooring, immigrant women sewed together canvases and packed it tight with sawdust. In the United States, kendo was first practiced among urban male elites. In contrast to judo, which required nothing more than the purchase of a judo-gi (uniform), kendo required equipment such as the shinai (bamboo) or bokuto (wooden) sword, and a protective helmet and body armor. Sometimes, those who could not afford the equipment practiced with rolled-up newspaper. However, by the 1930s, kendo had become popular among Japanese Americans, thanks largely to the formation of the Hokubei Butokukai, or North American Martial Virtue Society. In Japan, kendo became closely associated with Japanese militarism in the late 1930s. As a result, when the United States entered World War II, the government quickly rounded up kendo instructors in the United States. After Japan’s surrender in 1945, the U.S. occupying forces banned kendo in Japan until 1950. In recent years, kendo has attracted interest from younger Japanese Americans as well as from non-Japanese. Along with kendo, naginata, a long pole sword, has also become popular. Karate became popular in the United States after U.S. soldiers were stationed in Okinawa during and after World War II. Karate developed in the Ryukyu Islands, which became Okinawa after Japan’s annexation of the Ryukyu kingdom in1879. Starting from the 1960s, Hollywood movies popularized the word “karate,” which started to refer to any generic Asian martial arts. The Karate Kid movie series in the 1980s further popularized the word. —Martha Nakagawa
Further Reading Azuma, Eiichiro. “Social History of Kendo and Sumo in Japanese America.” In Brian Niiya, ed. More Than a Game: Sport in the Japanese American Community. Los Angeles: Japanese American National Museum, 2000. Svinth, Joseph. “Judo.” In Brian Niiya, ed. Encyclopedia of Japanese American History. Los Angeles: Japanese American National Museum, 2001.
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Mori, Toshio (1910–1980) Author Toshio Mori was born on March 20, 1910 in Oakland, California. As Japanese Asian Americans, Mori and his family were subjected to internment during World War II at the Topaz Relocation Center in Utah under United States Executive Order 9066. Although the internment experience had a great influence on Mori’s style of writing, he is generally known for the diversity of his short stories, only a handful of which deal specifically with internment. In this way, Mori is recognized as one of the first celebrated Japanese Asian American short-story writers of post-World War II United States. Mori’s writing style was also influenced by a number of his contemporary authors including Sherwood Anderson, Stephen Crane, Ernest Hemmingway, and William Saroyan. Indeed, literary scholars have cited the parallel contributions of both Sherwood Anderson and Toshio Mori to the development of American literary modernism. Mori is perhaps best known for his book California, Yokohoma, a compilation of short stories about the colorful world of Japanese Asian American communities in pre-World War II California. In a telling example of the anti-Japanese sentiment after the United States entered World War II, the release of Mori’s book was scheduled for 1941 but was postponed until 1949, well after the war had ended. Mori would go on to write two other books, The Chauvinist and Other Stories (1979) and The Woman from Hiroshima (1980). Critics have commended Mori for his ability to approach storytelling through an impassioned sense of historical reality and humor. Although several of Mori’s biographers have noted that he aspired to be an artist, a professional athlete, or even a Buddhist missionary, he instead spent much of his life running a flower nursery by day and freelance writing by night. In 1947, Mori married Hisayo Yoshiwara and fathered a son. Toshio Mori died on April 12, 1980. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia See also: Japanese Americans: Internment Camps; No-No Boys; Okada, John (1923– 1971); Yamamoto, Hisaye (1921–).
Further Reading Mori, Toshio. Unfinished Business: Selected Works of Toshio Mori. Foreword by Steven Y. Mori and Introduction by Lawson Fusao Inada. Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 2000. Mori, Toshio. Yokohama, California. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1985.
Japanese Americans: Names and Name Giving
Names and Name Giving Japanese Americans have chosen and acquired names (namae) in different ways, as they adapt Japanese naming traditions and trends to American society and culture and confront changing relations between the United States and Japan. This issue is primarily addressed in studies of Japanese American and mixed race identity. From 1885 to 1924, and since 1952, Japanese people have immigrated to the continental United States and Hawaii, which became a U.S. territory in 1900 and a state in 1959. For each new generation of Japanese Americans, which are increasingly multiethnic, the issue of names and naming continues to be significant for their identity as individuals and as an ethnic group. It is also relevant to transnational families who maintain deep connections between the United States and Japan. Until World War II, most Japanese immigrants (Issei) gave their children a Japanese first name (yobina) and no middle name. Unlike English names that can be spelled in a variety of ways but have the same meaning, Japanese names that sound the same may have a different meaning depending on how they are written in Japanese characters. In keeping with Japanese tradition, the Issei chose a name based on whether it was written with an auspicious number of strokes, signified the birth season or zodiac, affirmed a familial tie, expressed desirable characteristics, or was simply popular. Sometimes they made their choice with close relatives and friends. At three, five, or seven days after birth, Issei parents usually hosted a naming party, especially if the baby was their first son. Households without a son maintained their surname (sei) by either adopting a boy from a close relative, or by having a daughter marry a man (not the first-born son in his own family) who agreed to be their adoptive son (yoshi) and assume their family name. Having a Japanese name helped Japanese immigrant children (Nisei) relate with other Japanese Americans, and was often indicative of their parents’ hope to return to their ancestral land. But when these Nisei attended American schools, they often acquired an English name that they selected or a teacher assigned. Alternatively, some Anglicized and/or abbreviated their Japanese name. Among their peers, boys were more likely than girls to assume a colorful English or Japanese nickname that highlighted a distinct aspect of their appearance or personality. Besides school, the workplace was another common site for acquiring English names. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the U.S. government violated the constitutional rights of 120,000 Japanese Americans by incarcerating them, many Japanese Americans resisted identification with the Japanese enemy by trying to speak English only and by giving their children English first names. With the rise of the 1960s movement for civil rights and redress of wartime internment, more
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Japanese Americans: Nature and Animals
Japanese Americans chose to give their children a Japanese middle name and not just an English first name. In more recent decades, as the Japanese American population becomes more multiethnic, parents often choose one or more names that reflect the diversity of their combined ethnic backgrounds. —Sharleen Nakamoto Levine
Further Reading Embree, John F. Acculturation among the Japanese of Kona, Hawaii. New York: Kraus Reprint Co., 1969. Nakashima, Daniel A. “A Rose by Any Other Name: Names, Multiracial/Multiethnic People, and the Politics of Identity.” In Teresa Williams-Leon and Cynthia L. Nakashima, eds. The Sum of Our Parts: Mixed Heritage Asian Americans. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001. Uwate, Aiko N., and Koichi Takeuchi. Japanese Names for Babies. Los Angeles: TV Fan Company, 2002.
Web Site “Hatsuji Becomes Harry: Names and Nisei Identity”: http://www.densho.org/archive.
Nature and Animals The relationship between the people of Japan and the natural world is thought to have developed from a culmination of factors such as location, religiosity and folklore, which led to the development of the inclusion of the natural world into the cultural context and identity of the people. This relationship is often referred to as “harmony,” but can be misunderstood as having only a positive connotation. Instead, this sense of harmony refers to a balance between positive and negative forces, which in effect produce a sense of what is “natural.” This “naturalness” has been depicted in many different forms throughout Japanese history, such as religious beliefs, literature, art, and ritual. Traditional Japanese religion (Shinto) originated from nature worship, with many of it spirits (kami) being directly related to nature: spirits of the trees, mountains, waters, rocks, forests, etc. The kami were responsible for everything from the growth of crops to the weather, and to appease these deities certain rituals should be practiced. If there was a storm or flood, the kami were responsible, and as such, the people believed the event was a necessary response by the deities to maintain harmony. Many different belief systems traveled from China to Japan, in particular Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Instead of abandoning their previous religious
Japanese Americans: Nature and Animals
beliefs, the Japanese people amalgamated the previously held Shinto beliefs into the new traditions, reinterpreting the role of nature within the religious systems. Japanese Buddhists, Confucians, and Taoists believed that both plants and animals were sentient beings, and thus required a level of respect much deeper than many of the Western religions. This is not to say that plants and animals could not be cut or eaten, but that a level of deep regard for the sacrifice of that plant or animal was built into the Japanese mindset. Another aspect thought to contribute to the Japanese relationship with nature and animals is location. The islands of Japan are very mountainous, with Mount Fuji reaching 12,388 feet. Because of its height, Mount Fuji is visible from many different locations, and it is an active volcano thought to be inhabited by an immortal kami. This kami can be seen “watching over” the people of Japan, and the forests at the base of Mount Fuji are the backdrops for numerous tales of demons and ghosts protecting the mountain. Today these forests have one of the highest suicide rates in the world, second only to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. One additional aspect of the contribution of the location of Japan with regard to the Japanese view of animals is that there are no natural predatory animals. Some scholars speculate that this unique lack of diversity might encourage a respectful feeling toward animals, though others disagree. In Japanese art, nature is depicted as expansive, showing conditions from torrential weather to absolute calm. The place of humans is these depictions is like that of any other animal. Even boats and housing structures appear to add to the larger scene of nature, rather than nature being a setting for a human event or creation. Japanese haiku (a form of poetry) discuss the sounds animals make and the movement of animals to allude to the similarity between humans and that particular animal. The relationship between Japanese Americans with nature and animals becomes more complex with each generation. The first-generation Japanese Americans seemed to maintain this inherent feeling for nature, and in fact express a sense of heightened awareness since coming to North America. The relationship with nature that might have once been part of their cultural identity does not receive the same recognition in North America as it did in Japan. Therefore they celebrate Japanese festivals (such as the Saukra or Cherry Blossom Festival) in North America in a way that integrates the “natural” into a new context. Many second- and third-generation Japanese Americans have a connection and interest in nature and animals that they have difficulty expressing and understanding. The result is sometimes an interest in traditional Japanese practices such as flower arranging, gardening (which in North America typically attempt to represent all aspects of the natural world within a smaller microcosm), or tree pruning (Bonsai). —Christina R. Yanko
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Japanese Americans: Noguchi, Isamu (1904–1988)
Further Reading Asquith, Pamela, and Arne Kalland. Japanese Images of Nature: Cultural Perspectives. London: Curzon Press Ltd., 2004. Bruun, Ole. Asian Perceptions of Nature: A Critical Approach. London: Routledge, 1995. Hendry, Joy. Interpreting Japanese Society: Anthropological Approaches. London: Routledge, 1998.
Noguchi, Isamu (1904–1988) Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi was born in Los Angeles to Japanese poet Yone Noguchi and Leonie Gilmoure, a writer and teacher. The two never married; upon visiting Japan in 1907, Leonie discovered that Yone was already married with a Japanese wife and family. Throughout their lives, the relationship between father and son was tense. After attending school in Japan, 13-year-old Isamu was sent to the States and enrolled in the progressive Interlaken School
Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi poses with one of his sculptures in New York City, 1938. (AP Photo)
Japanese Americans: Noguchi, Isamu (1904–1988)
at Indiana. The school closed shortly after his arrival, though Interlaken’s director, Edward Rumley, provided for Isamu to remain in the United States to complete high school. Isamu interned briefly with the sculptor Gutzon Borglum, known for sculpting Mt. Rushmore—though Borglum concluded that Isamu would never be a sculptor. While studying premed at Columbia University, he began taking free art courses at the Leonardo da Vinci School in New York. There he developed a talent for sculpting portrait busts, providing him a meager living. It was during this time that he adopted his Japanese name, abandoning his mother’s maiden name. Throughout his life, Isamu felt caught between two cultures—not fully accepted in either. Yet he later expressed how fortunate he had been to grow up in Japan. “I don’t mean to belittle other places,” He said, “but one is much more aware of nature in Japan—not a vast panorama of nature but its details: an insect, a leaf, a flower” (Duus 2000, 96). During the 1920s, Isamu met a number of influential figures, including Japanese choreographer Michio Ito, architect Buckminster Fuller, and artist Constantin Brancusi, all of whom aided the young artist in formulating his own distinctive approach to art. Brancusi, whom Isamu worked with in France while on a Guggenheim fellowship, was of particular importance. Though they did not speak a common language, Isamu recognized that Brancusi’s approach to materials was much like the Japanese, avoiding unnecessary decorations or additions to sculpture, but rather drawing on the unique qualities inherent in the materials themselves. In many ways, he approached his everyday life from the standpoint of continuous artistic expression, and as such, made invaluable contributions to the study and understanding of Japanese American folklore. While maintaining studios in Japan and the United States, his work touched on many areas, from furniture and decorative arts to large-scale gardens, fountains, and sculpture. His influence on the decorative arts is felt to this day. As a prolific and eclectic artist, his work avoids classification toward a distinct signature style. There are, however, common themes that reappear in his sculptures of the 1960s, such as Sunken Garden (Yale University, 1963) or Sky Viewing Sculpture (Western Washington University, 1969); works that draw on the square, the triangle, and the circle, elements common to calligraphy and that denote concepts of the universe. His work also draws on Zen Buddhist aesthetics, such as Black Sun (Seattle, 1969), a large irregular black granite circle that transforms the rigidness of stone into a glistening and calligraphic freeform expression. —John Handley
Further Reading Duus, Masayo. The Life of Isamu Noguchi. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.
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Japanese Americans: No-No Boys
No-No Boys Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 created a presumption that Japanese Americans were disloyal. After forced relocation of 120,000 Issei and Nisei from the West Coast to remote internment camps, a loyalty test was imposed on them. Recognizing that Japan would not likely attack the West Coast after the Battle of Midway, the Department of War felt that a questionnaire would simplify recruitment of Japanese American volunteers and, later, of draftees into the Armed Forces. As World War II progressed, replenishing the casualty-ridden all-Japanese U.S military battalion became a public relations priority. In a survey for Japanese American civilians from the Department of War and the War Relocation Authority in1943, two questions generated lasting conflict. Question 27 asked, “Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?” And Question 28 asked, “Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any and all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and foreswear any form of allegiance to the Japanese Emperor?” Questions 27 and 28 generated confusion, compromise, anger, and resistance, notably among young Japanese American men. Unlike their counterparts in Hawaii (virtually none of whom were incarcerated), some mainland Nisei youth saw no reason to fight for a government that had deprived them of their civil rights. Also, among older Japanese Americans and Japanese American women, awareness of age and gender restrictions on military service created uncertainty about how to answer Question 27. Fearing statelessness, many Issei refused to answer yes to Question 28. Those who qualified their answers to both questions were judged as if they had answered no. Men answering no to both questions became known as the “No-No Boys.” About 10 percent of draft-age Issei and Nisei Japanese Americans interned by the U.S. government during World War II answered No to Questions 27 and 28 on the so-called loyalty questionnaire. This bitterly divided families whose members sometimes answered yes simply out of fear of separation. (A later version of Question 27 asked Japanese women if they were willing to serve in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps or the Army Nurse Corps. And a narrower version of Question 28 asked Issei if they would obey “the laws of the United States” and not “interfere with the war effort.”) In Japanese American folklore, the No-No Boys shamefully undermined the community’s respectability. During World War II, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) did not support the No-No Boys. Decades later, the National JACL supported U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Ehren Watada’s right to a fair trial after he refused to deploy to Iraq in 2006. And the Honolulu
Japanese Americans: Okada, John (1923–1971)
JACL endorsed Lt. Watada’s refusal to obey military orders that he deemed illegal. Breaking ranks with his comrades in a highly potent gesture, John Masunaga, then 83 and a veteran of the highly decorated 442nd Regimental combat team, also supported Watada. Despite persistent social fissures in response to the No-No Boys, these events suggest that conscientious refusal of military service can earn respect from a major Japanese American civic organization. —Vincent Kelly Pollard See also: Japanese Americans: Internment Camps; Pearl Harbor.
Further Reading Castelnuovo, Shirley. Soldiers of Conscience: Japanese American Military Resisters in World War II. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2008. Funk, Teresa R. The No-No Boys. Fort Collins, CO: Bailiwick Press, 2008. Nakasone, Edwin M. The Nisei Soldier: Historical Essays on World War II and the Korean War. 3rd ed. White Bear Lake, MN: J-Press Pub, 2007.
Web Site Denshoo: The Japanese American Legacy Project. “Reading: The Question of Loyalty.” Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), 2002. Lesson 5. http://www.densho.org/learning/spice/lesson5/5reading5.asp (accessed March 2009).
Okada, John (1923–1971) John Okada, an Asian American novelist, was born on September 23, 1923, in Seattle. As Japanese Asian Americans, Okada and his family were subjected to internment in Minidoka, Idaho, during World War II under United States Executive Order 9066. It was Okada’s memory of this internment camp experience that informed his dual consciousness about an identity as both a descendent of Japan and an American resident. Although Okada was well aware of the injustices of internment, he also recognized the value of his American citizenship and chose to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. After being discharged in 1946, he attended the University of Washington, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in English. He would later go on to earn a master’s degree from Columbia University in English and another bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in library science. In 1950, Okada married Dorothy Arakawa and later fathered two children. He died on February 20, 1971.
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Okada is best known for his 1957 novel No-No Boy, published first in Japan by Charles E. Tuttle. In No-No Boy, Okada tells the story of a young Japanese Asian American man named Ichiro Yamada, whose life is deeply affected by his decision to answer no to two controversial questions that were part of a 1943 “Leave Clearance Application Form”—an official document used to discharge residents of the internment camps. Where the first of these two controversial questions asks about the respondent’s willingness to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, the second question generally asks if the respondent will forswear any allegiance to the Japanese emperor. The controversy surrounding these two questions refers to their vague and misleading content that was administered to respondents who had just experienced internment, many of whom were harboring suspicions about the implications of their answers. Some believed that answering yes to the first question might have volunteered them for active duty or draft, while answering yes to the second question might have assumed that one would have already had allegiance to the Japanese emperor and thus would have confirmed this premise. Those like Okada’s Ichiro Yamada character that who confused, conflicted, or even betrayed by these questions responded in the negative to both, becoming No-No Boys. Okada’s novel was largely overlooked until the mid-1970s when it was rediscovered and celebrated by Japanese Asian American communities. Literary critics have argued that Okada himself was distraught over the initial reception of No-No Boy, yet his sole work is now considered a classic of Asian American literature. As evidence of this legacy, in 2010 Timescape Arts Group honored Okada by releasing Ken Narasaki’s stage adaptation of No-No Boy at Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica, California. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia See also: Japanese Americans: Internment Camps; Mori, Toshio (1910–1980); No-No Boys; Yamamoto, Hisaye (1921–).
Further Reading Okada, John. No-No Boy. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1979. Wang, Qun. “ ‘Double Consciousness,’ Sociological Imagination, and the Asian American Experience.” Race, Gender & Class: Asian American Voices 4 (1991): 88–94.
Origami Origami is the Japanese term for the modern art of paper-folding, literally derived from a combination of the words oru (to fold) and kami (paper). Although social historians suggest that origami probably originated in China, it is popularly thought of as material culture from Japan.
Japanese Americans: Origami
The most common material used for origami is known as washi, or a paper made from various types of wood pulp. This washi is malleable, especially when dampened, and is used to create a variety of figures including animals, insects, and everyday objects. Much more elaborate figures have been created through the designs of origami expert Akira Yoshizawa (1911–2005) and the complex mathematical configurations of physicist Robert J. Lang (1961–). Given the history and scope of this paper-folding art, origami can be broken up into at least two categories: girei, or ceremonial origami; and yugi, or a more playful practice of producing ornamental figures. Examples of girei are found at weddings, where some couples use butterfly-shaped origami during traditional sake toasting ceremonies. These origami figures are often used as decorations during such ceremonies. Examples of yuri can be found within the practice of crafting senbazuru, or 1,000 paper cranes. Senbazuru is associated with 18th-century priest Rokoangidoichien’s Hiden Senbazuru Orikata (The Secret of One Thousand Cranes Origami), published in 1797. According to this book, senbazuru is considered a work of affection as well as a material gesture representing hope and inspiration. The art of origami has also contributed to the folklore surrounding less popular events including the tragedies of World War II. As one infamous story goes, a twoyear-old girl named Sadako Sasaki developed leukemia due to the radiation fallout from the August 6, 1945 bombing of Hiroshima. According to Eleanor Coerr’s 1977 book entitled Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, the hospitalized Sasaki was visited in August 1955 by a close friend who crafted and gave her an origami paper crane as a gesture of inspiration. In the tradition of senbazuru, Sasaki continued on to produce a total of 644 paper cranes until the time of her death in October 1955. As Sasaki never reached the mark of folding 1,000 cranes, a group of her friends went on to complete this feat in her honor. Sadako Sasaki’s story may have been one of the greatest influences on the practice of senbazaru origami. Since the publicity surrounding her fate, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park has designated an area known as Children’s Peace Monument in memory of the children who suffered and died during the war. The monument includes a statue of Sasaki and a dome-like sculpture known as the A-Bomb Children. Today it is common for elementary students across Japan to craft sets of 1,000 paper cranes and deliver them to A-Bomb Children in Hiroshima. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia See also: Japanese Americans: Arts and Crafts; Japanese American Artists.
Further Reading Makoto, Yamaguchi. Origami in English. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd, 1996.
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Japanese Americans: Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor has been the site of a major United States naval base since 1875. In that year, the Hawaiian Kingdom granted the United States the right to construct and maintain a coaling and repair station in the harbor of the Pearl River. During January 17–21, 1893, U.S. naval marines supported a cabal who overthrew the monarchy, despite U.S. recognition of Hawaiian sovereignty. But newly elected President Grover Cleveland (1893–1897) slowed the rush to annexation. And an annexation treaty during the presidency of his successor, William McKinley (1897–1901), also failed to gain sufficient support in the U.S. Senate. Despite antiannexation petitions signed by most adult native Hawaiians, U.S. congressional approval of the Newlands Resolution (July 1898) facilitated U.S seizure of territory held by the rebel republic in July 1898, solidifying U.S. control of Pearl Harbor. By then, the United States was using the harbor to resupply naval ships during the Asian phase of the Spanish-American War (1898). This continued during the subsequent Philippine-American War (1899–1902). In the 1930s and early 1940s, mutual provocations between the United States and Japan led to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (1884–1943), the air attack sunk 9 U.S. ships, damaging 21 others. The combined military-civilian death toll exceeded 2,300 with almost 1,200 injured. Although successful military tactics include stealth, the bombing of Pearl Harbor was disdainfully described as a “sneak attack—a phrase that has persisted in folklore. Nonetheless, Japan’s attack was not strategically disastrous. It missed three aircraft carriers assigned elsewhere that day. And a strategic petroleum depot was overlooked. The surprise attack led to declarations of war against Japan and the other Axis Powers. Calls for relocating and interning local Issei and Nisei Japanese would have dislocated the economy. However, about 1,000 Japanese Buddhist priests, community leaders, and other suspects were interned. This was a relatively small percentage of the Japanese population compared to the forced evacuations of about 120,000 Japanese Americans from communities in California, Oregon, and Washington. (Also, Germans and other European nationals were interned.) Martial law lasted until 1944. Unsurprisingly, many Japanese felt the need to prove their loyalty to the United States and that they were not collaborators in intelligence gathering for the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nisei (second-generation) Japanese perceived military service as a chance to redeem the community. This sentiment gave rise to the 100th Infantry Battalion, the first all-Nisei combat unit in World War II. It became one of three units composing the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, U.S. Army, which fought valorously against Italian and German armies. But racism against Japanese
Japanese Americans: Picture Bride/Shashin Hanayome
also had a negative impact. In the then-continental United States, 10,000 “No-No Boys” in the internment camps refused to be inducted into the Armed Forces. During the Cold War, Pearl Harbor was an important part of a global network of U.S. military bases, facilitating U.S. involvement in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. In 1964, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall designated the Pearl Harbor Naval Base as a National Historic Landmark District embracing five National Historic Landmarks. A metaphor for surprise attack, Pearl Harbor resonated in media reaction to the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. Twelve decades of environmental damage to the land and water led to the formation of the military-civilian Pearl Harbor Restoration Advisory Board in the 1990s. A tourist attraction, Pearl Harbor is the site of the U.S. Pacific Command. —Vincent Kelly Pollard See also: Japanese Americans: Internment Camps; No-No Boys.
Further Reading Masters, Patricia Lee. “Warring Bodies: Most Nationalistic Selves.” East-West Film Journal 7 (1993): 137–148. Osorio, Jonathan Kamakawiwo’ole. Dismembering Ka Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002.
Web Sites Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. Hawaii’s Official Tourism Site—Pearl Harbor, Oahu: http://www.gohawaii.com/oahu/plan/things_to_do_on_oahu/attractions/points _of_interest/pearl_harbor (accessed March 2009). U.S. Department of the Interior. National Historical Landmarks Survey: List of National Historic Landmarks by State. November 2007: http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/ Lists/LIST07.pdf (accessed March 2009).
Picture Bride/Shashin Hanayome “Picture bride” marriages originated with arranged marriages that had their origins— within aristocratic circles and in the samurai class during feudal times—before the modern Meiji Era (1869–1912) in Japan. The practice became accepted even among peasants in rural communities. With the introduction of photography from the West, exchanging photos introduced coupes when it was difficult to meet in person. This also allowed the “go-between,” or nakodo, to bring a photograph. This could save embarrassment if one party were rejected; the matter could then be quietly resolved. Japanese immigration to Hawaii, in the earliest period between 1885 and 1910, included four times as many men as women. When the men in Hawaii wanted to
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start families, they returned to their villages and had families arrange marriages. But the trip was long and expensive, and many wrote their parents to find suitable wives or asked nakodo for assistance. Go-betweens generally conducted research to ensure a good match in the socioeconomic status of the intended couple, their educational backgrounds, and their family histories. The peak period for this picture bride practice was after the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1905–1906, which restricted laborers from entering the United States until 1924, when the United States banned immigration from Japan. During this restricted immigration period, there was a significant increase in the number of Japanese women who came to Hawaii. Over 20,000 picture brides were married to Japanese men in Hawaii in absentia through families back home or nakodo, and the years from about 1910 to 1924 are often referred to as the “picture bride period.” The influx of brides marked the transition from a society of largely single male transients to communities of permanent residents. In 1900, out of the total population of 24,326 Japanese immigrants in the United States, there were only 985 females (24 males for every female). By 1910, the female population had climbed to 9,087; by 1920, there were 22,193 women. Of course, not all the arranged marriages succeeded. In some cases, men sent photos from years earlier to disguise their ages or even photos of younger friends. Some grooms never showed up at the immigration station. In other cases, women arrived as kari-fufu (temporary spouse) simply to gain entry into the United States. Many immigrants then remarried. The system allowed adventurous women to join the workforce at a time when labor immigration was restricted but spouses were still allowed. The Exclusion Act of 1924 closed this loophole almost entirely until well after World War II ended in 1945. In the meantime, the picture bride system permitted a large and flourishing community of Japanese American families to develop in the United States. —Noriko Sanefuji
Further Reading Sunoo, Sonia Shinn. Korean Picture Brides: 1903–1920: A Collection of Oral Histories. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corporation, 2002. Uchida, Yoshiko. Picture Bride: A Novel. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1987.
Pilgrimage to Japanese American Internment Sites Since 1969, sizable pilgrimages to the Manzanar and Tule Lake internment sites have been regularly scheduled and organized by the Manzanar and Tule Lake committees, respectively. Intermittent pilgrimages, ranging from personal visits
Japanese Americans: Pilgrimage to Japanese American Internment Sites
to large groups, have also been made to most of the 10 internment sites, including Poston (Arizona), Minidoka (Idaho), and Heart Mountain (Wyoming). The Manzanar Pilgrimage has its roots in the compassion of two religious leaders, Rev. Sentoku Maeda, a Buddhist priest, and his friend, Rev. Shoichi Wakahiro, a Christian minister. Every year after Manzanar closed in November 1945, they would return to the Eastern Sierras of California to the Manzanar cemetery, protected by the I-REI-TO (Soul Consoling Tower) obelisk, with a small group of Issei on Memorial Day to pray for the dead who were without family to do so. In 1969, the energies and struggles of the civil rights and redress movements converged with this practice of remembrance. To the young Sansei students and their friends in the Asian American studies movement, Rev. Maeda suggested the pilgrimage to help release the stories of their Nisei parents and led their religious ceremonies, initiating the present-day annual tradition of the Manzanar Pilgrimage. At the same time, the Tule Lake Pilgrimage originated when Asian American students from northern California organized the first pilgrimage to its site in Newell, California, near the Oregon border, bringing together students, community activists, and former “internees.” Pilgrimages to the former sites of Japanese American detention during World War II were a catalyst for the Japanese American community, enabling a space for the intergenerational community to come to terms with long-buried emotions and to realize that a great injustice had been done by the U.S. government. The euphemistic terms of “evacuation” and “relocation” implied a situation of natural disaster rather than the forced removal of all persons of Japanese ancestry— citizens and noncitizens—who lived in California, the western parts of Oregon and Washington, and the southern part of Arizona, the designated military security zone of exclusion. Highlighting the essence of the redress movement, which was healing the wounds through confronting the injustice, not simply receiving monetary payment, the process of renewing collective memory on the pilgrimages and days of remembrance garnered the emotional commitment to engage in the campaign for redress. Yet after the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which granted the nation’s apology and a symbolic payment of $20,000 to survivors, the pilgrimages and days of remembrance continue to this day in response to the continued spiritual need for the healing of the wounds of both persons and communities, and the deepening of compassion toward others in a similar situation today. They are spiritual practices of remembrance, honoring ancestors, healing and hope that are now shared by a diverse intercultural and intergenerational community. As a way of inhabiting shadowed ground, the pilgrimages reclaim them as sites of suffering and hope, and are journeys that evoke layers of meaning, memory, mourning, healing, and ongoing commitment for reconciliation and justice. They are expressive of a cultural cosmology that
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highlights the relatedness of all beings and seeks to restore relationships broken by historical injuries. —Joanne Doi See also: Japanese Americans: Internment Camps.
Further Reading Doi, Joanne. “Tule Lake Pilgrimage: Dissonant Memories, Sacred Journey.” In Jane Naomi Iwamura and Paul Spickard, eds. Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America. New York and London: Routledge Press, 2003. Hansen, Arthur A., and Betty E. Mitson, eds. “Manzanar-The Continuing Struggle: An Interview with Sue Kunitomi Embrey.” In Voices Long Silent: An Oral Inquiry Into the Japanese American Evacuation. Fullerton, CA: Oral History Program-Japanese American Project, California State University at Fullerton, 1974. Maki, Mitchell T., Harry H. L. Kitano, and S. Megan Berthold. Achieving the Impossible Dream: How Japanese Americans Obtained Redress. With forewords by Representative Robert T. Matsui and Roger Daniels. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999. The Manzanar Committee. The Manzanar Pilgrimage: A Time for Sharing. Los Angeles: The Manzanar Committee, 1981. Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. Foreword by Tesuden Kashima. Washington, DC, and San Francisco: The Civil Liberties Public Education Fund; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1997. Takezawa, Yasuko I. Breaking the Silence: Redress and Japanese American Ethnicity. Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell University Press, 1995. The Tule Lake Committee. Second Kinenhi: Reflections on Tule Lake. San Francisco: Tule Lake Committee and John R. and Reiko Ross, 1980, 2000.
Poke´mon The success of Asian-originating cartoons and animation within print, television, and Internet formats have contributed enormously to the genre of image-based material culture. Poke´mon, originally a Japanese video game, has become an international icon reflecting Japan’s monopolization of the cartoon and animation world. While increasing its market share among entertainment commerce, the Poke´mon Company in Japan and its American subsidiary Poke´mon Company International have expanded beyond video games to include comic books, trading cards, motion pictures, television series, action figures, and apparel.
Japanese Americans: Poke´mon
Inspired by his childhood hobby of collecting insects, Satoshi Tajiri (1965–) created Poke´ mon in 1996 while working for the Japanese video game giant Nintendo. The term “Poke´mon” is a Japanese portmanteau contraction of “Pocket” and “Monster,” from the pronunciation Poketto Monsuta. Poke´mon, in its game format, is set in a fantasy land inhabited by some 493 Poke´mon species of various shapes, sizes, and colors. The objective is for players, called “Trainers,” to collect other Poke´mon species and train them to compete against other Poke´ mon. In the video game world, Poke´mon ranks only second in sales to the popular Mario series that helped to launch Nintendo. Still from Pokemon: The Movie 2000. Originally designed for Nintendo’s (Topham/The Image Works) handheld game console Game Boy, Tajiri’s creation introduced an innovative feature whereby participants could actually play alongside of each other using a device that would link both consoles together and provide a shared gaming experience. Although competition between players was certainly an objective of Poke´mon, Tajiri’s primary emphasis was the use of this shared experience as an opportunity to allow players to trade Poke´mon species instead of eliminating them in battles. In addressing the novelty of this innovation, scholars have argued that the special blend of competition and communication found in the Poke´mon game has the potential to cultivate a conscious sense of human relationships known as ningenkankei—an ideological quality recognized as a major principle of Japanese culture. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia See also: Japanese Americans: Dynasty Warriors.
Further Reading Allison, Anne. Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. Tobin, Joseph, ed. Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Poke´mon. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004.
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Web Site Poke´mon Company Web Site: http://www.pokemon.com (accessed October 2009).
Proverbs and Maxims Proverbs and maxims in Japanese America are sociocultural adages that express general truths about life, often revolving around themes of tolerance, courage, patience, as well as how to deal with misfortune and issues of conformity. Japanese Asian Americans derive many of these proverbs and maxims from Japan, yet through globalization and subsequent acculturation, much of their content can be traced back to ancient Greece, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Jewish biblical references. A number of Japanese Asian American maxims and proverbs convey lessons of tolerance and the rewards of experience such as “Good medicine tastes bitter,” alluding to the way negative experiences may yield positive results. Similarly, some sayings encourage people to embrace painful experiences, as their courage to face adversity and efforts to endure its torments will ultimately be rewarding. One such saying states “If one does not take the risk of entering into a tiger’s den, no cubs will be obtained,” a metaphoric lesson teaching that if one does not venture, one may never receive what one longs for. Patience is also a major theme among Japanese Asian American maxims and proverbs. For instance, “Sit three years on a rock” teaches the principle of perseverance by encouraging one to see an enterprise through to its conclusion. In addition, the saying “If one rushes, one will only move in circles” discourages impatience, as haste may yield poor results. Finally, the aphorism “Do not sell the bearskin before first capturing the bear” cautions one to refrain from acting prematurely and instead encourages patience. Misfortune is also a major theme among Japanese Asian American maxims and proverbs. To state either “A bee stings a crying face” or “If twice occurs, expect a thrice” is to acknowledge that misfortune may arrive continuously. Yet notwithstanding such misfortune, a saying such as “Spilled water will not return to the bowl” acknowledges the reality of a situation and may serve to mitigate its effects. Some Japanese Asian American maxims and proverbs convey more cultural messages. Perhaps the most well-known cultural adage is “The nail that stands out will get hammered down,” referring to the social consequences of nonconformity. Despite the negative tenor involved, conformity on many levels is considered a positive cultural attribute for Japanese Asian American society. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia and Ayumi Hidaka
Japanese Americans: Religion
Further Reading Galef, David, and Jun Hashimoto. Even Monkeys Fall from Trees: The Wit and Wisdom of Japanese Proverbs. Boston: Charles E. Tuttle Publishing, 1987. Trimnell, Edward. Tigers, Devils, and Fools: A Guide to Japanese Proverbs. Cincinnati: Beechmont Crest Publishing, 2004.
Religion Religion in Japanese American communities is both an institution where one can exercise faith-based beliefs and practices, as well as a cultural body through which one can maintain traditional rites of passage, rituals, and celebrations that originate in Japan. As Japanese sociocultural traditions have been largely influenced by the convention of plurality between Shinto and Buddhism, cultural values and customs from these two religious practices have been maintained by Japanese Americans. In this way, religious affiliation among Japanese Americans is generally comprised of those individuals who observe the Shinto tradition in conjunction with some form of Buddhism (Jodo Shinshu, Jodo Shu, Nichiren, Shingon, or Zen), and those who observe Christianity. Due to the lack of concise statistical data on specific Asian ethnic groups, it is difficult to assess the religious affiliation of Japanese Americans with any precision. One general method illustrating religious affiliation among Japanese Americans is to consider overall statistics of this variable for all Asian Americans. In a national survey of some 35,000 Asian Americans conducted by the Pew Research Institute in 2008 found that 45 percent of respondents observed some form of Christianity, 30 percent observed some form of Eastern religion, while another 23 percent reported to be unaffiliated with any religion. Another method of estimating these figures would be to assume, with a considerable margin of error, that the figures of religious affiliation within an ethnic group’s parent nation are somewhat proportional to their decedents living in the United States. In this way, the religious landscape of Japanese Americans would roughly resemble that of the Japanese. According to the Central Intelligence Agency Factbook, the religious affiliation breakdown for Japan is rather straightforward, with some 84 percent of the population observing both Shinto and Buddhism, while another 16 percent, inclusive of Christianity, observe other religions. There are also a variety of new religious movements within the Japanese American community including Mahikari, Oomoto, Soka Gakkai, and Tenrikyo. Of these four new religions, Soka Gakkai is perhaps the most integrated faith-based institution within Japanese American society. Derived from
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Nichiren Buddhism in the early 20th century, Soka Gakkai made its international expansion in 1975 forming the Soka Gakkai International group (SGI). Today, the SGI’s American branch, Soka Gakai International, United States, has over 2,600 neighborhood discussion groups, nearly 100 centers, as well as an academic institution known as Soka University of America, in Aliso Viejo, California. Religion in the Japanese American community can also be viewed through the imports of Japanese religious traditions. For example, the Buddhist Churches of America and the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii are Buddhist associations and represent two Japanese imports that have thrived within the United States. Between these two associations, there are more than 85 temples. Shinto traditions have also been imported into the United States. In 1986, the Tsubaki America Shrine was erected in Stockton, California. According to founder Reverend Yukitaka Yamamoto, this was the first Shinto shrine to be built in North America. Today, it has been relocated to Granite Falls, Washington. The presence of these temples and shrines associated with Buddhist and Shinto traditions, respectively, provide a venue for rites of passage (e.g., marriage and funerals), rituals (e.g., blessings and purifications), and celebrations (e.g., memorials). For example, such rites of passage and rituals include omiyamari, a purification practice; yakubarai, an official cleansing of the soul; and kigan, a prayer-based ceremony where a variety of items are blessed including automobiles, businesses, and even one’s pre-performance set of skills for passing major exams. Perhaps the most popular religious celebration within the Japanese American community is the Obon festival. For three days each summer, participants of the Buddhist tradition honor their deceased ancestors by cleaning their places of burial and celebrating their memory. This celebration also includes a dance known as the bon-odori, performed to a variety of traditional Japanese music. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia See also: Japanese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Domestic Religious Practices; Dying and Death Rituals; Superstition and Taboo.
Further Reading Carnes, Tony, and Fenggang Yang. eds. The Making and Remaking of Borders and Boundaries (Race, Religion and Ethnicity). New York: New York University Press, 2004. Iwamura, Jane Naomi, and Paul Spickard. eds. Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America. New York: Routledge, 2003. Yoo, David D. New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Japanese Americans: Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage Rites of passage observed by Japanese Americans center around major turning points in a person’s lifetime such as births, marriages, and funerals. For example, Japanese Americans usually celebrate the birth of a new baby on the 100th day. A birthday is held in honor of the newborn, who is brought to a Buddhist Temple or Christina Church for a blessing, depending on the family’s religious orientation. Many Japanese American senior centers have popularized the Japanese tradition of observing the kanreki, 60th birthday. Traditionally, the celebrant wears a red hood and vest to signify his or her return to infancy, since babies, in the past, were clothed in this way. Another popular milestone is the beiju, or 88th birthday. The Japanese character for the number 88 resembles the character for “rice,” which is a staple of the traditional Japanese diet. Some also celebrate the 70th (koki), 77th (kiju), 80th (sanju), 90th (sotsuju), and 99tj (hakuju) birthdays. Yakudoshi, or the bad years, is more familiar among Japanese Americans in Hawaii than on the mainland. Certain years are considered to bring inauspicious luck, bad health, or disaster. For men, the yakudoshi would be the early 20s and early 40s. For women, it is the late teens and early 30s. In Hawaii, Japanese Americans have transformed the yakudoshi and hold celebrations to ward off bad luck. The Shichi-Go-San, or “Seven-Five-Three” celebration, is still carried on in the United States but is not as widely observed. The festival is held on November 15 of each year. Although the practice is of Shinto origin, Buddhist temples in the United States observe this festival. Three- and five year-old boys and three- and seven-year-old girls are dressed in kimonos or formal Western clothing and visit the temple for a blessing. This observance is considered important for the children’s growth as young men and young women. Taking photos of the children on this occasion has also developed into a modern tradition. Japanese American traditional marriage rites, depending on the couple’s religious orientation and preference, may be conducted at a commercial wedding hall or other beautiful public venue. Buddhist and/or Shinto ceremonies may be conducted in private with the couple, priest, witnesses, and parents. The centerpiece of the wedding ceremony is the san san kudo no sakazuki, or the “three nine cup” ceremony. The bride and groom use the sakazuki, a special cup used only to drink sake, and take turns taking three sips, three times. While the ceremony is of Shinto origin, the number three is also of sacred origin in Buddhism. In place of vows, cups of sake are exchanged and drunk. Christian church ceremonial rites will be held before a congregation in a community church center. The wedding ceremony usually is followed by an elaborate dinner with multiple speeches and the formal cutting of a wedding cake.
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Japanese Americans: Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike” (1977–)
Funeral rites typically are associated with Buddhist and/or Christian rituals. In a traditional Buddhist funeral, the Buddhist priest conducts a wake and holds the funeral the following day. Guest usually bring koden, or condolence money, which in the past paid for funeral expenses. The family of the deceased records how much koden was received, and returns a similar amount if someone in the giver’s family passes away. With the Japanese American community, it has become customary for the family of the deceased to send a book of stamps, along with a thank-you card, to guests who have offered koden. During the funeral ceremony, the priest will read the sutra (sacred texts), while each family member offers incense. The proper way to offer incense is to stand before the urn, place the hands together in prayer, bow, then take a pinch of incense, bring it close to the forehead, then place the incense in the urn and bow again. After family members have finished, guests are invited to participate in the incense ceremony. Following the service, the priest announces the deceased’s kaimyo, or new Buddhist name, which is given to prevent the deceased from returning every time his or her name is called. The family of the deceased may choose to bury the body or have it cremated, since there is no taboo against cremation. In Buddhism, there are a number of memorial services after the funeral. Most people observe the 7th-, 49th-, and 100th-day memorial service, There is also a memorial service conducted during the Obon festival in the summer. —Martha Nakagawa
Further Reading Holm, Jean, and John Bowker, eds. Rites of Passage. London: St. Martin’s Press, 1994. Koda, Tara K. “Aloha with Gassho: Buddhism in the Hawaiian Plantations.” Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 3(5) (2003): 237–253.
Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike” (1977–) Michael Kenji “Mike” Shinoda is a Japanese American multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and rapper for the alternative rock group Linkin Park. Shinoda was born in Agoura Hills, California, in 1977 and established a musical side project from 2003–2006 called Fort Minor. The Fort Minor project was primarily formed to highlight his rap and hip-hop creative energies that were rather limited within the Linkin Park framework. Consequently, he does not incorporate musical elements, including melodies, instruments, and vocals indicative of traditional or contemporary Japanese music. Still, Fort Minor includes one vestige of Japanese American history involving cultural ties with World War II.
Japanese Americans: Social Etiquette and Customs
Shinoda’s Japanese American ancestry is poignantly illustrated in the song “Kenji,” from Fort Minor’s 2005 The Rising Tied album. The song details the life of his family before, during, and after internment at Manzanar during World War II. Manzanar was a large Japanese American internment camp located in Owens Valley near Lone Pine, California, that housed over 100,000 individuals in 1942. “Kenji” is an anthem or a voice for Japanese Americans everywhere. It encapsulates the racial tensions, violence, and paranoia between Japanese and Americans before, during, and after World War II. “Kenji,” which is Shinoda’s middle name, is also a Japanese word for “wise” or “healthy.” In the song, Kenji serves as a symbol of hope for survival in the midst of impossible living conditions. The authenticity of the song is highlighted by soundbites from an interview with actual Shinoda family members. The crossgenerational lyrics help bridge the gap between elders and youth across social, historical, and cultural spectrums. The crossroads of Japanese ancestry and American hip-hop music provide an inspirational and nostalgic examination of early American history, international relations, music, and war. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Ethnomusicology and Folklore; Asian American Family, Memory, and Folklore.
Further Reading Fort Minor. The Rising Tied. 2005. CD.
Web Site Seaver, Morley. “Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park, Fort Minor).” http://www.antimusic.com/ morley/05/FortMinor.shtml (accessed January 15, 2010).
Social Etiquette and Customs Japanese social customs are organized by rigid etiquette systems for each social class, and Japanese people usually try to maintain a certain degree of distance for daily communication. Due to its formality, this system shuns physical contact. Even relatives seldom touch each other in public. Instead of shaking hands, Japanese bow to each other as a greeting. The Japanese bow is also used to indicate respect for others. The general rule is that the person with higher prestige bows less deeply than the one with lower prestige or rank. It is important to bow to all persons, especially those who are older and often holding more senior or higher rankings.
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It is sometimes said that the Japanese apologize more than any other people. The origin of such extensive apologizing lies partly in the Confucian ethos emphasizing that people should respect and subordinate themselves to superiors. Due to the subsequent development of rigid class systems, it became safer for persons to continuously apologize even when a fault had not occurred or had been innocently committed. In addition, it would have been impossible as well as impractical to punish everyone for minor infractions of etiquette. The compromise was to expect people to apologize. The superior could then show Confucian benevolence by forgiving the perpetrator and placing him or her in the leader’s debt. Saying no bluntly is considered impolite and aggressive. A blunt, honest answer is seldom given in public since it is possibly injurious to human feelings and hence to social relationships. As a result, Japanese conversations are typically circuitous and ambiguous. This behavior is part of the custom of enryo (“reserve” or “hesitation”). Politeness demands one to three rejections of any offer, although rejections are often understood to be social conventions that are not to be taken literally. It is difficult to simply reject an offer made by a Japanese since he or she will assume that the rejection is merely a conventional show of politeness. Japanese show respect and a willingness to develop and maintain friendships through the exchange of gifts. Gifts create a sense of debt that suggests the donor trusts the receiver to reciprocate in the future. If the receiver wants to develop the implied relationship, then a gift of the same approximate value is offered in turn. Offering gifts is one way to indicate a wish to develop relationships in a culture that has difficulty speaking forthrightly and directly. This classical form of Japanese social etiquette is essentially incompatible with American culture, which is more informal, more individualistic, and less respecting of hierarchical prestige or status differences. Indeed, Americans tend to pride themselves in maintaining a spirit of egalitarianism, which is summarized by such common phrases as “Just call me Joe.” Direct communication and “plain speaking” are often valued in American culture ,which can be disdainful of “beating around the bush” and “small talk” that are seen as unproductive or trivial. Americans can also be skeptical of formal conventions in social interaction because they are sometimes seen as being insincere or contrived. Being born and raised in the United States, second-generation Japanese Americans (the Nisei or American-born children of immigrant Japanese parents) typically by necessity must adopt more American styles of communication in the broader American society outside of their immediate families. Nonetheless, some residual influences of Japanese culture may be detected in the communication styles and behaviors of the Nisei. For example, the Nisei are often less likely to use clearly aggressive verbal or body language. They may be more accepting of conventional status differences and may find them to be of greater personal importance as compared to mainstream Americans. They are less likely to adopt antiauthoritarian
Japanese Americans: Superstition and Taboo
attitudes that are not uncommon among mainstream Americans. Perhaps the most famous case of respectfulness to authority occurred during World War II when the entire Japanese American population of over 100,000 in the Western states was incarcerated into internment camps for no legitimate reason, and yet all but a handful of Japanese Americans fully cooperated. The Nisei may adopt somewhat more Japanese styles of communication and social etiquette within their own families or when surrounded by other Japanese. In general, however, Japanese Americans are known to be among the most assimilated of the Asian American groups in part due to limited immigration in recent decades. Although more traditional Japanese social etiquette and customs may be evident in some interactions among the Nisei, many Japanese Americans today are third or higher generation and are intermarried with white Americans. Beyond the families of the Nisei, traditional Japanese sensitivities and customs seem to quickly fade in the context of the highly assimilated Japanese American community. —Isao Takei
Further Reading Alston, Jon P., and Isao Takei. Japanese Business Culture and Practices: A Guide to Twenty-First Century Japanese Business. New York: iUniverse, 2005. Caudill, William, and George DeVos. “Achievement, Culture, and Personality: The Case of Japanese Americans.” American Anthropologist 58 (1956): 1102–1126. Goldman, Alan. Doing Business with the Japanese: A Guide to Successful Communication, Management, and Diplomacy. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994. Kitano, Harry L. Japanese-Americans: The Evolution of a Subculture. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976. Takada, Noriko, and Rita L. Lampkin. The Japanese Way: Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the Japanese. Lincolnwood: Passport Books, 1997.
Superstition and Taboo Japanese American superstitions and taboos are sociocultural beliefs and practices often conveyed through adages. Both superstitions and taboos commonly serve a practical purpose of shaping one’s moral behavior. Where superstitions generally operate ominously on one’s conscious sense of fear, taboos function by inhibiting behavior that transgresses socially agreed upon customs. Japanese Americans have generally derived their superstitions and taboos from Japan, acculturating these beliefs and practices to fit their lives in the United States. Several Japanese American superstitions and taboos inform daily etiquette by drawing symbolic references to Zen Buddhist funerary rites. For example, it is
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taboo to sleep with one’s head pointing north or arrange a guest’s bedding in this fashion, as this orientation evokes the practice of positioning the head of the deceased due north during the wake. It is also taboo to stand one’s chopsticks upright in one’s rice bowl, as this resembles the practice of providing the deceased with a bowl of rice accompanied by vertically inserted chopsticks. Passing food between two sets of chopsticks while eating is also taboo, as this appears to resemble the tradition of gathering the remaining bones of the deceased’s cremated body with large chopsticks. Participants pass these bones from chopstick to chopstick toward an individual designated to collect the bones in an urn. Gift-giving etiquette is also accompanied by superstitions and taboos. For example, when choosing an appropriate gift, one must conscientiously consider the recipient’s circumstances in relation to superstitions and taboos, lest one find oneself committing a faux pas. One such superstition states that it is taboo to give a potted plant to an individual being cared for in the hospital, in fear that this individual may—like the potted plant—take root, and thus send the subtle message that this individual may never leave. In addition, it is taboo to choose a gift that involves the number 4, as its Japanese term is synonymous with death. Some Japanese American superstitions and taboos serve practical social functions, such as teaching children to observe bedtime etiquette. For example, whistling at night is said to attract evil spirits that wander during the evening. In addition, cutting one’s nails in the evening is also considered bad luck. According to this superstition, certain spirits are said to be attracted to nail clippings, and cutting them in the evening constitutes an open invitation. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia and Ayumi Hidaka See also: Japanese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Religion.
Further Reading Tyler, Royall. Japanese Tales. New York: Pantheon Books, 1987.
Taiko Performance “Taiko” is a Japanese term that refers to both a barrel-shaped drum and the art of drumming on it with two wooden sticks. As a sacred object and a musical instrument, it has taken various forms and styles in the traditional sociocultural context of Japan, such as seasonal customs and festivals in local communities, religious rituals in Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples, and professional performing arts such as Noh and Kabuki plays. Out of such a conventional, or often preindustrial, context, a new form of taiko was reinvented by young enthusiasts in the rise of the folk “revival” movement in Japanese society in the 1960s. It took shape as a taiko-only
Japanese Americans: Taiko Performance
A member of the group Koshin Taiko plays the odaiko, or big drum, during the Festival in the Garden program at the Japanese Garden in Los Angeles, California, September 21, 1997. The event featured Japanese dancing, music, food, and other cultural demonstrations. (AP Photo/Gerard Burkhart)
genre, which usually takes the form of a group performance, combining several different kinds of taiko drums. While the presentation of taiko in the conventional framework required adherence to the given rules, this emergent form of taiko has the flexibility to be adopted in a changing contemporary setting, increasing the dynamic aspects of performances. Taiko performers, in this form, typically put on the preindustrial artisan-like outfits—happi (short kimono), hachimaki (headband), momohiki (long underpants), harakake (apron), and jika-tabi (split-toed shoes with rubber soles) and emphasize manly physical postures and movements, giving martial-arts-like images of judo and karate. The significance of the performance of taiko is its symbolic implications in popular rhetoric and imagination, in which taiko manifests the authentic “tradition” of Japanese culture, handed down from the ancient past, despite actually being a recent reconstruction. The symbolic meanings of taiko were transmitted across the Pacific and reinterpreted in Japanese American communities in the West Coast in the late 1960s as the economic and political interrelations strengthened between Japan and the United States. Taiko performance mediated Japanese and Japanese Americans, who had been separated during World War II and by the discontinuation of Japanese immigration. It brought about a festive milieu, in
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which Japanese and Japanese Americans interacted and reunited in the Japanese tradition. The beginning of Japanese American taiko has been legendarily attributed to the Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco in 1968, in which the manly taiko performance of a newly arrived Japanese youth, Seiichi Tanaka, inspired Japanese American audiences to revitalize a then-declining community. Following his group, named San Francisco Taiko Dojo, young Japanese Americans began to organize their own taiko groups one after another. Like the pioneering group Kinnara Taiko formed in Los Angeles in 1969, many Japanese American taiko groups were affiliated to Buddhist temples, which had been the center of life for many of the prewar Japanese immigrants living on the West Coast. Japanese American taiko groups proliferated during the 1970s and thereafter, and the taiko movement over the years has resulted in the formation of over 100 taiko groups across North America, including Hawaii. Important to this phenomenal popularity of taiko performance among Japanese American communities are the sociohistorical contexts, particularly of the Asian American movement in the 1970s and the redress movement in the 1980s in which Japanese Americans attempted to reclaim their history in relation to the larger American society. Due to the expansive force of globalization, taiko, as a symbol of Japanese tradition, has become a locus of cultural politics, negotiation, and reconstruction of Japanese and Japanese American identity. —Hideyo Konagaya
Further Reading Asai, Susan. “Horaku: A Buddhist Tradition of Performing Arts and the Development of Taiko Drumming in the United States.” Selected Titles in Ethnomusicology 6 (1985): 163–172. Bendar, Shawn. “Of Roots and Race: Discourses of Body and Place in Japanese Taiko Drumming.” Social Science Journal 8 (2005): 197–212. Konagaya, Hideyo. “Taiko as Performance: Creating Japanese American Traditions.” Japanese Journal of American Studies 12 (2001): 105–124. Schnell, Scott. The Rousing Drum: Ritual Practice in a Japanese Community. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Tatami Traditional Japanese homes are often designed in a washitsu arrangement, or Japanese-style interior. In addition to sliding doors, an alcove, and paper-paneled dividers, a major part of this washitsu interior design is the padded tatami flooring.
Japanese Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
Tatami originated during the late 8th century as a lavish commodity used exclusively by nobility. By the beginning of the 18th century, tatami became accessible to a wider range of classes and was incorporated throughout entire living spaces. Today, it is rarely found outside of the washitsu arrangement—more commonly referred to as “tatami rooms.” Tatami was originally made from rice straw; however, today it can be manufactured from any number of synthetic materials. The edging of tatami is usually made of elaborately woven silver and blue, green, and white silk. In addition, the size of the mats must meet certain length and thickness specifica- Traditional Japanese-style tatami room in a Japanese American family home in Fremont, tions to fit within the pre-fabricated California. It is used for meditation, as well as dimensions of the tatami room. Today, for tea ceremonies. (Jonathan H. X. Lee) tatami is still used in many Japanese homes and abroad for ornamental purposes in traditional tea ceremonies, as well as living and dining rooms for the entertainment of guests. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia See also: Japanese Americans: Arts and Crafts.
Further Reading Mehta, Geeta, Kimie Tada, and Noboru Murata. Japan Style: Architecture and Interiors Design. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing, 2005.
Traditional Medicine and Healing Traditional Japanese Medicine (Kampo) is an adaptation of Traditional Chinese Medicine that was transmitted to Japan in the seventh and eighth centuries. It was largely practiced throughout Japan until 1849 with the introduction of the smallpox vaccination, as the government speculated that its continued usage would interrupt the spread of modernization throughout Japan. It remained in decline for roughly 50 years, after which it underwent a revival. Because the government no longer
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perceived it as a threat to modernization, Kampo was again permitted to be practiced and eventually integrated into Japanese modern medicinal practices. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Kampo from Traditional Chinese Medicine is the amount of core herbs that are used. While the Chinese system uses approximately 500 different herbs and drugs to treat the various ailments, the Japanese system uses between 100 and 200. Of these, most are of vegetable origin with only a very small number coming from animal sources. They are usually obtained from substances that are native to Japan, and thus are easy to obtain while at the same time fitting within the Japanese cultural context and identity. Further, the dosage amounts in Japan are markedly reduced from those in Traditional Chinese Medicine, often suggesting less than half of what might be prescribed in China. There are a number of forms in which the herbs are administered within the Kampo system, such as capsules, tablets, teas, and a process called “moxibustion.” In this process the herb (usually mugwort) is applied directly to the skin (or indirectly through the use of acupuncture) and burned. This process is considered particularly effective when the patient is suffering from chronic conditions such as depression or hyperactivity. In both moxibustion and acupuncture, the goal is to stimulate the meridians to overcome the imbalance producing the ailment. Kampo was introduced to North America via Dr. Hong-yen Hsu, who emigrated from the United States from Taiwan. He studied pharmaceutical science in Japan and became interested in the formulas and writings of Japanese doctors. In 1975, Dr. Hong-yen Hsu established the Oriental Healing Arts Institute (OHAI) and the Brion Herbs Corporation. These two companies were created to translate Japanese Kampo texts, distribute Kampo medicines throughout North America, as well as the translation of Chinese texts and distribution of Chinese remedies. In North America today, there are few Kampo-specific medical practitioners outside of Japanese communities. Due to the combining of Chinese and Japanese medicines in North America through OHAI and Brion Herbs Corporation, much of the understanding of Kampo falls under the heading of alternative medicine, and is typically used in combination with other East Asian remedies. The distinguishing feature between Japanese and other East Asian forms of medicine used in North America today is typically in the application of acupuncture needles. In Kampo, the needles are inserted just below the skin to stimulate the meridians as opposed to piercing them (as in some Chinese forms of application). It is believed that this light stimulation is all that is required to achieve the desired results. A later development in Japanese forms of treatment is Shiatsu massage. While it was likely used prior to 1940, it was not until then that Tokujiro Namikoshi made Shiatsu a formalized system at the Japan Shiatsu College. This is a method of massage using the thumbs or the palm of one’s hands to apply pressure to the patient. The patient’s nervous system is purportedly stimulated through different levels of pressure and release on particular points of the body. This method of
Japanese Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
stimulation is only recognized in Japan as a viable form of therapy, but its popularity among massage therapists in North America is growing substantially. —Christina R. Yanko
Further Reading Otsuka, Keisetsu, et al. Kampo: A Clinical Guide to Theory and Practice. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 2010. Rister, Robert. Japanese Herbal Medicine: The Healing Art of Kampo. New York: Avery Publishing Group, 1999. Tsumira, Akira. Kampo: How the Japanese Updated Traditional Herbal Medicine. New York: Japan Publications U.S.A., 1991.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Traditionally, Japanese language usage is indirect and often vague. Many messages can only be understood by knowing the speaker, by recognizing body language, or by inferring from tone. Communication among Japanese often lacks much denotative verbal content. Nonverbal communication is called ishindenshin, which in Japanese is described as “What the mind thinks, the heart transmits.” Younger Japanese are less likely to communicate in this traditional manner, but nonverbal communication is still readily understood and is more extensive among them than among most Americans. Indirect communication among Japanese is characterized by the aizuchi language pattern, which refers to one’s responses to whatever the other person is saying to demonstrate that one is listening. These include such interruptions as “Yes,” “I see,” “Of course,” and “Really?” Also part of the aizuchi pattern is the constant nodding of the head as if in agreement. These verbal forms do not indicate agreement but rather listening. Japanese are also likely to make comments in the form of questions such as “The weather is hot, isn’t it?” These are comments asking for support and agreement while indirectly making a statement. One’s true feelings and intentions (honne) are rarely expressed in Japanese society for fear of disturbing social harmony (wa) and others’ feelings of goodwill. By contrast, tatemae are overt messages spoken to make other persons feel better, to maintain wa, and to avoid conflict caused by bad news, rejection, or criticism. Tatemae might be characterized as social lies and verbal noise that are not meant to convey specific information but rather to maintain good feelings through the avoidance of tension. The custom of using tatemae is a major reason why the Japanese have difficulty in saying a direct “no” to someone. From an American perspective, tatemae is hypocritical, though the Japanese do not understand tatemae in this fashion.
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Polite restraint is especially evident in the manner in which Japanese speak. There is a reluctance to say too much, to seem to dominate a conversation, or to seem to make demands. The Japanese saying “Hear one, understand ten” encourages the speaker to use as few words as possible. Japanese do not glorify elegant speech and ornate rhetoric because Japanese assume their audiences understand the nonverbal messages they transmit. Japanese are customarily supposed to remain formal (i.e., in body language) and to maintain a positive, agreeable demeanor at all times. From the Japanese perspective, there is never an acceptable excuse for allowing a participant to show anger or lose his/her temper. In addition, Japanese do not maintain constant eye contact with others. Lowered eyes in the past were considered indications of respect and humility and were obligatory in the presence of higher-status individuals. It is still common today to maintain lowered eyes to show respect. Meetings are not the places for open exchanges of opinions and viewpoints. Others do not interrupt during his/her presentation to add information or to voice comments. Instead, questions and comments come at the end of the session after the formal presentation. Silence during a conversation may indicate disagreement or confusion. Often, disagreements are voiced in an ambiguous manner or not at all, or are subtly presented in more informal settings. Second-generation Japanese Americans (i.e., the Nisei or American-born children of immigrant Japanese parents) have typically adopted more American styles of communication in the broader American society outside of their families. For example, according to data from the 2000 U.S. Census, Japanese Americans have the lowest rates of speaking a non-English language at home (47%) among Asian ethnicities. This figure is for single-race Japanese Americans, and language assimilation of Japanese Americans is higher if multirace persons of Japanese origin are included. Nonetheless, some cultural influences of Japan may sometimes be detected in the communication styles and behaviors of the Nisei. For example, while mainstream Americans take pride in being blunt in their conversations, the Nisei are often less likely to use clearly aggressive verbal or body language for fear of hurting others’ feelings. Japanese Americans also tend to remain silent until others finish speaking rather than interrupting a speaker, as sometimes occurs in mainstream U.S. society. In regard to conversational behaviors, Japanese Americans are less likely to slouch or to appear too relaxed in contrast to many more mainstream Americans. Subtle expressions of the aizuchi pattern, positive body language, and less direct communication can often be detected among the Nisei especially when they are conversing with other Japanese-origin people. —Isao Takei See also: Japanese Americans: Social Etiquette and Customs.
Japanese Americans: Yamamoto, Hisaye (1921–)
Further Reading Alston, Jon P., and Isao Takei. Japanese Business Culture and Practices: A Guide to Twenty-First Century Japanese Business. New York: iUniverse, 2005. Takada, Noriko, and Rita L. Lampkin. The Japanese Way: Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the Japanese. Lincolnwood, IL: Passport Books, 1997. X ie, Yu, and Kimberly Goyette. Asian Americans: A Demographic Portrait. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004.
Yamamoto, Hisaye (1921–) Hisaye Yamamoto, an Asian American author and social critic, was born on August 23, 1921, in Redondo Beach, California. Yamamoto is considered one of the most accomplished Japanese American short story writers of the 20th century. As Japanese Americans, Yamamoto and her family were subjected to internment at the Poston Relocation Center in Arizona under United States Executive Order 9066 during World War II. Yamamoto’s stay between 1942 and 1944 in the internment camp had a tremendous influence on her literary career. This experience informed her understanding of the divisive tension between Issei (first-generation Japanese Americans) and Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans). Where the former were generally concerned with preserving Japanese culture and tradition, the latter were deeply entangled within the complexities of identity formation and reevaluating their parents’ cultural and traditional tenets. As an avid young writer, Yamamoto penned several letters and short stories in Japanese American newspapers and later worked as a reporter and editor for the Los Angeles Tribune. Unlike many other Japanese American writers and artists of her generation, Yamamoto’s work was fairly well received—especially given the presence of the anti-Japanese sentiment that existed after the United States entered World War II. Evidence of this reception can be found in Yamamoto’s periodical publication record, which includes written work in such respected journals as the Arizona Quarterly, Furioso, Harper’s Bazaar, Kenyon Review, Pacific Citizen, and the Partisan Review. Yamamoto is perhaps best known for her 1988 book Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories—a title that references the strict conditions for writing Japanesederived haiku poetry. This compilation of 15 short stories demonstrates Yamamoto’s skillful writing style by intertwining themes of generational differences, patriarchy, of internment life, and the experience of freelance writing. In addition to her books and periodical publications, Yamamoto has also contributed to several edited volumes including Images of Women in Literature (1991); Short Stories by Japanese American Writers (1991); Growing Up Asian
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American: An Anthology (1993); and Where Coyotes Howl and Wind Blows Free: Growing Up in the West (1995). In 1991, Yamamoto’s work was featured on television when PBS’ American Playhouse aired the film Hot Summer Winds, based on two of her writings. Yamamoto was honored with an American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Before Columbus Foundation in 1986, as well as a literary achievement award from the Association for Asian American Studies in 1989. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia See also: Japanese Americans: Mori, Toshio (1910–1980); No-No Boys; Okada, John (1923–1971).
Further Reading Yamamoto, Hisaye. Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001.
Zen Garden Zen gardens are landscape formations created with rock and sand commonly used as meditation venues. Believed to have originated in Japan during the Asuka Period (538–710 CE) along with the arrival of Chan Buddhism from Korea, these gardens are often referred to as karesansui, literally “dry mountain water.” The term “Zen gardens” derives from their association with a variety of Japanese Zen Buddhist temples. These gardens have become a popular contribution to the international community of art and culture, and by extension are considered an important component of Asian American folklore. Although there are countless interpretations concerning the meaning of these gardens, in general, Zen gardens have distinctive visual patterns intended to display an abstract model of a landscape in motion. In the construction of Zen gardens, bamboo rakes are used to create shallow contours, representative of flowing water, while the placement of large stones among these contours represents land or mountain terrain. From a distance this scenery is believed to provide a sense of tranquility and an ecosystem in harmony for onlookers to meditate upon. Zen gardens have also been celebrated for their artistic qualities that have inspired poetry, musical tenor and popular literature. Of note is the 13th-century essay by the famous monk Kokan Shiren titled “Rhymprose on Miniature Landscape Garden,” which explains the beauty and craftsmanship involved in creating and maintaining these gardens.
Japanese Americans: Zen Garden
One of the most famous Zen gardens can be found within the Ryoan-ji estate of Kyoto, Japan, a UNESCO World Heritage site. This temple’s garden is made up of finely raked gravel and 15 stones covered with swatches of moss. A legend surrounding these stones holds that only 14 of them can be seen at any given angle in the courtyard, and only those who achieve “enlightenment” through Zen meditation will be able to see all 15. Scholars have studied the site for its attractive qualities and have analyzed the garden’s architecture suggesting that the intentionality of its construction contributes to an unconscious encounter with nature in its subliminal state. As an Asian contribution of material culture to the United States, Zen gardens have become an admired cornerstone of modern landscaping. In addition to various public attractions that have exhibited Zen gardens including the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in California and the Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon, it has also become popular to fashion miniature versions of these gardens in residential landscapes of North America. —Salvador Jimenez Murguia
Further Reading Nakagawara, Camelia. “The Japanese Garden for the Mind.” Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs 4 (2004): 83–102. Van Tonder, Gert J., Michael J. Lyons, and Yoshimichi Ejima. “Perception Psychology: Visual Structure of a Japanese Zen Garden.” Nature 419 (2002): 359–360. Young, David, and Michiko Young. The Art of the Japanese Garden. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 2005.
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Korean Americans History, People, and Culture Korean immigration to the United States began in the late 19th century as a consequence of imperialist rivalry for hegemony in northeast Asia culminating in the annexation of Korea by Meiji Japan in 1910. Korea’s traditional ally, China, was in rapid decline as Western powers carved her up into “spheres of influence.” An increasingly vulnerable Korean Court sought to fend off the expansionist advances of foreign envoys and their warships beginning in the 1860s, but to no avail. Japan used “gunboat” diplomacy to coerce Korea into signing the Treaty of Kangwha of 1876, and after an unsuccessful military expedition to Korea in 1871, the United States, with the diplomatic support of China, convinced the Korean Court to sign the Treaty of Chemulpo of 1882. The treaty established diplomatic relations between Korea and the United States, opening the way for Korean immigration to Hawaii. After China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese war (1894–1895), Korea sought support from Czarist Russia to fend off Japan. But when Russia fell to Japan in the Russo-Japanese war (1904–1905), Korea was left without allies. The United States and Japan came to an understanding, in what is known as the “Taft Katsura Agreement” of July 29, 1905, that the United States would recognize Japan’s interests in Korea in exchange for Japan’s recognition of U.S interests in the Philippines. The Portsmouth Treaty of September 5, 1905, ended the Russo-Japanese War and Russia’s bid for influence on the Korean Peninsula. Korea became a protectorate of Japan and was formally annexed in 1910. The wars and the impact of Japanese colonialism uprooted thousands of Koreans, who migrated to cities and port areas in search of employment. Many were recruited by Hawaiian sugar planters looking to replace Chinese and Japanese sugar cane workers who were protesting for better working conditions. Christian missionaries, led to Korea by U.S. diplomat Horace Allen, also promoted immigration, describing Hawaii to new converts as a Christian paradise. The first group to arrive was the 102 Koreans—56 men, 21 women and 25 children—aboard the SS Gaelic, on January 13, 1903. By 1905, there were some 7,000 Koreans on the islands.
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Koreans in Hawaii Korean plantation workers in Hawaii typically contracted for terms of three to five years with a single plantation owner to pay back the costs of recruitment and passage to the United States. The owners segregated and paid field laborers differential wages according to “race,” pitting one group against another. To keep up their spirits, Korean laborers wrote traditional poetry and sang folk songs while working in the fields, describing the terrible conditions of labor and overbearing bosses in a foreign tongue that overseers could not understand. Like other Asian workers, they had no real opportunities to advance because only whites could hold positions of power and authority. Thus, many Koreans eventually left for the mainland to look for better opportunities, while some returned to Korea. Between 1905 and 1924, several thousand more Koreans came to the United States as “picture brides.” These brides differed from contemporary “mail-order brides” because they came as a result of customary Korean marriage practices and they married Korean men. The U.S.-Japan “Gentleman’s Agreement” of 1908 banned immigration of Koreans and Japanese to the United States. However, through a loophole, those already in the United States were able to bring in wives and children. The sugar barons of Hawaii exploited this loophole with the belief that Korean workers with families would be more inclined to settle down the on the plantations rather than moving on. In contrast, Koreans on the mainland were almost exclusively men, many of whom had left their wives and children back home. Due to racist antimiscegenation laws, which prohibited men of color from marrying white women, most single men had no chance of family life. Nevertheless, the very first Korean American families were formed by these earliest groups of immigrants giving rise to five generations of Korean Americans. Among the most well-known offspring of the first generation is Philip Ahn. Born March 29, 1905, in Highland Park, California, Ahn was the first Asian American actor to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Also, Dr. Sammy Lee, born August 1, 1920, in Fresno, California, became the first Asian American to win a gold medal for the United States in the diving competition of the 1948 Olympic Games. And the highly decorated hero of World War II and the Korean War, and community leader, Young Oak Kim, was born in 1919 in Los Angeles. Members of these oldest generations found their way to all walks of life and have given their encouragement and generous support over the years to each wave of newcomers from Korea.
Korean Americans and the Korean Independence Movement Prior to these first waves of immigration, a very small number of Korean intellectuals had already set foot in the United States. So Jae Pil, also known as Philip Jaisohn, arrived in 1885 and, in 1890, became the first Korean to receive
Korean Americans: History, People, and Culture
U.S. citizenship. Ahn Chang Ho arrived in 1899, followed by Syngman Rhee and Park Yong Man in 1904. These individuals and their fellow expatriates were prominent advocates of Korea’s modernization and leaders in a vibrant overseas Korean independence movement. Korean Americans formed and funded many associations (e.g., New People’s Association, Mutual Assistance Associations, Korean Women’s Patriotic League, etc.) to support the sovereignty of Korea. They published newspapers and wrote about nationalist struggles in the United States and Korea, keeping alive the spirit of independence. Nationalists such as Chang In-Hwan, who assassinated American diplomat Durham Stevens in San Francisco in 1908 for making public statements justifying Japanese rule over Korea, became heroes of the independence movement.
Immigration after the Korean War (1950–1953) Korea was liberated from Japan on August 15, 1945, at the end of World War II, only to be divided at the 38th Parallel by the United States and the Soviet Union, leading to the emergence of two rival states on the Korean Peninsula—the U.S.-backed government of Syngman Rhee in the south and the Soviet-backed government of Kim Il Sung in the north. In the ensuing Korean War (1950–1953), millions of Koreans on both sides were killed; countless left homeless and orphaned. The war ended in a truce. No peace treaty has ever been signed; Korea remains divided. Immigration after the war was still highly restricted by U.S. laws. The largest groups to immigrate were those sponsored by U.S. citizens—Korean War brides and orphans. The number of war brides arriving in the United States between 1950 and 1975 is estimated at 28,205. They followed their husbands and settled down to raise families in a strange new land, many still suffering from posttraumatic stress disorders resulting from the war. Korean War brides played a central role in supporting their extended families and facilitating the growth of the Korean American population. War brides became American citizens and then sponsored their families. It is estimated that nearly half of all Korean Americans can attribute their immigration to the United States to a war bride. Approximately 200,000 Korean children to date have been adopted by families in the West, of which an estimated 150,000 were sent to the United States. Overseas adoption from Korea originally began as a rescue operation for Korean War orphans. Korean children were adopted primarily by white, middle-class families throughout the United States. Cut off from their culture and history, many struggled with identity issues in isolation, but today adoptees are actively organizing to support each other. The richly varied experiences of Korean adoptees growing up in the United States and coming to terms with the circumstances of their adoption are being revealed by adoptees in poetry, literature, documentary films, and educational forums.
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Contemporary Immigration The Korean American population of today, which numbers some 1.6 million according to the U.S. Census American Community Survey of 2008, originated from push-pull factors emerging in the mid-1960s. The export-led economic policies of South Korea, accompanied by harsh dictatorial rule, resulted in massive overcrowding and unemployment in urban areas. At the same time, the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 ended discriminatory race-based quotas limiting immigration from Asian countries. As a result, tens of thousands of unemployed and underemployed Koreans, many well educated, left Korea to raise their families in the United States and other countries. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Korean workers, professionals and students arrived in the United States at the rate of 30,000 per year, leveling off to approximately 15,000 per year from the 1990s to the present. The population is scattered throughout the United States, with major concentrations in southern and northern California, New York City, New Jersey, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, Atlanta, and Washington, DC.
Sa-I-Gu The rapid growth of Korean immigration in the 1970s and 1980s and the proliferation of Korean businesses in depressed urban communities coincided with waves of immigrants from Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Mexico, and Central America rushing to the inner cities of the United States. At the same time, deindustrialization, white flight to the suburbs, and a withering of the social safety net decimated entire communities, resulting, in part, in the extreme marginalization of large segments of the African American population. By the early 1990s South Central Los Angeles was beset with decades of pent-up frustrations, often flaring up in altercations between Korean store owners and their African American clientele, with tragic consequences for both. The Los Angeles riots of 1992 were precursed in part by the death of Latasha Harlins, an African American teenager who was shot by a Korean American shopkeeper in 1991, and the 1992 verdicts in the police beatings of Rodney King. The violence resulted in 53 deaths, including one Korean American, and $1 billion in damages, of which $400 million occurred in Koreatown. Known as “Sa-I-Gu,” meaning “April 29,” it is the most traumatic episode in Korean American history. But in response, Korean Americans across the country organized in defense of their community, pursued dialogs with the African American community, and engaged in other forms of social activism as never before. In its aftermath, 40,000 Koreans marched in Los Angeles demanding peace, justice for Rodney King, and reparations for damages to Korean American–owned businesses. It was the largest demonstration in Korean American history.
Korean Americans: History, People, and Culture
Korea and Korean America The prime motivation for Korean immigration to the United States has been the proverbial search for a better life. Indeed, Korea’s modern history is replete with tragedy: colonization, division, the Korean War, military coups, dictatorships, and a forced march to industrialization. But starting in 1987, hard-fought struggles for democracy and worker’s rights in South Korea began to bear fruit. The promise of a better life could be seen at home, and immigration to the United States dropped. If North and South Korea are able to achieve their common goal of peaceful reconciliation and joint prosperity as agreed to by the leaders of North and South Korea in their historic summit meetings of 2000 and 2007, even fewer may feel the need to leave home in search of opportunity. Whether in large or small numbers, newly arrived immigrants to these shores will find well-established Korean American communities in which to do business, make friends, and raise families. They will be greeted by a new generation of community leaders who are bilingual, bicultural, and able to advocate for the civil rights of newcomers. They can be found in all realms of society, from politics and law (Paul Shin, Sam Yoon, and Angela Oh) to academia (Elaine Kim and Harold Koh) to sports (Michelle Wie and Hines Ward) to Hollywood (John Cho and Margaret Cho) to the arts (Nam June Paik and Karen O) and journalism (K. W. Lee and Suchin Pak). But whatever their fortunes in the United States may be, Korean Americans continue to celebrate their heritage and to keep alive the hope that peace, reconciliation, and reunification will one day prevail in Korea. —Paul L. Liem, Kathleen M. Nadeau, and Terry K. Park
Further Reading Abelmann, Nancy, and Lie, John. Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997. Bong Youn Choy. Koreans in America. Washington, DC: Burnham Inc., Publishing, 1979. Chang, Sucheng. Asian Americans: An Interpretive History. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1991. Cho, Grace. Haunting the Korean Diaspora, Shame Secrecy, and the Forgotten War. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2008. Cumings, Bruce. Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. Djun Kil Kim. The History of Korea. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005. Eui-Young Yu, Peter Choe, and Sang Il Han. “Korean Population in the United States, 2000, Demographic Characteristics and Socio-Economic Status.” International Journal of Korean Studies 6(1) (Spring–Summer 2002): 71–107. Jo, Sunny. “The Making of KAD Nation,” In Jane Jeong Trenka, Julia Chinyere Oparah, and Sun Yung Shin, eds. Outsiders Within. Cambridge, MA: Southend Press, 2006.
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Korean Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Kim, Elaine. Home Is Where the Han Is: A Korean American Perspective on the Los Angeles Upheavals. Asian American Studies. Edited by Jean Yu-Wen Shen Wu and Min Song. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000. Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from a Different Shore. New York: Back Bay Books, Little Brown and Company, 1998.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Several types of ghosts (gwisin) recur in Korean folklore and have found their way into Korean America. Many Korean representations of ghosts invoke sympathy instead of horror or fear for the unquiet dead, the nonhumans that may appear in the shapes of snakes or foxes, or the main characters that develop a close relationship with the ghosts. For example, unlike vampires or werewolves in Western folklore that may have been or are part human and prey upon others, the nine-tailed fox (Kumiho) has lived for thousands of years and transforms itself into an enchanting woman out of a desire to become human. In some oral tales regarding the nine-tailed fox, the creature is benevolent and falls in love with a human protagonist, and in some versions, she becomes permanently human. Various representations of the ninetailed fox were made popular in Hometown of Legends (Jeonseolui Gohyang), the longest running drama series made for television with 700 episodes that aired in South Korea and on KBS affiliate stations in the U.S. and Hawaii from 1977 to 1989 (and intermittently until 1999 and again in 2008 and 2009). Another example of a well-known ghost figure, which had been popularized in early silent Korean films in the 1920s and is recycled in U.S. film remakes today, is that of the virgin ghost (Cheonyeo Gwisin) that historians date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The virgin ghost is characterized by traces of being alive, signified by her long straight and still-growing hair, and fresh blood on her face and white mourning clothes. Some folklorists suggest it is her willpower to seek vengeance regarding her unjust death that keeps her in the transitional state between life and death. Tales about the virgin ghost usually emphasize the relationship with a living protagonist who is able to uniquely hear her voice and is compelled to investigate the crime that was committed against her. While ghost stories during the Three Kingdoms period, and those later authored by Kim Si-up (1435–1493), tended to emphasize the subjectivity, alienation, and class anxieties of the investigating scholar or government official who fell in love with the virgin ghost, contemporary versions tend to emphasize the gender and sexuality of the ghost, the struggle to gain public acknowledgment for the circumstances surrounding the crimes committed against her, and the nature and cycles of vengeance that ensues.
Korean Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
In addition to the virgin ghost and the nine-tailed fox, ghosts in Korean folklore and contemporary popular culture representing the passing of ancestors who had been married and may presently receive ritual sustenance from their children or grandchildren are not uncommon. These ghosts are often characterized by their restlessness and acts of ancestral malevolence that manifest as a result of suffering some sort of injustice. They are said to haunt abandoned building developments, schools, cemeteries, or forests. The representations of younger ghosts have slowly been gaining in popularity since the 1990s. Whereas young girls’ ghosts in folktales circulating in the Joseon dynasty (e.g., Janghwa-Hongryeon), were figured within a difficult family life at the hands of an evil step-mother, contemporary representations of high school girls’ ghosts, exemplified by the South Korean Whispering Corridor film franchise, indicate a growth in social commentary about educational and other inequities experienced by young people in society. Moreover, representations of younger ghosts in Korean immigrant or Korean diasporic literature, not unlike those in Chinese immigrant literature, tend to be associated together with representations of ghosts of first-generation ancestors that wander with the stress suffered from being so far away from their birthplaces to give form to experiences of translation and translocation. —Tammy Ko Robinson See also: Korean Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Choe, Key-sook. “Female Ghost and the Hidden Language in Her Crying Voice.” In Bol 08 Ghosts. Seoul. Insa Art Space, 2008. Kendall, Laurel. “Wood Imps, Ghosts, and Other Noxious Influences: The Ideology of Affliction in a Korean Village.” Journal of Korean Studies 3 (1981): 113–145.
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration Korean American arts, crafts, and home decorations are characterized by their quest for identity between Korean origin and American citizenship, frequently drawn from Korean historic cultural practices yet visibly mingled with latest electronic technology. The arts, crafts, and home decorations in Korean America reveal an intricate immigrant consciousness of hybridity, i.e., in-betweenness. The arts and crafts in Korean America have illustrated the hybrid experiences in several ways. First of all, some artists search their Koreanness by directly drawing motifs from traditional Korean life. Heesung Yang in her painting focuses on
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the white color, that of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), to symbolize women’s suffering during the period when women were the most harshly treated throughout the entire Korean history. Rah Hwang reconstructs the image of Buddha, drawing her family experience in a Buddhist temple, while Dae Seo takes Korean funeral portraits as an important theme of his photos, offering his emotional interpretations of Korean American senior women. The traditional Korean themes are also strongly present in Korean crafts. Sooja Kim’s traditional Korean wrapping cloths (pojagi) serves as a metaphor for nomadism since pojagi has been used to wrap items to carry on trips. Chung Hyun Cho’s stoneware chimneys are inspired by the ever-present kimchee (a marinated cabbage dish) containers found in every Korean home. Another important theme in Korean American arts and crafts is their life in the United States. A Mirror Woman, Sooja Kim’s seminal artwork using Korean bedspreads, focuses on the sense of displacement experienced by Korean immigrant women. Other artists portray the various aspects of life in the United States, such as Korean American adoptees and Korean American small businesses. The response and commentary on Korean American religions also constitute an important section of the arts and crafts. Some artists evoke the image of Jesus Christ by making crowns of thorns in their crafts, others a sculpture of Jesus Christ. Yong Baek Lee’s Between Buddha and Jesus Christ, a video featuring the faces of Buddha and Jesus, makes a critical commentary of religious exclusivity. Home decorations in Korean America are not free from the tension of the hybrid identity. Many Korean Americans view their home as a safe haven from Americanization. They can express their true selves by speaking Korean, eating Korean food, and watching Korean videos or TV. Most Korean homes maintain American home structure: a living room with sofa, a Western indoor kitchen, a dining room with a dining table and chairs, and bedrooms with beds and desks, in contrast to the Korean style of furniture without chairs. However, they try to decorate their homes with as many Korean objects as possible: Korean dolls wearing Korean clothing, hanbok, hand-carved wood wedding ducks to symbolize long-lasting marriage, and celadon pottery of various figures and sizes. Wood and brass furniture with brass hinges and a brass medallion originated from the Chosun dynasty are used as an end table or other chests as well. The copies of Korean traditional paintings by the Choson dynasty artists, Hongdo Kim and Yoonbok Sin, are also popular items of Korean American home decoration, since their portraits of everyday life during the Chosun dynasty invoke nostalgia to many Korean Americans. Religious art items are also frequently found in Korean American homes, since 75 percent of Korean Americans attend Christian churches. Various kinds of pictures of Jesus Christ as well as some biblical verses written in hand-brushed Korean calligraphy represent the centrality of the ethnic church in their everyday life. In sum, Korean arts, crafts and home decorations
Korean Americans: Children and Folk Song
reveal an unsettling field of contradiction in which tradition coexists with modernity as Koreanness is intertwined with American identity. —Kyejung R. Yang
Further Reading Dhingra, Pawan. Managing Multicultural Lives: Asian American Professionals and the Challenge of Multiple Identities. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007. Heartney, Eleanor. “Report from Hawaii: Korean Crossing.” Art in America 92(8) (2004): 60–65. Korean Cultural Services. Green Light: Twenty Young Korean Artists in New York. New York: Korean Cultural Services, 2004.
Children and Folk Song Korean American folk songs and children’s tales are embedded within Korean folktales. Korean folktales can be divided into three categories: myth, legend, and folktale/song. They contain Korean culture, religion, and custom—encapsulating all things representative of the Korean way of life, including beliefs, wisdom, hardship, humor, and hope. These tales have been orally passed on through generations, and with every new ear that hears, further engraining their stories into the woodwork of a nation. Horace N. Allen first translated a number of Korean folktales to English in 1889. Korean myths include stories of the mythical foundations of Korean kingdoms and dynasties. For example, the story “Dan-Gun, First King of Korea” describes how Korea was founded and the birth of its first king. Korean myths often present historical characters as supernatural heroes. The story “Go Zu-Mong” tells of how the founding kings of Korea were born from a big egg. Korean legends describe how certain things came to be. They tell the origins of the sun, the moon, Earth, stars, mountains, rivers, animals, and plants. For example, the legend “The Sun and the Moon” describes the origins of both the sun and moon. The story “The Green Frog” describes why green frogs cry on rainy days. The story “The Heavenly Lady and the Woodcutter” reveals why roosters cry out with necks stretched out toward heaven. Korean folktales are stories, fables, and songs for children and are mainly about ordinary people’s lives. Mainly influenced by Confucianism, Korean folktales carry a strong emphasis on the importance of moral value and filial piety. Folktales like “Hungu and Nolbu” stress Confucian virtue by rewarding morally upright behavior and punishing dishonest character. Tales like “The Magic Mallet” contain lessons of filial piety by concluding stories with blessing for good actions and punishment for bad ones. The tales are often family oriented and usually
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describe familial conflict while placing specific emphasis on behavior within the family. Elements of Korean traditional folk religion have been brought into Korean folktales. Shamanism worships spirits believed to inhabit every object on Earth. Goblins or ghosts are considered spirits of wicked people trapped in a purgatory state and left to wander the world, bringing hardship and trouble to people. Korean goblins, called “doggabi,” often appear in Korean folktales as important characters. The goblin’s mallet in “The Magic Mallet” is described as a magical tool with the power to change fortunes. Like other East Asian folktales, Korean folktales often incorporate Buddhist elements. However, Korean folktales do not always associate Buddhism with positive ways and often describe monks as wicked characters, ultimately criticizing their misbehavior. People use folktales as an outlet for expressing honest opinions about societal injustice and the hierarchy of government. Korean folktales reflect the voices of people through history, framing it in sounds of happiness, wrath, and hope and left to be retold to passing generations. A number of folktales remain popular among Korean Americans. Korean American families and Korean language schools in the United States often adopt bilingual books of Korean folktales in both English and Korean. From young ages, Korean children have access to these stories and grow up with such morals and warnings engrained in their minds and hearts. Over time, the stories cross the boundaries of leisure reading and become a pertinent source of life lessons to be wholeheartedly passed on to kin. Korean folktales play an important role in preserving and reinforcing Korean American traditional value, attitude, culture, and beliefs and aid in continually reconstituting Korean American identity. —Young Suk Hwang See also: Korean Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Grayson, James Huntley. “The Hungbu and Nolbu Tale Type: A Korean Double Contrastive Narrative Structure.” Folklore 113(1) (April 2002): 51–69. Zong, In-Sob. Folktales from Korea. New York: Grove Press, Inc, 1979.
Children’s Literature and Folklore Korean stories for American children originated in the early part of the 20th century in the form of folktales imported by Americans traveling abroad. As early as 1904, Dr. Horace Allen, an American diplomat, published a collection titled Korean Tales.
Korean Americans: Children’s Literature and Folklore
Thereafter came more folktale collections, such as Frances Carpenter’s Tales of a Korean Grandmother (1947). Some tales in these collections are indigenous to Korea; for example, “The Bear and the Tiger” is a pourquoi tale that explains the origins of Korea. As well, some tales stem from other traditions, such as Berta Metzger’s “The Wise Judge,” an adaptation of the Bible’s “Solomon Wisely Judges.” The first fictional novel depicting Koreans is Lucy Herndon Crockett’s Pong Choolie, You Rascal! a children’s novel published in 1951 and set in postcolonial Korea. Immediately after the Korean War, Faith Norris and Peter Lum published Kim of Korea (1955), a story of a Korean orphan who is adopted by a white American soldier; most of the story takes place in Korea. Just two years later, Helen Doss’s A Brother the Size of Me was the first children’s picture book to depict a transnationally adopted Korean-Japanese child in the United States; this is in accordance with American middlebrow culture’s aggressive promotion of intercultural relations, particularly through white Americans transnationally/transracially adopting Asian children (Klein 2003). More than 50 children’s stories depicting transnational adoption have been published consistently from 1955 through 2009. Marie G. Lee, a Korean American born and raised in Minnesota, is largely credited for being the first Korean American young adult novelist. While her plots tend to be driven by race-related issues and promote an assimilationist worldview, they are groundbreaking in that they provide the first real opportunity for contemporary Korean American males and females, as well as Korean adoptees, to see reflections of themselves in the literature. Since the turn of the 20th century, Korean American authors have been distinguished for the quality of their children’s and young adult stories. In 2002, Linda Sue Park won the John Newbery Medal for her historical novel, A Single Shard. The same year, An Na received the Michael L. Printz Award for A Step from Heaven, a deeply moving and beautifully written novel about a contemporary Korean immigrant family. Stories published in the 1980s and 1990s tended to be driven by issues of immigration and assimilation, while later stories tend to reflect more complicated issues that are informed but not driven by race and culture. For example, author Paula Yoo (Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story and Good Enough) writes both historical fiction and reflections of contemporary Korean America with nuance and humor. We have seen fewer translations from Korea compared to Japan, but Korean children’s literature offers rich potential for publishers with the initiative to import and translate it. —Sarah Park See also: Korean Americans: Children and Folk Song; Literature.
Further Reading Klein, Christina. Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, 1945–1961. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
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Web Site Park, Sarah. (2009). SarahPark.com. http://sarahpark.com
Clothes and Jewelry Clothing and jewelry in Korean America reflects Korean American hybrid identity as an ethnic minority living in a foreign country. Korean Americans express their Koreanness through different types of clothing. First of all, clothing of Koreans in America is characterized by Korean traditional clothing, hanbok, and traditional accessories such as norigae, a traditional pendant, and bokjumoni, a brightly
Members of the Korean American Association of Chicago wearing traditional hanbok dresses wave as they ride on their float during the Memorial Day Parade, May 27, 2000, in Chicago. The parade, consisting of over 160 marching units and floats, helped commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Korean War. (Tim Boyle/Newsmakers)
Korean Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
colored pouch. Most of the first-generation Korean Americans possess and/or wear hanbok in traditional Korean holidays (e.g., Chuseok, a full moon festival in the fall), other special occasions (e.g., New Year’s Day, Easter) or the multicultural celebrations (e.g., an International Fair). They seek to transmit Korean culture by buying their children hanbok especially for babies’ first birthday or 100th day celebration (a traditional feast to celebrate babies’ survival). Kaeryang hanbok (reformed hanbok) popularized in Korea as a symbol of Korean nationalism since 1990s, has been also introduced to Korean Americans due to the frequent transnational cultural flow between Korea and America. Korean American clothing and jewelry often reflect the transnational linkage between Korea and Korean America particularly in politics: Korean Americans are easily affected by the Korean Peninsula’s political issues such as the minjung nationalist movement, and the Dokdo issue. The minjung movement, starting with 1980s student movement, has focused upon raising critical consciousness of the popular masses and revived the traditional farmers’ culture such as their music, minyo, and their clothing, minbok. Korean American cultural groups practicing samulnori, a Korean farmers’ dance, express their agreement to minjung nationalism by wearing minbok and practicing the dance. Dokdo, a Korean island claimed as a Japanese territory, has been regarded as a representation of Korean identity to Koreans in America especially when they wear T-shirts with the caption in Korean, “Dokdoneun uri ttang,” translated as “Dokdo is our land.” By expressing the same kind of hostility toward Japan through clothing, Koreans in America link themselves to the Korean Peninsula and forge their identity as Korean American distinguished from other Asian Americans. Korean American clothing and jewelry are, however, not exactly identical to Korean clothing. Some type of Korean American clothing is viewed as a sign of Americanization to Koreans. A big dangling earrings or a spaghetti-strapped shirt is one of many examples that Koreans point out as foreign. On the flip side, Korean Americans view a certain type of clothing made from Korea as strange, such as men’s ankle-length pants. This type of clothing has become a symbol of FOBs (fresh off boat), clumsy and inadequate immigrants who do not know much of the life in the United States. Korean American clothing and jewelry thus illustrate the process Korean American reconstruction of their hybrid identity as uniquely Korean yet rooted in American society. —Kyejung R. Yang
Further Reading Choe, Ok-ja. “Jewelry Tells Its Story.” Korean Culture 1(1) (1980): 15–19. Gwak, Sonya S. Becoming Korean in the United States: Exploring Ethnic Identity Formation through Cultural Practices. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2008.
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Korean Americans: Comfort Women Ruhlen, Rebecca N., “Korean Alterations: Nationalism, Social Consciousness, and ‘Traditional’ Clothing.” In Sandra Niessen, Ann Marie Leshkowich, and Carla Jones, eds. Re-orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress. Oxford, UK: Berg, 2003.
Comfort Women The term “comfort women” euphemistically describes women who were enlisted by the Japanese army to work in military brothels (or “comfort” stations) as sex slaves during World War II. Between 1932 and 1945, women, mostly from such Japanese-occupied territories as Korea, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Dutch East Indies, were recruited with false offers of factory or military jobs or were abducted from their homes. Roughly 200,000 comfort women, some as young as 12, were forced into prostitution to serve as Japanese soldiers’ “recreation.” Though the debates about the exact numbers are still ongoing, only 25 percent of comfort women are reported to have survived, most of whom were unable to have children as a result of the multiple rapes and diseases they contracted. These women were confronted with horrific conditions in the comfort stations; in addition to daily multiple rapes, they were often physically tortured, starved, kept in confinement, and forbidden to speak amongst one another. When the war was over, the surviving women were, more often than not, ostracized as “fallen women” and were shamed into silence and obscurity in efforts to write them out of the national discourse; the Japanese government also destroyed most of their official records pertaining to their wartime atrocities. In this way, comfort women became doubly victimized by the Japanese army and the patriarchal forces of their own governments. Despite ploys to expunge the poignant stories of their plight from public consciousness, former jungun ianfu (or comfort women serving in the war), with the help of feminist activists and academics, started to come forward in the 1990s to bring much-needed awareness to their neglected history; Nora Okja Keller, the Korean American author of Comfort Woman, is said to have written her award-winning novel after hearing the story of a former Korean comfort woman at a symposium on human rights at the University of Hawaii. Two decades since the narratives of comfort women began to surface, the current Japanese government has yet to accept legal responsibility of their involvement in establishing and maintaining military brothels. Even as incriminating evidence against Imperial Japan’s sexploitation of comfort women is being amassed, the opposing voices striving to discredit those of comfort women and their supporters are also gaining momentum. In Korea, former comfort women and their supporters have been holding weekly rallies in front of the Japanese
Korean Americans: Domestic Religious Practices
Embassy in Seoul; there is a real sense of urgency in their demands for an apology and reparations as many of these ianfu grandmothers (as they are reverently called) have started to pass away. In 1992, the “House of Sharing” was established to provide homes to the former comfort women and to display historical records about and oral histories of comfort women. It has also become a site of education about the Japanese army’s brutal abuse of Korean women and one of remembrance for these courageous survivors who overcame insurmountable challenges to keep them silent and invisible. In late 2008, there was a clash over the construction of a museum dedicated to former comfort women at Independence Park in Seoul as the supporters of the comfort women cause faced resistance from surviving veterans of the Korean Independence Movement; needless to say, the comfort women issue remains a highly political and “uncomfortable” one in Korea, Japan, and the rest of East Asia, and the recent events remind us that the narrative of comfort women is one still in the making. —Hyeyurn Chung
Further Reading Hicks, George L. The Comfort Women: Japan’s Brutal Regime of Enforced Prostitution in the Second World War. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997. Kim-Gibson, Dai Sil. Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women. Parkersburg, IA: Mid-Prairie Book, 1999. Schellstede, Sangmie Choi. Comfort Women Speak: Testimony by Sex Slaves of the Japanese Military. Teaneck, NJ: Holmes & Meier Publishers, 2000.
Domestic Religious Practices To understand domestic religious practices in Korean America, it is essential to understand the religious spectrum of the immigrant community. Approximately, 75 percent of Korean Americans identify themselves as Protestant Christians, while the rest are Catholics, Buddhists, or people with no religious affiliation. The religious practices of Protestant Christians are predominantly church-bound except for individual devotions, family worships, and cell-group meetings. Catholics also participate in the church-centered rituals, but their domestic rituals are different from those of Protestants. Korean Buddhists in America are organized as a congregation and participate in regular Sunday services at the temples, Sa-chal, in contrast to traditional Korean Buddhists who visit the temples only for special occasions while practicing mostly home-bound rituals. Some people without any religious affiliation practice a few Korean ancestral worship services, je-sa, at home.
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Protestant Christians practice religious worship services or activities far more at church than at home following the churches’ guideline suggested by pastors who encourage people to participate in church-centered rituals. However, many Korean pastors also highlight the importance of domestic rituals: particularly daily individual devotions and family worship services. Regular lay members are recommended to read the Bible, praise hymns, and pray for their requests at their daily devotion. Family worship services are recommended, but many Korean Americans do not practice them due to their busy work schedules and/or language barriers in which the first-generation parents can not lead the worship services in English. Another domestic religious practice among Korean American Protestants is a cell church worship, in which a small group of church members and possible newcomers gather at home, sharing Korean meals, studying the Bible, and praising and praying together on a regular basis (once a week or every two weeks). This type of worship creates a strong sense of belonging and solidarity among members so that they are willing to help provide advice and support for other group members. The minority of Korean Americans are Catholics, Buddhists, and nonbelievers. The domestic rituals of Catholics engage in a rosary prayer, using rosary beads and reciting the repeated sequence of vocal prayers such the Lord’s Prayer and Hail Mary. Some Catholics pray to a domestic altar devoted to St. Mary, often accompanied by a lit candle. Buddhist domestic rituals are similar to their rituals at the temple, multiple bowing to the Buddha figurine and burning incense. But a lot of Korean Buddhists in America want to hide their identity as a minority in the Christian world, so they set up their altar at a secret place where none of the visitors have access. Amulets made by monks are frequently affixed at various places of home as well as inside of their pillows and other beddings to ward off evil forces and/or to bless their family members for material prosperity, academic success for children, or general health. Some of the acclaimed nonbelievers in Korean American community in fact practice a few ancestral worship services, je-sa, at the domestic arena in which the descendants venerate their ancestral spirits and ensure their well-being so that those spirits protect the remaining family members and possibly endow them with blessings such as health and money. In addition to the belief that the deceased continue to live and influence the living positively and/or negatively, Confucianism’s emphasis on filial piety obligates some Korean Americans to practice this domestic ritual. Catholics in general observe je-sa to commemorate their ancestors, while Buddhists often set up on an altar to pray for the ancestral spirits to have a safe journey to heaven. Even Protestant Christians who officially denounce je-sa as a worship of evil spirits still perform a domestic ritual to commemorate the dead parents on their birthdays or the days of their death, inviting close relatives, cooking a grand meal, and having a special worship service to remember the dead
Korean Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
ancestors. In sum, domestic religious practices in Korean America have been an unsettling category in which Buddhism, Catholicism, and Protestantism as well as the deep-rooted Confucianism coexist, influence one another, and reconstruct a uniquely Korean American identity. —Kyejung R. Yang See also: Korean Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Religion.
Further Reading Ebaugh, Helen Rose, and Janet Saltzman Chafetz. “Agents for Cultural Reproduction and Change: The Ironic Role of Women in Immigrant Religious Institutions.” Social Forces, 78, no. 2 (December 1999): 585–612. Janelli, Roger, and Dawnhee Janelli. Ancestor Worship and Korean Society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992. Su, Sharon. Being a Buddhist in a Christian World: Gender and Community in a Korean American World. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004. Yang, Kyejung, and Chigon Kim. “Religion as a Site of Resistance and Empowerment: Korean Military Brides and Their Cultural Practices of Resistance.” Studies of Koreans Abroad 21, special issues (February 2010): 287–320.
Dying and Death Rituals There are no definitive accounts of Korean Americans and their death and dying rituals, ostensibly because they are a diverse population. For example, Korean Americans may have different religious and spiritual beliefs, personal philosophies, worldviews, immigration histories, levels of socialization, acculturation, assimilation, education, socioeconomic status, or class; they may live in different parts of the United States; and their country of origin may be a country other than Korea. Thus, Korean Americans may view death from a multitude of perspectives, influenced by traditional Korean (remote or more recent) and/or mainstream American cultures, but perhaps others as well. For example, some Korean American Buddhists may go to great lengths to ensure that their loved ones die in their homes to prevent their spirits from becoming gaekgwi, or ghosts. Upon dying, family members may mourn the death by wailing, or performing a gok. A gok reflects sorrow and a sense of guilt out of feeling that survivors should have done more to help prevent the death. The mourning period has been drastically decreased over the years, from over a month in the 18th century to the current tradition of three days. Some Korean American Buddhists may prefer cremation, as opposed to their Christian counterparts, who may prefer internment. Funeral attendees are expected to wear simple,
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unostentatious, or revealing clothing or jewelry. Surviving family members’ outward demonstration or expression of happy feelings and mood following a family death is considered inappropriate behavior, but the duration of this behavior varies among Korean Americans. Korean American Buddhists may believe that they will be reborn after death and return as either higher or lower life-forms, depending on how well or poorly they lived their previous lives. Or, Korean Americans may view death in the Christian tradition as an estimated 70–80 percent of Korean Americans are Christian. Korean Americans may have superstitions about death. For example, because the color white represents funerals, it is believed that if you wear white ribbons in your hair, you are inviting death. If you dream about somebody who is deceased, you are to resist answering their questions or going anywhere with that person in your dream; otherwise, you will die in your sleep. However, there is apparently one positive death-related dream: If you die in your dream, this is a sign of good luck in real life. Another interesting superstition is that deceased persons return to their home to attend to unfinished business three days after their death. Such stories include a grandmother returning to her bedroom to watch television one last time in her rocking chair, and an elderly Korean man whose favorite activity was tending his garden returned to his yard to cut his grass one last time, with witnesses hearing his mower after midnight and his kitchen light on, despite having lived alone. Thus, one might expect Korean Americans to embrace a diversity of beliefs and rituals surrounded death and dying, influenced by any number of factors. —Herb Shon See also: Korean Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Religion; Superstition and Taboo.
Further Reading Jang, Yuri, David A. Chiriboga, Jessica Y. Allen, Jung Kwak, and William E. Haley. “Willingness of Older Korean-American Adults to Use Hospice.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 58 (2010): 352–356. Shon, Kathryn M. (third-generation Korean American physician). E-mail interview by author about Korean death and dying rituals. 2010.
Web Sites “Korean Funeral Rites.” AsianInfo Web site. http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/ cel/funeral_rites.htm (accessed April 2010). “Korean Superstitions” Life123 Web site. http://www.life123.com/holidays/halloween/ superstitions/korean-superstitions.shtml (accessed April 2010). “Ritual Behavior in South Korea” Socyberty Web site: http://socyberty.com/people/ ritual-behavior-in-south-korea/ (accessed April 2010).
Korean Americans: Family and Community
Family and Community Like most immigrants from Asia-Pacific countries, the majority of Korean immigrants came to the United States with their families, which was encouraged by the Immigration Reform Act of 1965. Caught between the old and new values, many South Korean immigrants and their children had to reconcile both, which has been difficult given the contrast between the two. Korean family values have been predicated on folk ideologies, such as Confucian collectivism, which has emphasized filial piety, family interest, obligation to parents, and mutual dependence among kin, as reflected in the traditional Korean extended-family system (dae gajok). On the other hand, American family values emphasize individual interests, intimacy, and independence, as reflected in the nuclear-based family system. In the mid-1980s, the average Korean family size in the United States was still considerably larger than the American norm, and the three-generation household was still prevalent. However, in recent years, the average size of Korean American families has diminished, and more Korean American families have become nuclear-based. Collectivism and interdependence are also salient in Korean American communities. For many Korean immigrants, Korean American communities serve a vital role. Many new arrivals turn to Korean American communities for various types of support, including housing, jobs, and legal services. Although Korean immigrants who come to the United States often have no choice but to rely on family members, some have turned to Korean American community members as well for financial support. A rotating credit system called gye, in which Korean community members pool their money and resources to support one another, is an example of interdependence among Korean Americans. The gye folk practice involves a monthly dinner meeting at a restaurant where each member pays a certain amount of money. High-stake gye, which amounts to $10,000 or more per person per month, was used by Korean entrepreneurs to finance small businesses or business expansion and, to a lesser degree, home purchases; a much lower-stake gye, about $500 to $1,000 per month, is used by families to accumulate funds for a down payment on business or housing. Notwithstanding a major setback from the Los Angeles Riot on April 29, 1992, in which over half of Korean-owned businesses were destroyed, many Korean– owned and operated businesses (e.g., stores, restaurants, dry cleaners) in Korean American communities have become highly prosperous, which has certainly been attributed to the Korean immigrants’ hard work and sacrifice, as well as to mutual inter-dependence among family and community members. —Jun Sung Hong See also: Korean Americans: Koreatown and Koreans Living Overseas.
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Further Reading Hurh, Won Moo. The Korean Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Park, Kyeyoung. The Korean American Dream: Immigrants and Small Business in New York City. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997. Ratner, Mitchell S. “Many Routes to Homeownership: A Four-Site Ethnographic Study of Minority and Immigrant Experiences.” Housing Policy Debate 7(1) (1996): 103–145.
Festivals and Holidays Along with adopting North American cultures and holidays, Korean Americans celebrate several traditional festivals rooted within Korean culture. Seollal (Korean New Year) and Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving) are important holidays most Korean Americans in the United States celebrate. These holidays are generally familyoriented; however, Koreans in the United States often celebrate such traditional holidays with community-based festivals. These celebrations promote multicultural interaction by inviting people of all ethnic groups to share in uniquely Korean tradition and heritage. Festivals include kite flying, Tae Kwon Do (Korean martial art) demonstrations, Korean traditional folk dance, and musical performances.
Korean American girls in the Traditional Korean Dance Company from New Jersey practice their routine before the start of Lunar New Year Parade in New York, February 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Korean Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
Seollal, or Korean New Year’s Day, is the biggest traditional Korean American holiday and is celebrated on the first day of each new lunar year. It normally falls between late January and late February by the Gregorian calendar and is typically the same day as the Chinese New Year. On this day, entire families gather to perform ancestral worship. Since approximately 75 percent of the Korean Americans in the United States are either Protestant or Catholic, ancestral rites are replaced with religious services such as prayer and hymn. On Seollal, people bathe early in the morning and dress in colorful Korean traditional attire known as Hanbok. Following the ritual/religious service, children perform deeps bows of respect to parents and elders as a New Year’s greeting, wishing them prosperity and blessing in the year to come. Elders commonly present children money and words of wisdom in return for their respectful bows. The traditional dish served on Seollal is Ddukguk, a soup composed of thinly sliced rice cake cooked with beef and egg. It is believed that eating Ddukguk brings luck for the New Year as well as an additional year of life. The most popular game played on Seollal is Yut-nori, a Parcheesi-type board game played with four wooden sticks and small tokens/markers for game pieces. The shape of the game board represents the Earth and sky, while 29 circles spread throughout represent stars. The individual or team that brings their markers home first wins the game. Chusok is also a traditional holiday largely celebrated by Korean Americans in the United States. Chusok is the Korean Thanksgiving and is observed on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month each year. On Chusok, or harvest moon, families traditionally visit ancestral grave sites and offer special dishes made with their first crops to express thankfulness for an abundant harvest. Families begin preparing special foods such as Jeon and Song-Pyon several days before Chusok. Jeon are savory grilled pancakes mixed with various ingredients like wheat flour batter, vegetables, and seafood. Song-Pyon are steamed rice cakes. Activities people partake in on Chusok include Korean wrestling, archery, and a turtle tag game. —Young Suk Hwang
Further Reading Yi, I-Hwa, E-Wha Lee, and Ju-Hee Park. Korea’s Pastimes and Customs: A Social History. Paramus, NJ: Homa & Sekey Books, 2006.
Folk Dance and Performance The origins of Korean American folk dance can be traced to ancient shamanistic rituals in Korea thousands of years ago. Among the many Korean folk dances, two in particular have become popular in the Korean American community. The first is the masked dance-drama (talchum). This type of dance, which was
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originally intended to entertain commoners, evolved to purify houses and villages, offer protection from calamities, and maintain a bountiful harvest. The second type of folk dance is the farmers’ band dance and music (nongak or pungmul). In conjunction with agricultural events, farmers paraded through villages, then stopped in large open areas to perform. In farmers’ band dance and music, as in many Korean dance forms, the interplay between dance and music, and dancers and musicians, is very important: dancers play musical instruments, and musicians perform highly stylized movements. They utilized wind instruments, drums, and gongs to create a loud cacophony while they danced. Hawaii was most likely the first location in the United States to receive these Korean folk dances. While Korean dance activities in Hawaii may have occurred as early as 1922, the person most often recognized as teaching and spreading Korean dance is Halla Pai Huhm. Huhm was trained in traditional Korean dance as well as ballet and modern dance. After she immigrated to Hawaii in 1949, Huhm became actively involved with Japanese, Chinese, Okinawan, and Filipino dance groups before establishing her own studio in the early 1950s. She also began teaching Korean dance at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1959. Today, the Halla Pai Huhm Korean Dance Studio has been the only continuous source of Korean dance and music in the United States. Both mask dance and, to a larger extent, pungmul is played in many Korean American communities across the United States. There are several communitybased pungmul groups in many cities, including Oakland (Jamaesori), Los Angeles (Chamsori), Chicago (Il Gwo Nori), New York City (more than five groups), and Philadelphia (Sori Mori). Many college-based groups exist, including almost every University of California campus, Stony Brook University (DDKY), Columbia University (Ho Heup), New York University (New York University Rhythmic Impulse), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Oori), Harvard University (KACC), Yale University (Unity), the University of Wisconsin (Ulsoo), the University of Chicago (Loose Roots), Cornell University (Shimtah), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Garak Madang), University of Buffalo (Sorimori), Syracuse University (Cheon Ji In), and Stanford University (Hwimori). Even though pungmul has rapidly gained popularity, it faces several challenges, such as lack of resources and teachers, lack of information on pungmul, and difficulty in obtaining or purchasing instruments. For second-generation Korean American pungmul players, who constitute a large majority of the pungmul scene, pungmul is a medium through which they can experience the cultural heritage of their parents’ motherland. For the 1.5 generation or recent immigrants from Korea, pungmul is a source of joy and pride about their culture. For non-Koreans, pungmul provides an enjoyable way to learn and experience aspects of Korean culture. —Terry K. Park
Korean Americans: Folk Music
Further Reading Hesselink, Nathan. P’ungmul. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. Van Zile, Judy. Perspectives on Korean Dance. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
Folk Music The Korean American community is composed of approximately 1.6 million individuals residing largely in California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Most Korean American designations refer to individuals originating from South Korea. In the same manner, folk music traditions originate from South Korea with little influence from the state-controlled and communist-steeped society of North Korea. The prevalence of Korean American folk music is largely underrepresented on a national scale. This is evidenced by a plethora of Christian-dominated and Europeanized musical practices. Consequently, the piano and other “Westernized” classical instrument lessons occupies the time of numerous Korean American children’s after-school activities. Some of the truly “Korean” instrumental works have been revived during the 1980s through the present day by the establishment of the UCLA-sponsored Korean Traditional Performing Arts Institute of America, Inc. based in Los Angeles, California. Musicians play on traditional instruments such as the daegeum (transverse bamboo flute), danso (small bamboo vertical flute), janggo (hourglass drum), gayageum (12-stringed zither), and haegeum (two-stringed fiddle). Besides institutional folk ensembles, most Korean Americans are involved in contemporary “Westernized” forms of hip-hop, R&B, jazz, rock, and pop. Two popular progenitors of Korean American hip hop include Tiger JK and DJ Shine, also known as Drunken Tiger. In the early 1990s, the music inspired a new, popular style of music previously unknown to other Korean Americans and South Koreans. However, many Korean Americans collaborated and performed with musical groups from South Korea. This is most notable with rap, hip-hop, and R&B groups. R&B musician and former gospel singer Lena Park is the most popular vocalist in South Korea today. She is often considered the South Korean equivalent of Japanese America’s Utada Hikaru. Brian Joo is another R&B singer of equal status with several popular albums released from 1999 to the present. The rock genre is represented by Karen Lee Orzolek of the band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Karen O is known for her flashy fashions, riotous stage antics, and indie/art punk-rock. Born in South Korea, Karen O was raised in Englewood, New Jersey, and attended the Tisch School of the Arts. Now based in Los Angeles, Karen O and her band have collaborated with other American videographers, composers,
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filmmakers, and actors for musical projects. In 2010, Karen O was nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media” for the song “All is Love” on the soundtrack for the 2009 film Where the Wild Things Are. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Korean Americans: Children and Folk Song; Music
Further Reading Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology Vol. VI: Asian Music In North America. 1985., s.v. “Korean Musical Culture in Los Angeles.”
Web Site Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association Inc. http://www.ktpaa.org/ us_/Welcome.html (accessed February 23, 2010).
Foods and Foodways Unique to Korean cuisine are the assortment of side dishes that accompanies the main dish. The many side dishes that are presented in Korean restaurants began as a way of expressing affluence and privilege towards the royal court during the Chosun dynasty period (1392–1910). Fine regional delicacies throughout Korea were brought to the royal family’s dining table, thus beginning the tradition of side dishes. Dishes from the varied regions relied upon the resources available, which were specific to each area; food from regions near the water was different in content, taste, and mode of preparation than dishes from drier parts of the country. There are numerous types and assortments of side dishes but a few popular ones include: kim-chi (fermented spicy cabbage), kkak-tu-gi (fermented spicy turnip), jap-chae (stir-fried cellophane noodles with vegetables), and na-mul (steamed and stir-fried roots and vegetables). In contemporary Korean cuisine, main meals generally consist of either shortgrain steamed rice, some vegetables, and meat (chicken, pork, fish, or beef ); or a noodle dish. Each main meat dish comes with specific accompaniments meant for that dish along with the traditional side dishes. For example, a popular Korean meal, kal-bi (marinated short ribs), is served with side dishes, dipping sauce, rice, lettuce, and a soup such as dwen-jang jji-gae (bean paste stew with beef, vegetables and tofu). Certain dishes have been customarily served on specific days or occasions. Rice cake soup is usually eaten on New Year’s Day as a symbol of luck and longevity for the upcoming year, which some people celebrate on both the calendar and
Korean Americans: Foods and Foodways
Korean American diners in a traditional Korean restaurant in Palisades Park, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)
lunar New Year. Another custom is hot seaweed soup, which is eaten for several weeks or months after a mother gives birth because seaweed is believed to help the mother’s recovery. Subsequently, some Koreans also eat seaweed soup on their birthdays as a reminder of their mothers. As the largest community of Koreans outside of Korea, Koreatown in Los Angeles is known to have a gamut of Korean restaurants. From restaurants and diners that serve all-you-can-eat meat (e.g., kalbi and bulgogi) to places that only serve different types of tofu stew (widely known as “tofu house”), Koreatown has become the beacon of Korean food where Koreans and non-Koreans patronize. Other places such as New Jersey and New York, which have a significant concentration of Korean Americans, have a growing number of Korean restaurants. Korean food has become popular outside of the four walls of a Korean home or restaurant because it is now more accessible to people of all tastes and cultures. It is popularly enjoyed for its range of side dishes, spicy soups and entrees, flavorful meats, and the specific cooking style of tableside grilling. Korean cuisine is often seen in array of places such as at weddings, funerals, graduation parties, and church events. Moreover, it is even served from food trucks or on carts near university campuses and highly populated metropolitan areas. —Esther Chihye Kim
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Further Reading Coultrip-Davis, Deborah, Young Sook Ramsay, and Deborah Davis. Flavors of Korea: Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine. Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Company, 1998. Min, Pyong Gap. “Korean Immigrants in Los Angeles.” In Ivan Light and Parminder Bhachu, eds. Immigration and Entrepreneurship: Culture, Capital and Ethnic Networks. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2004.
Web Site The Official Korea Tourism Guide Site (for information on Korean food and traditions). http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto.
Heroes and Heroines Korean Americans commemorated the centennial of their immigration to the United States in 2003. The fifth-largest ethnic group within a heterogeneous Asian American population, Korean Americans numbered over 1.2 million in the 2000 census. With this long history in the United States are also several heroes, notable figures in this community, which include political leaders, athletes, writers, and actors. Born in 1878, Ahn Chang Ho is a hero to Koreans and Korean Americans. As an activist and educator, his primary focus in life was to liberate Koreans from the colonization and oppression of the Japanese. Also known as “Dosan,” his pen name meaning “Island Mountain,” he worked tirelessly toward these efforts. He was believed to have written the Korean national anthem. In 1902, he left Korea with his wife, Helen Lee Ahn, and migrated to the United States to study western education with hopes of liberating Korea from the Japanese. Upon arriving in San Francisco, he witnessed fighting among Korean immigrant merchants, and decided that Koreans abroad must come together to support each other. In 1903 in San Francisco, Ahn Chang Ho organized students and merchants and formed the Korean Friendship Association, and later the Korean Mutual Assistance Society. He later also formed a Korean independence association throughout the United States to promote Korean independence and nationalism. He later moved to Shanghai to work with the Korean provisional government. In 1932, he was arrested by the Japanese and tortured, and he died in 1938 in prison. K. W. Lee is an award-winning journalist and the founding president of the Korean American Journalists Association. He has provided notable coverage on social issues such as the civil rights struggles in the South in the 1960s, and the Los Angeles riots—referred to as “Saigu” among Korean Americans—and its impact on Korean Americans. In addition, he was renowned for writing an investigative series on the conviction of Choi Soo Lee. In 1973, Chol Soo Lee was
Korean Americans: Heroes and Heroines
wrongly convicted of murdering a gang member in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Imprisoned for 10 years, four of those on San Quentin’s death row, Chol Soo Lee was sentenced for execution until exoneration in 1983. K. W. Lee wrote over 120 stories about the Chol Soo Lee case, prompting one of the first national Pan-Asian American community organizing movements in the United States. In 2003, TIME Asia released a special edition entitled “Asian Heroes,” which featured Asian luminaries in various industries, from sports to sciences. Heroes indeed came in all shapes and sizes. Those recognized as heroes in this special edition included celebrated basketball player Yao Ming to lesser-known scientists, such as Dr. Cynthia Maung. In South Korea, entertainers such as Rain and athletes such as Ji-Sung Park were regarded as heroes by fans across the nation and around the Asia-Pacific. Although several of these heroes are prominent in Asia and around the world, less has been known about Korean heroes in America despite the presence of 1.4 million Korean Americans. Due to their ties with the homeland, many Korean Americans regard major Korean historical figures—such as Great King Sejong (1418–1450), who invented hangul (the Korean alphabet) in 1446; Kim Gu (1876–1949), a nationalist who fought in the Korean independence movement; and Ryu Gwan-soon (1904–1920), a female leader in the Korean independence movement in 1919—as heroes. Even today, these historical figures are heroes and heroines to both Koreans and Korean Americans and hold a special place in their hearts. Although the number of Korean immigration to the United States grew after 1965, Korean Americans have been virtually overlooked by the American media, with the exception of the Los Angeles Riot in 1992, when they were portrayed by the media as money-grubbing, gun-toting racists who were out to exploit minorities in poor neighborhoods. In recent years, however, entertainers and athletes of Korean descent, such as John Cho, Jon Gosselin, Hines Ward, and Michelle Wie have appeared in movies, sports, and news. John Cho told Korea Times that while growing up in the United States, being an Asian and an actor was unimaginable. Recently, he starred in films, such as Harold and Kumar, and Star Trek. In 2006, he was voted as one of the “Sexiest Men Alive” by People. Other celebrated Korean Americans include Washington state Senator Paul Shinn, CNN correspondent Alina Cho, and Legal Advisor to the State Department Harold Koh. In the 21st century, there are numerous heroes and heroines in the Korean American community. Yul Kwon, notably known as the winner of the reality TV show Survivor: Cook Islands, used his notoriety to draw attention to the lack of representation of Asian Americans in the media and in politics. Recently he has been appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the deputy chief of the Governmental Affairs Bureau for the FCC. Another heroine in the Korean American community is Deann Borshay Liem, the producer, director, and writer
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of the Emmy Award-nominated documentary First Person Plural, which first appeared on PBS in August 2010. Her pioneering documentary chronicled her experience as a Korean adoptee reconciling and reuniting her relationship with her birth family with that of her American adopted family. Her film was ground-breaking and provided a voice for many Korean adoptees, who represent almost a tenth of the Korean American population. Helie Lee is the author of national best-selling memoirs, Still Life with Rice and The Absence of Sun. Her memoirs chronicle her family through the Korean War and family separations resulting from the division between North and South Korea. Despite incredible odds and risks, Helie Lee decides to fulfill her grandmother’s wish to be reunited with the son who was left behind in North Korea. No doubt a Korean American heroine, Helie Lee faced danger throughout in rescuing her uncle and his family. She eventually brought all generations together—her uncle and his family out of North Korea—to be reunited with her grandmother, who had not seen her son in 47 years. —Jun Sung Hong, Jenny Suh, and Grace J. Yoo
Further Reading “Asian Heroes.” TIME Asia, April 2003. Hurh, Won Moo. The Korean Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Lee, Hyo-won. “John Cho Speaks About Being Asian in Hollywood.” Korea Times. October 14, 2007.
Identity As with other recent immigrant communities, Korean Americans assert their identity through a process that combines elements of traditional culture with contemporary lifestyles in the homeland, as well as in the United States. Older immigrants and first-generation Korean Americans may bring with them attitudes that bear the influence of Confucian culture, such as maintaining respect for elders and family and an emphasis on education, but they also deal with the social and economic challenges of relocating to a country where individual freedom is the creed and the first order of business is making a living. When settling in areas where there is a visible Korean community, many Korean Americans congregate in Christian churches as they increasingly do in Korea, participate in local Korean business organizations, and send their children to Korean-language schools and summer camps. These institutions provide important social support for the community and also help it to maintain a Korean identity that draws on traditional customs, forms, and observances, though these may be adapted to their new context.
Korean Americans: Korean American Adoptee Film
Holidays such as the Chusok harvest festival and the Lunar New Year sol may be observed with modification—for example, while in Korea, these important days are largely spent at home with extended family members and involve family rituals, in the United States, they may be celebrated in communal public settings like a church, a shopping center, or a restaurant. Similarly, Korean American weddings may retain elements of the revered Confucian wedding ritual in a separate ceremony alongside a Christian wedding replete with bride in Western-style wedding gown, though this has also become the norm in commercial wedding halls across Korea. While such practices harken to a traditional past, they also exemplify a Korean American culture that is contemporary and dynamic. Perhaps the most recognizable traits of Korean Americans in the United States are the Korean language and Korean cuisine, which have a presence in most metropolitan areas through restaurants, storefronts, radio broadcasts, and Korean-language newspapers. While Korean Americans do take their cultural cues from a traditional homeland in this manner, they are also active in asserting themselves in new ways as their visibility grows beyond local and regional levels. Korean Americans are increasingly recognized for their engagement in civic and political affairs, their business activities and continued important ties to Korea, as well as their contributions to a wide arts and culture scene. Younger-generation Korean Americans are breaking away from staid images of the past and the stereotype of the “model minority” that has been emblematic for most Korean immigrants since the 1960s. They are also eager to claim the latest innovations, success stories, and individuals making waves from Korea as their own, and as Korea has taken a greater role in global conversations on development, security, and popular culture. —Samuel Yum
Further Reading Kim, Elaine H., and Eui-Yong Yu. East to America: Korean American Life Stories. New York: New Press, 1997. Kim, Ilpyong J., ed. Korean-Americans: Past, Present and Future. Elizabeth, NJ: Hollym International, 2004. Park, Kyeyoung. The Korean American Dream: Immigrants and Small Businesses in New York City. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997.
Korean American Adoptee Film Korean American Adoptee Film (KAAF) is film made by Korean-born persons adopted by Americans. Intersecting with Korean American Adoptee Literature (KAAL), this “wave” of cultural production—both literary and cinematic—took
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place in the 1990s because Korean children who were adopted in the 1960s and 1970s were coming of age. Similar to KAAL, KAAF is highly autobiographical in nature. Therefore, these films can be read as cinematic representations of the inner lives and struggles of adopted Korean Americans. KAAF generally falls into two genres: documentary and experimental. The documentary films are more conventional in narrative style; they tell, for the most part, a story with a beginning, middle, and end. First Person Plural (2000) by filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem, is an example of this genre. Adoptee films that are experimental in nature often forgo linearity and traditional narrative structure. In breaking away from the conventional modes of storytelling, the films themselves become a literal manifestation of the dislocation and fragmented sense of self. As such, Korean-adoptee experimental short films reproduce the emotional and psychic condition of the adoptee. The emotional and psychic landscape of the adoptee takes precedence over establishing the shot, scene, or storyline in these experimental films. For example, in Living in Half Tones (1993) by Me-K Ahn, the images we see—shoes, flowers, photographs, a purse—fade in and out, with little or no explanation. Consequently, we do not know the exact location or context of these items, in the same way that the protagonist does not know when or where she was born, saw the flowers, or was photographed. These images literally float in and out the film—as they do in the adoptee’s memory—with no sense of history or context. The viewer is left confused, frustrated, and having more questions than answers—just like the protagonist herself. Despite the differences in cinematic styles, the questions explored in both genres are similar: Where did I come from? Who are my birth parents? Why was I put up for adoption? In almost every KAAF, the protagonist returns to South Korea in search for answers, and the orphanage becomes an archetypal representative place. Visiting the orphanage becomes a ritual for adoptees, as this is usually their last known location. At the orphanage, they retrace their steps in an attempt to reenact their past by identifying with the children they see. Performing this ritual allows them to reconstruct their personal history, an important step in the process of self-discovery for those with fragile memories of their preadoption life. While the majority of KAAF focuses on issues of adoption, there are Korean adoptee filmmakers who are making non-adoption related films. This expansion of subject matter is timely and appropriate, considering that the adoptee’s life— while significantly influenced by the experience of adoption—is not solely defined by it. The way of life for adopted Korean Americans is diverse, complex, and multiple; and KAAF reflects that. —SooJin Pate
Korean Americans: Korean American Adoptee Literature See also: Korean Americans: Korean American Adoptee Literature; Korean American Adoptees.
Films Adolfson, Nathan, dir. Passing Through. San Francisco: National Asian American Telecommunications Association, 1998. Ahn, Me-K, dir. Undertow. New York: Third World Newsreel, 1996. Lee, Helen, dir. Subrosa. New York: Women Make Movies, 2000. Theiler, Kim Su, dir. Great Girl. New York: Women Make Movies, 1994. Tolle, Tammy, dir. Searching for Go-Hyang (Homeland). New York: Women Make Movies, 1998.
Korean American Adoptee Literature Korean American Adoptee Literature (KAAL) is literature (e.g., poetry, memoir, fiction, creative nonfiction, children’s books, etc.) that is written by Korean-born persons adopted by Americans. Korean adoption formally began in 1955 when Harry Holt adopted eight Korean War orphans, but KAAL did not fully emerge until the 1990s. With the publication of Seeds from a Silent Tree: An Anthology by Korean Adoptees (1997), KAAL was born. Since then other works have appeared, expanding this body of literature. With over 100,000 Korean adoptees in the United States, Korean adoptees make up 10 percent of the Korean American population. For decades, their voices had been covered by the voices of social workers, adoptive parents, agents, and psychologists, however, these children are now adults who speak for themselves through writing. Because many Korean adoptees grew up in predominately white middle-class American settings, their literature reveals feelings of alienation, dislocation, and difference. As such, the metaphor of Twinkie and Banana (yellow on the outside, white on the inside) is especially relevant for Korean adoptees. A recurring theme in this literature, then, involves the adoptee realizing that he or she is not white. Usually, this awareness takes place while looking in the mirror because the reflection is a reminder of their racial difference. The coming-of-age journey for many Korean adoptees often involves exploring his or her in-between status: feeling in between Korean and American, and white and Asian. Another common theme is a search for roots. Because so many Korean children were adopted as infants, not knowing where they came from, who they were born to, and why they were put up for adoption, it leads to numerous questions—or
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missing pieces to the puzzle, as some adoptees describe it—and propels them back to South Korea looking for answers. Hence, Motherland tours have become popular among adoptees. These tours not only include a visit to the orphanages, but they also help adoptees to reconnect with their Korean culture by engaging in Korean rituals, learning about Korean folklore and history, and learning Korean. Many adoptees also use this trip to initiate a search to find their birth family. The Motherland tour has become a community ritual, invented by the Koreanadoptee community as a way to grapple with their unique status as adopted Korean Americans. Partaking in this journey not only fosters community-building, but it also signifies the adoptee’s validation of his or her Korean roots. Returning to the homeland, however, does not always bring closure as many return with more questions rather than less. Although there are overarching themes that unify Korean American adoptee narratives, it is important to point out that each Korean adoptee story is unique. No one memoir or poem can represent the multitude of adoptee experiences or the adoptee community. Common experiences may unite Korean adoptees collectively around certain issues, as Asian American folklore collectivizes Asian American identities; however, it is also important to recognize adoptees as individuals with diverse feelings and attitudes towards common experiences. KAAL continues to expand and diversify, as it sheds light on an emerging Korean American way of life among bicultural and “biracial” people. With the increase in digital technologies, Korean adoptee writing appears in blogs, webzines, and other forms of digital media. In all these venues, adoptees reassure other adoptees that they are not alone. Relating their experiences through the written word has not only brought insight to the writer but also to the reader. In this way, KAAL is indeed a literature by and for Korean adoptees. —SooJin Pate See also: Korean Americans: Korean American Adoptee Film; Korean American Adoptees.
Further Reading Cox, Susan Soon-Keum, ed. Voices from Another Place. St. Paul, MN: Yeong & Yeong Book Co., 1999. Kim, Elizabeth. Ten Thousand Sorrows: The Extraordinary Journey of a Korean War Orphan. New York: Doubleday, 2000. Robinson, Katy. A Single Square Picture: A Korean Adoptee’s Search for Her Roots. New York: Berkeley Books, 2002. Trenka, Jane Jeong. The Language of Blood. St. Paul, MN: Borealis, 2003. Trenka, Jane Jeong, Julia Chinyere Oparah, and Sun Yung Shin, eds. Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2006.
Korean Americans: Korean American Adoptees
Korean American Adoptees According to the Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea (TRACK), intercountry adoption accounts for the mass migration of up to 200,000 Korean children (Korean adoptees, or KADs) to over 15 different Western countries, including a majority to the United States. This cross-border migration is one of several that mark Korea’s contemporary history. In Korea these diasporas are referred to as ethnic Koreans living in China (Joseonjok), ethnic Koreans living in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan (Goryeoin), Japanese Koreans (Jeil kyopo), Sakhalin Koreans (Sahallin tongpo), Korean Americans (Jemi kyopo), European Koreans (Je’europe tongpo), and international adoptees (haweo ibyangin). While a controversial body of psychological and sociological research conducted on KAD identity and adjustment exists, as well as children’s literature and pseudo-memoirs written by non-KADs that have contributed to making KADs visible in South Korea, in the United States, and throughout various western countries, there is a growing body of literature published by KAD who have grown up in the United States. Examples exist across a number of genres and include: the Journal of Korean Adoption Studies, “Outsiders Within”; Thomas Park Clement’s “The Unforgotten War”; Jane Jeong Trenka’s “Language of Blood” and “Fugitive Visions”; Kim Sunee’s “Trail of Crumbs”; and Sung Yung Shin’s book for biracial children, “Coopers Lesson.” Nonetheless, there is nothing within Korea’s public education about Korea’s adoption history following the colonial period. Several of these writers emphasize that intercountry adoption is a relatively recent practice in South Korea’s history, as indigenous adoption extending kinship practices had been practiced well into the Choson dynasty. Extrafamilial adoption was not legalized until Japan’s colonial rule of Korea in 1938 and coincided with the enforcement of a patrilineal household head system (hojuje) through Japan’s civil law, which was intended to serve as an instrument of colonial population control. There is documentation that contrary to recent practice, the hojok, or family registration system in the 17th century, recorded the eldest of the family as the householder who maintained custody of children regardless of gender. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights recommended the abolition of the family registration system in 1999, and after a 50-year legal struggle, the South Korean government ruled that the civil law was unconstitutional and discriminated against women. South Korea adopted a new individual registry system in 2008. During the 1950s, following the war in Korea and the involvement of religious organizations, mainly from the United States, Australia, and Western Europe, intercountry adoption out of Korea was legalized. According to U.S. State Department estimates, orphan hojoks were created for over 150,000 children adopted to the United States that established children as heads of their own family lineage
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to conform to U.S. immigration and adoption law. Kim Stoker and other KAD scholars suggest the rise of intercountry adoption out of Korea was also made possible by the “pronatalism” movement in the postwar United States that has institutionalized a definition of the family that hinges primarily on child rearing (biologically or otherwise). Pronatalism has been rearticulated in the 1980s and 1990s to promote a legal paradigm in which adult adoptive parent rights have precedent over children’s rights in the adjudicated relationship between receiving and sending countries. Some suggest the establishment of a new registry system in South Korea that grants custody of children to the mother, a return to the legalization of kinship care, an increase in recognition of foster care, an increase in social welfare support for unwed or single mothers, and a concern about South Korea’s declining birth rate, all serve as critical factors in reducing South Korea’s participation in intercountry adoption. South Korea currently aims to eliminate intercountry adoptions by 2015, and human rights advocates are urging South Korea to reexamine its adoption practices that eliminates birth family rights, women’s rights, and children’s rights to identity, language, and culture as indicated by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Declaration of Indigenous Rights, Hague Convention, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Meanwhile, members of this relatively young diaspora have achieved much by way of producing literature about its history and achieving legal recognition for itself. Since the 1980s, KADs have established associations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Minnesota Twin Cities, and New York, and across other receiving countries that include Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Bern, Toronto, Amsterdam, and Brussels. In 1995, the first pan-European KAD-organized conference was held in Germany; and subsequent conferences have been held in Washington, DC., Oslo, Seoul, Hawaii, New York, and Amsterdam. In May 1999, a group of KADs living in South Korea started a signature-collection to be included in visa considerations for members of Korean descent, have advocated since the mid-2000s for an increase in support for single mothers, and, in 2008, demanded to be included in Korean Adoption Law revision processes. —Tammy Ko Robinson See also: Korean Americans: Korean American Adoptee Film; Korean American Adoptee Literature.
Further Reading Hubinette, Tobias. Comforting an Orphan Nation. Seoul: Jimoondang Press, 2006. Trenka, Jane Jeong, Julia Chinyere Oparah, and Sun Yung Shin, eds. Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption. Cambridge, MA: Southend Press, 2006.
Korean Americans: Korean American Martial Arts
Korean American Martial Arts The most popular Korean martial art among Korean Americans is Tae Kwon Do. It comes from the words Tae, which means foot, Kwon, which means fist, and Do, which means the way. Tae Kwon Do stresses harmony along physical, mental, and spiritual planes. Korean Americans practice Tae Kwon Do for both physical and mental exercise but also for disciplining their daily lives. Tae Kwon Do emerged in 1955 as a way for unifying similar martial arts practiced throughout Korea, and especially in the Korean army. The International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) was created in 1966, and the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) was organized later in 1973. Under WTF leadership, Tae Kwon Do became an official sport in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Para–Tae Kwon Do championships were held for the first time in 2009. Martial arts have a long tradition in the Korean Peninsula, where Subak, Taekyon, Kwon Bup, and Ssireum were practiced for thousands of years, developing alongside neighboring arts like Chinese Wusu, Japanese Budo¯ styles, and Zen martial arts (e.g., Sunmudo). Ssireum, Taekyon, and popular Korean folklore dances share common rhythms and spring-like moves that support a common development. A Ssireum match begins with two contenders kneeling face to face, each with a firm hold on the other’s belt, or “satba,” which is wrapped around the waist and thigh. A contender wins the match if any of the opponent’s remaining body parts touches the floor. Taekyon is a traditional dance-like martial art. It uses highly effective and deadly accurate kicks for both attacking and defending maneuvers. Taekyon is often accompanied by dancing in a three-step rhythm and is characteristic of unusual angles of attack that are very effective in defeating opponents. Taekyon was intensely practiced by the military and elite youth during the Three Kingdoms era, but in subsequent periods it lost its popularity, and eventually the Japanese occupation suppressed its practice altogether. It was not until June 1, 1983, that it achieved the classification of Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 76. A variety of Korean martial arts include the use of different weapons such as swords and spears, but it is Gung Do or Gung Sul (Craft of the bow), Korean traditional archery, and the use of its unique bow, or “Guk Koong,” that is most recorded in history. Chung Do Mu Sool was the original martial art used by the Korean Royal Army (referenced in the Muyedobotongji, an ancient illustrated martial arts manual commissioned by the king of Korea in 1790). Another traditional Korean martial art was Yusul, a form similar to Jujitsu, the precursor to modern Hapkido and Subyeokchigi that involves breaking wood, stone, and metal with bare hands. The history of Korean martial arts is constantly changing and many more forms (e.g., Tang Soo Do, Hanmudo, Hapmudo, Yongmudo) are introduced and thriving
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throughout the world as the ingenuity of modern masters and scientific progress within each style continues to evolve. Korean Americans have pegged their place within this evolution as the martial arts are such an integral part of their lives. Korean Americans have willfully adopted traditional Korean considerations that martial arts are an important element for upholding culture, virtue, and moral standing within a changing society. Self-discipline of both mind and body treads way for harmony along all planes of existence—physical, mental, and spiritual. Korean Americans recognize this correlation and have implemented it as a pertinent part of their developing culture. Furthermore, Korean American communities make asserted efforts to share and integrate the practice of Korean martial arts, and thus Korean culture, within the growing fabric of mainstream American culture. —Konstantinos Vrongistinos See also: Chinese Americans: Chinese Martial Arts; Japanese Americans: Martial Arts.
Further Reading Choi, B. K. Traditional Korean Martial Arts. Sippalgi: Ehwa University Press, 2008. Duvernay, Thomas, with Nicholas Duvernay. Korean Traditional Archery. Handong Global University, 2007. Harmon, Barry. 5,000 Years of Korean Martial Arts. Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing, 2008. Hill, Robert. World of Martial Arts. Raleigh, NC: Lulu.com Publishing, 2008. Kim, Wee-hyun. “Muyedobo T’ongji: Illustrated Survey of the Martial Arts.” Korea Journal 26(8) (August 1986): 42–54.
Korean Church in America The Korean Church has played a role as an agent of maintaining Korean ethnic identity and cultural practices in the United States. Even if only 25 percent of South Koreans are Christians, 75 percent of Korean Americans attend various denominations of Protestant churches. The Korean Church in the United States has offered its members a place to socialize with other Koreans, to express immigrant experiences through Christian narratives, and to develop a Korean style of worship services and faith practices, while accepting the religion of the dominant society. The Korean Church is a safe haven for the members to keep practicing Korean culture and interacting with others in a Korean way, free from the language barrier, racism, and discrimination caused by the rest of American social settings. One of the most interesting characteristics is the blending of Confucianism and Christianity in the arena of the church’s social structure and Christian narratives. Contrary to
Korean Americans: Korean Church in America
the Christian principle of universal equality before God, the Korean Church is not immune to any social hierarchy. Korean Church leaders are normally the financially successful members (e.g., successful small business owners or medical doctors) and/ or members with prestigious occupations (e.g., professors or other PhDs). Higher social or economic status of church members has become an important criterion for the election of church leaders. Gender hierarchy is also prevalent in the Korean Church where women are generally excluded from the positions of pastors and elders, while merely in charge of traditionally defined women’s work such as cooking, cleaning, and educating children. Women are rarely expected to voice their opinions in any church meeting (except for a meeting of the Women’s mission) and suffer from secondary status. Sexism has been justified in the sermons and other Christian narratives produced by male leaders in drawing an image of selfless, sacrificial and quiet women. Sexist interpretations of some biblical verses (e.g., Col. 3:18, Eph.5:22, 2 Cor. 14:34) are concurrent with a Confucian maxim, Sa-m-jong-ji-do (three obedience rule), in that women have to obey men regardless of age and status, thus justifying women’s lower social positions in Korean churches. Korean tradition of “ta-nil-min-jok (single-blooded people)” is strengthened and highlighted in the church, since Korean American Christians tend to stigmatize internationally married couples, particularly Korean women married to American servicemen who are imagined to be morally depraved by the rest of the congregants for having supposedly worked as camptown prostitutes in the past. Confucian emphasis of filial piety has shaped the intergenerational hierarchy, often causing tension between Korean-speaking first generation and Englishspeaking second generation. Young Korean Christians must accept the logic of unconditional obedience toward often authoritarian parents whose demand for submission is further consolidated by the Korean church’s emphasis of “honoring one’s parents.” Moreover, they have constant pressure to be more Koreanized in their cultural practices (e.g., language, food, and manner) while American schoolteachers emphasize American values of independence and freedom. Caught between the authoritarian home/church and the more egalitarian American school, they either stay marginal within the first generation–centered church or silently leave the church when they become independent. Interestingly enough, those who remain as Christians adopt the similar pattern of the first-generation Koreans: they form and belong to a church exclusive to other fellow Koreans and adopt modified yet still Korean cultural practices (e.g, eating Korean food, dating with other Koreans, courtship without sexual activity, and Korean style of prayer). Despite all the limitations, the majority of Korean Americans still attend the Korean Church because it offers them a place to maintain their ethnic identity. Most importantly, the Korean Church provides its members with the opportunity to construct a narrative to make sense of their immigrant experience. The image
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of Christian as pilgrim is appealing to Korean Americans who are neither Korean nor American, caught between living in a foreign land and desiring to go home. Their identification with Abraham and Paul, for instance, helps them to cope with marginalization and create solidarity with their fellow church members. Religious narratives are often used to overcome the marginalization that Korean Americans experience within the church. Korean women often engage in verbal (e.g., informal narratives with other women) as well as nonverbal communication (e.g., giggles, smiles, and holding hands) to check the patriarchal Korean Christianity. A few second- and later-generation Korean Christians often reinterpret the doctrine of filial piety as “honoring” one’s parents—that is, to appreciate and serve their parents in their old days rather than to totally obey the parents. This active reconstruction of religious narratives has become one of the major foundations for younger Korean Americans to keep practicing Christianity. The worship service in the Korean Church is also unique where the congregants engage in the Korean style of worship, featuring fervent prayers (tong-sung ki-do) as part of various worship services (especially at dawn and/or midnight). Each worship participant prays in a loud voice to confess, lament, or request God’s intervention in their daily issues such as marriage problems, economic issues, and their children’s lives. The practice of tong-sung ki-do is often used as a measure to understand the depth of one’s faith: the longer and louder the prayer, the deeper the faith. Viewed as the “Korean way” of praying, tong-sung ki-do is often practiced among the second- and later-generation Korean Christians especially in their campus ministries. Christianity in Korean American churches has been shaped by Confucianism in that the status, gender, and age hierarchy as well as the belief of racial purity label and classify Korean Americans into a hierarchy within their own church. Nonetheless, the multifaceted church has also become a locus to produce immigrant consciousness by offering Koreans to express their feelings of marginalization through the construction of religious narratives as well as the Korean style of worship service. —Kyejung R. Yang See also: Korean Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Religion.
Further Reading Cha, Peter. “Constructing New Intergenerational Ties, Cultures, and Identities among Korean American Christians: A Congregational Case Study.” In Robert J. Priest and Alvaro L. Nieves, eds. This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Faith. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2007. Kim, Jung Ha. “The Labor of Compassion: Voices of Churched Korean American Women.” In David K. Yoo, ed. New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Korean Americans: Koreatown and Koreans Living Overseas Kim, H. Henry, and Pyle, Ralph. “An Exception to the Exception: Second-Generation Korean American Church Participation.” Social Compass 51, no. 3 (2004): 321–333. Kim, Rebecca. God’s New Whiz Kids? New York: New York University Press, 2006. Lee, Sang Hyun. “Pilgrimage and Home in the Wilderness of Marginality: Symbols and Context in Asian American Theology.” In David K. Yoo, ed. New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Pak, Su Yon, et al. Singing the Lord’s Song in a New Land? Westminster: John Knox Press, 2005.
Koreatown and Koreans Living Overseas April 29, 1992, was an indelible moment for many residents of Koreatown, a section of Los Angeles named for the large number of Korean immigrants who live there. Shortly after announcement of the acquittal of the four white Los Angeles police officers accused in the beating of Rodney King, a riot ensued in major parts of Los Angeles, including Koreatown. Lasting three days, the riot resulted in 54 deaths, 4,000 injuries, and millions of dollars in damages. Although only one Korean American, 18-year-old Edward Song Lee, died in the riot, over 2,000 Korean American–owned stores were destroyed; Korean American shopkeepers in Los Angeles incurred over $4 million worth of damages. Many Koreans called this moment sa-i-gu (meaning “4-2-9”). The destruction of Korean American businesses and the dramatic image of Korean Americans armed with weapons on Los Angeles rooftops in the midst of fire, looting, and vigilantism was also a major focus of the media. For many Korean immigrants, Los Angeles is a home away from the home. Although Koreatown in Los Angeles has the largest number of Korean residents outside the Korean Peninsula, Koreans are geographically dispersed in various parts of the world. There are currently six million Koreans residing outside the Korean Peninsula. Commonly referred to in Korean as gyopo or dongpo (meaning “compatriots” or “ethnic Koreans”), these Koreans have established communities all over the world, particularly in countries such as Mainland China, the United States, the former Soviet Union, and Japan. In the United States, the first wave of Korean migrant laborers arrived in Hawaii in 1903 to fill gaps created by their Chinese and Japanese predecessors. From 1904 to 1907, about 1,000 Koreans entered the mainland United States from Hawaii through San Francisco. Since the first waves of immigrants in the early 20th century, the number of Korean immigrants to the United States has risen steadily. Commonly perceived as a “country of gold” (geum nara in Korean), the United States was an attractive destination for many Koreans who had lived through the Japanese colonial period
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(1910–1945), the Korean War (1950–1953), and decades of dictatorial rule (1961–1979 and 1980–1987), when war, chaos, and destruction ravaged the entire country. Approximately 1.4 million Koreans reside in the United States in several states, such as California, New York, Illinois, Georgia, Texas, and Washington. Similar to other immigrants and racial minority groups, Koreans have been a part of the American “melting pot” society. Many Koreans work and socialize with people of diverse ethnic origins; however, passing down Korean language and culture to their second-generation children has been important to many Korean immigrants. Because the majority of Koreans in the United States identify as Christians, Korean churches have increased rapidly; today, there are approximately 2,800 Korean churches in the United States. Korean churches in the United States have primarily provided religious services and job networks for many Korean immigrants; in recent decades, churches have become avenues for the preservation and transmission of the Korean cultural heritage to future generations of Korean Americans. Many Korean churches in the United States have offered weekly or biweekly language and culture classes for many second-generation Korean American children and adolescents, particularly in cities where many Korean Americans reside. Korean churches will continue to be an integral part of Koreatown in the United States and mainstream American society. —Jun Sung Hong See also: Korean Americans: Identity.
Further Reading Abelmann, N., and John Lie. Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Patterson, W. The Ilse: First-Generation Korean Immigrants in Hawaii, 1903–1972. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
Literature “Korean American literature” may be defined as “writing in English by Koreans who have lived in America.” This is in contrast to “immigrant literature,” which is written in Korean about the Korean American experience. Since “Korean American literature” refers only to works published in English, this entry will only address those works. Literature of this type is less than 80 years old and can be categorized in three groups, reflecting three waves of the Korean American experience. The first wave of Korean American writers consisted of two intellectuals who were born in Korea; Younghill Kang and Richard Kim. Younghill Kang was truly a pioneer Korean writer. He wrote two biographical novels in the 1930s.
Korean Americans: Literature
His first novel, The Grass Roof (1931), took American readers into an unknown, exotic Korea. His second novel, East Goes West (1937), shed light on the lives of Korean intellectuals who were then living in exile from Japanese-occupied Korea. Three decades later, Richard Kim published his first novel, The Martyred (1964), about the Korean War experience. The Martyred was on the nation’s bestseller list for 20 consecutive weeks and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The second wave of KoreanAmerican writers included the children of immigrants who came to America earlier in the century. They were proud supporters of the Korean independence movement. Mary Paik Younghill Kang, author of East Goes West. was born in Hawaii in 1905. She was (Bettmann/Corbis) eyewitness to her parents’ harsh life as laborers in sugar cane fields. She told her mother’s story in Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America (1990). Cathy Song in Picture Bride (1983) captured the disappointment, resilience, and strength of the first wave of Korean immigrant women who came to Hawaii as picture brides. Ronyong Kim, in her book Clay Wall (1987), depicted the Korean immigrant’s life in early 20th-century California. After 1990, there was a third and explosive wave of Korean American literature. The children of Koreans who immigrated in the 1970s grew to adulthood with English as their primary language. They provided a unique voice of growing up in two cultures. Unlike first- and second-wave writers, these younger writers delved into issues of racism, gender, and power. The quantity and quality of these younger writers makes the current landscape of Korean American literature rich and interesting. There are too many quality authors to mention in all, but here is a short list of authors who grace the current literary scene as Korean American authors: Chang Rae Lee, Native Speaker (1995); Susan Choi, The Foreign Student (1998); Nora Okja Keller, Comfort Woman (1997); Leonard Chang, Fruit ‘n’ Food (1996); and Patti Kim, A Cab Called Reliable (1997). The premier source of information concerning Korean American literature is Elain H. Kim, a professor in the Asian American Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Will there be a fourth wave of Korean-American writers? Perhaps, but perhaps not. After three generations on American soil, people with Korean surnames may be writing no differently from their fellow American authors. —Kim Foreman See also: Korean Americans: Children’s Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Fenkl, Heinz Insu. “The Future of Korean American Literature.” In Young-Key Kim-Renaud, R. Richard Grinker, and Kirk W. Larsen, eds. Korean American Literature. Washington, DC: George Washington University, 2003. Kim, Elaine H. “Roots and Wings: An Overview of Korean American Literature 1934–2003.” In Young-Key Kim-Renaud, R. Richard Grinker, and Kirk W. Larsen, eds. Korean American Literature. Washington, DC: George Washington University, 2003. Kim, Ronyoung. Clay Walls. Sage Harbor, NY: Permanent Press, 1987. Lee, Mary Paik. Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1990. Song, Cathy. Picture Bride. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1983.
Music The music of Korean Americans cannot be defined as a specific type of music, one that we can identify by musical style, such as jazz, rock, or hip-hop. As listeners and performers, Korean Americans are involved in many kinds of music, only some of which have distinctive “Korean” elements, such as the use of Korean language, instruments, or vocal styles. Korean Americans’ musical activities can be divided into three categories: Korean traditional, Western classical, and popular (mostly American style). Korean traditional music itself consists of a wide variety of genres. Those most familiar to Korean Americans are percussion ensembles and several varieties of zithers and wind instruments. Korean traditional music often accompanies dance and is regularly performed during observations of Korean holidays and festivals, such as the Lunar New Year (Seollal) and the Korean “Thanksgiving” Day (Chuseok). While traditional performing troupes from Korea used to come for such events, Korean Americans are now taking leading roles in performances of traditional Korean music and dance in the United States. Such local communities and musicians include organizations in the U.S. sponsored by the Korean government (Korean Culture Center in Los Angeles, Korean Culture Service in New York), private organizations (Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association in New York), university- and community-based pungmul (percussion) ensembles,
Korean Americans: Music
Jin-hee Kim (geomungo/zither specialist), and Professor Chan E. Park (pansori/ narrative singing specialist). Many Korean and Korean American artists have gained international fame in the Western classical music world (e.g., the Chung Trio, soprano Sumi Jo, violinist Sarah Chang) and have inspired many young Korean Americans (strongly encouraged by their parents) to study Western classical music. It is common for most young Korean American children to take piano or violin lessons for at least a few years, to join local youth orchestras, and to perform in public (including Korean American community events). As listeners, most Korean Americans raised in the United States favor mainstream American popular music, but their active participation as professional performers has been limited, and none have won major fame. Nevertheless, some Korean American underground musicians are slowly gaining a bigger market as they find alternative ways to promote their music without a contract with major music labels (e.g., using MySpace Music and YouTube). Their success sometimes leads them away from the United States, however. The Korean American hip-hop duo Drunken Tiger, formed by Tiger JK and DJ Shine in the early 1990s in Los Angeles, became quite successful in Korea in the early 2000s and inspired many other Korean American hip-hop musicians to move to Korea hoping for a similar break. Since Drunken Tiger disbanded, Tiger JK has become one of the most successful hip-hop artists in Korea. His recordings, along with those of other Korean pop stars, circulate widely among Korean Americans, easily accessible on line and at CD stores and markets. The musical world of most Korean Americans involves at least some involvement with all of the three main categories covered above, but with little overlap. Nevertheless, some musicians now combine traditional Korean elements with rock, jazz, and Western classical, and may be establishing new genres that can accurately be called “Korean American music.” —Eun-Young Jung See also: Korean Americans: Folk Music; Filipino Americans: Filipino Turntablism/ Mobile DJs
Further Reading Howard, Keith. “Contemporary Genres.” In Robert Provine, Yoshihiko Tokumaru, and J. Lawrence Witzleben, eds. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Vol. 7: East Asia: China, Japan, and Korea. New York: Routledge, 2002, 951–974. Lam, Joseph. “Embracing ‘Asian American Music’ as an Heuristic Device.” Journal of Asian American Studies 2(1) (1999): 29–60. Lee, Byong-won. Styles and Esthetics in Korean Traditional Music. Seoul: National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts of the Republic of Korea Ministry of Culture, 1997.
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Korean Americans: Names and Name Giving Sutton, R. Anderson. “Korean Music in Hawaii.” Asian Music 19, no. 1 (1987–1988): 99–117. Wong, Deborah. Speak It Louder: Asian Americans Making Music. New York: Routledge, 2004. Yang, Mina. “After Sa-i-ku: Korean American Hip-Hop since the Rodney King Uprising.” In California Polyphony: Ethnic Voice, Musical Crossroads. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008, 118–136.
Names and Name Giving Unlike American names, traditional Korean names are stated last name first, first name last. This order reflects an important aspect of traditional Korean thinking; the last name, which is the family name, is placed first to indicate that the family is more important than the individual. The most common Korean family names are Kim, Lee, and Park. Korean first names tend to have two syllables, and are often hyphenated when written in English—for example, Eun-Suk and Jee-Ung. Traditionally, Korean people do not use a middle name. Traditional Korean use of names is further complicated by a complex social system that defines how one must address another. Often, people are addressed based on one’s relationship to the other rather than using their first names, as in nuna (big sister) or ohpa (big brother), though these forms of address are not reserved for actual blood relations. Another common solution is to refer to a person’s family position, as in “Eun-Suk Appa,” which would be “father of Eun-Suk.” When interacting in the Korean community, Korean Americans of the immigrating generation tend to keep their original Korean names and follow the same complex set of traditional social rules governing their uses. However, because many American people have a hard time pronouncing traditional Korean names, Korean Americans in this group also often choose a more “pronunciation-friendly” name. Some Korean Americans choose an “American name” just because they like the sound (at least a few choose Cindy). Others choose their “American name” based on the sound of their Korean name: Ho-Guk might choose Homer, Jae-Eun might choose just Jay, whereas the wife of the author of this article, Eun-Jung, chose EJ. Korean Americans of the second generation often are given both traditional Korean names and American names right from birth by their parents. Due to the heavy involvement in Christianity by the Korean American community, biblical names are fairly popular. People of this generation freely move between their two names, depending on the social situation they are in. However, as English becomes more and more the primary language of this generation and American becomes more and more the dominant identity, the American names come to be more and more commonly used.
Korean Americans: Narrative Folklore
In at least one instance, the Korean language has been farmed to find names for children of the second generation. One family has a son and a daughter who are named Adle and Joa. Adle is the Korean word for “son,” and the word is often used as a way of addressing a male child. Joa is the Korean word that roughly translates as “like it” or “good.” Korean American people hearing these names find them very cute and amusing. Due to difficulties encountered at American schools, universities, and places of employment, the future trend of Korean American naming seems to be swinging toward the exclusive use of traditional American names while in public. However, because of a deep cultural pride that exists in this community, it seems certain that traditional Korean names will remain in the Korean American community for at least a few more generations. —Jay C. Brown
Further Reading Choi, Jungwha Choi, and Hyang-Ok Lim. “Not Calling Each Other’s Names: Human Relationships.” In This Is Korea: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Korea. Seoul: Woongjin, 2007. Nahm, Andrew C. Korea: Tradition and Transformation—A History of the Korean People. Elizabeth, NJ: Hollym International, 1988.
Narrative Folklore The love for narrative folklore in Korea stretches back to the inception of the country. As early as 1281, the monk/historian Il Yeon collected numerous folktales and legends in his prominent book Samguk Yusa (The Legend and History of the Three Kingdoms). For Koreans, memories of childhood often center on various narrative folktales that were told by the older generation, especially grandmothers. A common expression at the beginning of a particular tale is, “long, long time ago in the old days. when tigers smoked tobacco pipes.” These folktales, which transcend time and space, have been passed down through an oral tradition from generation to generation. There can be many ways of classifying these folktales, depending upon the approach. Common classifications include animal tales, humorous tales, mythical tales, and miscellaneous tales. In Korean folklore, wonders of the world and nature are explained while exhorting loyalty, filial piety, and other virtues. Some famous folktales, such as “The Green Frog” and “The Sun and the Moon,” explain the origins of nature. “The Green Frog” tell us why frogs cry so loud on rainy nights; whereas “The Sun and Moon” explains the origin of the sun and the moon and why sorghum stalks are red with reddish stripes. A vicious tiger, after devouring a rice cake–peddling mother, disguises himself as the mother
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and coaxes a little boy and a girl to open the door. The children’s cry of help reaches to heaven, and they cling to a rope from heaven and become the sun and moon while the tiger falls from another rope onto a sorghum field. The frog croaks loud on rainy days because he was so disobedient to his mother, always doing the exact opposite of what she asked. He became obedient to his dying mother who told him to bury her near the riverside, knowing that he would bury her on the mountainside. So the frog’s croak is the cry of repentance that came too late. “Cow Herder and Weaver,” a sad romance, explains why it always rains on the seventh of July. Star-crossed lovers, destined to meet only once a year on the seventh of July, could not cross the Milky Way, so all the magpies on earth made a bridge by putting their wings side by side from one edge of the Milky Way to the other so that the two lovers could meet. The light rain on the seventh of July refers to tears of joy when the lovers meet. After the seventh of July, the magpies go bald from having their heads stepped on. “Shimchong, the Blind Man’s Daughter” and “Princess Bari, the Abandoned Daughter” are prominent folktales emphasizing the virtue of filial piety. Shimchong does not hesitate to sacrifice herself to restore sight for her father; while Princess Bari resuscitates both parents with an elixir and magic flowers obtained through much risk and sacrifice. “Nolbu and Heungbu, the Two Brothers” deals with two brothers: the younger brother is good-natured and poor, while the other brother is greedy and rich. The story ends with the good being rewarded and the bad punished. But modern Koreans take a liking to Nolbu, who stands for affluence. Korean Americans often appropriate traditional folklore in presenting their unique cultural identity in many school, community, and church events. These folktales can be a rich source for representing Korean cultural identity in Korean talchum (mask dance) or Pansori (operatic oral tradition). —Suk Jeon Yeom
Further Reading Cho, Hee-Woong. Korean Folktales. Seoul: Jimoondang, 2001. Fenkl, Heinz Insu. Korean Folktales. n.p. Bo-leaf, 2008.
Proverbs and Maxims A Korean American child hears a traditional Korean proverb, “rice cake in both hands” (Du son e ddok) uttered by his mother. His mother is trying to teach him that greed can prevent one from becoming efficient. At school, he learned that
Korean Americans: Religion
“you have to learn to toot your own horn.” This phrase is designed to reinforce assertiveness and independence. How would he reconcile his Korean cultural values with American values? Another Korean American child heard her grandmother’s remark, “the other person’s rice cake looks bigger” (Nam ui ddok e deo ku ge boinda). When she repeats this adage in English to her American classmates, they look baffled. They ask her, “What’s that supposed to mean?” When she explains the meaning, they finally understand: “The grass is always greener on the other side.” Despite the cultural, linguistic, and value differences between Korean and American proverbs, many Korean Americans—particularly children and youths—are exposed to both, which may lead to identity confusion. Korean proverbs, however, can be traced to the ancient times when tigers had a special place in Korean culture. There have been numerous tiger-themed folktales and proverbs. In the past, tigers roamed in various parts of the peninsula, including Seoul. Tigers also played a major role in the myth of Tangun (the founder of Korea), which later formed the basis of ancient proverbs, which have been handed down from generation to generation. Today, Koreans and Korean Americans alike consistently hear these proverbs, which form the basis of their cultural identity. —Jun Sung Hong
Further Reading Ha, Tae Hung. Maxims and Proverbs of Old Korea. Seoul: Yonsei University Press, 1964. Hyun, Jane. Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2005.
Religion Korean American religious practices are rooted in the religions of Korea. Koreans are deeply religious people, recognizing a wide variety of religious elements. They often do not choose a single religion but accept different religious elements and assimilate them into their cultures and beliefs. Korean Americans in the United States practice various religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Korean Confucianism, and Shamanism. Among these, Christianity and Buddhism are the two major religions practiced by Korean Americans. Compared with other Asian American groups, Korean Americans have one of the largest Christian populations. Between 70 and 80 percent of Korean Americans in the United States are affiliated with either the Protestant or Catholic Church. Many of the 7,226 Korean immigrants who arrived in Hawaii from 1903 to 1905 had already been exposed to Christianity through American missionaries in Korea.
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Members of the St. Thomas Korean Catholic Center pray in their newly built church in Anaheim, California, August 10, 2009. The Center is one of the largest Korean-Catholic congregations in the country. (AP Photo/Philip Scott Andrews)
Within the first decade of settling in the United States, approximately 40 percent of Korean Americans had converted to Christianity. Unfortunately, following the Japanese annexation of Korea (1910) and the Korean War (1950–1953), immigration of Koreans to the United States became very difficult. However, the passage of the Immigration Nationality Act in 1965 opened the door again, and large numbers of Korean immigrants made the move to the United States—half of whom were already Christian. The hardship of adjusting to American culture led to a more serious commitment to religious beliefs, and as a result, more non-Christians began joining Korean American churches in search of spiritual support, meaning, and a closer connection to the Korean American community. Korean churches have unique characteristics and not only provide spiritual guidance but offer a variety of non-religious services as well. Churches assist new immigrants as they settle in the United States by providing social services that include finding homes, job search, and psychological counseling. Churches with adequate resources are open to everyone regardless of age, sex, and social status and have become one of the integral organizations among Korean Americans. Most churches also function as educational institutions as they provide
Korean Americans: Religion
Korean-language lessons and a variety of summer programs rooted in Korean culture. According to the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles, there are approximately 380 Korean language schools in Southern California and the Bay Area. Their curriculum focuses on teaching Korean language, history, folk dancing, martial arts, and paints. Korean Americans often gather at their church to celebrate Korean holidays and festivals such as the Korean New Year and Thanksgiving. They perform traditional Korean music, dance, and Tae Kwon Do coupled with other church activities—often in association with the church education department. Traditionally, Koreans observe ancestral rites on holidays as such customs are part of Korean Confucian practices. However, most Korean American Christians do not practice these ancestral rites but uphold Korean tradition by replacing them with Christian worship services. Overall, the church functions as a center for the Korean American community, assisting in immigration and assimilation into mainstream America while simultaneously working to preserve Korean values, culture, and heritage. When compared to the large population of Korean American Christians in the United States, the percentage of Korean American Buddhists is relatively small. Roughly between 2 and 10 percent of Korean Americans are Buddhists. The smaller number of Buddhists in the United States may have correlate with Korean-immigrant origins in Korea. For instance, most Korean Americans who emigrated from 1970 to 1980 are from middle-class urban areas in Korea where Christianity is easily accessible and association with Westernized education is commonplace. Korean American Buddhist temples are located near metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, where Korean American populations are concentrated. Practices and beliefs are rooted in Korean Buddhism, which is quite different from other, more commonly practiced forms. The Buddhist belief system was originally introduced to Korea by the Tibetans in 372, and since then, Koreans adopted holistic ways for resolving inconsistencies of Mahayana Buddhism and developed a distinguishable Korean Buddhism, fitted to Korean culture and tradition. Korean Buddhism naturally accepts and integrates elements of Shamanism, Korea’s indigenous religion. To reach younger generations, Korean American temples have adopted Christian church systems such as worship service, Buddhist hymns, and Sunday school. Korean American religious practices have been heavily influenced by Korean Confucianism and Shamanism. Although very few Korean Americans claim Korean Confucianism as religion (as it is considered a philosophy) the impact of Korean Confucianism is great and is perceivable in many aspects of Korean American life, from personal moral values, thinking, and behavior, to social relationships. The principles of Korean Confucianism, such as benevolence, decorum, righteousness, diligent work ethic, respect for elders, ancestral worship, and emphasis on education are woven throughout the fabric of Korean American life.
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Korean Shamanism is an ancient polytheistic religion worshipping the thousands of spirits believed to inhabit every object on Earth, each upholding the power to change people’s fortunes. It is considered the oldest Korean religious practice, believed to date far into prehistoric times. It does not have a specific belief doctrine, so it is often blended into other religions like Korean Buddhism. Shamans, known as “Mudang,” serve as mediator between spirits and humanity and perform rituals called “Gut” to chase away disasters, cure illness, and bring good fortune to those who seek it. In the past, Shamanistic exorcism rites were popular among agricultural and fishing villages and conducted as prayers for abundant harvest and safe fishing. With shifts to modern society, popularity of Shamanistic services declined because of superstitious practices and lack of systematic structure. However, many Shaman elements such as dance, music, and exotic colorations are integrated into Korean American beliefs and have become vital aspects of Korean American culture. —Young Suk Hwang See also: Korean Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Korean Church in America.
Further Reading Chang, Roberta, and Wayne Patterson. The Koreans in Hawaii: A Pictorial History 1903–2003. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003. Kim, Tae-kon. Korean Shamanism—Muism. Seoul: Jimoondang Publishing Company, 1998. Suh, Sharon A. Being Buddhist in a Christian World: Gender and Community in a Korean American Temple. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004. Yu, Eui-Young. “Korean Community Profile: Life and Consumer Patterns.” Korea Times (Los Angeles, CA), 1990: 28.
Rites of Passage Rites of passage are ritualized folk practices and beliefs that denote a major change in a person’s life: birth, coming of age, weddings, and death. Although the rite of passage varies from culture to culture, it has been long studied by anthropologists and social scientists. Like many other societies, Koreans and Korean Americans experience major life changes, which are marked by special events. In recent years, traditional rites of passage, such as weddings and funerals, have changed dramatically in South Korea. South Korean wedding ceremonies have traditionally been Confucian-based; however, modern weddings are
Korean Americans: Rites of Passage
characterized as a fusion of Confucian and Western traditions—perhaps due to industrialization and the increasing rate of conversion to Christianity. Notwithstanding the major societal transformation, two special traditions—dol and hwan gap—have been preserved. Rites of passage for Koreans and Korean Americans begin when one enters the world. One hundred days after birth, a special feast is prepared to celebrate the baby having survived this difficult period. Until South Korea underwent industrialization in the late 1960s, infant mortality was relatively high. Family members, relatives, and friends have celebrated this special occasion with rice cakes (dok), wine, and red and black bean cakes (pat dok) sweetened with sugar or honey. Traditionally, rice cakes are distributed to 100 people (primarily relatives and family members), which signifies long life. Dol, or first birthday celebration, is a rite of passage that has been preserved by South Koreans and Korean Americans. Due to high infant mortality rates in the past, this celebration is considered to be quite important. For this ritual, the baby is dressed in new traditional Korean clothes and is seated before a table of delicacies and objects, such as thread, books, and money, which are given by relatives, friends, or guests. The baby is urged to pick up an object from the table, which signifies the baby’s destiny. If the baby picks up a book, he or she is destined to be a scholar. If the baby reaches for money or rice, he will become wealthy. If the baby chooses a thread, it is believed that he or she will live a long life. Dol is more symbolic and connected to identity formation for Koreans living in America and subsequent generations of Korean Americans because of the advances in prenatal care and childbirth. Hwan gap, or 60th birthday, is another important birthday celebration, which signifies that one has lived through the zodiacal cycle. In the past, most Koreans died before their 60th birthday. Hwan gap is a time of celebration in which children pay tribute to their elderly parents with a major banquet. The elderly parents are seated at the main banquet table; children first kowtow and offer wine to their parents, which is then followed by the elderly father’s younger siblings and their sons, and then younger friends. In Korean America, Hwan gap presents younger second- and third-generationers with an alternative to elderly care. Many elders, however, worry that their children and grandchildren will no longer observe this rite, fearing their future in retirement homes away from their immediate and extended families. Korean rites of passages are important for many Korean Americans as they connect Korean Americans to their ethnic heritage. Despite the major transformation in South Korean society and culture, and the changing life of Koreans in America, traditional rites of passages such as dol and hwan gap are still practiced by South Koreans and Korean Americans today. —Jun Sung Hong
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Further Reading Abelmann, Nancy, and John Lie. Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Deuchler, Martina. The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992. Janelli, Roger, and Dawnhee Yim Janelli. Ancestor Worship and Korean Society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1982. Kendall, Laurel. Getting Married in Korea: Of Gender, Morality, and Modernity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. Kim-Haboush, JaHyun. The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. Park, Kyeyoung. The Korean American Dream: Immigrants and Small Business in New York City. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997.
Social Etiquette and Customs Korean American social etiquette can best be understood in terms of the amount of time the Korean people in question have lived in the United States. Korean people of the immigrating generation are more likely to follow traditional Korean social etiquette and customs than those belonging to the second and later generations. Although elements of traditional Korean customs remain for those Korean Americans who were born in America (or raised in America from an early age), people in these generations are much more likely to intermix elements of American culture with traditional Korean culture. In the United States, many churches have members of mostly Korean descent. These churches provide social functions as much as religious functions for Korean people living in America. Many of these Korean churches in America have two components, a Korean-speaking congregation and an English-speaking congregation. At the present, those belonging to the Korean-speaking congregation are generally members of the immigrating generation, while those belonging to the English-speaking congregation are generally members of the second or later generations. Even though this second generation of English-speaking people would primarily identify themselves as American, they retain enough of their Korean identity that they seem to feel comfortable around other Korean Americans than other more traditional American people. Though many aspects of traditional Korean social etiquette and customs have become “Americanized” among Korean Americans, a few customs have come to America virtually unchanged. It is considered good social etiquette to bring a gift
Korean Americans: Superstition and Taboo
when visiting someone’s home, particularly if the purpose of the visit is to eat a meal. These gifts can be somewhat traditional and similar to other cultures, as in the bringing of flowers, but Korean Americans bring other gifts as well. A common gift is food, particularly fruit. Traditionally, Korean people welcome guests to their home with the phrase “Have you eaten?” Many social gatherings revolve almost exclusively around the table with guests seated nearly immediately after arrival and not leaving the table until it is time to leave. Offering a full meal is an indication of welcoming and respect for a guest. As one Korean American so aptly put it, “If you want your Korean guests to go home, just put away the food.” Another traditional Korean custom which has been retained by Korean Americans is taking off shoes when entering a home. At gatherings of Korean American people, there is inevitably a large pile of shoes by the door. Though this custom does not normally conflict with American living, it can, as in when a plumber or cable repairperson does not or, even in some cases, will not, remove their shoes, and Korean Americans may take this as an insult. Though some of the traditional Korean customs and elements of social etiquette seem to be on the wane as this community integrates with America, at least two closely related overarching customs that seem rooted in the Korean American community look as though they will remain for at least a few more generations, namely respect for elders and an awareness of status. It seems appropriate that these two elements of culture, which are among the deepest rooted aspects of traditional Korean culture, should be the last to fade away. —Jay C. Brown
Further Reading Choi, J. W., and Lim, H. O. “Bringing the Right Gift.” In This Is Korea: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Korea. Seoul: Woongjin, 2007. Sung, Kyu-Taik, and Han Sung Kim. “Elder Respect among Young Adults: Exploration of Behavioral Forms in South Korea. Ageing International 28(3) (2004): 279–294.
Superstition and Taboo Superstition and taboo generate ambivalent responses from most Korean Americans. This is because superstition and taboo, no matter how irrational and preposterous they may appear, are deeply ingrained in the collective psyche of Koreans. Korean superstition and folk belief, which bring about mixed emotions such as enchantment or disgust, acceptance or denial, and support or critique, are based on long-held Confucian values, mixed with traces of Buddhism and Shamanism. Superstition is
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about a way of behavior that will protect one from bad luck. Some superstitions, such as the following, are full of sexism, supporting the degraded status of women in traditional Korean society: • If your first customer is a woman in your store or taxi, it is bad luck. • Being born as a woman is a consequence of a sinful life in previous existence. Many superstitions and taboos, such as the following, are aimed toward pregnant women: • Pregnant women should not eat rabbit meat, or they will give birth to a harelipped baby. • Pregnant women should not eat duck meat, or the baby will have deformed feet. • After giving birth, a woman must not bathe at least for 30 days. Superstitions revolving around death and the dead, such as the following, extend to the interpretation of dreams: • If you dream of someone who is actually dead, do not follow that person in the dream, or you will die. • If you die in your dream, you will live even longer. Some miscellaneous superstitions include the following: • If something unfortunate happened in your dream, do not talk about that dream before noon, or something very bad is sure to happen. • If you saw a pig in your dream, you will have good luck. • If you dream of a big fire, you will get rich. • If you cut your fingernails or toenails at night, one of your parents might die. • If you eat Meeyuk (seaweed) soup before your examination, you are likely to fail. Dispelling bad spirits is mixed with superstitious practices in daily life. Color, particularly the color red, is supposed to be effective. Traditionally, when babies are born, a forbidden line skewered with red peppers and charcoal is draped at the doorpost to forewarn strangers not to intrude. This will safeguard the newborn baby from bad spirits. Winter solstice is celebrated with red bean porridge to dispel bad spirits. On the other hand, writing your name in red ink is forbidden, as only the names of the dead are written in red. Many Korean Americans would choose the black ink to write their own name even after they corrected a paper with red ink.
Korean Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
Korean American belief in superstition is still prevalent as so many Korean Americans resort to some superstitious sources for guidance when they make important decisions, such as setting wedding dates, moving, or starting a new business. Between parents and children, talking about sex, especially sexual behavior, has traditionally been taboo. Sex education for adolescent children by parents, on topics such as preventing an unwanted pregnancy, is almost nonexistent. This topic itself is regarded as disgraceful and embarrassing even to mention between parents and children. Likewise, the subject of death or dying is rarely touched upon. Even the number four is avoided, as the Korean word for four is pronounced as the word for death in the Chinese language. Many elevators in Korea use the letter “F” in place of “4.” —Suk Jeon Yeom See also: Korean Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Lee, Kyutae. Korean Shamanism: Sex and Superstition. Seoul: Shinwon, 2000. Lee, Kyutae. Superstition and Koreans. Seoul: Gyrinwon, 1985.
Traditional Medicine and Healing Before Western medicine and treatments arrived in Korea, Koreans relied on traditional Korean medicine and other forms of alternative medicine. Samguk Yusa (Legends and History of The Three Kingdoms) records that the founding myth of Korea, which tells the story of a tiger and a bear that want to reincarnate in human form by taking garlic and mugwort, is closely related to the practice of herbal medicine. In the 17th century, Hur Jun, the first major Korean physician, authored an encyclopedic medical book, the Dongui Bogam (The Mirror of Eastern Medicine). This bulky work, which consists of 25 volumes, not only synthesized competing contemporary theories of medicine in East Asia, but also integrated medical knowledge and clinical experience. For many centuries, Hur Jun’s work has been considered to be the backbone of oriental medicine, and is still an authoritative reference among modern oriental medicine experts. In July 2009, this book was included in the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. Koreans are more familiar with the diagnostic method of oriental medicine, which emphasizes a consideration of the person’s balance and harmony as a whole, as opposed to focusing on treating symptoms, as in Western medicine. Many Korean Americans practice some form of traditional Korean healing, such as acupuncture, herbal supplements, and other alternative treatments and techniques
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along with Western medicine. Even though Korean acupuncture shares its origins with traditional Chinese medicine, it has developed into its own unique system. Because of known therapeutic effects, even second- and third-generation Korean immigrants are familiar with these treatments. As an increasing number of clinical studies and research on acupuncture in biomedical sciences report on its positive effects, Korean Americans are beginning to pay more and more attention to this traditional practice. Many Korean Americans believe that there are certain ailments, such as Bell’s palsy or cerebral palsy, which only acupuncture therapy can cure at the first onset. In particular, Korea Hand Acupuncture or Therapy, the most recent adaptation of acupuncture developed in the 1970s, has become very popular because one’s hand is the only place where needles are applied. This acupuncture method was developed by Dr. Tae Woo Yoo in the early 1970s. According to Korean Hand Therapy, also known as Suji Chim, the whole body is represented in one’s hand. The rest of the body can be affected by stimulating specific points called meridians, which helps to enhance the flow of vital energy called qi. Since Korean Hand Therapy is normally limited to the hand, it is possible to treat oneself by stimulating acupressure points on one’s own hands. This has become very popular because once people learn this technique, they can also cure other people when it is limited to simple symptoms like headaches, backaches, and other minor conditions. Quite a number of clubs and associations in Korean American communities are organized around learning and exchanging know-how regarding Korean Hand Therapy. Other alternative treatments in Korean traditional medicine include moxibustion, aromatherapy, and bee venom acupuncture therapy. Korean Americans’ frequent exposure to traditional Korean medicine and healing can be attributed to the very high cost of the American health care system. —Suk Jeon Yeom See also: Chinese Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing.
Further Reading Namsan, Monk. Hidden Folk Therapy and Traditional Treatments by Rev. Monk Namsan. Seoul: Academy Book, 2000. Society of Oriental Medicine Studies. 599 Traditional Treatments from Dongui Bogam. Seoul: Chorok Sesang, 2005.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner “Halmoni, bap meo go,” says a small Korean American child to his grandmother as he is eating. He is telling his grandmother to eat. His grandmother looks exasperated and reprimands him for his improper use of the Korean language.
Korean Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
His grandmother chides him for not according her with the proper respect to which she is entitled. She then turns to his mother and demands where he picked up such rude behavior. His mother apologizes for not teaching him properly. The boy looks down and is baffled because he could not figure out what he did wrong. So what went wrong here? The Korean language, the official language of North and South Korea, is classified as an Altaic language, with grammar structures that are mostly similar to Japanese language. The Korean language existed since the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE to 668 CE). The modern Korean language, which has been spoken since the 16th century, is spoken by over 78 million people in the Korean Peninsula, as well as ethnic Koreans in the United States, Japan, China, Russia, and other countries. The language is unique in that it lacks certain grammatical elements, such as articles and relative pronouns. Unlike English, which makes no age and social status distinctions, Korean and Japanese are unique in that they have both honorific and non-honorific systems, which denote one’s status. Honorifics are normally used for those who are of higher status and for strangers. It is reserved for someone who is superior in status (e.g., an older relative, a stranger who is similar in age or older, employer, teacher, mentor, or customer). Nonhonorifics, on the other hand, are used for someone of equal or inferior status (e.g., a child, younger stranger, student, employee, or mentee). Children and those of lower status are socialized to show deference to adults and those of higher status. Perhaps this Korean- and English-language distinction is attributed to the fact that Korea is a relatively vertically based society, whereas America tends to be more horizontally based. Despite the notable differences between Korean and English, the Korean language is the basis of ethnic and cultural identity for over one million Koreans in the United States. —Jun Sung Hong
Further Reading Kang, Agnes M., and Adrienne Lo. “Two Ways of Articulating Heterogeneity in Korean American Narratives of Ethnic Identity.” Journal of Asian American Studies 14(2) (2004): 93–116. Ledyard, Gari Keith. Korean Language Reform of 1446. Seoul: Shingu Munhwasa, 1998.
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Laotian Americans History, People, and Culture History Contemporary Laos has its roots in the ancient Lao Kingdom of Lan Xang, established in the 14th century under King Fa Ngum. For 300 years, Lan Xang, “The Kingdom of a Million Elephants,” had political, cultural, and social influences reaching into present-day Cambodia and Thailand as well as over all of modernday Laos. After centuries of gradual decline, Laos came under the domination of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. Laos is landlocked and sandwiched between China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma (Myanmar). Major rebellion against the French colonialists did not begin until after World War II, when Japan, which assumed power over former French-Indochina during the war years, was defeated. In 1945, the Lao prime minister, Prince Phetsarath, declared Laos an independent kingdom and formed a group known as the Lao Issara, or “Free Lao.” Free Lao strongly opposed French occupation, which some people supported because they thought Laos was not ready for complete independence. Prince Phetsarath’s half brother, Prince Souphanuvong, called for armed resistance and sought support from the Viet Cong, an anti-French communist movement led by Ho Chi Minh. Prince Souphanuvong’s political group later became the communist Pathet Lao “Lao Nation.” After World War II, the United States was concerned that communism was spreading in Southeast Asia, and it sent military forces into Vietnam to stop the spread of communism. In Laos, American military forces provided tactical and economic support to the royal government to fight the communist forces. During this period, the United States dropped bombs on the Ho Chi Minh Trail that runs through Laos and Cambodia, which resulted in many civilian causalities and displacement of thousands of Laotian people from their homes. The U.S. bombing campaign, dropped more bombs in Laos then both World War I and World War II combined. One of the deadly legacies of the clandestine bombing raid is the
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presence of unexploded bombs and land mines. Today, three decades after the war, many Laotian people are still dying in the fields and forests of provinces like Xieng Khouang. For example, in 1993, 100 people were killed by unexploded bombs. Farming is one of the deadliest occupations in Laos. The United States withdrew its forces in 1973, and eventually Saigon fell to the Viet Cong in April 1975. Later, in 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending a six-century-old monarchy and instituting a strict socialist regime closely aligned to Vietnam. The Pathet Lao renamed the country Lao People’s Democratic Republic. At this time, thousands of Laotian refugees fled Laos for Thailand. In Laos, there were small-scale evacuations in May 1975 of about 2,500 Hmong, the highland group who had been recruited into the CIA’s not-so-secret “secret war.” Over time, however, more refugees from Laos escaped to Thailand. Some, especially ethnic Laotian, merged into the Thai population. Most, however, ended up in refugee camps, with a total population exceeding 70,000 by the end of 1975. The first wave of Laotian refugees were former government officials, soldiers from the royal army, and shopkeepers. The later wave included farmers and villagers who were not as educated or as ready for life in an urban setting. In 1976, 10,200 Laotian refugees who had fled to Thailand were admitted to the United States. Between 1979 and 1981, 105,000 Laotian refugees entered the United States as refugees. This dramatic increase is in large part due to the international attention given to the flight of refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos in Southeast Asia. Laotian refugees continued to immigrate to the United States from the 1980s to the early 1990s, albeit in small numbers. By 2008, the Laotian population in the United States, and Laotian Americans, nearly reached 240,532, which includes the Hmong. According to the 2000 U.S. census, 168,707 Laotian Americans live in the 50 states. California (55,456), Texas (10,114), and Minnesota (9,940) have the largest populations. The San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose metro area has the largest concentration of Laotian Americans with 11,545. The Sacramento-Yolo, California, metro area is the second largest with 7,626. The Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota, metro area has 7,576. Because the Laotian population arrived fairly recently, it is difficult to predicate the degrees and levels of acculturation that Laotian Americans will experience in their process of becoming American.
People The word “Laotian” has many meanings. Lao can refer to people who come from Laos, a country located in Southeast Asia. Lao people can trace their origins back to the Tai linguistic family in Southeast Asia. Laotian can also mean a person who
Laotian Americans: History, People, and Culture
belongs to the Laotian ethnic group. The major ethnic groups in Laos and in Laotian America are Thai-Lao, Hmong, Lolo, Yao (Mien), Man, Lao Loum (lowland Lao), Lao Soung (upland Lao), and Lao Theung (who lived on mountain slopes in Laos). There is also a small community of Akha. A small Akha community has resettled in the United States as well. Some were brought in with Mien or Hmong families as children. Some of the Akha have come from Thailand while those living in the Hmong and Mien communities came as refugees from Laos at the end of the Vietnam War. Most of the Akha in the United States live on the West Coast, from Sacramento, California, to Salem-Portland, Oregon, and up to Seattle, Washington. There is one family in Texas and a couple of families on the East Coast.
Culture The majority of Laotian Americans are Theravada Buddhist, though there are a significant number of Christians as well who converted to Christianity while in refugee camps. Lao Buddhism is the most significant cultural heritage that has been transplanted in Laotian America. Even if second-generation Laotian Americans do not strictly observe the teachings and ritual traditions of Lao Buddhism, Laotian American cultural norms, values, and ethos are squarely Buddhist. Laotian American family structures tend to be extended and close. Laotian Americans tend to live within close proximity to their extended kin. Laotian parents in America often romanticize about how everyone in the village in Laos will help raise their children, which for some do not exist in the United States. As such, they blame the plight of some Laotian American youth of the lack of a strong family and community network within the Laotian American community. Respect for one’s elders, especially one’s parents, is central to Laotian American family and community. Lao refugees arrived in America during a period when “assimilation” was no longer the only model for becoming American. Hence, many Laotian Americans have been able to maintain traditional practices, Lao language, and foods and foodways with ease if they live near or within metropolitan areas with large Asian or Asian American ethnic enclaves. For Laotian Americans who live in the rural areas in the Midwest, some of these traditions might be more difficult to maintain. However, even there, they have been able to build a Lao Buddhist Temple, which has become the center of Laotian cultural transmission in America. The process is not smooth, as some communities encounter xenophobia and racism in their attempt to transplant and resettle their lives and cultural traditions in America. For example, the Laotian community in Rockford, Illinois, established a Lao Buddhist Temple in the mid-1980s, only to be the target of terrorist attacks (e.g., bombings). The residents of Rockford are blue-collar workers, many of whom are unemployed,
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some of whom are veterans of the Vietnam War, who view the Laotian refugees as taking advantage of the welfare system and racialize them as “Vietnamese Communists.” The members of the Rockford Laotian community continue to rebuild their temple in light of the repeated attacks, and find comfort and optimism in their Buddhist teachings to maintain and adapt to their new environment.
Laotian Universe Laotians believe in many spirits, known as phi. Phi includes ghosts, spirits, demons, and other supernatural beings. Coinciding with the world of phi is the world of the gods, devas, as well as the world of humans. Illness, material wealth and success, and family harmony all depend on being able to balance these various worlds. Success in business is directly associated with having the favor of a phi. To maintain this favor, one must return thanks with offerings of food and flowers, which completes the cycle of reciprocity. At work in the Laotian universe are the Buddhist principles of karma and merit (boon), which is the foundation of the Buddhist conception of reincarnation. Karma is obtained through our actions, both physical and mental. Through one’s lifetime, a certain amount of karma is accumulated, which then determines the next rebirth one will have. Therefore, a butcher who kills a lot of animals might be reborn as one of the animals she killed. However, to offset karma in this current lifetime, one can making offerings to the Buddhist temples and monks, perform charitable deeds, and assist others to alleviate their physical and mental suffering. Through these acts, one earns merits, which is the counterweight of karma. The more merit one has accumulated in this present life, the better the next rebirth one will have. Hence, a monk or a very wealthy person is understood to have been a good person who conducted many acts of merit in the previous life, which allowed him to benefit in this life. Ultimately, the goal is to gain enough merit to allow one to dedicate one’s life to the teachings of the Buddha, which will bring enlightenment and escapes from the cycles of rebirth, known as samsara.
Lao New Year in America Laotian Americans continue to celebrate many Laotian customs, festivals, and holidays in America according to the Theravadian Buddhist calendar. Chief among them is the Lao New Year (Boon Pii Mai). The largest Lao New Year celebration takes place at the Civic Center in San Francisco. April 11, 2009, was the first time the Lao New Year Festival was celebrated as a large-scale public event. It was hosted by three nationally nonprofit organizations, the Center for Lao Studies (CLS), the Laotian American National Alliance (LANA), and the Lao Heritage Foundation (LHF). Roughly 30,000 people attended the outdoor public celebration. Their goal was to bring to public attention the Laotian American experience
Laotian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
in the United States over the past 30 years, as well as to showcase Laotian heritage, cultures, arts, folk performances, foods, and traditions.
Laotian American Unity Ethnic divisions among Laotian Americans indicate their rich culture and copious diversity. While embracing the differences, Laotian Americans must realize that one unified voice is a key to social, educational, and political progress in the United States. Within the grassroots community, it is also important that all generations of Laotian Americans, past, present, and future, focus on the common issues that face their community. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Hmong Americans: History, People, and Culture; Laotian Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Luangpraseut, Khamchong. Laos Culturally Speaking. San Diego, CA: San Diego State University, Multifunctional Resource Center, 1987. Qiu, Lian. “First International Lao New Year Festival.” AsianWeek, April 3, 2009. Taggart, Siegel. Blue Collar and Buddha. DVD. 1987.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit In general, Laotian Americans are culturally influenced by Buddhism and Animism and do not consider the body to be merely a shell that holds the spirit that will be released upon death to ascend into heaven, as do many American Protestants. While the United States is a multicultural society that allows for a great deal of religious freedom of expression, its founding institutions, especially those that deal with matters of death and dying, and the afterworld, are still strongly influenced by 17th- and 18th-century Cartesian ideas born of the European Enlightenment and “Western” Christianity. Dead bodies are perceived to be merely inanimate objects, devoid of “personhood” and in need of disposal. Death ceremonies often are more about consoling the living, than making sure the dead are comfortable. This Cartesian worldview coincides with the atheist belief, as well, that a person dies with the body that decays and that is all there is to it. However, Laotian Americans hold a different conception of life after death and definition of personhood. They do not believe in the separation of the body and spirit, or that one’s soul or “personhood” leaves the body at death, because they believe in reincarnation. Most of their ceremonies are for taking care of the dead and making sure that their needs are met,
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lest they come back to haunt the living. They have more of a living relationship with the dead than do Euro-American social institutions for dealing with death and dying. Many Laotian Americans also believe that nature, too, has a spirit, and the material and immaterial world are not dichotomous and split apart after death for this reason. Institutions such are funeral homes and crematoriums that regulate the mourning and disposition of the dead in the United States are designed in accordance with different assumptions about body and spirit than held by most Laotian Americans. Funeral parlors and crematories in the United States often deal with a corpse as if it is an inanimate object separate from spirit with a purely symbolic relationship to the living. Memorialization of the dead takes precedence over how the body is treated. In contrast, Laotian Americans believe that they have a relationship with the dead, and they want to make sure that the body is cared for and its material needs are met. For example, they may place a coin in the mouth of their deceased relative to ensure that they will be able to get by the guards of the next world. But, there are folk stories, in Laotian America, of funeral staff removing the coin from the deceased person’s mouth before cremation. This can cause the family to worry about what will happen to the deceased in the afterworld. For there also is the belief, among many Laotian Americans, that the coin, so placed, remains under the ashes after cremation as evidence that merit, or boun, is the only gift that circulates between the living and dead. Each ceremony for the dead produces merit for the living, doubly ensuring a better afterlife and future rebirth. Laotian Americans are a culturally diverse group who practice different religions (e.g., Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Animism). Most have come under the influence of Theravada Buddhism. Buddhism is the predominant religion in Laos. Even those who converted to French Catholicism or American Protestantism may still believe in Buddhist ideas and practices (e.g., reincarnation). Also, in the United States, there are indigenous cultural groups who have migrated here from Laos, including a large group of Hmong Americans, among other groups, who are Animists. Animists believe in nature spirits, all aspects of the natural world are infused with a spirit, and human beings are part of nature and have a spirit, too. Like Buddhists, Animists also believe that life begins at death when the spirit begins its journey of rebirth. Most Laotian Americans continue to bring together their understanding of Buddhism together with traditional folk beliefs in spirits or phi. Some of these spirits are the ghosts of deceased ancestors on their journey to be reborn, others are benevolent spirit guardians and protectors of sacred personages and places, while some are malicious and malevolent spirits wrecking havoc and harm amongst the living, unless honored and appeased. Whether settling debts with the dead, paying homage to their ancestors, or giving care to someone who is dying that they may have safe and comfortable passage through the ethereal world, Laotian Americans face many
Laotian Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
difficult challenges in adjusting and adapting their ritual beliefs and practices to the institutional contexts of hospitals and funeral homes in the United States. —Kathleen M. Nadeau See also: Laotian Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Religion.
Further Reading Langford, Jean. “Gifts Intercepted: Biopolitics and Spirit Debt” in Cultural Anthropology 24(4) (2009): 681–711. Min, Pyong Gap, and Jung Ha Kim. Religions in Asian America: Building Faith Communities. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002.
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration Laotian arts, crafts, and home decorations reveal a vast diversity of cultures and artistic traditions. When Laotian refugees arrived in the United States, many did not bring material objects with them, as they came as refugees who did not have time to plan and pack. Typically, refugees flee at the spur of the moment with only the clothes on their backs and whatever money they have in their pockets. Rebuilding lives, families, and community in Laotian America, however, included the material traditions of their homeland. Some were able to find culturally similar material objects in Asian stories in the United States, such as bamboo and rattan kitchen wear. Today, as the Laotian American communities grow and establish their own stores and businesses, many items from Laos can be purchased in America. Thus, many more Laotian-style household objects, rice baskets, containers, and furnishings made of bamboo, rattan, and various types of reed are used in Laotian American homes. Laotian pottery and ceramic art forms dates back to the second and third centuries of the Common Era. Laotian pottery and ceramic are popular as tourist products, especially Laotian Americans who return to Laos and want to bring a part of it back to the United States with them. There are big pottery and ceramic centers in Vientiane and Savannakhet, but the most-prized traditional village pottery and ceramics come from Ban Chan in Luang Prabang. Woodcarving is also another major arts and craft tradition of Laos. The major focus in woodcarving items is inspired by Buddhism. Hence, images of the Buddha are common, as well as items used to decorate the temple, such as frames, pillars, and lintels. These items are also typically purchased by Laotian Americans who have returned to Laos, or they can be purchased in Asian and Laotian markets in the United States.
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The Laotian art-and-craft tradition of paper making dates back 700 years. It is known as sa paper because it is made from the bark of the sa, or mulberry tree, and crushed and soaked in water until it dissolves into a paste. The liquid is then poured through a bamboo sieve and spread into thin layer on a bamboo bed to dry in the sun. Traditionally, sa paper is used for calligraphy and temple decorations, and made into kites, fans, and umbrellas. Today, sa paper is used to make greeting cards, lampshades, bookmarks, diaries, and fans. Many other forms of arts and crafts continue to appeal to Laotian Americans, such as weaving, silkwork, embroidery, silverwork, and painting. It is typical to find paintings and status of elephants in a Laotian American home because Laos, or Lan Xang, is known to them as the land of a “million elephants.” Buddhist art is also common as a majority of the Lao Loum are Buddhist. The mythical snakelike creature known as the naga inspires many arts and crafts. The image of the naga adorn Lao Buddhist temples, in Laos and in Laotian America. Laotian American arts, crafts, and home decorations remain important signs and symbols of Laotian culture in America. The use of Laotian rice baskets remain strong, as it reinforces a way of life that is unique to them. The simple day-to-day things are important for the preservation of culture and heritage in Laotian America. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam). Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2007.
Children’s Folk Song For the Lao Loum (inhabitants of the lowlands), one folk song is dear to their hearts. “Oh Duang Champa” (oh, champa flower) or “Charm par meuang lao” (champa of Laos) was written around 1962 by two religious men, with text by Maha Phoumy Chithtavong and melody by Uttama Chounramany. Since its conception, it has been passed down from generation to generation. Children learn to sing it as early as in elementary school. However, it is not considered to be only a children’s folk song, but a folk song sung by all ages. “Oh Duang Champa” is a sentimental and happy song that expresses the beauty and pleasant fragrance of the blossoms of the plumeria or frangipani tree. Originally, the plumeria tree was native to Mexico and to Central America. However, today it has spread throughout other tropical countries, including Laos. In Laos, the blossoms of the plumeria tree are known as the “dok champa,” and it is the national flower of Laos.
Laotian Americans: Clothes
“Oh Duang Champa” can be sung a cappella, or it can be accompanied by instruments. It is sung at celebrations, especially at the Lao New Year, which occurs in mid-April. “Oh Duang Champa” is often performed with female dancers, but sometimes there are also male dancers. The dancers are dressed in traditional Laotianclothing (see entry on clothes) and have their hair up in chignon buns (see entry on jewelry), which is decorated with the “dok champa” blossoms. As part of the dance the blossoms of “dok champa,” which is already prepared in a bowl, is springled to the audience. Additionally, although the song is about a flower, it metaphorically evokes feelings of love for Laos and remembrance of parents and childhood. “Oh Duang Champa” is to Laotians what “America the Beautiful” is to Americans and what “The Blue Danube” is to Austrians. Beyond beauty and pleasant fragrance, the “dok champa” is often used to make temple offerings. Due to the religious significance of the blossoms, the trees are often planted near temples. Many ethnic minorities have their own folk songs, which are quite different from the “Oh Duang Champa.” —Nasy Inthisone Pfanner
Further Reading Goudineau, Yves, ed. Laos and Ethnic Minority Cultures: Promoting Heritage. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 2003. Mansfield, Stephen. Lao Hill Tribes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Salakchit, Souriya. Champa Homeland: The Lao Culture. Wolf Creek, OR: Jefferson Center in cooperation with Fishing Down the Bones Press, 2001. Sikhotchunnamali, Saiyasin. Amata pheng Lao = Eternally Loved Lao Songs. Vientiane, Laos: Chanthon Thammathevo, 2004.
Clothes The dress standard of Laotian women consists of the sinh, which is similar to a skirt. It is about 50 inches wide and is folded on one side of the waist and wraps on the opposite side of the waist. The length of the sinh typically goes halfway down between the knees and the ankles. Women of all social classes and ages wear the sinh. It is made up of cotton or silk and has various patterns. Sinhs can be both plain in color or multicolored. They are woven by women of all ages and the tradition of weaving sinhs is alive and well. The cotton sinh has simple pattern and is worn on a daily occasion, e.g., to stay at home, to work on the field, as schools uniforms etc. Cotton sinh is not personalized; it is one size fits all. Silk sinh is worn on special occasions, e.g., weddings,
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baptisms, festivals etc. It has embroidered, elaborate patterns (e.g., floral, animal, zigzag, etc.) and has a matching shawl approximately 7–8 inches wide and 80 inches long. The shawl is worn over one shoulder and under the arm of another shoulder. The silk sinh is tailored to fit the owner. For men and boys, the pasalong is a traditional piece of clothing that is worn at home and on daily occasions. It is basically a sinh with simple patterns. A special piece of garment for adult men is called the pa yao, literally translated as long fabric, and is two and one-half meters long. The pa yao is made of silk and is worn on a wedding day or on festivals. The pa yao covers the waist, hips, and thighs, is approximately knee-length and is tied on the front center of the waist; it is basically a baggier version of breeches and knickerbockers. Similar to women’s clothing, the men also wear a shawl on special occasions, such as weddings, baptisms, and festivals. The shawl is worn over one shoulder diagonally across the chest to the opposite waist where the two ends are tied together. However, the shawls for men are typically simpler in patterns (e.g., checkered or plain colored). Many ethnic tribal people of Laos have their own unique traditional clothing, which is different from the standard Laotian clothing mentioned above. For example, various hill tribes such as the Hmong, Yao, and Kaw wear a turban, unique headpieces, and blouses decorated with silver coins. The people of Laos have been influenced by the dress standard of western culture. Today, in addition to the traditional clothing, pants, ties, skirts, etc. can be seen all over the country. Laotian Americans still wear their traditional clothing during special occasions, such as during Lao New Year or at Laotian American community events. Laotian clothing also reinforces in some a sense of Laotian identity and of being a person of Laotian background in America. Many young people, both in America and in Laos, are mixing Western-style dress with traditional Laotian clothing. It is common to see a wedding in which the bride and groom dress in traditional clothing, then later change into a white wedding dress and a tuxedo. When it comes to fashion, Laotian Americans are balancing both traditional and American ways. This results in creative new design that bridges Laotian and American cultures and produces a unique Laotian American way of expression. —Nasy Inthisone Pfanner See also: Hmong Americans: Clothes and Jewelry; Laotian Americans: Jewelry.
Further Reading Wilcox, R. Turner. Folk and Festival Costume of the World. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1965.
Laotian Americans: Domestic Religious Practices
Domestic Religious Practices For the most part, Laotian Americans practice Theravada Buddhism. However, there are regional differences in Laotian Buddhism. For example, Laotian Americans from northern Laos practice a form of Buddhism that is influenced by Burmese Buddhism. Similarly, Laotian Americans from central and southern Laos practice Buddhism influenced by Khmer Buddhists in Cambodia. Many Laotian Americans also practice a hybrid form of Buddhism known as Phram, which mixes Buddhism and Indian Brahmanism. The practice of various forms of Buddhisms, as well as belief in cult of phi, or spirits, is evident in the domestic religious practices found in Laotian American homes. A Laotian American Buddhist home will have a Buddhist shrine inside their home. Outside, they will construct a shrine for phi, known as a “phi house,” which resembles a small house or shrine on top of a pole or column. Flowers are offered to shrine inside the house, while food is offered to the outside shrine. Laotian American home shrines are places of worship as well as remembrance because the family altar is dedicated to the Buddha as well as to their ancestors. In Laos, just as among Laotians living in America, the home is considered to be the repository of the soul. Incense may be burned on the altar to honor one’s ancestors, as well as to communicate with them and make votive offerings to them. Laotian Americans who are Lao Theung and Lao Sung are animists, for whom a cult of the ancestors is important. Laotian Americans who are Kammu call spirits hrooy, and they are similar to the phi of the Lao Loum. Similarly, among Laotian Americans who are Lamet, ancestor spirits, or mbrong n’a, are important because they look out for the well-being of the entire household. Mbrong n’a live in the house, and are informed of all activities and matters important to the family. The spirits of the ancestors are believed to be fond of buffalo; thus, it is common to have a buffalo skull or horns at the family altar. Because the home shrine is considered a sacred space, there are taboos in the home that are observed so as not to offend the spirits of the ancestors or the Buddha—for instance, sleeping with one’s feet in the direction of the home shrine. Laotian Americans who are Hmong believe in neeb, or spirits. There are household neebs, nature neebs, and ancestor neebs. Every Hmong American household, if they have not yet converted to Christianity, will have a small altar for the neeb. This home altar is the ritual space of the Hmong American household. Annual ceremonies and rituals performed during Hmong New Year renew the ancestral neebs’ connection to the family and thus continued blessing and protection. The spirit of the door is important to the Hmong American household’s well-being and is the object of other annual ceremonies and sacrifices.
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As with other Laotian American groups, illness is frequently attributed to the action of spirits, and shamans, or spirit practitioners, are called to carry out healing rituals. Among the Hmong Americans, there are two categories of traditional religious healers: the ordinary practitioners, and the shamans. Ordinary practitioners are usually the head of the household, and are capable of handling and performing minor rituals. When there is serious illness, the Hmong shaman is called in to perform the rituals. Hmong American home rituals are conducted in front the altar astride a wooden bench, which becomes his or her horse. A black cloth headpiece covers the shaman’s vision of the present world, and as the shaman chants and enters a trance, he or she begins to shake and may stand on the bench or move, mimicking the process of climbing to heaven. The chant evokes the Hmong shaman’s search and the negotiations with the heavenly spirits for a cure or for information about the family’s fortunes or misfortunes. Laotian American home shrines and altars are important for the preservation of Laotian religious traditions, folk beliefs, and rituals. Early on, before the Laotian refugee communities were able to build Buddhist temples, the home shrine was the sole location for the performance of Buddhist rituals. Today, Laotian American home shrines remain important for folk religious beliefs and rituals. The future of religious traditions and rituals expressed around the home shrine is unknown, because a sizable portion of Hmong Americans have converted to Christianity and no longer practice the religious rituals in the domestic sphere. Moreover, Laotian American youth may not be interested in preserving these traditions, especially when they grow up in America and are confronted with the powerful pull of “acculturation” and “assimilation” into the American mainstream. Domestic religious practices, at the moment, are squarely maintained by the elder and immigrant generation of Laotian Americans, in particular by Laotian American women. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Laotian Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Anderson, Wanni W. “Between Necessity and Choice: Rhode Island Lao American Women.” In Wanni Wibulswasdi Anderson and Robert G. Lee, eds. Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers State University Press, 2005. Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997.
Laotian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
Dying and Death Rituals Dying and death rituals in Laotian America are rooted in Laotian understandings of life and death, anchored in Buddhist worldviews and folk religious beliefs. The emphasis is not on dying, but rather on death. The rituals and events performed after death speaks to the importance of relationships in this world. Death rituals begin at the home of the deceased, referred to as huen dee, which is literally translated as “good house”—“good” because the deceased is free from earthly pains and is encouraged to do all that is good. This tragedy is then communicated to families, relatives, and the community. Upon receiving the news of grief, people would come to comfort the family. Even strangers offer a helping hand. The cadaver is wrapped in white, a symbol of purity, and kept at home until the funeral. Several people keep watch of the cadaver to make sure that no one or pet jumps over. It is a disgrace to jump over a human being, dead or alive. A Laotian proverb states, “Only a dead log could be jumped over.” Until the cadaver has left the house, no pets are allowed inside. It is customary to donate money to the family and bring food and drink to share at the huen dee. Animals are slaughtered for the occasion. However, food and drink should be consumed only at the home; nothing is to be taken away, as doing so would bring misfortune to oneself. People play cards, dance, share anecdotes of the deceased, hire a band to play music, or any activities to alleviate the sorrow and dispel fear. This observance continues 20 hours a day until the funeral takes place. When people are tired, they sleep on the floor, with separation between men and women. After they have rested, they continue with the activities. This lengthy lamentation is to bid farewell to the deceased. In the evenings, Buddhist monks come, pray, and explain the meaning of life and death to the family. The monks bless a string that is long enough to tie around the house. This string is a protection of the family from the deceased and is kept around the house until it deteriorates. The spirit of the deceased should not return home, but rather prepare for rebirth. In Laos, morgues exist only in hospitals, where cadavers are waiting to be picked up. Coffins are not sold; therefore, when a person is near death, family and friends start building it. Out of reverence, on the day of the funeral, relatives and friends of walking age become nun-like or monks. The nun-likes wear white clothing and are not to be touched by any male, but they do not shave their heads or eyebrows like the real nuns do. The monks wear saffron robes and shave their heads and eyebrows, because they carry heavier religious responsibilities and are not to be touched by any female. After the funeral, both the nun-likes and monks are released from their religious responsibilities.
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For the funeral, the corpse is dressed in black. The face is washed and sprayed with perfume to cleanse the face, hoping that the deceased may be reborn with a clean face. The hand of the deceased carries a paper with his or her name (to show one’s identity), some money (to pay for the voyage), and five pairs of flowers and candles. Wealthy people put jewelry, silver coins, etc., into the coffin. Traditionally, accidental death or the death of a minor requires a burial, whereas nonaccidental death or the death of an adult requires a cremation. After the funeral, money, typically coins, are tossed at the attendees. When reborn, the deceased should have money in abundance, receive it in a way that it has been tossed, and should the deceased be indebted to anyone, that person should come and get his dues now. The earthly remains of the affluent person are later transferred to temple ground where the family builds a tat, a small monument in his or her honor. However, a blessing occurs before the bones are put into the tat, it is forbidden to simply transfer the bones into the tat. For the underprivileged, the bones can be left at the temple until the family is able to build a tat, or they can be buried in the cemetery. Laotian cemeteries are a place of fear, located far from cities and villages. People go to cemeteries only on the day of the funeral or a couple of days after the funeral to gather the earthly remains. Cemeteries are forsaken, thus resulting in the overgrowing of plants. Nonetheless, once a year, in March, cemeteries are visited by a group of senior monks. Monks go and build tents to spend several nights. The purpose of such visits is to bless the dead and help those spirits that are still lingering to be reborn. Another purpose is to serve as a liaison between the living and the dead. The dead could communicate with the monks, and the monks would relay that information to the living family and friends. It could be that some of the dead are still in trouble, possibly in hell, and need the living to do a blessing for them. Before the monks depart for such journey, it is announced to the public. People would accompany them and help them build tents. Each day, breakfast and lunch are delivered to the monks. Although the deceased spirit should not enter his or her home, dinner is prepared for the spirit outside the home. A plate is prepared, and family members call for the spirit to come and dine. Every morning after the dinner has been served, the food is thrown out. One hundred days after death, a blessing in remembrance is done either at home with the monks or at the temple. Laotian Americans have learned to adjust. Cadavers are taken to the morgue and coffins are purchased. Residents of a single-family home still tie the blessed string around the house, but those who live in apartments forgo this act. Many Laotians in America yearn for their homeland and ask to have their earthly remains be taken back to be put in a tat. Such request is often carried through, allowing the deceased to rest in peace and giving the living a peace of mind. —Nasy Inthisone Pfanner See also: Laotian Americans: Religion.
Laotian Americans: Family and Community
Further Reading Burton, John J. S. Lao Close Encounters. Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2005. Chaze´e, Laurent. The Peoples of Laos: Rural and Ethnic Diversities. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1999. Mansfield, Stephen. Lao Hill Tribes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Ratnam, Perala. Laos and Its Culture. New Delhi: Tulsi Publishing House, 1982.
Family and Community In Laos, and in Laotian America, the Laotian family structure is patrilineal, and extended. Descent is traced through the male line. In Laos, men represent their families in village affairs. Women are responsible for taking care of the domestic space and maintaining and control the families’ financial affairs. Among Laotian Americans, women are employed and have become the more dominate source of income that supports their families. It is also very common for Laotian American women to work outside their home, but this does not mean that they are not
Laotian Buddhist monks receive alms, food offerings from members of the Laotian American community. The community supports the monk as a means to earn merit that ensures a better rebirth. (Boon Vong)
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responsible for the care and smooth running of the household. Unlike in Laos, more Laotian American men will share in the responsibility of taking care of the households, which includes taking care of the kids, and household chores. Both Laotian American men and women are active in leadership positions in the community. In Laos and in Laotian America, the extended families are important for social and financial support. The Laotian American household typically consists of the nuclear family, grandparents, and possibly relatives. Households that consist of three generations are common. Families are typically larger than that of Western countries. Unlike Westerners, Laotian Americans are not private people; therefore, they do not mind sharing living space. Children seldom get their own bedrooms. Conventionally, children live with their parents or relatives until they marry. Many Laotian Americans will live within close proximity of their extended kin. This familial support network might explain why there is a low divorce rate among Laotian Americans. Laotian Americans share responsibility in taking care of family members and relatives. Grandparents help raise their grandchildren, and in turn children take care of their elders. There are no nursing homes in Laos. Parents live and die with their children. Indicative of Laotian Americans’ close-knit family relations is how strangers address each other with the following designations; brother, sister, uncle, etc. It is not culturally acceptable to call someone by his or her first name. Outside observers who are unaware of this cultural practice think that people are all related. For Laotian American immigrants, dating is a relatively new phenomenon because in Laos, boys and girls grow up playing together and meeting in the rice paddies, eventually ending in marriage. They also have relative freedom when it comes to choosing their partner. However, some parents will want to arrange their children’s marriage. Young Laotian Americans date, even though some of their parents do not support or agree with this practice. Dating, especially interracial dating, may cause conflicts between Laotian American youths and their immigrant parents. Related to dating issues is the public display of affection, which is common among Laotian American youth but frowned upon by immigrant Laotian American parents, because it is a sign that they might be engaged in premarital sex, which brings shame not only on the youngsters, but also their parents. The Lao Buddhist temple, or wat, is the heart of the Laotian American community as that is where cultural values, norms, and ethics are transmitted to Laotian American youths. Festivals and holidays are observed and performed at Lao Buddhist temples, hence, the temple brings the Laotian American community together. Together, the Laotian American family unit and the LaotianAmerican Buddhist temple are important sites for the socialization of young Laotian Americans. Laotian Americans consider their wat the core of community life. People assist each other in times of crisis. In case of death, each community member donates
Laotian Americans: Festivals and Holidays
money to the afflicted family. A Laotianproverb states, “one pole is not capable of upholding anything.” In essence, Laotian Americans need each other and seldom live alone. The wat is also a place of joy. During holidays and the Lao New Year (April 13–15), people celebrate, have religious blessings (Theravada Buddhism) and enjoy the company of families and friends. Several nonprofit organizations—such as the Center for Lao Studies (CLS), the Laotian American National Alliance (LANA), and the Lao Heritage Foundation (LHF)—have been founded by Laotian Americans to empower and preserve Laotian culture in America. The Laotian American National Alliance is sponsoring a 2010 Census campaign “Be Proud to Be Laotian: Your Count Is Our Future, Write Laotian.” This will make it possible for Laotian American communities to get much-needed resources in the future to meet the needs and challenges of their communities. Chief among them is posttraumatic stress disorder for immigrant refugees. These nonprofits cosponsor and organize the largest Lao New Year festival in the United States. In addition, they organize conferences and other cultural events that bring the Laotian American community together. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Nasy Inthisone Pfanner
Further Reading Luangpraseut, Khamchong. Laos Culturally Speaking. San Diego, CA: San Diego State University, Multifunctional Resource Center, 1987. Sen, Srila. “The Lao in the United States since Migration.” PhD diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1987.
Web Sites The Center for Lao Studies. http://www.laostudies.org/. The Lao Heritage Foundation. http://www.laoheritagefoundation.org/. Laotian American National Alliance. http://lana-usa.org/.
Festivals and Holidays The majority of Laotian American festivals and holidays are religious celebrations. The Lao word for festival is boon, which means “merit” or “good deeds.” Laotian festivals and holidays are based on the lunar calendar, in particular the Buddhist calendar. Laotian festivals are typically held at Buddhist temples, known as wat, which is why it is very important for Laotian American communities to build a temple in their communities. Buddhist festivals are popular among Laotian Americans because over 85 percent of Laotian Americans are Theravadian Buddhist. On the third lunar month (usually
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February) Magha Puja, a Buddhist inspired festival takes place. This is held on the night of the full moon to commemorate the original teachings of the Buddha. The festival is marked by grand parades of candle-bearing worshippers circling their local temples, merit making, and religious music and chanting. Pha Vet commemorates the life of the Gautama Buddha in the fourth lunar month (usually March). Boon Bang Fai, or “Rocket Festival,” has pre-Buddhist origins associated with rain making and farming. However, it now coincides with Visakha Puja celebration, on the sixth lunar month (usually May) to celebrate the Buddha, and is marked by lots of fireworks. In Laos, Book Bang Fai is an important celebration for farmers. There are dances, processions, and puppet shows in the streets, but the main attraction is the fireworks display. Giant, complex, homemade bamboo rockets are blessed and fired into the skies to invite the rains. Rocket makers earn both merit and honor if their creations fly high. Among Laotian Americans who are not farmers, the Boon Bang Fai is more of a celebration of the Buddha. Additionally, since there are restrictions on fireworks in most metropolitan cities, that aspect of the celebration is also left out. Pii May Lao, or Lao New Year, has recently become a major public celebration in San Francisco, California. It is also commemorated on many college and university campuses by Laotian student clubs and association. The maintenance and celebration of Laotian festivals and holidays in Laotian America is a key aspect and modus operandi for the transmission of Laotian culture, religion, and values. These acts affirm Laotian identity and “Laoness” in Laotian American youths. Laotian American families usually adopt and celebrate Western festivals as well, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Their celebrations include Laotian foods, as well as traditional Western dishes such as turkey and pumpkin pie. Regardless of the tradition, Eastern or Western, festival and holiday celebrations practiced and observed in Laotian American families bring extended kinfolks and friends together. This strengthens social ties, family bonds, and community solidarity. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Laotian Americans: Pii May Lao or Lao New Year.
Further Reading Luangpraseut, Khamchong. Laos Culturally Speaking. San Diego, CA: San Diego State University, Multifunctional Resource Center, 1987.
Folk Dance and Performance Several folk style performance traditions are still performed in Laos today, including: the lam or khap “call-and-response folk song”; its theatrical derivative lam luang, or Laotianopera; natasinh, or classical music and dance of the former royal
Laotian Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
courts. The khene/kaen, the Laotiannational instrument, is central to them all. The khene is a handheld pipe organ. It is made of bamboo and is similar to the American panpipes. These Laotianfolk performances have also survived in the United States, as immigrants and refugees carried these traditions over while fleeing the communist Pathet Lao after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Laotian folk dances, or fon phun muang, originate from ancient animist rituals, celebrations of seasonal changes, and local ethnic expressions of life. Similar to Thailand and Cambodia, a popular form of Laotianfolk dance is the lam vong, or circle dance. The movement is simple. A group of couples dance circles around one another until there are three circles in all: a circle dance by the individual, a circle danced by the couple, and the circle dance by the entire group. The hands move up-down, in-out, in slow reserve motion. The lam vong is danced to a slow rhythm, usually accompanied by the music of a khene ensemble. There are subtle variations of the lam vong, depending on the region and the ethnic Laotian group performing it. This dance is popular among Laotian Americans during community festivals and family celebrations (e.g., birthdays and weddings). Other important folk dances include the welcoming dance fon baci su khuan, which is performed in conjunction with the baci ceremony. There are also the male martial-arts dance fon dab. The folk dances of ethnic Laotian minorities are also
Laotian American youth play traditional bamboo khene at the International Lao New Year festival in San Francisco, California. (Boon Vong)
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performed in Laotian America, such as the Hmong New Year dance (fon bun kin chieng) and the Khmu courtship dance (fon pao bang). At Laotian American celebrations and weddings, Laotian folk dances, such as ramwong, phuthai dance, and pornsawan dance are intermixed with Western forms of modern dance as part of the festivities. Traditional Laotian folk dance and performances are taught at Lao Buddhist temples. Laotian American parents enroll their children in these classes as a means for them to learn Laotian culture and identify themselves as Laotian American. Laotian women are seen as the sole transmitter and carrier of these folk dance traditions. Laotian women prepare the foods and perform the rituals that accompany every traditional Laotian festival and holiday celebration, secular and religious. Laotian American women are the cultural vehicle of traditional Laotian folk dances and performance in America. These folk dances and performances become a maker of ethnic and cultural identity among Laotian American youths who perform them, as well as for the audience and community. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Anderson, Wanni W. “Between Necessity and Choice: Rhode Island Lao American Women.” In Wanni Wibulswasdi Anderson and Robert G. Lee, eds. Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers State University Press, 2005. Miller, Terry E. Traditional Music of the Lao: Kaen Playing and Mawlum Singing in Northeast Thailand. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985.
Foods and Foodways Laotian foods, similar to Vietnamese and Thai foods, are spicy. Laotian food in America is available in areas where there are significant Laotian American populations, such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Los Angeles, San Diego, or Dallas. Most Laotian meals in Laos and Laotian American families include rice (khao) or rice noodles (khao poon). Sticky rice (khao niaow) is popular rice that is served with most Laotian meals. The sticky rice is usually wrapped into individual serving–size packs. Laotian dishes often include chopped meats, pounded and spiced to make a dish called laap (larb). One may find this Laotian dish in most Thai restaurants. Laotian and Laotian Americans, when at home, eat with their hands. The sticky rice is taken in the thumb and first three fingers and used to scoop up other foods, then pushed into the mouth. Padaek, or Laotian fish sauce, is an important ingredient.
Laotian Americans: Foods and Foodways
The glutinous or sticky rice befits its name because it is so sticky that, to eat it, one has to use one’s hand and roll it up in a small ball. Unlike other types of rice, glutinous or sticky rice is not cooked in water, but it is steamed. Before the rice can be steamed, it must be soaked in water for a couple of hours. To steam the rice, there is a special hat-shaped bamboo container into which the rice is poured and covered. The container is set on top of another pot filled with some water and placed on a hot stove. Halfway through the cooking process, the rice is flipped over so that the uncooked rice is now at the bottom. Flipping the rice over requires skill; otherwise, it could end up on the floor. The steaming process takes about 30 minutes. When the rice is steamed, it is stored in a cylindrical bamboo container made especially for this purpose. A popular Laotian dish among Laotian American is green papaya salad, called tam mak hoong, seasoned with hot chili peppers. This is similar to the Thai green papaya salad. Some Laotians will argue that the papaya salad was invented in Laos and then exported to Cambodia, Thai, and Vietnam, where it was adopted. The cooking style and flavoring of foods in northern Thailand is very similar to Laotian-style foods. Hence, some Laotian Americans are able to find similar cultural foods in a Thai restaurant, which is more readily available in the United States. The main ingredients in Laotian cooking are lemon grass, chilies, ginger, and tamarind. Coconut fat is used sparingly. Similar to the Cambodian and Vietnamese, Laotians have been influenced by French foods, especially in the baguette, which are sold on the streets of Laos and common in fusion French– Southeast Asian dishes. Another contemporary influence on Laotian cooking style is the use of a wok for stir-frying, which is considered to be a Chinese influence. Laotian savory dishes are never sweet; thus, the combination of “sweet and sour” popular in Chinese and Chinese American foods is generally considered bizarre and foreign in Laotian and Laotian America. Some Laotian dishes are bitter. There is a saying in Laotian cuisine, “van pen lom; khom pen ya,” which translated means, “sweet makes you dizzy; bitter makes you healthy.” Laotian desserts are typically made of fresh fruits, coconut milk, and sticky rice. Laotians traditionally eat their food in a communal setting. Diners sit on a reed mat on the wooden floor around a raised platform woven out of rattan called a ka toke. The sitting position requires that one folds both legs to one side. However, most Laotian American families will sit around the conventional table, in chairs. Thus, in Laotian America, eating at a ka toke is the exception rather than the rule, except when it is at a Lao Buddhist temple. The Laotian monks are served their meals on a ka toke. When eating, elder Laotians eat first and are served first, followed by the younger folks. It is also consider rude to make noise while eating, which is distinctly different from Japanese foodways, where one must make noise to show the cook that he or she enjoys the food.
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Similar to Asian food in general is that there is no distinction between food served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Laotian people eat rice three times per day. Occasionally, Laotian people substitute big bowls of noodles or soups for their rice meals. Unlike in Western culture, Laotian meals are not divided up into appetizer, main course, and desert. Food is brought out at once. Dessert is typically made from fruits and common on holidays and/or special occasions. During the Laotian meal, no drink is served. Water is usually drunk after a meal. However, on holidays and/or special occasions, Laotian Americans usually drink rice wine. Unlike other Asian cultures, Laotian and Laotian Americans typically do not drink tea. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Nasy Inthisone Pfanner See also: Hmong Americans: Foods and Foodways.
Further Reading Alford, Jeffre, and Naomi Duguid. Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey through Southeast Asia. New York: Artisan, 2000. Burton, John J. S. Lao Close Encounters. Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2005.
Heroes and Heroines There are many sources of inspiration in Laotian and Laotian American culture. These personalities are historic, legendary, mythic, and contemporary, but above all, they are inspirational. King Fa Ngum (Fa Ngoun) is a true Laotian American hero. He was courageous, brilliant, and noble. According to legends, Fa Ngum was born with teeth to royal parents in Muang Sua or Muong Swa, the previous name for Luang Prabang. Due to the peculiar teeth, soothsayers predicted misfortune for the countrymen. At the time of Fa Ngum’s birth, Luang Prabang was an animist state. As a result, his father was advised to abandon the child when he grew into boyhood. Fa Ngum was set off on the Mekong River. He was found and raised by the king of Cambodia in Angkor. The king of Cambodia was a Theravada Buddhist with a compassionate heart. Fa Ngum proved himself to be so intelligent, loving, and trustworthy that the Cambodian king gave him his daughter in marriage. Furthermore, as Fa Ngum proved himself ready for battle, the Cambodian monarch gave him and his father an army and a golden Buddha, Pra Bang (Phrabang), to take back the country of Fa Ngum’s birth and spread Theravada Buddhism. In the mid-14th century, using military force, Fa Ngum founded the Kingdom of Lan Xang (Lane Xang, Lan Xiang), which literally translated to “Land of a
Laotian Americans: Identity
Million Elephants,” thereby becoming its first king. Up until this event, there were many provinces with various ethnicities. To date, there is no evidence to prove or disprove whether King Fa Ngum was born with any teeth, let alone 32 or 33 teeth. Some sources say that the reason for King Fa Ngum’s banishment was his abnormal teeth, while others claim that it was because his father was inappropriate with a court concubine. As a result of conflicting information, the question remains whether Fa Ngum was alone or with his father at the time of banishment. Just as puzzling is the date of his death. Some sources state that he died in 1373, others state that he died in 1374 or 1393. Despite the mysteries, there are solid facts about King Fa Ngum. He was born in 1316 of noble birth. He had two noble marriages, unified the principalities, created a national identity, and brought Theravada Buddhism to the Kingdom of Lan Xang. He is still revered in Laotian American history and culture. Students learn about his accomplishments, elders pass his story to the new generations, and at his stature in Vientiane, civilians and Therevada Buddhhist monks gather to honor him. —Nasy Inthisone Pfanner
Further Reading Evans, Grant, ed. Laos: Culture and Society. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 1999. Lockhart, M. Bruce. “Pavatsat Lao: Constructing a National History.” South East Asia Research 14(3): 361–386. Lorrillard, Michel. “Lao History Revisited: Paradoxes and Problems in Current Research.” South East Asia Research, 14(3): 387–401. Salakchit, Souriya. Champa Homeland: The Lao Culture. Wolf Creek, OR: Jefferson Center in cooperation with Fishing Down the Bones Press, 2001.
Identity Defining the Laotian American is a fundamental step before any examination of their folklore can proceed. The identity of Laotian Americans is shaped primarily by their language, religion, the generation that defines it, and the region of origin. The term “Lao” refers to the ethnic majority or lowland inhabitants that comprise roughly 65 percent of the indigenous population in Laos. “Laotian” is a political designation referring to all groups from Laos, which include the other 49 officially recognized tribal groups such as the Hmong, Mien, Tai Dum, and Lue among others. Much of what makes the Laotians distinct from these other groups is their language and religion. The Lao language consists of at least 27 consonants, 29 vowels,
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and 4 tonal accents. Most Laotianpractice Theravada Buddhism, a conservative form of the religion transported originally from India. A large wave of Laotians immigrated to the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s because of the turmoil that resulted from the Vietnam conflict. Of the roughly 200,000 lowland Laotianliving in the United States, the vast majority reside in California. San Diego is home to the largest Laotianpopulation in the nation. For Laotian Americans, issues of identity are sometimes examined through different generational perspectives. Among elder LaotianAmericans, they still identify themselves by their region of origin. There are three commonly referenced regions from Laos: northern (Luang Prabang region), central (Vientiane), or southern (Pakse or Savannakhet regions). While language and religion are generally the same, each region has a unique dialect, local traditions, and specialized cuisines. —Steve Arounsack
Further Reading Chapman, Adam. “Breath and Bamboo: Diasporic Lao Identity and the Lao MouthOrgan.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 26 (2005): 5–20. Evans, Grant. Laos: Culture and Society. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000. Pholsena, Vatthana. Post-war Laos: The Politics of Culture, History and Identity. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2006.
Jewelry The word “jewelry” derives from the Latin word “jocale,” meaning plaything. More than simply playthings, for Laotian society as well as for other societies throughout the world, jewelry has been indicative of wealth and power. Furthermore, jewelry is part of the family that has been passed on as heirlooms from generation to generation. Jewelry is worn predominantly by women. However, Laotian men also wear jewelry, mostly rings, necklaces, and bracelets, but not to the extent or variations as females do. It is also worn by people of all ages, starting as babies to death. Even in death, some affluent families put jewelry into the coffins. For the Lao Loum (inhabitants of the lowlands), the most prized jewelry is made of gold—to be precise, 24 karats (approximately 99.9 %), the purest form of gold. The second choice is made of 18-karat gold (75 %), kham farang, literally translated as “French gold.” Gold is measured in baht (not to be confused with the Thai currency), one baht equals 15.244 grams. The third choice is made from bronze, and the fourth choice is made from silver. Silver is especially omnipresent among the many tribal hill peoples.
Laotian Americans: Literature and Folklore
Additionally, gold is often used in lieu of currency. Many properties were bought and sold with gold. Gold is so paramount in the Laotian culture that a man is expected to give to his bride gold as part of his wedding gifts. Marilyn Monroe may have sung, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” but for the Laotian girl, the 24-karat gold is her best friend. Typical jewelry consists of necklaces, rings, earrings, etc., made from the metals stated above. For the small percentage of especially well-heeled ladies, there are gold belts to worn over the sinh, gold hairpins to wear on top of the chignon bun, and gold hair chains. Jewelry has various designs reflecting the place of origin—e.g., the jewelers from the north, south, and central parts of the country have distinctive patterns. Two of Laos’s famous gold mines are in Phu Kham and Sepon, where Australian companies have permission to mine. Likewise, gold can be panned along the banks of the Mekong River above Luang Prabang. Gemstones are also found in Laos, particularly sapphire in Huay Xai. Surprisingly, gemstones are not popular in Laotian culture. Many Laotian Americans acquire a taste for Western jewelry—e.g., diamonds, precious stones, pearls etc. The reverse could also be said—namely, that many Westerners have acquired a taste for Laotian jewelry. In many large cities where there are large Asian populations, there are Laotian jewelry stores. These stores are not frequented only by Laotian, but by other Asians as well as Americans. In today’s high tech world, there are Internet sites that sell Laotian jewelry, both from the Lao Loum and from the tribal hill peoples. There are both traditional and contemporary designs to suit all tastes. Jewelry needs no translation; it has universally been an object of obsession, love and admiration throughout the history of mankind. —Nasy Inthisone Pfanner See also: Hmong Americans: Clothes and Jewelry; Laotian Americans: Clothes.
Further Reading Richter, Anne. The Jewelry of Southeast Asia. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2000.
Literature and Folklore Superstition, myth, and legend have ancient traditions among the Laotian people. While many of these folktales were shared by word of mouth from one generation to the next, some have been transcribed on palm leaves. These stories provide insight on Laotian attitudes and practices that remain prevalent in the United States.
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The creation myth of the Laotian people is explained through a story about noblemen who came to earth and used a buffalo to plow rice fields. Upon the death of the buffalo, a vine plant grew from its nostrils and sprung forth gourds. The noblemen chiseled different shapes into the gourd for people to emerge from; hence the different attributes of the original inhabitants of Laos. Among the great variety of folktales, several major categories exist: those that deal with the life of the Buddha (Jataka tales), moral teachings, animal tales, ghost stories, and riddles. Throughout these stories, the hero or heroine often is an orphan. In many instances, the moral tales involve animal characters. In ghost and moral tales, there are allusions to animism, the idea that every living creature has a spirit (qwan). The Laotians believe that each person is comprised mostly of a spirit, and that to heal a person, the spirit must be cared for as well as the physical being. A key figure in traditional Laotian folklore is Xieng Mieng, a novice monk known for his wit and clever antics. Many of his intellectual adversaries included senior monks and even the king. The Xieng Mieng stories rank among some of the most well-known folktales throughout Laos and Thailand. More recently, Laotian Americans’ major contributions to literature and folklore emerged in the mid-1990s. While many of the articles written in the United States have focused on acculturation issues as the first wave of immigrants began their college experience, themes of traditional folklore remain. Laotian American literature witnessed two significant movements. A literary project called Satdjadham (“truth”) galvanized a largely fragmented Lao diaspora. Consisting primarily of college students and scholars, this group used the Internet to communicate, published anthologies, and organized annual conferences, which were held from 1996 to 2001 on various university campuses around the country. Additionally, in 1996, Lao Vision Magazine was established as the first national hybrid Lao-English publication. This variety magazine examined education, folklore, humor, social issues, and the generation gap. —Steve Arounsack See also: Laotian Americans: Identity.
Further Reading Koret, Peter. “Laos.” In Alastair Dingwall, ed. Traveller’s Literary Companion to Southeast Asia. Brighton, UK: Print Publishing, 1994. Tossa, Wajuppa, and Kongdeuane Nattavong. Lao Folktales. Edited by Margaret Read MacDonald. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. Thammawat, Jaruwan. Orphan Tales: Reflections of People’s Lives with Restricted Opportunities and Ethnic Relationships in the Middle Southeast Region. Ubonratchathani: Siritham Offset, 1999.
Laotian Americans: Marriage Rituals
Web Site Tossa, Wajuppa. Lao Folk Literature Course. Northern Illinois Unveristy Web site: http:// www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/LaoFolkLiterature (accessed April 2010).
Marriage Rituals In Laos, there is no caste system that requires people to marry within a social group. However, traditionally, people stay close to their native home, resulting in marriages within one’s social class, village, or city. Additionally, there are many arranged marriages between cousins. Such marriages have two advantages: protection of family wealth and familiarity with the in-laws. The rituals and traditions associated with a Laotian wedding are still practiced by Laotian Americans but to varying degrees. Many have merged Western wedding rituals and traditions, such as wearing a white wedding dress, with traditional Laotian wedding rituals and traditions. It is during the wedding that many Laotian Americans will wear
Laotian American wedding procession in Boise, Idaho. The groom, wearing traditional dress, is escorted to the bride's house for the wedding ceremony by friends and relatives. (David R. Frazier/The Image Works)
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traditional Laotian clothing, participate in Laotian rituals and activities, eat Laotian foods, and perform Laotian dances. All this together is a way for them to maintain Laotian culture in America, and also reinforce their sense of self, that is both Laotian and American. In the United States and other Western areas, the notion of romantic love is essential in marriage choice. However, this is not the case for Laotians. Upon engagement, the suitor, accompanied by his parents, brings a pair of candles and flowers. They discuss bride price, and wedding date based on the Buddhist calendar. If feasible, the suitor gives his fiance´e gold jewelry. If the man breaks the engagement, the woman typically returns the gold unless the man does not want it. However, if the woman breaks the engagement, she is fined and has to pay two or three times the amount of what was received upon the engagement. Bride price negotiation is done amicably; parents of the groom negotiate the price down, and the parents of the bride negotiate the price up. The bride price does not have to be paid in full upon marriage, but rather a certain amount is typically owed. Should the marriage end in divorce, the husband must pay the owed amount before dividing up the family belongings. Preparation for the wedding begins a couple of days or even a week before the actual wedding. Family and friends go to the bride’s home to help with foods, clothing, flower arrangements, and so on. On the wedding day, the bride waits at her home. She can wear any color of the silk sinh of her choice, as long as it does not have a black spot (the color of mourning). However, she must share with the groom this information so that he may get a matching color pa yao. There is only one coiffure for the Laotian women on her wedding day. Hair has to be pulled up sleekly in a high chignon bun. In many cases in which the bride’s hair is too short or too thin, a hair extension (sonk) is used to add volume to the top of her bun. The hair extension is typically an heirloom made from her mother’s or grandmother’s hair. Hair is decorated with gold chains and, for the well-to-do, a small piece of jewelry off the bun that looks somewhat like a Christmas tree top. The fanfare of the groom is a flamboyant event in which many relatives and friends accompany the groom to the bride’s home clapping their hands, playing the kaen, a Laotian wooden instrument, and singing a song with the lyric “mother-in-law here comes your son-in-law.” With a pair of flowers and candles in hand, the groom leads the crowd. To protect him from the sun, another person carries an umbrella over his head. A jar of alcohol is brought along. Upon arrival at the bride’s home, he is greeted by her relatives, who hold a silver, bronze, or gold belt in front of the entrance to prevent him from entering. Should the family have no such belts, holding arms would serve the same purpose. They ask the groom a series of frivolous questions, such as, “What is your name?” “What are you doing here?” and “What is your intention?” The groom must show respect and patience as he answers all the questions. The purpose of such jokes is to put
Laotian Americans: Marriage Rituals
people into laughter. The groom must pay an entrance fee, which does not necessarily have to be much; it is just a symbol of goodwill. No groom has ever been turned away. Before entering the house, the groom’s feet are washed to represent his cleanliness. The groom is lead to a pair of phakouns, treelike objects about two to three feet high, made of banana leaves and decorated with flowers, candles, and white cotton strings. Laotian weddings occur at home and are conducted by a morpone, a layperson who is in good social standing or an elder within the community and have had religious training. Laotian weddings are not conducted in the temple or by a Buddhist monk. The wedding ceremony consists of baci, a ceremony around the phakouns. The groom uses the candles that he brought to light up the candles that are on top of the phakouns. Both the flowers and the candles brought by the groom are set by the phakouns. The groom holds one end of the cotton string; the bride holds the second end and the morpone, hold the third end of the string. Around the phakouns are some fruits and container with sticky rice. The bride and groom sit side by side, with knees and feet folded together. Other guests sit behind them. The ceremony is conducted on the floor, typically covered with a mat. The morpone chants blessings for the couple, after which he ties the strings on their wrists and wishes them good fortunes. Should one of the partners be a divorcee or widow(er) and the other partner marrying for the first time, the divorcee or widow(er) must “repair” the partner—in the sense that something has been cut or broken and needs repair—by trying a string on the partner to prevent the partner from becoming divorced or widowed. Afterwards, parents, family and other guests also tie strings and wish everyone good fortune and health. Some people also tie money on the string. The groom gives a pair of candles and flowers to the parents of the bride and her unmarried elder brothers and sister, but not younger siblings. If this is not done, the elder siblings might be unlucky in marriage because the younger brother or sister has gotten married first. Typically, the ceremony lasts about one hour. After the wedding ceremony is over, an older couple that has not been widowed or divorced leads the couple into the couple’s bedroom and makes their bed for them. The newlyweds should have a lasting marriage resembling the couple who made the bed. Another elder couple that has also not been divorced or widowed carries the phakouns into the bedroom. Some couples whose families live nearby have a baci ceremony twice. In such circumstance, after the baci ceremony at the bride’s home, the couple with guests parade to the groom’s home and have the same baci ceremony. After the second ceremony, the newlyweds would then be led into their bedroom and the phakouns carried in. Affluent families often have a reception at a restaurant or hotel, with music and dancing in the evening. Both sides of the families pay for wedding expenses. Regardless of the couple’s financial circumstance, a marriage is a joyous occasion attended by the entire
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community. At some weddings, the guest list includes thousands. Should the couple lack financial means, the community assists by donating alcohol or rice, lending jewelry to the bride, etc. Laotians give money instead of presents; therefore, wedding expenses are covered after the wedding. There are regional as well as ethic differences in marriage ceremonies. For example, wedding rings are not worn everywhere; northerners such as inhabitants of Luang Prabang wear them, while southerners such as inhabitants of Savannakhet do not necessary wear them. An additional difference is that in some regions, it is not mandatory for a man to attend his own wedding. A man may be studying abroad or may be in the military, but wants to marry anyway. In such cases, the wedding can be arranged with his parents and the bride’s parents. The same celebration exists with only the bride taking part of the marriage ceremony and minus the fanfare of the groom. To be sure, while the groom is studying hard or fighting for his country, his family is having an upbeat wedding on his behalf. Many Laotians marry other Laotians, but many are open to other cultural and ethnic groups. Nevertheless, many Laotian men in the United States yearn for traditional Laotian women with Laotian values, and they return to Laos to marry a Laotian women via an arranged marriage. The reverse is true for Laotian women; many marry non-Laotian men in America. —Nasy Inthisone Pfanner See also: Laotian Americans: Clothes.
Further Reading Burton, John J. S. Lao Close Encounters. Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2005. Chaze´e, Laurent. The Peoples of Laos: Rural and Ethnic Diversities. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1999. Mansfield, Stephen. Lao Hill Tribes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Ratnam, Perala. Laos and Its Culture. New Delhi: Tulsi Publishing House, 1982.
Names and Name Giving Names are of utmost importance in Laotian America. First names are given after birth, usually by a Buddhist monk, who suggests a couple of names that are best suited for the child based on the date, time, and year of birth. Therefore, most names are unique to a person’s horoscope. Names that do not correspond to the horoscope could result in misfortune and sickness. When a young child is often ill, or difficult to raise, parents take the child to a monk, who evaluates the name. The child is given a new name and undergoes a ritual, whereby a
Laotian Americans: Names and Name Giving
small string known as baci, meaning “blessing,” is tied on the arms. If the child heals with the new name, it would be proof that names are connected to a person’s soul. In addition to the first name, Laotian Americans have a nickname or a sue lin, literally translated as “play name.” Contrary to first names, sue lin is given by the immediate family. Exactly as the name implies, it is a playful name that usually describes the person. For example, a short person could be named “shorty,” a tall person could be named “tally,” a light-skin person could be named “white,” etc. Other favored nicknames are from animals (e.g., rabbit, chicken, lion) or gemstones and metal (e.g., diamond, gold, silver). Additionally, many women are named after flowers (e.g., lotus, jasmine). There are such names as “fat” for a person who is chubby, “skinny” for a thin person, “black” for a person who is darkskinned, “curly” for a person with curly hair, etc. Although not charming, these names are inoffensive. People did not traditionally have last names; last names came into existence due to French colonial influence. Last names were typically taken from the first name of one’s great great grandfather. Laotian women usually take on their husband’s last name upon marriage. Laotian Americans are not named after their parents, and there are no suffixes (Jr., Sr, I, II, III, etc.). However, Laotian parents are often called in familiar settings by the name of their eldest child. For example, if the child’s name were “bird,” the parents would be referred to as “bird’s mother or father.” Moreover, it is impolite to call a Laotian American directly by name, although non-Laotians are usually forgiven for this faux pas. One calls an elder person grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, older sister, older brother, etc., even though one is not related. A younger female person is referred to as a nang, similar to “Ms.,” and a younger male person is referred to as a tao (male version of nang), before the name. Upon being Americanized, many Laotians change and/or shorten their names for the sake of convenience. Laotian names are long and difficult to pronounce— e.g., Soumpholphakdy, Nasysamout, etc. Likewise, many parents give their children Western and Laotian names. The practice of playful names is still in use in Laotian American families. Laotian American children address elders within their communities through kinship terminology, which creates a sense of closeness and community. Laotian naming practices are still important to the Laotian Americans, and will be for some time to come. —Nasy Inthisone Pfanner
Further Reading Human Relations Area Files. Laos: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. Edited by Adrienne Suddard and Frank M. LeBar. New Haven, CT: Hraf Press, 1960.
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Narrative Folktale Folk narratives refer to any form of traditional literature that has been passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. It is popularly referred to as “oral narratives.” Laotian folk narratives could be in verse or in prose. Laotian narrative folklore was, at first, solely transmitted orally until the 14th century when it was written and drew heavily on Buddhist and Hindu sources. At first, it was recorded on palm leaf manuscripts, which represent a collection of Laotian myths, legends, folk epics, fairytales, and folktales. These narratives inspire Laotian folk dance performances, and music as well as arts and crafts. Scholars who study Laotian folk narrative classify them into five categories: didactic narratives, law narratives, folktales, Buddhist narratives, historical chronicles, and folk medicine—incantation of words, and epistolary narratives. Like the rest of Buddhist Asia, the The Jataka Tales dominate a large part of Laotian narrative folktales. The Jataka Tales are dyadic tales that teach children the basic principles, values, and morals of Buddhism: nonharming, compassion, telling the truth, not stealing, and so on. It also communicates that we all make mistake as humans, but that we can learn from our mistakes and develop spiritually and emotionally. Laotian epic folk narratives are adopted from Indian epics, the popular one being The Ramayana, known in Laos as Phra Lak Phra Lam. The oral histories among Laotian American families are important narrative folktales. These are the tales of flight, of the refugee experience, and of the challenges and tribulations of resettlement. Laotian American elders and parents will speak about the Laos they grew up in, the Laos they idealize and romanticize pre-1975. These oral histories are important for second, third, and future generations of Laotian Americans who grow up in America. The stories that history neglects, or rather omits, are recorded in oral histories. For example, many students who study the Vietnam War will not know about the secret war in Laos, in which Lao and Hmong men were recruited to assist the U.S. military to flight the Viet Cong (Vietnamese Communist of North Vietnam). But these personal narratives of Laotian refugees who served and fought on behalf of the United States are important for Laotian Americans because they come to realize that their grandparents and parents are here, in fact, because they (the United States) “were there.” —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Compton, Carol. Courting Poetry in Laos: A Textual and Linguistics Analysis. DeKalb, IL: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University, 1979. Epstein, Steven. Lao Folktales. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2006. Livo, Norma, and Dia Cha. Folk Stories of the Hmong: Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 1991.
Laotian Americans: Pii May Lao or Lao New Year Tossa, Wajuppa, with Kongdeuane Nettavong. Lao Folktales. Edited by Margaret Read MacDonald. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.
Pii May Lao or Lao New Year The Laotian people celebrate their New Year, Pii May (pronounced “Pii-My”) or Kut Songkaan according to the ancient Hindu calendar, which falls around April 13, 14, or 15 in the Gregorian calendar. The celebration is considered to be the most important and biggest traditional festival in the country. The festival coincides with the end of the dry season and the start of the monsoon season. It is seen as a day of rebirth and purification. According to a Lao legend, the Pii May celebration started after Thao Kabinlaphrom lost his life in a bet to a man named Thammaban Khuman, in which Thao Kabinlaphrom was not able to solve a three-part riddle. Per his request, his seven daughters (representing each day of the week) took great care not to let his severed head touch the ground, or there would be great destruction throughout the world. The head was kept at Mount Sumeru until Pii May of each year, when each daughter would take turns cleansing it. Today, this story is reenacted during the Lao New Year celebration. The community chooses one female to represent Nang Sangkhan, one of the seven sisters, to lead a procession or parade while showcasing a replica of Thao Kabinlaphrom on a ceremonial tray called Khan. Pii May Lao is a three-day event. The first day is called Sangkhan Luang, or the last day of the old year. This is the time when people clean their houses in preparation for the New Year. It is also a time when people clean Buddha statues with scented water at the temple. On this day, people earn merit and blessings by building mounds of sand, usually on the river banks and temple grounds, which are then decorated with small triangular flags, flowers, money and candles. This day in 2010 fell on Tuesday, April 13. The second day is called Sangkhan Nao, which is the day between the old and the New Year (This day is considered neither to be part of the old year or the New Year). In some years, the Sangkhan Nao may be two or three days long. Sangkhan Nao is also known as the day of rest, which means all work is forbidden. Only fun activities should take place, such as visiting relatives and friends, taking a day trip, or the customary throwing of water on friends and passersby. At nighttime, there is usually a Lamvong or circle dancing party, and everyone dresses their best to partake in the celebration. Plenty of food and drinks are available well into the night. In 2010, for instance, Sangkhan Nao was only one day long and fell on Wednesday, April 14.
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The third day of the Lao New Year is called Sangkhan Kheun Pii May. It is the start of the New Year and is the most joyous day of the festival. People go to the temple and make offerings to gain merit. Young people prepare scented water with flowers and visit their grandparents, parents, and elders. They rinse the elders’ hands with the water and ask for their blessings and forgiveness for any wrongdoings in the past year. At home, they engage in a special family ceremony called the Sukhwan or Baci to welcome the New Year. This ceremony is performed by a ceremonial leader known as the Mophon to call the Khwan or tutelary spirits back to the body. Participants then take turns tying the blessed white strings around each other’s wrists to wish them good luck and prosperity for the New Year. —Vinya Sysamouth See also: Laotian Americans: Festivals and Holidays.
Further Reading Luangpraseut, Khamchong. Laos Culturally Speaking. San Diego, CA: San Diego State University, Multifunctional Resource Center, 1987.
Proverbs and Maxims Laotian refugees who arrived to the United States in the wake of the U.S. defeat in Vietnam bring with them a wealth of proverbs and maxims that provide practical and folk wisdom rooted in the rhythm of life in Laos. As refugees in a foreign country, it is difficult not to be shy about going to new places, encountering new people, and learning new things. However, Laotian proverbs encourage extroverted initiative, as expressed in “If one is shy with one’s teacher, one will have no knowledge,” and “If one is shy with one’s spouse, one will have no children.” Many proverbs provide insights into people’s character and virtuous traits that are valued in Laotian American communities, such as, “To judge an elephant, look at its tail; To judge a girl, look at her mother.” Therefore, the following illustrates how Laotian American children may be socialized “If you love your cow, tie it up; If you love your child, beat him.” Theravada Buddhism has a great influence on Laotian American proverbs, regardless of whether one is Buddhist or not. For instance, “When one is alone, one must be mindful of one’s thoughts; when one is among friends, one must be careful of one’s speech.” Another Buddhist inspired proverb reflects the central teaching of impermanence: “When the water rises, the fish eat the ants; when the water falls, the ants eat the fish.” Similar to other Asian countries, which are religiously and culturally influenced by Buddhism, the Jataka Tales are a central source of Laotian proverbs and
Laotian Americans: Religion
maxims. Laotian American proverbs and maxims are transmitted through children’s picture books and oral stories told by elders in their families, but many are inspired by the Jataka Tales and reflect the teachings of Buddhism. For example, the proverb “The living cannot hide or flee: death will be the end” teaches impermanence. To communicate nonattachment to material things, the following proverbs are expressed: “The true follower of Buddha has lost interest in wealth or power” and “Be detached from all you own.” The proverb “Do what is right and ignore what other people say” shows that doing the right thing, such as following the Buddha’s middle path, is difficult. Hence, it is important to “Be a friend to all honest men,” meaning like-minded people with the same goal will achieve a likeminded goal. Laotian American elders employ proverbs to imagine a life in Laos before the war. They imagine a life that was characterized by reciprocity, changing seasons, and family in a rural setting. These proverbs are less frequently used by people in Laos. Many Americans may have already been exposed to Laotian proverbs through the animated TV show King of the Hill, which features a Laotian American family living side by side with their non-Laotian neighbors in Arlen, Texas. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Rehbein, Boike. Globalization, Culture and Society in Laos. London: Routledge, 2007.
Religion Laos is an ethnically diverse nation-state, with more than 60 different cultural communities. However, these communities are generally classified under three umbrella categories—Lao Loum, or lowland groups; Lao Sung, or upland groups; and Hmong, “free people”—reflecting common origin and language groupings. In 1975, after the Pather Lao seized power and began a bloody campaign, many Laotians who had supported the U.S. military effort fled as refugees. Approximately 70,000 lowland Lao, 60,000 Hmong, and 10,000 Mien (a Lao Sung ethnic group) arrived in the United States that same year, while many more made their way to refugee camps in Thailand and, later, into the United States. Laotian religion is as diverse as Laotian ethnic groups. The majority lowland population is Theravada Buddhist, but it is ritually integrated with phi, an indigenous Laotian spirit cult. There are smaller groups that follow Hindu Brahamanism, from India; Roman Catholicism, due to missionary efforts under French colonialism; and American Protestantism, as a result of informal pressure from Christian relief workers in the refugee camps. Other, even smaller communities adhere to
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The Grand Priest Fouvang Tang leads a procession during the opening ceremony of the King Pan Buddha Light Palace, Oakland, California. (Wildflowers Institute)
Islam and Baha’i, and there are local indigenous variations of spirit cults found among upland Thueng and Lao Sung. Laotian religion, as in Cambodia and Thailand, is a blend of Theravada Buddhism (“the Way of the Elders”) and phi. Theravada Buddhism reached Laos in the beginning of the 8th century, introduced by Mon Buddhist monks. It was widely practiced by the 14th century, to the extent that it was the official state religion of the Kingdom of Laos up until French colonial rule and then Pather Lao. Largely, due to the politicalization of Buddhism for Pather Lao reeducation and the support of political agendas throughout the 1970s and 1980s, there was a distrust and decrease in the Theravadian monastic communities. However, an increase in economic prosperity and a political relaxation on religion has resulted in a “revival” of popular Buddhism during the early 1990s. Virtually all Lao Loum are Lao Buddhist, as well as some Lao Theung or Lao Sung, who have assimilated and resettled in the lowland valley of Laos. Under similarly difficult and challenging circumstances, Laotian religion and Lao Buddhism has taken root in Laotian American communities, as Laotian refugees attempt to resettle and adapt to life in the United States while holding on to their distinctly Laotian cultural way of life, ethics, and values.
Laotian Americans: Religion
Laotian Buddhist Temple At the heart of Lao Buddhism is the wat, or Buddhist temple, which also functions as a village religious center, school, public meeting hall, site for community rituals, or political elections of village leaders—overall, the main conduit of Laotian moral and cultural socialization. In traditional settings, all male Laotians are expected to enter monastic life as a monk or novice (vihan) prior to marriage. This was a tradition that virtually all Lao Loum men practiced up until the 1970s. Ordination was a major way to earn merit, bun, for oneself, one’s parents, and one’s village community, as one becomes the receiver of alms and merit-making rituals for others as monks renounce the material world and rely of the generosity of people’s donations of food and clothing. Laotian women are more active in preparing and presenting offerings of food and clothing to monks, who make their morning alms through their village carrying an alms bowl. The greatest merit-making ritual revolves around the construction of the Buddhist temple, which minimally must feature a residence quarter for monks and novices, and a main hall where the Buddha statue (sim) is housed. As such, Laotian refugee communities throughout the United States (e.g., Fort Worth, Texas; Rockford and Springfield, Illinois; Bakersfield, California; Seattle, Washington; Des Moines, Iowa; and Portland, Oregon), as well as in Toronto, Canada, Canberra, Australia, and Paris, France, are preoccupied with the establishment of a Lao Buddhist temple, not only to fulfill their religious needs, but as a center for Laotian socialization and moral education of young Laotian refugees and American-born Laotian children. Hence, the effort to construct a Lao Buddhist temple is a major component of Laotian refugee community stories in the diaspora. This process is difficult because of the scarcity of monks to guide them; hence, most communities will rely on elders who are familiar with Lao Buddhism, rituals, and architecture. But, for most Laotian communities, the construction of a Lao Buddhist temple is more challenging because of the lack of financial resources; in the meantime, “apartment temples” are established to meet the immediate religious needs, similar to the Cambodian American refugee communities.
Lao Theravada Buddhism in America Most Laotian Americans in the United States are religious practitioners and followers of Theravada Buddhism, although a sizable portion converted to American Protestantism in refugee camps in Thailand during 1970s and 1980s, or after their arrival in the United States. These conversions, largely, were prompted by the upheavals of war and exile and because Protestant church workers were assisting refugees in Thailand and sponsoring refugees in the United States. Many Laotian Christians, however, continue to practice Theravada Buddhist beliefs at the level of the individual household and community.
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There are mainly two schools of thought in Buddhism: Mahayana Buddhism, which is practiced widely in China, Japan, Tibet, Korea, and Vietnam; and Theravada Buddhism, which largely is followed by the people of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma (called Myanmar by the current governing regime), and Sri Lanka. Theravada Buddhism has sometimes been referred to as the “lesser vehicle” because it stresses the importance of sons becoming monks, even for a two-year period, to obtain spiritual merit for their parents. It also emphasizes the importance of achieving, as a result of one’s own individual efforts, a state of nirvana, or perfect enlightenment, which is a place of no self and no rebirth. Mahayana Buddhism, which has sometimes been referred to as the big wheel, stresses the importance of gaining help from Bodhisattvas who have already achieved nirvana but choose to come back to guide others on the path to enlightenment. Lao Buddhism, although Theravada Buddhism, is practiced differently from that of their Southeast Asian neighbors (Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Cambodia), because it is embedded in indigenous Lao phi rituals and spirit beliefs. However, all forms of Theravada Buddhism share some common practices and beliefs, such as Buddha, dharma, and sangha, as well as the observance of Wesak or Visakha, the celebration of the birth, enlightenment, and final passing of the historical Buddha Siddhartha. Lao Buddhism emphasizes the ritual dimension of Buddhism, not so much the theological dimension, such as nirvana; but this distinction is hard to delineate, the theological dimension being the source of Laotian values and moral education.
Laotian Folk Beliefs and Rituals in America The influence of folk phi rituals and beliefs is seen in the concern with maintaining the integrity of the person and his or her “souls,” which is the basis of health or illness. Hence, phi rituals such as soukhouan rites (“calling back the souls”) are held to celebrate rites of passage (e.g., marriage, pregnancy, birth, ordination), to mark the start of new life paths, or are mandated in times of illness. In the United States, this includes beginning college or celebrating someone’s homecoming after a period of extended absence. This ritual ends with a tying of cotton threads to the wrist of the officiant, the celebrant, and others participating in the ritual, connecting their souls to their bodies. If this ritual is performed for someone leaving the community, the thread bracelet is worn for at least three days and nights as a reminder of the strength of his or her family to boost his or her morale and maintain solidarity. Therefore, phi rituals and beliefs dominate the health and therapeutic aspect of Laotian religious life, while Buddhism dominates funerary rituals and merit-making activities.
Laotian American Buddhist Rituals Another important ritual in Laotian American Buddhist communities is the belief that the khouan, or human soul, is lightly and gently attached to each person.
Laotian Americans: Religion
Laotian Americans believe that as they develop close friendships or become involved with other people, their inner soul might become attached to them. The baci or soukhouan ceremony is a cultural ritual in which monks chant prayers from Pali scriptures aimed to reattach and guide loosely tied khouans back inside the bodies of those in attendance. Participants in this ceremony bring a white piece of string to tie around each other’s wrists, binding the soul to the individual. This ceremonial practice is especially important for Laotian Americans who may have lost a loved one or are traveling far away from home.
Shifting Dimensions of Laotian Religion in America In the United States, many traditional holidays are observed; however, they are altered because of scheduling and time conflicts and constraints. Traditional agricultural rituals performed in conjunction with merit-making rituals at the Laotian temple have been changed to meet the demands of American life. Calendarical village festivals, such as, Bun Bang Fai (“rocket festival”), or rituals associated with the monastic communities (e.g., ordination and merit-making) have an opportunistic bent, as Laotian monks may only visit a Laotian community occasionally. Thus, Laotian Americans have to take advantage of the opportunities to perform religious rituals and receive dharma lessons. In the United States, Laotian elders have had to assume the responsibility of religious specialists in the absence of monks, American foods (e.g., Pepsi cola) have been adapted in Laotian offerings, and audiotaped recordings of sermons by monks have been used as substitutes for real monks during ritual occasions. Young men no longer are expected to enter the monkhood for two years as a matter or course in America. Locally made Buddhist temples continue to provision Laotian Americans with a community center, while bilingual-speaking monks have come into high demand to meet the needs of subsequent generations who may grow up speaking only English. Lao Buddhism continues to be a marker of cultural identity at the level of the individual and community. Lao Buddhism thus becomes a marker of community identity as well as individual ethnic identity, in terms of belief and practice. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Hmong Americans: Religion; Laotian Americans: Domestic Religious Practices.
Further Reading Min, Pyong Gap, and Jung Ha Kim. Religions in Asian America: Building Faith Communities. New York: Rowan and Littlefield, 2002. Novas, Himilce, and Lan Cao, with Rosemary Silva. Everything You Need to Know about Asian American History. New York: The Penguin Group, 2004.
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Laotian Americans: Rites of Passage Swearer, Donald K. The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. New York: State University of New York Press, 1995. Van Esterik, Penny. Taking Refuge: Lao Buddhist in North America. Monograph in Southeast Asian Studies. Tempe: Arizona State University, 1992.
Rites of Passage Certain birth and marriage taboos, once vital, are considered no longer relevant and thereby lost in practice over time. However, one very important cultural ceremony is still very much alive in the Laotian American communities. This ceremony is the sukhuan, interchangeably called baci. The sukhuan is a ceremony held to hasten a speedy recovery for a convalescing patient, to celebrate a mother and her newborn child, to give best wishes to a wedding couple, to give warm welcome to a visiting dignitary, to give safe passage to a family member who is going on a long journey and to give thanks for his or her safe return, and to celebrate Lao New Year with the hope of wellbeing for all.
Birth Rite After giving birth to a first child, traditionally, a new mother is to sit or slouch on a bamboo bed about one foot high, underneath which hot charcoal is spread and kept hot at all times. She must drink hot herbal tea and take herbal showers throughout the day for 30 days for her firstborn and subsequently less for her next children. This process is called yukam, meaning a stay or to stay in penance after giving birth. In the United States, the yukam is no longer relevant. When the auspicious day is selected, a sukhuan ork kam is held. Ork kam means an exit or to exit from penance. The sukhuan is presided over by a morphon. A morphon could be the same person requested to preside over any sukhuan, but his sukhan chants vary and are appropriate for the occasions. The morphon is a man who may have been once, but not always, a monk. The morphon, with a phakhuan in between, sits facing the new mother and child. The phakhuan is a centerpiece made of fresh banana leaf cone and decorated with seasonal fresh flowers and white strings cut long enough to tie around the honoree’s wrists. For any sukhuan, one phakhuan will suffice except two for a wedding sukhuan. The morphon recites a chant to restore good health to the new mother, but most of all to give a loving welcome and best wishes to the newborn. The baby is just called “Baby” or by a nickname, usually a nonsensical one. The idea of giving nicknames is to fool the looming evil spirits that may cause harm or death to the baby.
Laotian Americans: Rites of Passage
Passage into Adulthood There is no particular ceremony to mark the entrance of a young person into adulthood. However, some families may organize private ceremonies to offer alms giving and a sud lod nam at the temple for a girl at the onset of her first menstrual cycle and at 19 going on 20 for a boy. The sud lod nam is presided over by a Buddhist monk. Furthermore, some families with means may organize an ordination for a son to enter a monkhood for a period of time to mark his passage into adulthood.
Marriage Rites Once a man finds a woman of his liking, after the courtship and to confirm his love, he would arrange for his parents to meet and talk to the woman’s parents. The initial meeting and chatting by the parents is considered a preliminary proposal. During this meeting and talking, the families would negotiate and agree upon the khakhumphi, khanumnom, and khadong. The khakhumphi, a tribute set by the Laotian Code (the law of the nation set up under the guidelines of French laws for its colonial protectorate) and paid to the potential bridal family’s guardian gods. It is considered most important for invoking the guardian spirits to accept, protect, and bless the new member of the family. The khanumnom, a sum paid to the bride’s mother as an appreciation for her milk, is also considered fixed by law by the Code and could be arranged, but no higher than the khakumphi. Both the khamkhumphi and khanumnom are required and have been practiced for many generations. Nowadays, these are not so commonly discussed. On the other hand, the khadong has become quite popular. Khadong, a dowry paid to the bride’s family, is a new development. Some parents decided to give the khadong to the newlyweds as seed fund to start a family. The amount of khadong is not determined by law. It is, however, popular and compulsory in practice, thereby affording human pride an opportunity to run amok, thus, a khadong running from $7,000 to $20,000 is not unheard of in America. In Luang Prabang, the khakhumphi, khanumnom, and khadong are presented to the young woman’s family on the day of betrothal. In Vientiane and other parts of the country, such tributes are given on the day of the marriage where they are counted and verified as the correct amount. This seems to only be the practice in America, thus making a marriage look like a business transaction to onlookers who are not aware of this cultural practice. At the wedding sukhuan, the morphon recites a chant that gives marital advice to the newlyweds. Laotian wedding sukhuan is not held at a temple, although the wedding couple may make alms offering and thereby receive blessings from the monks for their good deeds. —Bounheng Inversin
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Further Reading Abhay, Thao Nhouy. “The Baci.” In Rene de Berval, ed. Kingdom of Laos. Saigon: FranceAsie, 1959, 128–131. Bouaravong, P., and V. Thongsith. Laos: Tradition and Customs. Vientaine: National Printing Enterprise, 1995. Butcher, Tom, and Dawn Ellis. Laos. London: Pallas Athene, 1993. Ngaosyvathn, Mayoury. Lao Women: Yesterday and Tomorrow. Vientiane: State Publishing Enterprise, 1993.
Social Etiquette and Customs Laotian American social etiquette, customs, superstitions, and taboos are similar to other Southeast Asian Americans. A common taboo is touching, or patting someone on the head. It is believed to be the most sensitive spot on a person body, as well as the nexus of the soul, and should therefore not be touched. Another common taboo is the understanding that the feet and the ground are populated. Hence, it is improper to point one’s feet at someone else or at the image of the Buddha. This taboo dictates the position that Laotian Americans will sleep in, which is always with their feet pointing away from the home altar where the Buddha sits. It is considered polite and gracious for younger Laotian Americans to greet their seniors with a “nop,” or “phanon,” or “wai.” This body gesture and greeting is a prayer-like placing together of the palms and bows. As a means to show respect, younger Laotian Americans will perform this greeting first. If not, this brings shame to their parents, as it is a sign of disrespect. Accordingly, when there are guests in one’s home, children are taught to serve water or other drinks with both hands. In daily life, if one is handing something to anyone else, it is proper to use both hands. If not, one should at least use the right hand, and not the left, as the left is reserve for toilet ablutions. It is considered socially improper for Laotian Americans to make a scene in public. Bringing attention through public displays of affection is also not accepted in Laos, though this may be changing among younger Laotian Americans overseas. It is socially unacceptable to beg in public, but okay to give money to people who beg in public. This relates to the notion of “face” in Laotian communities, as well as the influence on Buddhism, as giving money to beggars is considered an act of merit-making. Because of the influence of the cult of phi, cult of the spirits, many customs and taboos revolve around ghosts and how to keep them away. This is seen in the prohibition of whistling at night, which might call out the ghosts. Laotian American social etiquette, customs, superstitions, and taboos express ideals for life, such as not cutting one’s finger- and toenails at night as it might
Laotian Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
bring one misfortune. Or, a more domestic custom of not forgetting to cover one’s sticky rice container, or tip khao; otherwise, one will not be able to get a husband. Similarly, there is a prohibition against eating and singing at the same time, as doing so will result in one not finding a spouse. Sometimes, omens come in strange packages, as expressed in the belief that if a bird defecates on a person, that person will have good luck in the near future. Although the superstitions and taboos may fade away among the second generation and future generations of Laotian Americans, various social etiquette and customs may remain as respect and honoring one’s elders are just as important in America, as it is within Laotian America. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Nwanna, Gladson I. Do’s and Don’ts Around the World: A Country Guide to Cultural and Social Taboos and Etiquette—ASIA. Baltimore: Frontline Publishers, 1998. Sabath, Ann Marie, and Brandon Toropov. International Business Etiquette: Asia. Lincoln, NB: iUniverse, Inc., 1999.
Traditional Medicine and Healing Laotian Americans, Buddhist, animist, or Christian, believe that illness—physical, psychological, and emotional—are related to losing part of one’s soul. Therefore, Laotian American elders will rely on religious rituals, recitation of prayers, and other folkways to restore the soul of the patient. The soul is promised food and drinks, such as chicken and rice wine, if it returns to make the patient whole again. The patient, once healed, is given the offerings. Laotians believe that ancestors are connected to the land, which is why the umbilical cord of newborn babies are buried underneath their homes or in their gardens. Properly taking care of one’s ancestors is an important part of life. Hence, some illness are caused if ancestors are not taken off properly, or offended in some way. Since the majority of Laotian and Laotian American people practice Theravada Buddhism, they believe in the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. As such, Laotian babies who are born with birth defects or chronic illnesses are considered to be signs of past karma that the baby’s parents committed in their previous lives. A birthmark is considered to be a mark from the baby’s parents in his or her past life. Laotian traditional medicine and healing consists of the use of herbs, roots, and animal ingredients to make natural remedies. The remedies can be applied topically directly to wounds; ingested; inhaled through the mouth or nose; or by
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bathing in it. Generally, an ill person is placed on a strict diet of grilled dry meat, some vegetables and fruits, and certain kinds of rice. Medical diagnosis would include questions about the types of foods and drinks one has consumed, as overindulgence of any one kind of food is believed to cause illness. Laotian American elders and first-generation immigrants employ various traditional healing techniques that are common in Southeast Asia. For example, khout lom, or coining, is a healing practice that requires a coin (typically a quarter) and a mentholated rub, typically Tiger Balm. Tiger Balm is applied on the back, and the coin is used to rubbed the area, usually in one direction, until it is red and tender. This practice release “wind” that is understood to be the cause of illness. Similar to coining is “pinching.” Usually, the patient will apply a small amount of Tiger Balm on the temple and in the middle of the forehead, and pinch the areas until red. This is practiced as a way to relieve headaches. Also employed is cupping, a common healing technique for most Asian ethnic cultural groups that originated in ancient China. It involves using heat to warm a glass cup, which is then placed on the patient’s back. As a result, the pressure in the cut is reduced, and the skin is drawn into the cup. This is believed to remove “heat” or “wind” that causes illness. Among Laotian Americans, mental health issues and illness is a very culturally sensitive topic. It is considered socially shameful to be treated for a mental illness, because there is a big cultural taboo against it. As such, it is believed that only insane people will need treatment for mental illness. Laotian Americans, if they do not go to Western psychiatrists and mental health professionals, will quietly seek help from Laotian elders, fortune tellers, medicine men, and/or Buddhist monks. Many believe that personal problems and mental illness are related to conflicts with the soul, so treatment often time will involve rituals that restore the soul. A growing number of Laotian Americans view traditional medicine and healing practices as a complement to modern Western medicine. Although many herbal remedies are difficult to find in the United States, some may be acquired at an herbal medicine store in Chinatown or sent directly from Laos. In addition, whether or not to practice and observe traditional Laotian medicine and healing practices may become a source of intergenerational conflict between Laotian elders and their American-born, Americanized Laotian children. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading O’Connor, Bonnie Blair. Healing Traditions: Alternative Medicine and the Health Professions. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995. Tomecko, Denise. Buddhist Healing in Laos: The Fragrant Forest. Bangkok, Thailand: Orchid Press, 2008.
Laotian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Pasaa Lao is the official language of Laos. Lao is spoken by nearly 15 million people in Laos as well as in the northeastern region of Thailand, known as Isaan, and the global Lao diasporic communities. Lao is a tonal language, like Chinese. There are 6 tones, 33 consonants, and 28 vowels. Because Lao is tonal, the meaning of a word is determined by its pitch when spoken. For example, the sound “kow” sounds like the English word for “cow,” when spoken with a high tone, meaning “an occasion, a time”; if spoken with a rising tone, it means “white”; when spoken with a mid-tone, it means “new.” The tones make Lao sound musical and rhythmical. Lao is closely related to Thai; hence, Lao and Thai people are able to mutually comprehend one another with relative ease. Similarly, even though the writing systems are different, anyone who can read Thai can also read Lao, and vice versa. The Lao language can be classified into five main dialects: Vientiane Lao, Northern Lao (Luang Prabang), North Eastern Lao (Xieng Khouang), Central Lao (Khammouane) and Southern Lao (Champassak). The Lao script is based on Vientiane Lao, a dialect that is widely understood throughout the country, and in Lao America. Because Laos was a French colony, the French-based transliteration is generally used, even though there are Laotian American girl performs the wai. The many inconsistencies of spelling, par- greetings start by placing the palms together, ticularly of vowels. The Lao alphabet similar to a praying gesture. This is followed by a bow and the verbal greeting. This is phonetic, meaning each Lao letter gesture is also done when saying thank you stands for a certain sound. Lao script or apologizing. The higher the hands are held has 27 consonant symbols that are in relation to the face and the lower the bow, used for 21 consonant sounds. Addi- the more respect or reverence the giver of the wai is expressing. This wai is performed on tionally, there are 38 vowels, repre- stage at the International Lao New Year senting 24 vowel sounds. Lao script Festival before the performance of a Laotian are based on Khmer, or the Cambodia folk dance. (Boon Vong)
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alphabet, and Thai, which has its origins in ancient Indian writing systems, in particular, Pali and Sanskrit. Social manners and speech are closely connected in Lao expressions. One of the main guiding principles of Lao manner is showing deference to elders and religious people, like monks and nuns. When greeting others in Lao and Lao America, one places one’s hands together in a prayer-like manner and places one’s palms in front of one’s face or chest. This is called nop or phanon, or it is called wai, as in Thailand. There are three forms of nop: with one’s hands together placed at one’s chest to greet strangers and friends; with one’s hands together with thumbs placed at one’s chin to greet elders, teachers, and people of respect; and with thumbs pressed at the third-eye (the space between the eyebrows), which is the highest form of respect reserved for the Buddha. When meeting people, the person to offer the first nop is in the position of lower social status, hence, when meeting and greeting elders in the family or community, young Lao and Laotian Americans must offer the first nop, which is a sign of respect and honor. Not doing so would bring shame and dishonor to one’s parents and family. —Jonathan H. X. Lee
Further Reading Becker, Benjawan Poomsan, and Buasawan Simmala. Lao for Beginners. Berkeley, CA: Paiboon Publishing, 2003. Enfield, N. J. “Lao as a National Language.” In Grant Evans, ed. Laos: Culture and Soceity. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000.
Malaysian Americans History, People, and Culture Although Malaysian Americans usually refers to American citizens of Malaysian heritage, the definition of Malaysian American should also include U.S. permanent residents whose origin is Malaysia, Malaysian students, Malaysian workers who hold working permits in America, and other short-term residents, due to their numbers, their activities, and their significance that contribute to the production of Malaysian American cultures and communities.
Origins, Incentives of Immigration, and Demographic Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country. Its neighboring countries are Thailand to the north, Singapore to the south, Indonesia all around (southeast, southwest, and south), Brunei to the northeast (surrounded by east Malaysia), and the Philippines to the east. The country consists of East and West Malaysia, which are separated by the South China Sea. It is slightly bigger than the state of New Mexico (about 127,315 square miles) and the capital of the country is Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is known for its ethnic and cultural diversity; the three primary ethnic groups are the Malay, Chinese, and Indian. According to the U.S. Department of State (as of 2010), Malay Malaysians make up about 53.3 percent of the total population of 28.3 million, Chinese Malaysians make up about 26 percent of the population, indigenous people about 11.8 percent, Indian Malaysians about 7.7 percent, and other ethnic groups about 1.2 percent. The Chinese population in Malaysia witnessed a decline of nearly 28 percent, from constituting 36 percent of the country’s population in 1970 to 26 percent in 2010. Similarly, the Indian population decreased from 11 percent in 1970 to 7.7 percent in 2010. Such decline in population may be the result of by the New Economic Policy (NEP), which since 1971 has allowed the Malaysian government to provide special subsidies and privileges to Malays to reduce the socioeconomic disparity between the Chinese minority and the Malay majority. NEP was later broadened to include non-Malay indigenous groups. Together with Malays, they were called the bumiputera, or “sons of the soil.” Discouraged by a Malaysian government
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that shows favoritism to the Malay majority, many Chinese and Indian Malaysians seek opportunities of immigration, primarily to Singapore, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Since more Chinese Malaysians than Malay and Indian Malaysians migrate to the United States, Chinese Malaysian Americans are the majority among Malaysian Americans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau of 2000, there are about 18,566 foreignborn Malaysian Americans. The five states with the highest Malaysian population in 2000 are California, New York, Texas, Illinois, and Virginia. Over 81 percent of Malaysian Americans are between 18 and 65 years of age; 9 percent are between ages 6 and 17, 6 percent are under 5 years old, and 3 percent are over 65 years old. According to the U.S. Embassy in Malaysia, over 5,900 Malaysian students are currently studying in the United States. Most of them pursue university and professional degrees, and they are usually between 20 and 35 years of age.
Language, Culture, and Religion The primary languages of Malaysian Americans are Bahasa Malaysia (previously called Bahasa Melayu), Chinese (Mandarin as well as various Chinese dialects), Tamil, and English. In Malaysia, each ethnic group speaks its native language at home but learns the national language, Bahasa Malaysia, at school, and uses it for public communication and work. However, due to the colonial legacy, older educated Chinese and Indian Malaysians are the graduates of the Englishmedium and Mandarin or Tamil-medium education streams, while the younger generations are educated in the school system that is primarily Malay-medium. Hence, although many are able to speak their native languages, many younger Chinese and Indian Malaysians cannot read and write in those languages. The exceptions are students who received private Chinese or Tamil education instead of Malaysian public education. After moving to America, English has replaced Bahasa Malaysia and become the primary language for most Malaysian Americans. As English is one of the primary subjects taught in most schools, educated Malaysians learned English in Malaysia prior to moving to the United States, and most of them are usually able to assimilate quickly into the American society without too much of a language barrier. Foreign-born Malaysian Americans grew up under the cultural influences of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and other nearby Southeast Asian cultures. However, American-born Malaysians have only limited exposure to Malaysian cultures at home and usually inherit American cultures instead of Malaysian cultures as they grow up to be Americans. According to Malaysian law, Malay Malaysians are Muslim. They remain Muslim in the United States. In contrast, Chinese and Indian Malaysians have more religious freedom in Malay, which is similar to their experience in the United States. This allows them to maintain their traditional religious
Malaysian Americans: History, People, and Culture
beliefs and practices in America. Many Chinese Malaysian Americans are the followers of “Chinese religion,” a belief system that comprises concepts and practices from Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Malaysian local beliefs and practices. Indian Malaysians are usually followers of Hinduism and Sikhism. Some of the Chinese and Indian Malaysians have also converted to Islam, Christianity, and Catholicism. In the United States, Malaysian American parents usually influence their children with traditional and religious values at home. For example, following filial piety and being respectful to the elders are important values to which most American-born Chinese Malaysians are accustomed.
Economics and Politics Currently, over 55 percent of the Malaysian American population is in the labor force, and the medium family income is around $49,143 (in U.S. dollars). Fewer than 20 percent of Malaysian Americans live below the poverty level, and over 30 percent hold a bachelor’s or higher professional degrees. Described as the “brain drain” phenomenon, many newer Malaysian American immigrants are highly educated professionals, and many of them started their lives as international university students in the United States. Therefore, many Malaysian Americans can be classified as middle or upper middle class. Less affluent immigrants usually occupy jobs such as restaurant worker, cleaner, nanny, tailor, factory and warehouse worker, and cashier at convenient stores or supermarkets. Generally, Malaysian immigrants to America are not actively involved with politics due to the following reasons: their population is small and not concentrated throughout the country; they are preoccupied with visa and citizenship struggles; and they are focused primarily on economic survival. Instead of politics, Malaysian Americans focus on building their financial foundation. Malaysian Americans are generally known as hardworking, and many are willing to sacrifice, working long hours and cutting spending on recreational pursuits, to save money to purchase a home or pay for their children’s higher education. In contrast to most Chinese and Indian Malaysian Americans, the majority of Malay Malaysian Americans are affiliated with the Malaysian government and considered themselves short-term residents of the United States. They are either international students who are supported by governmental scholarships, or diplomats, or contracted employees who work for the Malaysian embassies and consulates in the United States, or the families for all of the above. Therefore, most of them do not have voting rights and are not involved with U.S. politics.
Relations with Malaysia and Integration into American Society Since over 81 percent of Malaysian Americans are foreign born, Malaysian Americans have remained relatively close with Malaysia because most of their friends, extended families, and relatives are still in Malaysia. Despite the bitter feeling that
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Chinese and Indian Malaysian Americans may have toward the Malaysian government due to systematic racial inequality, many still visit Malaysia periodically, and some remain dependent upon Malaysian products such as traditional ointments, artifacts, packaged goods, and dry food. In addition, the Internet and global international social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, along with e-mails, online messaging, and Skype, have enabled many Malaysian Americans to stay close and interact with their friends and relatives overseas, reconfiguring relationships and ways of life. Under the impact of postcolonial effects and globalization, most Malaysian immigrants are familiar with Western culture and grew up with commodities, electronics, fashion, literature, some popular music, movies, and TV shows from the United States. Hence, it is easy for Malaysian Americans to assimilate into American society and lifestyles because Malaysian immigrants have already been influenced greatly by Western culture and technology prior to their migrations. In addition, many Malaysian Americans admire the courtesy, generosity, and tolerance of most American people, and they appreciate the liberal values, democracy, and freedom of speech offered by the United States. Although Malaysian immigrants understand that there are negative aspects within American society, such as racial and gender discrimination and hate crime against Asians in the United States, they still want to come to the United States because the most significant difference in racial discrimination between Malaysia and the United States is that it is legal in the former, while it is unconstitutional in the latter. Therefore, although Malaysian Americans hold on to part of their traditional and religious values, they also allow themselves to quickly assimilate into American society. They usually socialize with the American people in American ways and respect the laws and policies of the United States. Malaysian parents are grateful for the education and work opportunities in the United States, but some have also faced the problem of generational conflicts between them and their American-raised children. It is not easy to recognize Malaysian American because they are frequently assumed to be Chinese, Indian, or Indonesian Americans due to their physical appearances, languages, and close associations to the larger ethnic Asian American communities. However, Malaysian Americans are distinct because their ethos, customs, food, and life experiences are still quite different from Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian Americans. In America, Chinese and Indian Malaysian Americans are usually very proud of being overseas Malaysians despite the racial discrimination and disappointments that they may have experienced in Malaysia. Many have relieved themselves from their “titles” or “ethnic category” as Chinese or Indian Malaysian, but call themselves “Malaysian” instead. Thus, without the “Malay First” policies that create tensions between the Malaysian majority and minorities back in Malaysia, Malaysians of different ethnicities appear to be more united as a monolithic ethnic group in the
Malaysian Americans: History, People, and Culture
United States. In recent years, more and more Malaysian American communities have promoted Malaysian culture through festivals that feature food and cultural performance. Nowadays, Malaysian cuisine has become popular in America, in addition to Malaysian American literature and visual and performing arts.
Malaysian American Communities and Organizations Compared to other Southeast Asian American communities such as Thai and Vietnamese Americans, the population of Malaysian Americans is much smaller due to the short history of immigration and the limited opportunities. Malaysia did not become an independent country until 1957, and the immigration relationship with the United States was not established until the late 1960s. Unlike those who immigrate as refugees due to war and disaster in great numbers, Malaysian immigrants have not had the excuse to request immigration help from the United States because there are no wars, massive natural disasters, or severe religious persecution or conflicts in the history of Malaysia. Malaysian American organizations can be divided into two categories: residentbased communities and student groups. Most communities and groups consist of members from various Malaysian ethnic groups. For Malaysian American communities, there are: the Malaysia Association of Southern California (MASC, or Persatuan Malaysia California Selatan), the Singapore Malaysia (Singma) Club of San Diego, the Malaysian Association of Georgia (MAG), the Malaysian Association of Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area Malaysian and Singaporean group (SFBAMS) and the Malaysian Association of Michigan (MAM). Malaysian American communities provide a network for their members to socialize and allow the members to exchange business opportunities. Most of them organize social events such as dinners for Chinese New Year, Mederka Day (Malaysian Independence Day), Hari Raya, and Deepavali (the “festival of lights” for Indian Malaysians), as well as barbecue, picnic, and karaoke nights. They also promote Malaysian culture by organizing cultural performances and festivals such as Malaysia Fest. There are over 40 Malaysian student groups throughout the United States, some of which are active, and others of which have discontinued after the graduations and departure of the students. Some of these student groups are: the Cornell Malaysia Association, the CMU Budaya-Malaysian Students Association at Carnegie Mellon University, the Purdue University Malaysian Students Association, and the Singapore Malaysian Student Association at the University of California, Berkeley. Besides university student groups, Malaysian Muslim students also have organized religious groups, such as the Malaysian Islamic Study Group (MISG) of Illinois, that organizes an annual conference for Malaysian Muslims students throughout the country. As Singaporean Americans and Malaysian Americans share lots of similarities in history, culture, art, food, language, etc., it is not surprising that they
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bond and interact with each other in these social organizations. Many Malaysian student groups also organize social events for the members and promote Malaysian culture through events such as “Malaysian Gala” and “Malaysian Night.” These events usually feature Malaysian food, arts and crafts, cultural performances such as Malaysian dances, traditional clothing fashion shows, and assorted games. —May May Chiang
Further Reading Andaya, Barbara Watson. A History of Malaysia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001. DeBernadi, Jean. “Historical Allusion and the Defense of Identity: Malaysian Chinese Popular Religion.” In Charles F. Keyes, Laurel Kendall, and Helen Hardacre, eds. Asian Visions of Authority: Religion and the Modern States of East and Southeast Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994. Keyes, Charles F., Laurel Kendall, and Helen Hardacre, eds. Asian Visions of Authority: Religion and the Modern States of East and Southeast Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994. Novas, Himilce, Lan Cao, and Rosemary Silva. Everything You Need to Know About Asian-American History. New York: A Plume Book, 2004. Tan, Benghoe. “The Acculturation Process of Malaysian Chinese Immigrants to United States of America.” Ph.D. diss., San Jose State University, 1996. Wiebe, Paul D., and S. Mariappen. Indian Malaysians: The View from the Plantation. New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1978.
Web Sites U.S. Census Bureau 2000: http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en. U.S. Department of State: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2777.htm. U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: http://malaysia.usembassy.gov/.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Many Malaysians have strong interests in the metaphysical world. The world of ghosts, spirits, and ancestors are often transmitted through a variety of stories and folktales. There are television dramas and movies about ghosts and spirits. The Chinese hungry ghost festival is celebrated by many in Malaysia. The knowledge of ghosts, spirits, and ancestors are also expressed in Malaysian superstitions and taboos. More importantly, religious beliefs and rituals reveal dimensions of beliefs or disbeliefs of ancestors, ghosts, and spirits. Ancestor, ghost, and spirit worship in Malaysian America is mostly a feature of Chinese Malaysian religious cultures deriving from popular Taoist practices,
Malaysian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
carried from southern China to Malaysia by what are today called the Malaysian Straits Chinese. It is also a feature of some indigenous (Bumiputra) Malay populations reflected in the United States in mixed-heredity settings melded to Straits Chinese, Muslim, Indian, and other Malaysians in smaller numbers. Privately, Malaysian American Christianized Straits Chinese acknowledge participation in diluted ancestor and ghost-chasing rituals and shared geomantic beliefs. Many are attracted to the more available and popular American schools and nonacademic courses in Hong Kong forms of Taoist Black Hat sect and Malaysian feng shui. A revitalization of Chinese Taoist geomancy and geomantic perspectives in the United States is encouraged by proliferating specialized feng shui schools, some offering online instruction, the majority opened by Hong Kong masters with obvious distant ancestral ties to Malaysian and Indonesian Straits Chinese communities. Pan-Asian American interest in feng shui and geomancy has sparked pockets of parallel Indian and Celtic geomancies, all combined with American ecology and deep sacred ecology movements uniting diverse ethnicities around themes of global earth awareness, and introducing the relatively small numbers of Malaysian Americans to intercultural trends and friends. The close association of geomancy with ancestor worship and ghosts, however, remains closer to Chinese traditions and lived experiences of Straits Chinese and Malay Malaysians, which are not numerous in America except in concentrated transient underground worker communities where such beliefs bond and protect those with limited educational opportunities. Cemeteries, including vast fields of Chinese tombs marked with family characters and Muslim graves with the distinctive twin stones, are sites of mystery. The real estate near them carries only a modest price due to fear and danger of spirits from the other realm. The ancestral altar maintained by Chinese clans are a common sight in Malaysia, as are the familiar small red shrines containing offerings of oranges and incense sticks appearing on neighborhood street corners and in the rear of Chinese-owned shops. Faith in the efficacy of the afterlife generates considerable public respect for religious graves and shrines even from nonadherents. Many Malaysian immigrants attribute unexplainable disaster, illness, and accidents to supernatural causes. Geomantic practices are frowned on and remain incompletely understood by Muslim Malaysians and Muslim Malaysian Americans, who guardedly interpret them from the outside to avoid stepping across the threshold of a veneration they believe the Quran counsels against as possible idol worship. Quranic reverence for the earth, however, as the Garden of Eden to be restored and sacralized, commemorated in the first movement of Islamic ritual prayer in the symbolic reenactment of Mohammad’s touching of his head to the earth, points Muslim Malaysian Americans easily to shared deep ecology perspectives where the earth is to be scientifically, humanely, and sacramentally restored.
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Hardcore ancestor, ghost, and related geomantic ritual practices and experts can be found by word of mouth in Chinese American urban enclaves where Malaysian Americans and others of Chinese descent live and connect, at American popular religious Taoist centers where parallel nonritualistic meditation is also offered, and at temples and shrines in Chinatowns. Complicated taoist numerological and astrological charts are published in Chinese and English, available in popular self-help books and complicated Taoist priestly editions for the more serious. Geomantic Internet sites, offering allied services and linked to Chinese (Asian) New Year, are available with mostly Chinese keyword associations. Geomantic and oracular experts are available for exorcisms of dwellings, workplaces, and persons. The I-Ching oracle divines about ancestors, ghosts and personal perspectives on luck and business through cards, Internet keyboard touches, and old Chinese coin replicas of circular (heaven) with square (earth) holes available in New Age shops and national bookstore chains, simpler in American use than the long, ancient yarrow sticks cast in the native Chinese mainland. Black Hat Taoist feng shui, itself an urban adaptation of traditional Taoist religious geomancy, is compatible with the needs of Malaysian Americans, particularly those from the Penang area, the Malay Peninsula, Singaporeans and other Southeast Asians with urban experiences and empathy for ancient geomantic ecological systems that seek harmony with heaven and promote the deeper ecological understanding of the earth as the sacred and feminine aspect of, essentially, a mother-father or sister-brother god expressed symbolically in complementing patriarchal and matriarchal images pointing beyond imagery to a sacred unified, integrated non-anthropomorphic ground ultimately accessed by deep meditation rather than symbolic images and language. Chinese Malaysian geomancy and spirit practices are in close proximity to indigenous Malay beliefs and practices diffuse in Southeast Asia. The sacred ba-gua (octagon) with yin-yang center, eight divining trigrams, and 64 hexagram combinations and permutations is still stretched over American rural and urban landscapes, dwellings, and businesses in four cardinally interpreted directions to harmonize Five Elements (air, fire, metal, water, and earth) with the total sacred ecology of heaven and earth. American Neo-Pagan nature spirit worshippers seek Malaysian and PanAsian knowledge, friendship, and ritual practice. Oracular divination relates persons to a geomantic compass of life in a single sacred organism in which the One Tao (Heaven) has become many in the vast now-ecological manifestation that is the dao-de, an always partially manifested functioning of the cosmically infinite Invisible Tao. Ancestors are spirit forms journeying in this sacred vapor, helping or tormenting the living. Unsympathetic ghosts are bound more closely to the earth by their imperfect yin numbers, created by unfulfilled desires turned malevolent by frustration, jealousy, greed, and other flaws of character and ego. Malaysian Americans believe that if a soul does not leave the physical body upon death, and hovers or lingers in the material world, it will become a ghost.
Malaysian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
Ghosts who have not been able to reach another realm and remain in the material world usually die suddenly and have many desires and duties left unaccomplished. They believe a ghost may come to seek revenge to someone with whom they have had a bad association, and who owed them “debts” when they were alive (“debts” here refers not only to monetary debts; they may include injustice, unfaithfulness, betrayal, murder, and torment). They also believe that those ghosts may have been waiting for revenge for several reincarnations. The forms of revenge may result in possession, long-term pain, mental disability, accidents, and death, among others. They also believe ghosts dwell in unoccupied, abandoned, and dark places, and that therefore, many should avoid these places when going out alone after dark. Chinese Malaysians usually perceive ghosts’ appearances as whitish and almost transparent, and they usually float with no legs. Some think ghosts can appear only at night because they are afraid of sunlight. For protection against ghosts or evil spirits, Chinese Malaysian Americans often wear talismans of blessed yellow paper with Buddhist chant or mantras written inside, called fu, that can be requested from Chinese temples, or metal amulets with fu inside, or gold or silver talisman with a tiger claw encased, and other pendants that are believed to have protective power. Some also chant Buddhist mantras such as “nan mu e mi tuo fo” to ward off the ghosts and evil spirits when they are scared. If they think the evil spirits that they encounter are powerful, some may consult monk or priests for help. The legal pluralism of America invites an inclusive Pan-Asian (formerly Chinese) New Year that reunites fractured Asian customs and allows ghosts to be chased and ancestors cared for in a wider intra-ethnic community with new friends at restaurants, rented banquet halls, higher education multiethnic events and panAsian societies. At festivals, the lion or dragon dance disregards seasonal factors tuned to each animal in favor of the availability of in-demand skilled costumed performers. Indian Americans join in, and a new multicultural layer reminiscent of ancient compatibilities, trade routes, settlements and religious fusions reemerges in the United States. Overall, most Malaysians, regardless of religious affiliation and background, believe in an afterlife. Ancestors are related to the family and are spirits that can provide the living with protection and fortune, if they are properly venerated according to the ritual calendar. However, they can also become harmful spirits if not taken care of. Their victims can be their immediate family members or other people who happen to encounter them. Malaysian American communities are pluralistic, so knowledge of how Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians view and understand ancestors, ghosts, and spirits are important to form a wellbalanced picture of this important topic for Malaysian Americans. —Barbara A. Amodio and May May Chiang
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Malaysian Americans: Children and Folk Song See also: Chinese Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Feng Shui/Geomancy; Indonesian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Dying and Death Rituals; Malaysian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals; Religion.
Further Reading Chan, Wing-Tsit, trans. and comp. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973. Church, Peter, ed. A Short History of South-East Asia. 5th ed. Singapore: John Wiley and Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd, 2009. Debernardi, Jean. Rites of Belonging: Memory, Modernity, and Identity in a Malaysian Chinese Community. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004. Feuchtwang, Stephan. An Anthropological Analysis of Geomancy. Vientiane and Paris: Vithagna, 1974. Kierman, Frank A., Jr. Taoism and Chinese Religion. Translated by Henri Maspero. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1981. Maspero, Henri. Taoism and Chinese Religion. Translated by Frank A. Kierman Jr. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1981. Rossbach, Sarah. Interior Design with Feng-Shui: How to Apply the Chinese Art of Placement. London: Random Century Group, Ltd. (Random House/Rider Publications), 1994. Shen, Peter, with Joyce Wilson. Face Fortunes: The Ancient Taoist Art of Face Reading. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons (Perigee Books), 1982. Too, Lillian. Flying Star Feng Shui. Kuala Lumpur: Konsep Books (Konsep Lagenda Sdn Bhd), 1994.
Web Sites For a comprehensive understanding of the culturally interlocked and changing face of Southeast Asia and the South Asian region, including India, the People’s Republic of China, Australia, and Oceania, see the Hammond World Atlas (Langenscheidt Publishing Group) and digitalized cartographic information in paper or online. http://www .hammondmap.com. Proliferating Web sites are found under the keyword “feng shui.” Such Web sites are expanded during the period of the Asian New Year, roughly occurring somewhere during the lunar cycle from January to February.
Children and Folk Song Folk singing in Malaysian America often is associated with a sense of nostalgia for the past. It triggers fond memories that include playing mud with childhood friends and catching little fish in small streams in the Malaysian tropical landscape. Malaysian Americans parents usually remember these songs and sing them to their children in the United States.
Malaysian Americans: Children and Folk Song
Malaysian children and folk songs are multiethnic and varied in languages, content, and style. They used to be passed down orally from generation to generation and were learned through enculturation. Nowadays, children and folk songs are also taught in music class in Malaysian schools. Since most schools include Malay songs in their music curriculum, it is common that non-Malays grow up singing Malay folk songs. One such example is “Rasa Sayang” (“Feeling of Love”), perhaps the most popular song in Malaysia. Malaysian children and folk songs are usually about animals, plants, family affections and love, friends, game, learning, community, village life and scenes, nature, courtship, and lullabies. For example, “Lenggang Kangkung” (“The Swaying of the Watercress”) depicts kangkung (a kind of watercress) swaying by the side of the rice paddy fields and a separate scene of a famer returning from the rice fields for his rice meal. Another popular folk song is “Tepuk Amai-Amai” (“Clap with the Lady-Bugs”), a song that reflects Malaysia’s multicultural community. As shown in the song texts, the ladybugs, grasshoppers, and butterflies are referred to the three main ethnic groups: the Malay, Chinese, and Indian. Some folk songs are sung for special occasions and rites of passage such as the New Year and birthdays. Beside local folk songs, many popular Malaysian folk songs were imported from neighbor countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, and China. Most traditional children’s songs are composed with diatonic scales and use piano or guitar accompaniment. Many children and folk songs are short in length, and many use strophic form (changing words but using the same melody). It is also common to put in new Malay, Chinese, or Tamil words in foreign folk songs or melodies. For instance, Johannes Brahms’s Lullaby and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” are commonly sung in Chinese in Malaysia. Many nursery rhymes teach proper social conduct and behavior to children at an early stage. For example, the wake-up song “Bangun Pagi” teaches children the usual daily ritual, the lyrics: “bangun pagi, gosok gigi, cuci muka, pakai baju, makan roti, minum susu, pergi sekolah, suka hati” can be translated as “wake up in the morning, brush teeth and wash face, put on clothes, eat bread and drink milk, go to school, and be happy.” This song is also available in Chinese. Another example is the Chinese children song “Dang Wo Men Tong Zai Yi Qi” (“When We Are Together”), which teaches children not to isolate themselves and smile at each other because being together is joyful and enjoyable. Educational songs like “ABC” (the Alphabet Song) changes the lyrics of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and puts in new words to teach student to remember the 26-letter English alphabet. The same is true with “Hike and Seek,” a song that helps the children to learn some numbers and counting. For instance, as shown in the lyrics to “Hike and Seek,” “Yi er san si wu liu qi, wo de peng you zai na li? Zai zhe li, zai zhe li, wo de peng you zai zhe li.” (Translations: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, where are my friends? Here, here, here are my friends.”)
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Other popular Malaysian children and folk songs include: “Can Mali Can” (“Come, Goat, Come!”); “Lompat, Si Katak Lompat” (“Leap, Little Frog Leap”); “Burung Kakak Tua” (“Parrot”); “Ikan Kekek, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri” (“Aidilfitri New Year Song”); “Ai-Yo Mama” (“Ai-yo! Mother”); “Kopi Susu” (“Coffee with Milk”); “Bangawan Solo” (“The River of Solo”); “Gelang Si Paku Gelang”; “Zhao Peng You” (“Hide and Seek”); “Feng Yang Hua Gu” (“The Flower Drum of Feng Yang”); “Zi Zhu Diao” (“The Tune of a Purple Bamboo Flute”); “Hong Cai Mei Mei” (“The Rainbow Sister”); “Plum Blossoms”; “Wan Pi De Xiao Mao Mi” (“The Playful Kitten”); “San Zhi Lao Hu” (“Three Tigers”); “San Lun Che” (“Trishaw”); “Yi Tiao Xiao Yu” (“The Little Fish”); “Oru Kallu” (“One Stone”); and “Onnu Kudam Thanni” (“One Bucket of Water”). Malaysians are also familiar with English nursery rhymes and folk songs such as “Happy Wanderer,” “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” “London Bridge,” and “Are You Sleeping?” In the recent years, an industry of Chinese children star singers has emerged in Malaysia and Singapore, and many new children songs were composed for particular singers’ albums. These new compositions were added to the repertory of Chinese Malaysian children songs. To compete with Western pop songs in Malaysia, traditional children and folk songs have undergone modification. Some are orchestrated and accompanied by multiple instruments with synthesizers, some are mixed with pop songs or raps, some have newly added lyrics, and some are arranged in classical music style for Western instruments. Moreover, cultural performances for tourism have also changed the original functions and meanings of traditional Malaysian folk songs. Although the older generations of Malaysian Americans are fond of Malaysian children and folk songs, American-born Malaysians are less likely to be familiar with those songs due to the change of environment, education, and technology. Growing up in the United States, most American-born Malaysians are more familiar with American children and folk songs instead of traditional Malaysian songs. —May May Chiang See also: Chinese Americans: Folklore in Children’s Literature.
Further Reading Lew, Chooi-Theng. “The Musical Lives of Young Malaysian Children: In School and at Home.” Ph.D. diss., University of Washington, 2005. Lew, Jackie Chooi-Theng, and Patricia Shehan Campbell. Game Children Sing Malaysia: Malay, Chinese, and Tamil-Indian Children’s Songs and Lore. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing, 2006.
Malaysian Americans: Clothes and Jewelry Lim, Pei Sien. “Incorporating a Student’s Native Folk Music in Piano Teaching: A Survey and Original Piano Arrangements of Traditional Malaysian Folk Music.” DMA diss., West Virginia University, 2004.
Clothes and Jewelry Clothes and jewelry in Malaysian America reflect and creatively refract ancient and massively fused ethnic roots forged and nurtured in a Malaysia that was once, and in many cultural ways still is, an intense part of Farther India, while also sustaining interior dialogues with indigenous Mon-Khmer, Indian Ghonds-Bils, Asian Pyus, Sino-Tibetan, Straits Chinese, Mughul, and wider Islamic civilizations settling in respective migratory waves to the present day. A precise identification of indigenous Bhumiputras (sons and daughters of the soil) is an increasingly difficult and sensitive modern task linked to the relatively new geopolitical issues of Malaysia as a nation-state. Serious concerns about Malaysian pluralism and national unity are aggravated by such factors as the radical geographical proximity of Malaysia to the island state of Singapore, large shared island portions of the Indonesian archipelago, and recent loss by assimilation of peninsular Malaysian territory to Burma (Myanmar) and other countries of Southeast Asia. If nothing else, the Malaysian American mindset and taste reflect the inherently cosmopolitan, tolerant, culturally curious, and international outlook of Malaysians generally despite political pressures, even in the face of recent scattered interethnic violence and disputes. A vast fusion of ancient jewelry and textile techniques, uses, and design preferences, many of them ultimately Indian in origin though now diffused throughout Southeast Asia, is cemented and refracted by millennia of trade and cultural assimilations. Due to the high degree of cultural fusion and the geography of the area, regular and culturally serious official disputes between Indonesia and Malaysia erupt and echo across the oceans over claims to authentic ethnic patrimony of many artistic styles, processes, origins, legal rights, advertisements, and tourism marketing strategies concerning what Malaysians consider to be elements of distinctly national Malaysian heritage. Elements of unresolved interethnic disputes surface with subtlety in ethnic food blogs, as also in jewelry, ethnically inspired fashion and accessories, and distinctive household decor and custom fabrics. The wearing of ethnically inspired textiles and jewelry enables expression of diverse ethnic identities, subtle and overt rivalries, and pride communicated through costume and decor, often with recognized symbolic cultural and religious nuances embedded in motifs and patterns. The mode of expression blends easily into the cosmopolitan textures of American life and guaranteed freedoms where Malaysian Americans feel comfortable celebrating and encountering novel ethnicity with legal
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protections. It is difficult to predict where the next generation of Malaysian Americans will place themselves as they continue both to conserve, explore, and assimilate identities, and to share ethnic symbols with other Southeast Asian Americans.
Clothes Malays in Malaysia are born Muslims, and they are expected to dress according to the Islamic guidelines. Men and women usually wear modest clothing that cover most of their bodies, except their faces, hands, feet, and sometimes legs. Malay men wear baju Melayu (Malay cloth), a long-sleeve shirt that closes to knee length with seluar (trouser). When they go to Friday prayer, they also wear a long-sleeve cotton or silk shirt and trouser with sarong wrapped around their waists; some may simply wear the ankle length sarong instead of trouser. Malay men wear songkok (cap), and men who have made a pilgrimage to Mecca usually wear a whiteskull songkok. Malay women wear baju kurung, a long-sleeve, knee-length blouse, with long skirt or sarong. Malay women also wear baju kebaya, a close-fitting lace blouse (long sleeve) over an ankle long skirt. Baju kebarung, a kind of Malay clothing that combined the styles of baju kurung and baju kebaya, are also a favorite among Malay women. Malay women also usually wear hijab, tudung, or selendang (veil or scarf) that cover the hair and ears. Malay women who have made a pilgrimage to Mecca may also wear a white tudung. Malay women’s clothes are usually brighter in color and have more dyed patterns and colors than men’s clothes. Both baju melayu and baju kurung are considered baju kebabgsaan (national clothing) and are worn by Malaysians in formal occasions despite their ethnicities and religions. In Malaysia, more Malay men than Malay women wear Western clothing such as suits, button-down shirts, polo shirts, shorts, and trousers, while Malay women still wear traditional clothing most of the time. Malay people often mix traditional clothing with Western clothing. For example, Malay women may wear polo shirts and jeans with their head scarf. In the recent years, due to the influence of modernization and globalization, more and more Malay men and women choose to wear Western clothing and are more flexible on wearing the songkok and tudung during informal occasions. Malay Malaysian Americans have more freedom in fashion in the United States; they tend to dress like Americans and wear traditional clothing only during special occasions or traditional festivals. Malay Malaysian Americans also choose Western fashion to blend in the working and academic environment. Nevertheless, most Malay women still avoid tank tops, miniskirts, strapless or sleeveless tops, or any clothing that is revealing. Malay men usually wear watches and rings made with gold, silver, and gemstones as their jewelry. Malay women may wear ornamented pins made with gold, silver, and gemstones to pin their head scarf; they also wear bracelets, rings, and
Malaysian Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
watches as their jewelry. Short necklace under the head scarf (tudung) for Malay women is usually not visible so women may wear long necklace for it to be seen. Most Chinese Malaysians are Westernized in fashion and do not usually wear traditional clothing. Chinese Malaysian men and women wear Western clothing, mostly jeans and shirts. For special occasions, men usually wear suits, while women may wear dress, gown, or traditional clothing such as cheongsam (a tight-fitting long dress with high-buttoned collar and slits down the two sides of the skirt). Age is a concern in clothing choice among Chinese Malaysians. Older men usually dress in simple designed, neat clothes, and modest colors such as white, gray, black, and blue, while younger men may wear clothes with more colors and designs. Some older Chinese Malaysian women may wear the modified version of cheongsam, which is a short-sleeve blouse with loose pant, while others would dress conservative Western clothes. Nonetheless, older women may still wear colorful tops (bright red, orange, and yellow) that have heavy embroidery and laces. Younger Chinese Malaysian females are more fashionable and do not mind sleeveless or strapless clothing. They wear shorts, miniskirts and short skirts, tank tops, jeans, and Western clothing with some Chinese twists (for example, clothes that are ornamented with lace, fabric, flowers, Chinese embroidery, or printed Chinese characters and calligraphy). However, Chinese Malaysian females will still avoid overtly revealing clothes because it is considered inappropriate by Chinese social standards, and because it may invite sexual harassment upon them. There is not much difference in clothing styles between Chinese Malaysians in Malaysia and the United States, except that Chinese Malaysian Americans now need to wear clothes and gloves for colder weather, and more of them can afford brand-name clothing. Chinese Malaysians may wear a variety of jewelry, such as necklace, bracelets, rings, hairpins, and pendants, and they try not to show off gold or diamond jewelry that may catch the attention of thieves. They like jewelry made with gold, silver, crystal, gemstones, pearls, and jade. They also wear charm or talisman to ward off evil spirits and Buddhist bead bracelets and jade bangles for blessings or prosperity. Indian Malaysians usually wear traditional Indian sari or Punjabi suit. Similar to Chinese Malaysian Americans and Malay Malaysian Americans, Indian Malaysian Americans dress in similar Western-style clothing and also alternate between Westernized and traditional clothing and jewelry.
Jewelry Precious metals retain their attraction with all social classes, however, and are in evidence at special occasions and as everyday favorites. Elaborate hair ornaments and earrings, many featuring flower designs and natural motifs, remain popular. Precious metals, gemstones, cabochon set stones, Asian pearls and coral in rings,
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other jewelry, and even ceremonial swords (not the least of which include the famous flaming and animatedly charged sacred kriss of Indonesia and Malaysia) remain in discreet evidence in Malaysian America in all strata of society, especially professionals and aristocratic e´migre´s. Heirloom ethnic and sacred designs are reproduced in miniaturized forms in jewelry. A contemporary addition in both fabric and especially costume jewelry is the use of Swarovski crystal in place of gems or mirror fragments. Import, export, and Malaysian American entrepreneurial shops, boutiques, and Internet businesses are emerging. High-quality designer knockoffs are offered in the American market. The Malaysian familiarity with high-quality woven textiles is intruding into the more ordinary American T-shirt, handbag, and home decor markets as designer batik and more with refreshing ingenuity and individuality of detail. Custom sewing and tailoring by Malaysian Americans is raising American consumer awareness to a renewed appreciation of these arts. International Malaysian gold, jewelry, and textile fairs held and advertised at American and international venues provide new entrepreneurial, creative, and artistic opportunities for Malaysian Americans and accommodate American and cosmopolitan international buyers in an internationalized business environment in which Malaysian Americans are already fluent. It is difficult to predict where the increased interest in university and college courses in Asian studies, philosophies, anthropology and the in-depth study of Asian arts will take the entrepreneurial and scholarly interests of Malaysian Americans as they fashion and weave their identity into the American diaspora. —Barbara A. Amodio and May May Chiang See also: Indonesian Americans: Clothes and Jewelry.
Further Reading Guy, John. Arts of India. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1999. Maxwell, Robyn. Textiles of Southeast Asia. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1990. Walker, Daniel. Flowers Underfoot: Indian Carpets of the Mughal Era. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997.
Dying and Death Rituals Malaysian Americans practice certain dying and death rituals according to their ethnicities and religions. There are more than 60 different ethnic Malay cultural traditions, summarily referred to as indigenous Bumiputra cultures, and several major world religions, and the Muslim majority comprises 60 percent of the population in Malaysia. It is difficult for Malaysian Americans to perform the
Malaysian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
traditional Malaysian dying and death rituals in the United States due to the change of the ritual contexts and the lack of essential equipment or resources from Malaysia. In this case, some of the elaborate procedures of dying and death ritual may be omitted or simplified. However, the basic structures and concepts of the rituals must be performed, and the taboos and restrictions apply. When assistance from a Malaysian American community is not available, Malaysian Americans usually seek help from people or organizations that follow the same religion. For example, Chinese Malaysian Americans who are Buddhists may seek help from Chinese Buddhist temple, and Malay Malaysian Americans may seek help from the Indonesian Muslim community or Muslim practitioners from the Middle East.
Chinese Malaysian American If diagnosed with an incurable condition, some of the older Chinese Malaysian Americans may request that they stop receiving impatient treatment and be discharged from the hospital. One of the reasons for this may be the superstitious belief that the spirits of the former deceased patients may still be occupying the hospital building. Fearful of being approached by unknown spirits when they die, older Chinese Malaysian Americans prefer to pass away in their own homes and stay with their families (in a spirit form) in case their spirits miss the chance to exist human world to reincarnation. When Chinese Malaysian Americans are dying, besides seeking Western medical help, some of them who are Buddhists may pray to the Bodhisattva of Compassion (a.k.a. Avalokitesvara or Guan Yin) or other deities for the recovery of the sick. When a Chinese Malaysian American dies, the family is expected to give the deceased a decent funeral and burial (or cremation). Since the death of the person may result in income shortages to the family, and a funeral can be expensive, friends and relatives who come to pay their last respects usually make monetary contributions called bai jin to help cover the cost of the funeral. Funeral is usually a sad event in Chinese Malaysian American culture, and the family of the deceased are free to express their solemnity and emotions. However, when the deceased had lived a long and prosper life, the family, although sad for the loss, would still be thankful for the past-blessed life of the deceased. In cases when the deceased had suffered from long-term chronic pain and intense medical treatment, the death is sometimes considered fortunate because the deceased does not have to suffer anymore. A traditional Chinese Malaysian funeral is held for several days. The family of the deceased usually places the body of the deceased in a coffin covered by a glass lid, so the deceased is visible to visitor. The family may take turns guarding the body of the deceased until the time of burial or cremation. A Chinese monk or priest may be hired to perform the rituals and chants various
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prayers at various appointed times of the day during the funeral. Some superstitious Chinese Malaysian Americans may burn paper-made materialistic objects such as houses, money, or vehicles for the deceased, in the belief that these paper products would be transmuted into real objects for the use of the dead in the spiritual world. Others who are less superstitious may perform meritorious deeds such as donating money to charities on behalf of the deceased, in the hope for a better afterlife for the deceased. Memorial religious services are usually held on the seventh day after the death of the person, and again on the 100th day of the occurrence. Memorial religious services on a smaller scale may be conducted every year on the anniversary of the date of death. Other may also pay respect to the dead during the annual “qing min jie,” a designated day for the family members to pay respects, make offerings such as food and drinks, burn joss sticks and candles, and tidy up the gravesite of the deceased.
Muslim Malaysian Americans Many Muslim Malaysian Americans are members of the American Muslim ummah (world religious community) and follow traditional Muslim dying and death rituals. They find the services of Muslim sheiks and imams at proliferating Muslim mosques, some of which are freestanding structures in residential and multiple-zoned areas, and others where a local Muslim community rents space principally from Protestant Christian churches of various denominations. Mixedmarriage couples generally follow Muslim traditions and enroll children and the whole family in extracurricular Muslim cultural centers with attached Arabiclanguage schools conducting age-appropriate instruction and discussions of Arabic language and the Koran for all strata in the ummah. This includes instruction in ritual prayer, services for the living and the dead, and memorial services for the repose of the soul of the deceased. A complicated formula for the distribution of wealth among wives, divorcees, children, orphans, women, members of the extended family and charity is among the topics of study and discussion at various centers, featuring reading and commentary on revealed Quranic verses on the topic of legal inheritance and justice. Traditional verses and prayers for the dead are read at death, burial, and at intervals after burial at graveside and in the homes of the family and the mosque-center led by an imam or sheikh in Arabic. Muslims are buried in a white cloth tied in three places as soon after death as possible. Imams and medical members of the local ummah will convene, deliberate, and discuss with families with communal sensitivity in cases in which life-support services are critical issues before making any decision to terminate life. Traditional verses of the Quran are whispered in the ear of the deceased, hopefully while still living, with the body cared for by family and other services coordinated by an imam or sheikh. Full-body burial is in the white shroud that knows no cultural or
Malaysian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
economic distinction, tied in three places. The body is placed on its side in the grave between simple planks, with the shroud removed at the face to allow the imam or sheikh to whisper Quranic verses into the ear for the departed soul, now resting in the dust of the earth until Resurrection, to hear. Death, the final event, closes the “Wet” or living human book on good works. The soul then awaits final judgment by Allah in the presence of Jesus and the complex Host of heaven. No ancestor or ghost ritual accompanies this. The only possible method by which good works can accrue for the deceased is through a child, family member, or charity he or she has left in the world that carries on good works. Because of the overriding political Muslim Malaysian majority, Muslim Americans are buried this way, including nominal Muslims.
Christian Malaysian Americans Christian Malaysian Americans follow similar and familiar rites of Protestant or Catholic denominations to which they belong, emphasizing resurrection and final judgement by God and Jesus with Angelic host in attendance. Most Christians are embalmed and buried, with cremations increasingly permitted because of space considerations and new doctrinal interpretations. Many Straits Chinese Christians and nominal Muslims with indigenous Bumiputra heritage prefer cremation to release the soul faster from the body.
Disposing of the Body Malaysian Americans with Hindu and Buddhist ancestry and beliefs prefer cremation for the same reasons. There are cultural variations in the type of cremation performed. In the United States, empathetic imams and sheiks are often the humanitarian arbiters of services and rites for many non-Muslim and nominally Muslim Malaysian Americans. Repatriation of bodies, as for Indonesian Americans, remains expensive, but easier in all respects for the Muslim American community, including in the domain of governmental assistance. Many times, family members discuss by phone where a body is to be kept and how it is to be disposed of, and make a verbal and financial agreement. Memorial services and international forms of the slametan, a ritual communal feasting to achieve the peace that comes with submission to God (Allah), are conducted over the Internet at international locations for Muslim and nominal Muslim alike. Pictures and eulogies are shared and posted. Less formal concern exists over village rites, though these are arranged by discreet means inside Malaysia with less concentrated village ritual involvements than for Indonesian Americans. Straits Chinese Malaysian Americans can find the ritual services of Taoist and Buddhist priests easily in America. Malaysian Americans are trending farther from strict indigenous
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practices into a more cosmopolitan world where younger generations are still trying to find their way. The funeral is a solemn, religious, and community affair in the Malay Malaysian American culture. Friends, relatives, and neighbors would gather at the home of the deceased, helping to prepare the body for burial and say the requisite prayers. Since the Muslim custom requires the deceased to be buried as soon as possible, the funeral usually occurs soon after the death. Hence, the family of the deceased may miss the funeral and burial in some cases. Similar to the Chinese Malaysian American funeral, the body of the deceased is placed in the center of the living room for the visitors to offer prayers and pay their last respects. The deceased is wrapped in white cloth before burial. Special prayers are held only on the first three nights, on the seventh day, on the 40th day, and on the 100th day. The normal mourning period is 100 days, and the mourners usually restrain their emotion so they do not appear to reject the decision of their god. —Barbara A. Amodio and May May Chiang See also: Indonesian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals; Malaysian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Religion.
Further Reading Church, Peter, ed. A Short History of South-East Asia. 5th ed. Singapore: John Wiley and Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd, 2009. Debernardi, Jean. Rites of Belonging: Memory, Modernity, and Identity in a Malaysian Chinese Community. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004. Kwok, Raymond. Local Chinese Beliefs, Myths, Taboos and Superstitions. Penang, Malaysia: Raymond Kwok, 2007. Williamson, Thomas. “Malaysia.” In Melvin Ember and Carol Ember, eds. Countries and Their Cultures. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001, 1364–1375.
Family and Community The structure of Malaysian American family varies according to the ethnicity, location, education, religion, and their purposes of staying in the United States. Currently, the states with higher-populated Malaysian American communities are California, Georgia, New York, Illinois, Michigan, and the Washington, D.C., area. Traditionally, Malays regarded marriage and raising a family as the most important aspects of life. A Malay husband usually shares a big part in rearing the children as does his wife. A Malay family unit usually consists of the father and mother, two to four children, and sometimes grandparents. If the Malay Malaysian
Malaysian Americans: Family and Community
Malaysian American family celebrates Chinese New Year, Chicago, Illinois. (Don Smetzer)
Americans are short-term residents such as students, the size of the family may be smaller because the younger children (if any) and older parents may be left back home in Malaysia; the capable grandparents or relatives often help taking care of the younger children during the absence of the parents. Other short-term Malay Malaysian American residents are Malaysian governmental employees and diplomats who work for the Malaysian embassy and general consulates. They usually can afford to bring their nuclear family (i.e., spouse and children) and sometimes the nanny or maid to live with them in the United States. Grandparents may choose to visit the family for a short period of time instead of long-term living, as they usually prefer to live in Malaysia. A permanent Malay Malaysian American family is usually smaller when the family members are highly educated, or they marry late, or they live in urban areas, or they are busy working class. Since the extended families of a Malay Malaysian American family are usually overseas, the help that the families provide to each other is less than that in Malaysia. Instead of extended families, Malay Malaysian Americans socialize with friends from their mosques or the embassy community, and unite through the Islam religion. Compared to the size of Malay American families, Chinese Malaysian American families are usually smaller. In recent decades, more and more Chinese Malaysian Americans get married late and have fewer children because the longer education period and the career building after their graduation delay them. Chinese
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Malaysian American family life usually evolves around the nuclear family. Traditionally, the father is the head of the household and is expected to provide for the family while the mother plays the homemaker role and takes care of the children. It is now very common that the mother also works and contributes to the family expenses. The nuclear family is usually financially independent from the extended family. When living apart from each other, socializing with the extend families and relatives may occur only during Chinese New Year and other important holidays or events such as wedding. Nonetheless, monetary support and other help are sometimes provided to local or overseas extended families that are poor and sick. Under the influences of Confucianism, Chinese Malaysian Americans are expected to take care of and support their older parents financially, and feudalistic older parents usually prefer to live with their son. Therefore, older Malaysians may move to the United States to live with their children, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. For those who prefer to remain in Malaysia may make a short-term visit to America periodically because it is generally difficult for older Malaysians to live in the United States due to the language barriers, the differences in the climate and environment, and the loneliness of being without the majority of their friends and relatives who still live in Malaysia. These short-term visits are sometimes arranged when a family member is getting married or giving birth, as the mother usually needs extra help during her post-birth confinement period. Many Chinese and Indian immigrants started their lives in the United States living with family or relatives who have already settled in the country. Some remain nearby even after establishing their own household. They like to live in the areas that consist of other Malaysians and Asian American communities because it is convenient to socialize with people who share the same language and religion, as well as to take advantage of the religious centers and Asian grocery stores that are already established by the larger Asian American populations. There are lots of similarities between Chinese and Indian Malaysian American families and communities in terms of household size, education, life experiences, and more. Indian Malaysian Americans usually have much different life experiences than Indians in Malaysia. They are no longer the stereotypes of poor rubber or plantation workers in Malaysia. Instead, most of them receive higher education and work as professionals in urban areas. —May May Chiang
Further Reading Butz, William P., and Peter J. E. Stan. “Interhousehold Transfers and Household Structure in Malaysia.” Population and Development Review 8 (1982): 92–115. DaVanzo, Julie, and Angelique Chan. “Living Arrangements of Older Malaysians: Who Coresides with their Adult Children?” Demography 31(1) (February 1994): 95–113.
Malaysian Americans: Festivals and Holidays Fang, Hanming, and Peter Norman. “Government-Mandated Discriminatory Policies: Theory and Evidence.” International Economic Review 47(2) (May 2006): 361–389. Kling, Z. “The Malay Family: Beliefs and Realities.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 26(1) (1995). Maeda, Narifumi. “Family Circle, Community, and Nation in Malaysia.” Current Anthropology 16(1) (March 1975): 163–166. Palmore, James A., Robert E. Klein, and Ariffin bin Marzuki. “Class and Family in a Modernizing Society.” American Journal of Sociology 76(3) (November 1970): 375–398. Sudha, S. “Family Size, Sex Composition and Children’s Education: Ethnic Differentials over Development in Peninsular Malaysia.” Population Studies 51(2) (July 1997): 139– 151. Von Elm, Barbara, and Charles Hirschman. “Age at First Marriage in Peninsular Malaysia.” Journal of Marriage and Family 41(4) (November 1979): 877–891.
Festivals and Holidays Malaysian Americans celebrate major holidays that are closely related to their ethnicities and religions in the United States. Chinese Malaysian Americans celebrate major Chinese holidays in accordance with the lunar calendar ,such as the Chinese New Year, which occurs between January and February, the Dragon Boat festival that falls sometime in June or July, and the Mid-Autumn or Moon Cake festival that is celebrated in September or October. Malaysian Americans celebrate Hari Raya Puasa (Malay’s New Year). Indian Malaysian Americans celebrate major Hindu holidays, and the more popular holidays among those are Deepavali and Thaipussam. Malaysian Americans who were born in Malaysia may celebrate Malaysian Independence Day (National Day) on August 31 and the birthday of Agong (birthday of the highest ruler of Malaysia). Malaysian Americans may also celebrate American and Christian holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day. None of the festivals and holidays that Malaysian Americans celebrate in Malaysia is a public holiday in the United States. Hence, many Malaysian Americans do not celebrate Malaysian holidays due to their school or work schedule, or they celebrate the holidays in traditional ways. Other Malaysian Americans may join bigger ethnic groups such as the Chinese communities, Indonesian communities, or Hindu communities in America, and celebrate their ethnic and religious holidays with the particular group. A community with a more significant population of Malaysian Americans may hold gatherings to celebrate Malaysian holidays and festivals with each other. These Malaysian American communities celebrate by
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Malaysian American students from Syracuse University pass dishes to each other as they celebrate Thanksgiving in Syracuse, New York. (Syracuse Newspapers/Li-Hua Lan/The Image Works)
organizing socials such as a community dinner, picnic, cookout or barbecue, with activities such as costume competitions and dragon boat competitions. Malaysian Americans often invite guests outside the group to celebrate their holidays and festivals with them. Numerous Malaysian student groups host cultural events such as Malaysian music and art shows, fashion shows, and dinners to promote cultural exchanges in the university environment. Besides students and community events, the Malaysian embassy in Washington, DC., also holds gatherings for the celebration of major holidays and other events such as the batik show, fashion, art exhibition (joined ASEAN arts), and culinary reception such as the “Truly Asian Kitchen.” —May May Chiang
Further Reading Heil, Karl. “Malaysian Americans.” In Jeffrey Lehman, ed. Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2000, 1173–1179.
Web Site http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Japan-to-Mali/Malays.html (accessed July 30, 2010).
Malaysian Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
Folk Dance and Performance Malaysian American folk performance is growing in popularity with American audiences through the proliferation of internationally sponsored folk dance festivals, many of which are held in America. Folk dance organizations and local clubs provide professional and semiprofessional instruction in the numerous forms of Malaysian folk dance for adults and the next generation of Malaysian American children. Local clubs increasingly offer Malaysian folk dance in their repertoire to a wider audience of non-Malaysian folk dance enthusiasts, and typically provide traditional classical dance and costume instruction as part of the program. Folk dance festivals award prizes in several competitive classes and are attended by folk dancing aficionados, often in excess of 500 people. Efforts to expand professional Malaysian folk dance instruction and study to college and university programs, primarily through local efforts with government cultural services coordination and official sponsorships, is emerging in Malaysian America. Traditional dance forms and repertory in Malaysia are rich and multiethnic. Malay folk dances include kuda kepang, joget, ronggeng, zapin, tarian lilin, and silat. Chinese folk dances include wu shi (lion dance) and wu long (dragon dance). Indian folk dances include bharata natyam and bhangra. Other folk dances are ngajat, datun julud, sumazau, bamboo dance, farapeira, and branyo of the indigenous people and Portuguese descents. These folk dances are performed in cultural performances organized by the Malaysian American communities, Malaysian student groups, and the Malaysian embassy and consulates periodically. Classes for traditional Malaysian dances are also available in Queens, New York. Kuda kepang is a type of horse dance that dramatizes the tales of Islamic holy wars. The dancers perform the dance while riding astride on the mock horse. It is sometimes a trance dance, accompanied by the Javanese gamelan, or a percussion ensemble that consists of drum, various types of gongs, and angklungs. Performed by couples, joget is a lively dance that combines fast, graceful movements with humor. Joget has its origins in Portuguese folk dance and was introduced to Melaka during the spice trade era. Ronggeng is a kind of social dance involving sung pantun (traditional Malay verses or poem) in repartee. It is accompanied by the violin, accordion, rebana, and gong. The term ronggeng also refers to the term joget, as joget dance forms one of the main components of the ronggeng repertory. Zapin is considered a national art form and can be found in both secular and religious settings in villages as well as in palaces. Originally introduced by Arab immigrants in the state of Johor around the 14th century, it is a dance performed exclusively by men and accompanied by the voice, oud, gambus, marwas hand
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drums, dok, harmonium or accordion, and violin. It is noteworthy that zapin was the only Malay dance tradition that was permitted to be performed near or in mosques. Tarian lilin literally means “candle dance”; it is performed by women holding candles in small dishes in delicate movements. Silat is a deadly martial art dance with flowery body movements. Although other Malay dance forms such as tari asyik, joget gamelan, and mak yong, are considered court and classical traditions, they are now included in the folk dance traditions and being featured in touristic and cultural performances. Wu shi is an energetic Chinese lion dance that was imported by Chinese immigrants in the 19th century. It is usually performed during Chinese New Year, business opening celebrations, weddings, and other happy occasions. One dancer operates the oversized and colorful paper-mache head (with movable eyes), while a second dancer is responsible for manipulating the body that is made of cloth. The dancers are usually led by a masked character and accompanied by Chinese percussion instruments such as gongs (luo), cymbals (bo), and large Chinese drums (da gu). Wu long is a dragon dance that requires a team of multiple dancers to manipulate the long paper-made dragonhead and a long body that make of cloth. It serves similar functions as the lion dance and is accompanied by similar Chinese percussion ensemble. Other Chinese dance, Shan zi wu, is a fan dance that is usually performed by female dancers in Chinese traditional clothing. It is elegant and graceful, and it is often being incorporated into the extracurricular activities of Malaysian schools. Bharata Natyam is a classical Indian dance that based on ancient Indian epics. Consisting of over 100 dance steps and gestures, the dance is highly intense and dramatic and requires years to master. Bhangra is a lively folk dance of the Punjabis (the Sikh community). It is performed to celebrate Vasakhi (the birth of Sikhism), weddings, New Year’s, and for entertainment at the concerts. The effort to express and pass on Malaysian folk dance and performing arts traditions both for popular enjoyment and to succeeding generations of Malaysian Americans has not been without official controversy and cultural disputes. Indonesia, with whom Malaysia shares island territories, has many times officially disagreed with Malaysia’s claims to a folk dance heritage, particularly concerning the Balinese Pendet (Welcoming) dance traditionally performed by Balinese women in traditional Balinese costume, as are the Reog Pobnorogo, an ancient traditional dance of Java, and the Rasa Sayange (Dance of Love) from Maluku. Indonesia also contests Malaysian representations of batik fabrics in traditional dance costumes and commercial and tourism advertisements as an infringement on Indonesian national heritage and patrimony. Balinese and Javanese populations have joined the chorus of protest across the more usual phenomenon of island
Malaysian Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
fragmentation in the Indonesian archipelago to protest the Malaysian representations. The Pendet dance in particular is a Hindu-Balinese-inspired dance of ancient origins figuring prominently in the strong Tantric, Saivite, and Vaisnavite cultures characterizing many parts of Indonesia, and is particularly strong and resurgent on Bali, parts of Java and Sunda, and dates from Indonesia’s intense legacy as part of Farther India. The legacy speaks of the continuing historic melding and resurgence of Tantric spirituality with strong ties to many indigenous Indonesian island cultures and religions. Malaysian Americans retain a discreet appreciation of the Tantric cultural component, symbolically present and subtly nuanced in many performing arts. Interest and claims to cultural patrimony and heritage among Malaysian Americans converge heatedly in the area of folk dance, performance, music, costume, and traditional textiles and place Malaysian Americans in the cross-hairs of a complex and ineluctably contested cultural debate that will be played out across the oceans, in several international domains, as well as on American soil. Folk dance is anything but innocuous. It is difficult to predict how or where this dispute will go in the context of American cultural assimilation, other international and geopolitical philosophical issues of distinctness of national identity, and in the domain of college and university studies and curriculum development in growing fields of Asian Studies and arts. Compounding the dispute is the fact that Malaysia shares island portions of the Indonesian archipelago, and close proximity to Singapore, recently losing peninsular territory to Burma (Myanmar) and other parts of Southeast Asia for cultural reasons that rise along the same fault lines as the massive and ancient cultural fusions of successive settled waves of civilizations, among them Asian Pyuts, Mong-Khmers, Indian Bhils and Ghonds, Sino-Tibetans, Malayalamand Tamil-speaking Indians, Orissans and Bengalis, Straits Chinese, Moghul, Islamic and other smaller European civilizations. Malaysians and Malaysian Americans see themselves as fundamentally international, cosmopolitan, tolerant, and pluralistic people within the current sociopolitical context of a dominant Islamic theocracy, and amid recent eruptions of interethnic violence and disputes associated with the issues of forging national unity across the traditional demographic and cultural fault lines. It is unclear how Malaysians, a small population, will fare abroad, in America, and in Malaysia as a distinct group separate from the already culturally fused ethnicities they share with other and larger Southeast Asian nation-states. Certainly, Malaysian Americans are fluent in intercultural communication skills and multicultural issues that characterize the American nation, and they welcome the freedom of expression and legal protections accorded minorities in America as they express their concerns. Although each ethnic group has its own dance traditions, it is common that Chinese and Indian Malaysians perform Malay folk dances because Malay traditions are considered the national tradition. This is especially true in Malaysian
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American culture where the ethnic boundaries are usually crossed. In cultural events or social activities in America, Malaysian Americans are always proud of presenting Malaysian traditional culture, food, and arts. Therefore, many social events and festivals would feature cultural dance performances. For example, the dance troupe that is owned by the Malaysian Association of Georgia (MAG) performed in “Malaysian Fest,” “Korean Festival,” and many other MAG social events. They dressed in traditional Malaysian costumes and performed Peacock dance, Bollywood dance, and Medley dance. The “Malaysian Fest” event also featured the Chinese lion dance in its opening ceremony. Other dance performances were featured in cultural events such as “Malaysian Night” and “Malaysian Gala” that were organized by Malaysian student groups in the United States. Beside dance performances by local American residents, the Embassy of Malaysia also invite Malaysian dancers to perform in Washington, DC.; one example is the “Ramli Ibrahim and His Sutra Dance Theatre” event. —Barbara A. Amodio and May May Chiang See also: Malaysian Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Matusky, Patricia A., and Tan Sooi Beng. The Music of Malaysia: The Classical, Folk, and Syncretic Traditions. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2004. Matusky, Patricia A., and James Chopyak. “Peninsular Malaysia.” In Terry E. Miller and Sean Williams, eds. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Volume 4: Southeast Asia. London: Routledge, 1998. Nor, M. A. M. “Blurring Images, Glowing Likenesses: Old and New Styles in Traditional Dances of Malaysia.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 33 (2001): 65–71.
Folk Music The prevalence of the Malaysian American consortium is spread across various localities throughout America. The social impact of Malaysian American music is limited due to the relatively small population of approximately 50,000 individuals. Most Malaysian music in America is reserved for weddings, celebrations, and festivals. Still, few if any nationally relevant musicians and singers are known outside of localized Malaysian American populations. The only Malaysian American singer of any popularity is Nicolette Louisa Palikat. Born in Berrien Springs, Michigan, in 1985, Nicolette, or “Nikki,” was recently discovered in 2004 on the Malaysian Idol TV show, which is similar to the popular program American Idol. Nikki performed songs by Mariah Carey,
Malaysian Americans: Foods and Foodways
Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, the Jackson 5, Phil Collins, Avril Lavigne, and Destiny’s Child. Nikki sings in English but is also fluent in two of Malaysia’s indigenous languages, Bahasa Dusun and Malay. Nikki’s music is a combination of R&B, pop, and ballad songs. The Western influence of pop-based songs diminishes the authentic elements of Malaysian folk music, which is similar in tone and rhythm to the music of Indonesia, South Korea, and the Philippines. There is currently an absence of a so-called Malaysian American music scene, since a majority of contemporary Malaysian American musicians do not incorporate traditional instrumentation and indigenous languages. Nevertheless, Nikki’s stardom with Malaysian Idol led to a growing ambassadorship and cultural liaison for Malaysian and American music. In 2005, Nikki released her first full-length album, Maharani, which means “Empress” in the Malay language. In 2008, Nikki released her second album, Hawa, with the hit single “Selamat Tinggal” (“Good Morning”). —Matthew J. Forss See also: Malaysian Americans: Folk Dance and Performance.
Further Reading Mok, Audi, and Nikki Palikat. Interview by author. Personal communication, February 26, 2010.
Foods and Foodways Food in Malaysia consists of cuisines from various Malaysian ethnicities such as Malay, Chinese, and Indian. Rice and noodles are staple foods consumed frequently by all Malaysians. Malay cuisine usually includes hot chilies, onion, garlic, shallot, belancan (fermented shrimp cake), coconut milk, and curry. Malays in Malaysia are Muslims, and they do not eat pork, hence, Malays only consume food that is halal in Malaysia. Halal is an Arabic term that means to sell and serve food that is ritually fit according to Islamic law. Chinese Malaysians use spices in the cooking of Malay food and have created their own branch of Chinese food in Malaysia. Some Chinese Malaysian food is regional because it consists of ingredients from specific regions and flavors that are favored by specific groups of Chinese people in Malaysia. Examples of regional dishes are Penang laksa and Hokkien Char Mee. Indian Malaysian food shares lots of similarities with food from South India. Indian Malaysians favor spicy Indian-style curries that cook with meat, seafood, or vegetables, and are usually served with rice. Most Indian Malaysians are Hindus, and they do not eat beef. Some Buddhists are vegetarians.
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Chinese Malaysians consume spicy Malay and Indian food more than Malay Malaysians and Indian Malaysians consume Chinese food in Malaysia, because most Chinese Malaysians are not restricted by religion in food choices. Despite the local varieties of food, Malaysian Americans also are very familiar with other cuisines such as Japanese, American, and Italian styles of cooking. They embrace other cuisines and consume a wide variety of foods according to their religious beliefs and practices. Malaysian cuisine in the United States is represented by the menu of Malaysian restaurants. Malaysian restaurants in America combine dishes from Malay, Chinese, and Indian food cultures in Malaysia, whereas a restaurant in Malaysia tends to serve only one kind of cuisine, i.e., Malay food in Malay restaurants. In Malaysian restaurants, popular Malay-Malaysian dishes are kari ayam (curry chicken, in soup or over rice), nasi lemak (coconut rice with chili paste), satay (marinated beef or chicken on skewer), and mee goreng (stir-fry noodle). Popular Chinese-Malaysian dishes are Penang udang mee (Penang prawn noodle soup), char Kwey teow (stir-fry flat rice noodle), and bah kut the (Chinese herb soup). (English translations for the names of Chinese dishes may vary in different Malaysian restaurants.) Popular Indian Malaysian dishes are roti canai (crispy Indian pancake) and Indian curries. Despite the success and popularity of Malaysian cuisine in the United States, Malaysian restaurants have modified most Malaysian dishes to attract a wider crowd of customers. For example, nasi lemak is simply served with sambal chili paste, some anchovies, some peanuts, and a couple of slices of cucumber in Malaysia, but it is served with the addition of achat (Malaysian pickled vegetables) and curry chicken in America. Furthermore, most spicy dishes are made less spicy and vegetables that are used to stir-fry noodle or rice has included broccoli that is usually less consumed by Malaysians in Malaysia. Another problem with Malaysian restaurants is that they usually serve a variety of meats such as chicken, pork, beef, and fish. Since Malay Malaysians who are Muslims do not eat pork and Indian Malaysians who are Hindus do not eat beef, Malaysian restaurants in America hence are not suitable for Malay Malaysians and Indian Malaysians. However, Malay Malaysians and Indian Malaysians often make adjustments to the styles of Malaysian restaurants and other restaurants in America to have more choices in food. Malay Malaysians eat food with their fingers (of their right hand) or with silverware. Malay Malaysians usually wash their hand with a water vessel that is either put on the table or passed around from person to person before and after meals. Chinese Malaysians usually eat meals with chopsticks or silverware, and Indian Malaysians eat meals with silverware. Malaysian Americans who are foreign born usually prefer Malaysian food over other cuisines. Most of them desire spicy curries frequently and add chili paste into their dishes. In contrast, American-born Malaysians have been assimilated
Malaysian Americans: Heroes and Heroines
and inherited American food culture, although most of them have been exposed to Malaysian food in their homes. Malaysians favor tropical fruits such as durian, mangosteen, duku langsat (cateyes), star fruit, cempedak, rambutan, jackfruit, papaya, coconut, banana, pineapple, watermelon, and much more. However, some of those tropical fruits are not available in the United States, and Malaysian Americans have grown to embrace fruits such as strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, peach, and others. Chinese Malaysian Americans often follow Chinese foodways. Older generations of Chinese Malaysian Americans usually like to have warm drinks in the morning and warm drinks with meals. They prefer soy milk over cow’s milk, and they prefer tea over coffee. They usually do not like raw food such as salad; they like cooked vegetables. Rice, noodle, and porridge are not exclusively for lunch or dinner; many Chinese Malaysian Americans eat fried rice, stir-fry noodle, porridge, and other elaborate food for breakfast. For those who have access to an Asian bakery, such as those reside in Chinatown or close to it, they eat flavored bread and milk tea for a simpler breakfast. Younger Chinese Malaysian Americans are more Westernized; they eat American breakfasts most of the time, but they would crave for Chinese dim sum, roti canai, rice, or noodle for breakfast once in a while. American-born Malaysians are usually completely Americanized and they embrace American foodways. Besides daily food, Malaysian Americans eat festive foods during special occasions such as New Year and religious festivals. For example, Chinese Malaysians eat yu sheng, a Chinese dish that conveys Chinese wishes for prosperity for the New Year. —May May Chiang
Further Reading Williamson, Thomas. “Malaysia.” In Melvin Ember and Carol Ember, eds. Countries and Their Cultures. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001, 364–375.
Web Site http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Japan-to-Mali/Malays.html (accessed July 30, 2010).
Heroes and Heroines Currently, the majority of Malaysian American heroes and heroines were born in Malaysia and can be recognized by their achievements in academic, entertainment, sports, and the arts. The most recognizable figure in entertainment is
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probably the Malaysian-born actress Michelle Yeoh, who has achieved international success in the Hong Kong and Hollywood film industries. Some of her famous appearances in films are in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Memoirs of a Geisha; and The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. In 2001, she received the title “Dato” from the sultan of her home state, Perak, in recognition of her achievement and international fame that she brought to the Perak state. She was also honored as “The Outstanding Young Persons of the World” (TOYP) in Cultural Achievement in 2002. Other Malaysian American actresses are Irene Ng, known for her role as Shelby Woo in The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo on the Disney Channel, and Claudia Wells, who played Jennifer Parker in Back to the Future (1985). Other entertainers are Chinese Malaysian singers and songwriters who are famous in the Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China popular music industries. Noticeable figures are Fish Leong (Liang Jing Ru), Penny Tai (Dai Pei Ni), Michael and Victor (Guang Liang Pin Guan), and Ah Niu. Chinese Malaysian Americans who like Chinese popular music are proud of these Malaysian singers and are usually fans of their music. Besides entertainers, Monica Pang received wide attention from Malaysian Americans and Malaysians overseas as she became the first Asian American to become Miss Georgia and won first runner-up in the 2006 Miss America pageant. In literature, Malaysian American writer and poet Shirley Geok-lin Lim was the first Asian and female to have won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize (in 1980). In 1997, her memoir, Among the White Moon Faces, won the American Book Award. She became a professor in English at University of California at Santa Barbara. Other award-winning Malaysian American writers are Hilary Tham, Josey Foo, and Preeta Samarasan. Tham is the author of Tin Mines and Concubines: Malaysian Fictions and Lane with No Name: Memoirs and Poems of a Malaysian Girlhood, Foo is the author of Tomie’s Chair, and Samarasan is the author of Evening Is the Whole Day. Although the following figures are not Malaysian Americans, they are considered as heroes because of their international achievement. In the arts, dancer and choreographer Ramli Ibrahim and his company Sutra Dance Theatre have brought Malaysian performing arts into the international scene. In sport, prominent Malaysian badminton players Lee Chong Wei, Jalani Sidek, Razif Sidek, and Rashid Sidek have won four Olympic medals for Malaysia. In fashion, Malaysian-born but London-based shoes and handbags designer Jimmy Choo has made his label an international brand name. —May May Chiang
Further Reading Foo, J., and T. Arai. Tomie’s Chair. Kaya Productions, 2002. Hunt, Leon. Kung Fu Cult Masters. London: Wallflower Press, 2003.
Malaysian Americans: Home Decoration Lim, Shirley Geok-Lin. Among the White Moon Faces: An Asian-American Memoir of Homelands. New York: Feminist Press, 1996. Park, John H. “Shirley Geok-Lin Lim.” In Guiyong Huang, ed. Asian American Short Story Writers: An A-to-Z Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003. Tham, H. Lane with No Name: Memoirs and Poems of a Malaysian-Chinese Girlhood. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1997.
Home Decoration Malaysian American home decoration usually reflects their cultures, ethnicities, religious beliefs, and the progress of their cultural assimilation to American culture. Basic commodities and furniture such as a sofa, coffee table, television, and entertainment center in the living room, a bed and dresser in bedrooms, and a dining table in the dining room, are common in every Malaysian American home. Nevertheless, Malaysian home decoration is largely in American style, with some Malaysian and other Asian flavors. Malaysian accessories such as batik cloth are commonly found in many Malaysian home for decoration. Chinese Malaysian Americans may arrange a sacred altar table to hold the memorials, framed photos, and urns of remains (ashes) of their passed-away parents or ancestors. Depending on the families, Chinese Malaysian Americans may put the ancestry memorials next to the statues of deities or Buddha that they worship. In traditional Chinese homes in Malaysia, Chinese Malaysians may make offerings to ancestors and deities daily by burning joss sticks in an urn and offering tea, fruits, and food. However, many Chinese Malaysian Americans have avoided burning joss sticks because doing so may activate a home’s smoke detector or cause a fire. Many Chinese Malaysian Americans care about feng shui (geomancy) and they think the arrangement of the sacred altar table may affect the feng shui and prosperity of the family. Hence, some of them will consult a feng shui expert before setting a permanent position/location for the altar. Many Chinese Malaysian Americans favor accessories that symbolize prosperity, prestige, and longevity, and they believe those accessories may bring good luck, fortune, and wealth to the family. Some Chinese Malaysian Americans may decorate their home with “lucky bamboo plants” and statues of the three deities Fu, Lu, and Shou (prosperity, prestige, and longevity). During Chinese New Year, Chinese Malaysian Americans may decorate their homes with red banners hung on top of the doorway, a pair of good-tidings calligraphy written in black or gold ink on red paper hung on either side of the doorway, red lanterns made of red packets (hong bao), and other accessories that are in red or gold color. Chinese Malaysian Americans may also hang the Chinese characters fu (meaning fortune or luck) and chun (meaning spring) upside down in the house or on the front door. The act of hanging those characters
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upside down is called “tao.” Since it has the same pronunciation as the Chinese word “arrive” (tao), thus, hanging the Chinese character fu upside down implies the meaning of fu tao, which has the connotation of “fortune arrives.” Some Chinese Malaysian Americans are reluctant to take down their Chinese New Year decorations; they left part of the Chinese New Year decorations remain for the entire year because they are hoping for prosperity and luck for the whole year. It is also normal to find Chinese calendars that are sent out as New Year gifts by Chinese supermarkets with purchase, Chinese water and ink paintings, and Chinese calligraphy on the walls of Chinese Malaysian Americans’ homes. Most Malay Malaysian Americans remained very religious in the United States. They usually hang framed religious writing in Arabic from the Quran on the wall, and some are able to remodel parts of their home with Islamic architecture elements such as the Islamic arches as their doorway. Many Malay Malaysian homes may have a room designated for praying. For those who do not have a special room for praying, they may pray in the bedroom or living room as long as the room is clean and consists of a praying mat. Those who have the luxury of transporting furniture and accessories from Malaysia might be able to decorate their home in a more authentic Malay way. During special occasions such as Hari Raya, Malay Malaysian Americans usually invite guests over and decorate their house accordingly. Similarly, Indian Malaysians who are Hindu may hang portraits of Hindu god and decorate their homes with Indian arts and crafts. —May May Chiang See also: Chinese Americans: Feng Shui/Geomancy; Indian Americans: Home Decoration.
Further Reading Beal, Gillian. Tropical Style: Contemporary Dream Houses in Malaysia. Singapore: Periplus Editions, 2003. Lim, Jee Yuan. The Malay House: Rediscovering Malaysia’s Indigenous Shelter System. Pulau Pinang, Malaysia: Institut Masyarakat, 1987.
Identity “Malaysian American” is an awkward category because “Malaysian” refers more to citizenship than race. Because the country of Malaysia is composed of multiracial and multireligious communities, “Malaysian” thus refers to the citizenship status accorded to these communities. Unlike “Chinese American” or “Indian American,” which refer to Americans of Chinese and Indian ethnicity, “Malaysian American” in and of itself can refer to Americans of varying ethnicities, including Malay, Chinese,
Malaysian Americans: Literature and Folklore
Indian, Thai, Iban, Dayak, and even Portuegese, although Malaysian immigrants to the United States have traditionally been of either Malay, Chinese, or Indian descent. Creolized Chinese Malaysians are also known as the “Peranakan” (Baba refers to men and Nyonya to women) and they traditionally adopt Malay customs in their everyday life. Compared to other immigrants, Malaysians are a relatively new group to resettle in the United States, and they tend to be more highly educated as well. Malay is the national language of Malaysia, and English is the second language, which accounts for high English literacy among its immigrants. Malay is written in the Roman alphabet rather than Arab script—a change instituted by the British at the turn of the century—which could also account for why English is relatively widely used among Malaysian immigrants. Indian Malaysians are generally of Tamil and Punjabi descent, while the Chinese are composed of mostly southern Chinese, including the Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainanese, Teochew, and Hokchew. Most Punjabi Malaysians are Sikh by religion. The cultural practices and languages they retain tend to be those from their dialect groups, although Mandarin is also widely spoken among the Chinese Malaysian community. Malays in Malaysia are also born Muslim, and they can potentially be absorbed into the Muslim community over and above “Malaysian American” communities. Children of mixed marriages tend to identify with their father’s ethnic origin, although anyone who marries a Malay Muslim automatically becomes Malay Muslim as well. Immigrants from Malaysia have been predominantly Chinese or Indian, however, and it is possible that they are more likely to identify as “Chinese American” or “South Asian American” rather than “Malaysian American” because in the context of Asian America, ethnicity can be a stronger pull than citizenship. —Sze Wei Ang
Further Reading Cheah, Boon Kheng. Malaysia: The Making of a Nation. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002. Harper, T. N. The End of Empire and the Making of Malaya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Lim, Shirley Geok-lin. Among the White Moon Faces. New York: The Feminist Press at CUNY, 1997.
Literature and Folklore The rich multiculturalism of Malaysia, comprised largely of Chinese, Malays, and Indians, propels an interesting literary and folkloric dialog about corresponding and conflicting diasporic issues in the United States. Malaysian Americans
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represent yet another unique Asian American group that embraces and resists the fusion of socioeconomic, cultural, and political forces. Furthermore, two significant events frame the backdrop for Malaysian American literature and folklore: World War II and the 1969 Malaysian race riots, the latter occurring shortly after Singapore’s 1965 separation from Malaysia. The use of English as a primary language, a result of British colonization, sometimes allows for a linguistic leap into American literature—if one masters the written language in a country that has continued British-style studies and exams and that demands a focus on science and mathematics. Much of rural Malaysia remains a largely oral culture, and the scholastic and sometimes familial requirement to learn more than one language or dialect from a young age can result in the heavy-handed use of the oral component. This focus, in addition to the influence and proximity of England and Australia, both of which claim a number of expatriate authors, such as Tash Aw (Harmony Silk Factory) and Rani Manicka (The Rice Mother), results in a plethoric but slim hodgepodge of Malaysian American folklore and literature. This diasporic tendency of braiding an Asian culture and a Western language and way of life emerges in the works of authors such as Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Vyvyane Loh, and Hilary Tham. All three demonstrate an unusually strong mastery of the English language vis-a`-vis advanced degrees in English and writing. Yet, both spin folkloric yarns from their homelands with ease. Lim writes in a variety of genres, ranging from fiction to poetry to scholarly, whereas Loh is a physician turned fiction writer. Tham creatively expresses herself through poetry and paintings. This tendency by a predominantly female (and Chinese-descent) coalition—male immigrant writers seem to wend their way into the U.S. American vernacular less visibly—to exhibit talents via a variety of artistic means and genres is a defining characteristic of Malaysian American literature and folklore. Crucial historical events in the Malaysian homeland also play a large role in shaping Malaysian American literature and folklore. Tales about the Japanese invasion and the imprisonment of civilians during World War II echo throughout Malaysian American authors’ works, including Loh’s Breaking the Tongue. Breaking the Tongue particularly centers on one family’s experiences during Singapore’s fall to Japan, all the while displaying the resonating effects of postcolonialism and cultural differences. Lim and Tham reflect on the events of 1969, when Malaysians clashed over the treatment of different races. Since Lim and Tham left for the United States around this time, their work demonstrates a braiding of Malaysian trends with the backdrop of the United States’ own racial, religious, and social heritage. For example, in one poem, “When Lilacs Last . . . ” Tham writes about her Eastern views of Walt Whitman’s lilacs. Yet the poem interlocks homeland reflections with Western events, such as Ronald Reagan’s death and 9/11. In other works, Lim and Tham
Malaysian Americans: Names and Name Giving
describe Asian practices such as Zen Buddhism and the suffocation of baby girls to meet Chinese one-child policies, all the while juggling their American multicultural identities. Their literature, with its threads of folklore sometimes shared by maternal narrators, results in a smorgasbord of images from different homelands. This reflects the rich array of religions and subcultures from which Malaysian American literature and folklore emerges. —Pauline T. Newton
Further Reading Lim, Shirley Geok-lin. Among the White Moon Faces: An Asian-American Memoir of Homelands. New York: Feminist Press, 1996. Lim, Shirley Geok-lin., ed. The Forbidden Stitch: An Asian American Women’s Anthology. Corvallis, OR: Calyx, 1989. Loh, Vyvyane. Breaking the Tongue. New York: Norton, 2004. Tham, Hilary. Counting: A Long Poem. Washington, DC: Word Works, 2000. Tham, Hilary. The Tao of Mrs. Wei: Poems. Washington, DC: Bunny and the Crocodile Press, 2002.
Web Sites Hilary Tham Web site. http://www.geocities.com/Hilarytham (accessed June 29, 2009). Vyvyane Loh Web site. http://www.vyvyaneloh.com/biography.shtml (accessed June 29, 2009).
Names and Name Giving Malaysian American names are determined generally by the ethnic background of the particular Malaysian American group. For example, names within Chinese Malaysian America will follow traditions within the particular southern Chinese dialect group into which the individual is born. Names written in Chinese characters can be pronounced either in Mandarin or in Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainanese, Teochew, Hokchew, and so on. Chinese Malaysian families traditionally Romanize their names as they are pronounced in their dialects as opposed to Mandarin, although some names do come from the Mandarin as well. The family name in Mandarin of “Lin,” for example, would be Romanized as “Lam” if the individual is Cantonese. The family name in Mandarin of “Huang” would be Romanized as “Ong” if the individual is Hokkien. Most Chinese Malaysian American names would be composed of three characters and traditionally, it is written beginning with the family name, and followed by two other characters that make up the “first name.”
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Indian Malaysian names have traditionally been Tamil names, and they are written in the Western fashion, in which the first name comes first. However, the last name is the name of the father, not a “family name.” This convention is also common to Malay Muslim names and has been adopted by indigenous groups in Malaysia as well. In Malaysia, the first name and the father’s name is separated by “A/L” or “A/P” which stands for “son of” or “daughter of” in Malay. Some families have now done away with this tradition and simply list the father’s name after the first name. Some Malay names continue to follow the convention of using either “bin” or “binti” to signify the individual’s gender; “bin” is used for sons, while “binti” is used for daughters. Arab immigrants to Malaysia have now assimilated into Malayness but they retain their heritage in their naming. Male names begin with “Syed” and female names begin with “Sharifah.” The Peranakan Chinese are predominantly Hokkien, and their names are Romanized in Hokkien rather than Malay. —Sze Wei Ang
Further Reading Keyes, Charles, ed. Ethnic Change. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1981. Kwok, Raymond. Malay Echoes from the Past: Penang Hokkien Baba Language. Kuala Lumpur: Select Books, 2006. Nagata, Judith A. “In Defense of Ethnic Boundaries: The Changing Myths and Charters of Malay Identity.” In D. Charles Keyes, ed. Ethnic Change. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1981, 87–116.
Narrative Folklore Malaysian folktales were passed down primarily through oral tradition in earlier times, but they are now also passed down through written sources such as poetry, children’s storybooks, and textbooks for educational purposes. Folktales can also be learned through multimedia outlets such as television shows, the Internet, and radio shows. Traditional stories are also told through narration, dance, music, and drama; they can be presented in major theatrical art forms such as wayang kulit (the shadow puppetry), bangsawan, makyong, Chinese opera, and Indian dramas. Malaysian folktales are found in a variety of Malaysian languages, and the subject of these folktales can be mystical, historical, moral, anthropomorphic, romantic, and epic. Folktales about the origins of ethnic customs, holidays, superstition, ghosts, deities, and others, are also very popular. One favorite Malay folktale is the story about the clever sang kancil (a mouse deer) and the evil sang buaya (a crocodile), who always wanted to eat sang kancil for dinner. One day, sang kancil wants to cross the river to eat the fruits on the
Malaysian Americans: Narrative Folklore
other side of the river, but he worries that the crocodiles that live in the river would eat him. He then tells sang buaya (one of the crocodiles) that the king has sent him to invite the crocodiles to a feast in the palace and he needs to know how many crocodiles can attend. Sang buaya, who becomes very excited about the feast, tells all the other crocodiles to form a line across the river for sang kancil to count. Sang kancil steps on the line of crocodiles and starts counting. After sang kancil counts the last crocodile, he crossed the river safely without being eaten by the crocodiles. An example of romantic folktales is about a poor young man who is in love with a Malaysian princess. His wish to marry the princess is approved after he risks his life killing the flying dragon that invaded Malaysia. This story depicts the bravery of people who are in love. The stories about Hang Tuah’s loyalty and Mahsuri’s curse are also popular. One of the popular Chinese folktales is the story about a shepherd boy who frequently tells lies. One day when he was herding the sheep on the top of the mountain, he was so bored that he screamed loudly to the peasants down at the bottom of the mountain: “The wolves are here, help, help!” The peasants all gave up their work and came up to the mountain to rescue the boy and his sheep. After the peasants arrived, the boy laughed at them because they fell for his lie. Not long after that, the boy did the same lie again, and that made the peasants very angry with the boy. One afternoon, as the shepherd boy herded his sheep on the top of the mountain as usual, a group of wolves came to attack. Panicked, the boy screamed as loud as he could for help, but no one would believe the boy, and no one came to help. The boy lost all of his sheep in the attack because no peasants would believe him again. The story is used to advise people not to lie because people who frequently lie lost their credibility. Other favorite folktales are the romantic but tragic story about the butterfly lovers—Liang Zhu, the story about Chang’e and the origins of Mid-Autumn festival, and the story about historical figures such as Yue Fei and Hua Mu Lan. The Blind Men and the Elephant is a popular Indian folktale that is well known in Malaysia, and there are many versions for the tale. Basically, a group of blind men are curious about elephants and they want to know what they are like. They found an elephant and touch it to get some ideas. However, the elephant is a big animal and each blind man only touches a different part of the elephant. In a result, each of them has different opinions about the elephant. The story is used to indicate that different perspectives may view a truth differently. Since Malay folktales were usually incorporated in textbooks for educational purposes, it is common that non-Malay Malaysians are familiar with some of these folktales. Most Malaysians are also familiar with Aesop’s fables and Western folktales such as “Snow White,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “The Little Mermaid” due to the impact of globalization. Therefore, most Malaysian immigrants would be familiar with both Malaysian and Western folktales, but American-born
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Malaysians are less likely to know Malaysian stories due to the change of the cultural environment, education system, and medias. —May May Chiang See also: Chinese Americans: Narrative Folktale; Malaysian Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Carpenter, Kathie. “Kancil: From Mischief to Moral Education.” Western Folklore 51(2) (April 1992): 111–127. Hitam, Zakaria bin. Folktales of Malaysia. London: Macmillam Publishers, 1989. Lew, Jackie Chooi-Theng, and Patricia Shehan Campbell. Game Children Sing Malaysia: Malay, Chinese, and Tamil-Indian Children’s Songs and Lore. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing, 2006. MacDonald, Margaret Read. The Singing Top: Tales from Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. Ninotaziz. From the Written Stone: An Anthology of Malaysian Folklore. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications, 2006.
Proverbs and Maxims Proverbs and maxims in Malaysian American culture can be found in Malaysian languages such as Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, and Tamil. Similar to proverbs and maxims in many other cultures, proverbs and maxims in Malaysian American culture are metaphorical, rhyming, and often used for educational purposes or for advising people. In Bahasa Malaysia, “tangan panjang” literally means “long hand,” and it is used to indicate the conduct of stealing or people who steal. Sometimes it is used with the word “jangan” (meaning “do not,” i.e., jangan tangan panjang) to advise people not to steal or become a thief. Another example is “jangan angkat bakul sediri.” It is used to advise people not to be showoffs themselves. Other popular proverbs are “sedikitsedikit, lama-lama jadi bukit,” meaning “accumulating little by little, gradually it will become a lot (literally as big as a small mountain).” It is used to encourage people to save money. And “hidung tinggi” literally means “nose pointing high,” indicating the proud manner of a person. Because Bahasa Malaysia is the official language in Malaysia and most Malaysian citizens are taught the language in schools, proverbs and maxims in Bahasa Malaysia are therefore learned and commonly used by Malays and educated non-Malays in Malaysia. However, since Bahasa Malaysia is not taught in the United States, younger non-Malay generations are most likely not familiar with Malay proverbs and maxims.
Malaysian Americans: Religion
Proverbs and maxims in Chinese are written in formats such as a four-word (four-character) phrase, a six-word phrase, a seven-word phrase, an eight-word phrase (divided into two parts), and a 10-word phrase. Phrases that consist of six or more words are usually divided into two parts, except the seven-word phrases. Examples are “Xin xiong xia zhai,” which means narrow-minded or intolerant, and “yi shi er niao,” which means “killing two birds with one stone.” One example of a maxim is “shi shang wu nan shi, zhi pa you xin ren,” which literally means, “there is no impossible task in the world that cannot be accomplished by people who are persistent.” It is used to encourage people not to give up difficult tasks easily. A proverb example is “das hi hua xiao, xiao shi hua wu” which is used to solve disputes or arguments and literally means “downplay a big problem to a small problem, and then erase or ignore that small problem altogether.” Malaysian Americans are also familiar with some English proverbs and maxims such as “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” “it is better to be safe than sorry,” “take it with a grain of salt,” “practice makes perfect,” and “fool me once, shame on you, fool me again, shame on me.” Malaysian American immigrants like to use Malays proverbs and maxims in the conversations with their families and Malaysian friends. The younger Malaysian American generations and especially the American born Malaysians are less likely to know proverb and maxims in Malaysian languages. —May May Chiang See also: Chinese Americans: Proverbs and Maxims; Indian Americans: Proverbs and Maxims; Sri Lankan Americans: Tamil Folktales and Proverbs.
Further Reading Goddard, Cliff. “ ‘Cultural Scripts’ and Communicative Style in Malay (‘Bahasa Melayu’).” Anthropological Linguistics 42, no. 1 (Spring 2000): 81–106. Lew, Jackie Chooi-Theng, and Patricia Shehan Campbell. Game Children Sing Malaysia: Malay, Chinese, and Tamil-Indian Children’s Songs and Lore. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing, 2006. Lim, Kim-Hui. “The Concept of Informal Fallacies in Malay Proverbs.” Journal of Indonesian and Malaysian Studies 1(1) (2008). http://dimension-group.net/abstract/ Dr_Kim.html (accessed July 30, 2010).
Religion Religion in Malaysian America is a deep mosaic reflecting on its surface an ancient encounter and dialog with many indigenous and world religions, fed by a continuing underground spring of indigenous Malay-Polynesian (Bhumiputra)
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culture and sacred geomantic perspectives that unite the cosmos into a unified, organic manifesting and nonmanifesting whole. This highly complex culture is alive in an equally complicated American fabric pervaded by the persistent PanAsian geomancy that is definitive in bothTaoism and sacred agrarian Malay religious cultures. For Malaysian Americans, ancient and modern political realities go hand in hand with religious culture and beliefs spread across Malaysian varieties of Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, Muslim, and Christian cultures where world religions merge thematically into the ever-present indigenous primal Malay (Bumiputran) base. The complex indigenous tradition is itself forged from many ancient southward-moving migrations of Tibetan and Yunnan peoples into the Irrawady, Menam, and Mekong valleys and into the Malay Peninsula, spilling over into Indonesia, displacing primal negrito populations and further fusing with Polynesian influences. As part of Farther India, anciently compatible Hindu traditions following Vaisnavite, Saivite, and Tantric lines paved the way for an acceptance of later Indian Buddhist pilgrims who were attempting to reform the Hinduism of their time back to its Vedic roots. Significant Yoga-Samkhya meditative techniques loosely following Patanjali, and used by the historical Buddha, interacted profoundly throughout all of Farther India, influencing pervasive indigenous meditative and ritual trance practices. As nearly as anyone can tell, the complex MalayPolynesian family draws from ancient Central Asian Pyus, Indian Bhils-Gonds, Mon-Khmers and Malays whose combined presence sets a profoundly unbroken psychological tone expressive of an indigenous primal Malaysian religious perspective very much alive today as Bumiputra culture. Modern religio-cultural fractures along the many fault lines of these ancient civilizations have in recent history ceded parts of Burma (Myanmar) to Malaysia proper, while others have been folded back into India surrounding Bangladesh, territorially carving out the current kite-with-a-tail shape of modern Burma (Myanmar) and the long peninsular tail of Thailand dipping into the Malay Peninsula. An island portion of Malaysia lies across the sea Straits on the northern half of the large Indonesian island of Kalimantan (Borneo), placing many Malaysian religio-cultural perspectives closer to revitalizing Hinduized primal traditions of this and other Indonesian islands, with nearby Indonesian Bali and India itself acting as the current hub exporting spiritual meditative and ritual expertise to wider Indonesian and Malaysian regions. A long blueprint for tolerance of multiple blended perspectives follows at least politely into the American diaspora, where Malaysian Americans are practicing new communication skills that have the potential to reverberate back into Malaysia. With more than 60 modern ethnically differentiated peoples, the critical Malaysian politico-religious distinction is that between indigenous Bhumiputra and non-Bhumiputra cultures and ancestry. This tension is expressed in America
Malaysian Americans: Religion
in subtle ethnic appraisals everywhere unto American food blogs where latent ethnic hostility contends that Bhumiputra alone in all its dimensions is the only authentic Malaysia. Tendentious Malaysian struggles toward political unity and modern statehood mask powerful Bhumiputra perspectives carried to America that are not sympathetically shared by the Straits Chinese Malaysian minority. The Malaysian mosaic of perspective includes the tiny but thriving close-by island nation of Singapore, not technically part of Malaysia, but reflective of the many strands of intense and radical religio-ethnic pluralism of Malaysia, as does the large nearby island of ancient trade and gold, Sumatra, thought by some archaeologists to contain a cradle of indigenous Malay civilization near Palembang and Sri Vijaya. The American diaspora, if anything, continues to refract and even separate Malaysian Americans further from each other, ceding the cultural integration role to American higher education courses, faculty, and multicultural student associations, which provide expressive vehicles and antidotes for latent fracturing and fomenting hostilities. The legal umbrella of freedom of religion and expression encourages opportunities for Malays and Malay minorities to at least partially recover and research ancient cultural and religious influences and underlying unities. The vast geographical American expanse absorbs and disperses a comparatively small number of Malaysian Americans into mixed marriages and the ready-made streams of institutionalized major world religions. Islam and Christianity each give broad accessible shelter to Malaysians stemming from centuries of missionary work by Catholic and Protestant missionaries, colonial forces, and Muslim traders who established Muslim communities and mosques along the Straits and deeper inland. Indian and Straits Chinese Malaysian Americans, Christianized or not, find numerous Indians Abroad organizations, Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and successor societies of secret Chinese aid organizations in America, inviting them to degrees of instant affiliation, an experience only too familiar to Malaysians accustomed to the prismatic pluralism of the comparatively tiny Malaysian homeland. Malaysian Americans recognize the recurring need to band together, often against other ethnic and religious groups, to survive interethnic competitions. In the United States, they can do so across multiple hereditary and mixed-marriage lines while privately cherishing a persistent Taoist-like unified geomantic and spirit attitude, which may be better understood as Pan-Asian, and whose voice is louder in indigenous Malay primal religious traditions. Some Malaysian Americans are reverting to better-understood Hindu and meditative practices once freed to swim in the vast anonymity of the American democracy. Extending a hand, the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA), Zen practice centers, and the Nichiren Shoshu of America (NSA) have expanded beyond coastal California immigrant landing platforms to East Coast and scattered inland
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Malaysian Americans: Religion
locations, along with Sufi and Yoga centers for Indian and Muslim Malaysians. Peninsular Chinese Christian Malaysian Americans, mostly strict Roman Catholics, verbally disavow primal, Taoist, and Confucian practices in favor of a Catholicism that keeps close to American church-sponsored schools and universities, notably Jesuit and Methodist institutions and state institutions with strong multicultural programs. Muslim Malaysian Americans, hailing from a 60 percent Muslim state, find immediate acceptance within growing American Islamic communities where an instant ummah (community) welcomes them through an American door to a global community as diverse and familiar as Malaysia itself. Younger Malaysian immigrants of all stripes are stepping out of narrow missionary and official molds into mixed marriages and higher-education explorations of traditional South Asian meditative traditions, recovering religious roots systematically with a Malaysian ease. Malaysian Americans, attracted to meditative traditions, relate well to meditative and mystical aspects of the westernized Middle Eastern traditions of Christianity and Islam (Sufi) with accent on contemplative dimensions of Asian Christianity and Islam. American higher education institutions assume new cultural roles for Malaysian Americans who are curious about religion and interested in meditative-leaning traditions. By creating and consolidating comparative information and international student associations, new awareness and opportunities abound for Malaysian Americans as they move toward rebuilding a comprehensive Malaysian ethnic and religious consciousness and enter advanced academic study leading to original research opportunities in Malaysian and South and Southeast Asian studies. Courses in world religions, Oriental philosophies, anthropology, and historical and comparative studies focused on South Asia attract intellectually curious and empowered Malaysians who can acquire the necessary extra research languages needed to excel. It is difficult to predict where the new systematic study of beliefs and philosophico-religious systems, replacing on-the-ground cultural encounters, will lead Malaysian Americans in the full recovery of their own deeper senses of ritual meanings and comparative understandings. Important reframes of Taoist geomantic practices, once passing out of context as mere disjointed superstition, are already occurring in the revitalized Malaysian American communities that are blossoming in American higher education forums. Straits Chinese Malaysian Americans, including Chinese Malaysian Christians, affiliate with secret aid societies in the United States following symbolic Taoist and Confucian geomantic perspectives, rituals, lunar agricultural calendars, animist beliefs, degrees of meditation, spirit trance and spirit medium practices that connect them to each other, to mutual success, propitiation of Ancestors, Taoist anthropomorphic gods and goddesses, festivals, seasons, stars, and ghost chasing, despite all changes in latitude or longitude. Confucian social concerns and bonds create a secular religious humanism that persists in the underlying nature mysticism
Malaysian Americans: Religion
inside Taoist and Malay rituals. Ancestor and spirit propitiation for success and protection persist in America in symbolic ritual activities connecting living persons to the sacred ancestral spirit stream flowing from the Yellow (Heavenly) Emperor through his Taoist title as the Jade Emperor and beyond into matriarchal and patriarchal deifications of the vast Ultimate Tao, a Tao that never shows itself completely, remaining mostly invisible to the physical senses. Chinese American enclaves quietly yield contacts for numerous serious ritual activities found by discreet word of mouth. Contacts can be made inside Chinese secret aid societies, American Taoist and qi-gong centers, favored Malaysian restaurants, Chinese American pharmacies, and Chinese Buddhist and Tibetan Tantric Buddhist centers. Promotion of Malay as a national unifying culture and language in the modern Malaysian political state remains especially sensitive for Straits Chinese Malaysian Americans who perceive the policy as discriminatory. Many wonder aloud where the Malays are, disputing hereditary distinctness and citing prejudice against Straits Chinese financial success, sacred and secular religious geomantic perspectives. Such disputes are, in their view, buried in the official promotion of the Malay language and primal Malaysian religions. Chinese language schools in America, as in Malaysia, remain central expressive vehicles for this essentially religious dispute, and central to full invitation into Chinese American cultural and aid societies. Financial struggles of many Malaysian Chinese language schools are assisted financially by Straits Chinese Malaysian Americans, who are increasingly looked on as less Chinese and more simply Malaysian (or Indonesian) by global Chinese communities if they do not speak or read Chinese, a fact noted almost immediately by all Southeast Asians. —Barbara A. Amodio See also: Malaysian Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Superstition and Taboo.
Further Reading Church, Peter, ed. A Short History of South-East Asia. 5th ed. Singapore: John Wiley and Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd, 2009. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1972. Debernardi, Jean. Rites of Belonging: Memory, Modernity, and Identity in a Malaysian Chinese Community. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004. Geertz, Clifford. Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth-Century Bali. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991. Mahathir bin Mohamad. The Malay Dilemma. Singapore: Times Books International, 1970. Smith, Huston. The World’s Religion: Our Great Wisdom Traditions. Revised and updated ed. San Francisco: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1991.
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Malaysian Americans: Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage Malaysian American rites of passages in America are similar to those in Malaysia. Nevertheless, although the concepts of the various rites of passages are being retained, due to the change of context and lack of cultural resources to perform traditional practices, many Malaysian Americans have modified and simplified their practices. Among the many rites of passage, wedding and childbirth are the most prominent events in Malaysian Americans’ lives. Malaysian Americans who are able to perform rites of passage in a traditional way usually receive assistances from the older generations who are knowledgeable guardians of the traditions. Marriage is perhaps the most important rite of passage for a Malay person. Since it is not only a personal event but a family one, most Malay Malaysian Americans prefer to host their weddings in Malaysia because it is more convenient for Muslim wedding planning, and most of their family members who still live in Malaysia would be able to attend. The traditional Malay wedding is usually a twoday event, and it features lavish feasts. The first half of the wedding celebration is held at the bride’s house, and the second half is held at the groom’s home on the next day. The wedding couple goes through similar wedding ceremonies on both days. The public part of the wedding is the bersanding ceremony, which the wedding couple sits on a raised and ornamented dais called pelamin. In this ceremony, parents of the couple, relatives, and guests, come forth individually, scatter scented leaves and flower petals onto the open palms of the wedding couple, to offer their congratulations and blessings. Traditionally, there are many pantang (or proscriptions) that regulate the behavior of the parents during a pregnancy and the early weeks of the newborn baby in Malay culture. For example, the newborn baby and the mother undertake a confinement period called dalam pantang, which lasts for 44 days. During this period, rituals such as prescribed bath of the mother following delivery is performed. The adherence to the pantang is considered very important because the violation can affect the health of the child and the recovery of the mother. During the infant years, two common ceremonies—naik buaian and potong rambut—may be performed. Naik buaian (which literally means “riding the cradle”) is a ceremony that introduces the baby to his or her cradle. Potong rambut (which literally means “cutting hair”) is a “cleansing ceremony” in which a child’s head is shaven. Traditionally, the circumcision (berkkatan) ceremony for a boy between the ages of 7 and 12 used to be an elaborate public event. Nowadays, more and more people (especially in urban areas) preferred to have circumcision performed by physicians in hospitals. Older Chinese Malaysians like to celebrate their birthday by eating noodle and red-dyed, hard-boiled eggs. Since the length of the noodle symbolizes longevity, most people would avoid cutting or breaking the noodle during
Malaysian Americans: Rites of Passage
preparation. In more recent years, celebrating a birthday with a birthday cake and blowing birthday candles has become very popular. When Chinese Malaysians host birthday parties, cutting birthday cake and singing the “Happy Birthday” song (in English, Mandarin, and Bahasa Malaysia) are the main rituals of the event. The traditional Chinese Malaysian American wedding is an elaborate event that involves extensive planning and multiple days. In traditional Chinese Malaysian culture, it is a custom that the groom and bride stay with their own families the night before the wedding. During that time, close friends and relatives will gather together in both of the houses of the groom and bride, and food is served. The guests may socialize with either the groom or bride or their families, flip through the studio wedding photo albums, or view some videos that are made for the wedding. After a day of separation, the groom arrives to pick up the bride at her house the next day. The wedding ceremony is first performed at the bride’s house and completed at the groom’s house. At the bride’s house, the wedding couple would offer burnt joss sticks and pay respect to the ancestors at the altar that the family set up earlier. It is followed by a tea ceremony during which the couple offers tea to the bride’s parents and other older and married relatives. The marriage is confirmed when the parents accept the tea and give gifts such as the red packets and gold jewelry to the newlywed couple. This tea-offering procedure is being repeated to the other older and married family members and relatives according to their age or rank in the family. A similar wedding ceremony is performed at the groom’s house later on the same day. A wedding banquet in a restaurant is usually followed after the wedding ceremonies. If most of the families and relatives are in Malaysia, some Chinese Malaysian Americans may prefer to hold their wedding ceremony and reception in Malaysia instead of in the United States. Others may compromise by hosting multiple wedding receptions in different places. Traditionally, Chinese Malaysians are expected to get married by their early and mid-20s. If a Chinese Malaysian does not get married during the expected age range, he or she may face social pressure from the parents or relatives. Nonetheless, the age of getting married has been postponed in recent years, with many getting married late and many decided to remain unmarried. In Chinese Malaysian American culture, after giving birth, the mother will start a monthlong period of healing and confinement period called zuo yue zi. At the end of this period, the mother should partially (if not fully) recover from childbirth, and the newborn baby should be celebrating his or her one-month-old birthday, called man yue. This “first month old” birthday celebration is usually a grand and happy event; it is held to officially introduce the newborn baby to family members and close friends. Festive food such as stir-fry rice noodles and Malaysian curry is served. Guests who attend the celebration usually give
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Malaysian Americans: Superstition and Taboo
a red packet (with money inside), silver or gold jewelry, or children apparel and toys as gifts. To many Malaysian Americans of foreign birth, studying abroad (in countries such as the United States) is an important rite of passage in life. The adventure, the survival, the education, the life experience in a foreign language–speaking environment, and a degree from a university abroad are believed to lead to a better future. —May May Chiang See also: Chinese Americans: Rites of Passage; Indian Americans: Rites of Passage.
Further Reading Colson, Anthony C. “The Differential Use of Medical Resources in Developing Countries.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 12(3) (September 1971): 226–237. Heil, Karl. “Malaysian Americans.” In Jeffrey Lehman, ed. Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2000, 1173–1179. Kwok, Raymond. Local Chinese Beliefs, Myths, Taboos and Superstitions. Penang, Malaysia: Raymond Kwok, 2007. Matusky, Patricia, and James Chopyak. “Peninsular Malaysia.” In Terry E. Miller and Sean Williams, eds. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Volume 4: Southeast Asia. New York: Routledge, 1998.
Superstition and Taboo Implicitly, superstitions and taboos are viewed by conservative Malaysian Americans as customary laws or rules for proper behavior that one must follow to avoid mistakes that result in supernatural consequences. However, many Malaysian Americans have forgotten traditional village customs and beliefs after moving to the United States. Furthermore, the technology and development in sciences made most of those superstitions and taboos seem strange to contemporary and educated Malaysian Americans. It is questionable that these beliefs and practices will be passed on to the next generation of Malaysian Americans who mostly have no association with the old-fashioned beliefs. In addition, many Malaysian superstitions and taboos are associated with Malaysian languages and dialects that are not taught in the United States. English-educated Malaysian Americans most likely will not understand the embedded and symbolic meanings of those beliefs, and therefore avoid them. If younger Malaysian Americans follow the superstitions and taboos, it is simply because they do not want to challenge their elders. Many Malaysian superstitions and taboos were originated from local old wives’ tales, religious tales and beliefs, rumors, and myths. These superstitions and taboos have significant symbolic meanings and reflect Malaysians’ ethos, social values and desires, and cultural heritage. Almost all rites of passages and festivals of
Malaysian Americans: Superstition and Taboo
Malaysians consist of some sort of superstitions and taboos. Chinese Malaysians are superstitious about numerous things, and many of those superstitions are still practiced by Chinese Malaysian Americans. Their superstitions can be found related to feng shui (geomancy), lunar calendar, time, colors, numbers, zodiac signs, speech, birthday and birth year, animal preference, and many others. For example, it is a taboo to wear entirely black apparel during celebrations such as weddings and Chinese New Year because black is considered a color for death and funeral, and hence not suitable for happy occasions and it might cause bad luck to the occasion. Although many younger Chinese Malaysian Americans favor the fashionable black that goes with almost everything, wearing black may hurt the feelings of conservative parents because black was usually worn during the funeral of their parents. Saying the word “die” or “death” (si) during Chinese New Year is also a taboo; it is believed that doing so will attract bad luck. Some older Chinese Malaysians think that to be hit by a broomstick is “soay” (originated from the Chinese word shuai) it literally means weak, but here it means bad luck. Therefore, most Chinese Malaysians will try to avoid contact with the broom when someone else is sweeping nearby. Chinese Malaysian Americans may avoid sending a clock as a gift, because the Chinese word for clock is zhong, and to give it as a gift is song zhong, which has the same connotation as sending off a funeral hearse. Chinese Malaysian Americans choose “appropriate” days from the lunar calendar for special events such as weddings and business openings to guarantee happiness, prosperity, and success for those events. Older generations of Indian Malaysians may still be superstitious. For example, some still consider seeing a black cat as a bad omen for the day, and they are thus reluctant to initiate tasks that they set out to do. Despite that more Indian Malaysian Americans have more freedom in dating nowadays (in contrast with arranged marriage in earlier time), many Indian families still consult an astrologer for matching the horoscope of their children and their prospective spouses, to determine the suitability of the marriage between the couple. Indian Malaysian Americans may also consult the Indian lunar calendar to determine the appropriate day and time for wedding and business events. —May May Chiang See also: Chinese Americans: Feng Shui/Geomancy; Indian Americans: Superstition and Taboo; Malaysian Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Gopal, Selvi. “Malaysia: Superstition and the Modern Women.” Women’s Feature Service (2002). Kwok, Raymond. Local Chinese Beliefs, Myths, Taboos and Superstitions. Penang, Malaysia: Raymond Kwok, 2007.
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Malaysian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Malaysian Americans speak a variety of different languages, and many of them are bilingual, trilingual, or more. They speak English, Bahasa Malaysia, various Chinese dialects (such as Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochow, and Hainan), Tamil, Kristang (a creole Portuguese dialect), and indigenous Malaysian languages. Most Malaysian immigrants can speak Bahasa Malaysia because it is the official language of Malaysia. Previously called Bahasa Melayu, it is a standardized version of various Malay dialects. Although Malaysian Americans speak languages that can be found in other countries, they have developed their own accents and slangs for those languages. Chinese Malaysian Americans usually speak Mandarin in a lower pitch, and name certain objects differently, than Chinese Americans. For instance, instead of calling straw xi guan, Chinese Malaysian Americans call it shui cao. To include English terms into Malaysian languages, many English words are being rewritten phonetically in Malaysia. For example, ice cream is spelled as ais kirim in Bahasa Malaysia, while coffee is being spelled as kopi in Malay and ka fe in Chinese. Another example is that “bus” is spelled as bas in Bahasa Malaysia and ba shi in Chinese. Malaysians also frequently oversimplify English grammar and add a suffix or expression from Bahasa Malaysia or Chinese language at the end of an English sentence. For example, when a Malaysian asks you, “What do you have?” he or she might say “You got what?” Also, instead of saying “o.k.,” Malaysians would say “ok lah.” “Lah” (or la) is a Chinese expression that is used to affirm a statement. It is also used in Bahasa Malaysia regularly to affirm an order—e.g., “duduk lah” means “to sit down.” Since Malaysians can speak two or more languages, they often mix words of different languages in their spoken language. For instance, when you ask a Chinese person how they get to school, they may say “wo men da bus qu lor” (we take the bus lor). Since English in Malaysia is not spoken the way it is spoken in England, spoken English in Malaysia is now informally known as “Manglish,” the merge of the two words “Malaysian English.” Depending on age, education, ethnicity, level of assimilation, and opportunity, Malaysian immigrants and students in America speak American English differently. Some adapt the American accent faster because of young age, some adapt more slowly because their working environment does not require much English speaking. For example, most workers who work in Chinatown do not need to know a lot of English. Many Malaysian Americans usually speak American English with a heavy Malaysian accent. Indian Malaysian Americans may speak English words faster than others. American-born Malaysians usually speak American English fluently without a Malaysian accent.
Malaysian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
Malaysian American speech and manner are affected by their social and cultural values. Many Malaysian Americans are influenced by the idea of “shame.” They do not speak their mind directly because they are afraid that their opinions might make them “lose face” or feel shameful (malu in Malay and xiu chi in Chinese). Moreover, many are reserved in criticizing others because they do not want to hurt others’ feelings, and they want to maintain the harmonious relationship with each other. Hence, they would rather be humble and polite instead of opinionated. Confucianism also influences the speech and manners of Chinese Malaysian Americans. When Chinese Americans speak to their parents and older relatives, they rarely called them by names. The younger generations are expected to speak humbly and not challenging the elders. —May May Chiang See also: Chinese Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner; Indian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner; Punjabi Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner.
Further Reading He, George Xiaoxi. “A Linguistic Investigation of Fossilized English Speech of Malaysian and Southern Chinese Students.” PhD. diss., University of Mississippi, 1994. Meedin, Hafriza Buranudeen. “Language Use and Attitudes among Malaysian Malays.” PhD diss., Georgetown University, 1993. Tan, Benghoe. “The Acculturation of Malaysian Chinese Immigrants to U.S.A.” Master’s thesis, San Jose State University, 1996.
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INDEX
Academic scholarship, on Asian Americans, 24, 41–46, 51–52, 59–60, 60–61 Accents, Asian American humor and, 25–26 Actors and acting, 32–33, 81–82. See also Films; Television Acupuncture, 219, 323, 464, 648, 709, 710 Adoptions children’s literature and, 16, 273 Korean Americans, 657, 665, 683–688 mixed race Asian Americans, 94 root quests and, 77 Aesop’s Fables, 1077 Afghan Americans cultural identity, 117–120 dance, 114 history, people, and culture, 105–110 literature, 114–115 religious beliefs, 120–123 rites of passage, 123–126 speech and language, 110–114 Afghan Civil War, 107 Afghanistan, history of, 105–107 African Americans ghost stories and, 239 interracial/interethnic marriage, 102, 103 Korean Americans and, 658 model minority stereotype and, 70 Afterlife, 260–261, 767, 777 After the War (Gotanda), 610 Aglipayan Church, 402 Agriculture Chinese Americans, 274, 275 Filipino Americans, 331–332, 344 Hmong Americans, 415, 433 Japanese Americans, 601–602, 611 Punjab region, 999 Punjabi Americans, 1003, 1004–1005 Vietnamese Americans, 1181–1182 Aguinaldo, Emilio, 365 Ahn, Chang-ho, 680, 681 Ahn, Me-K, 684
Ahn, Philip, 656 Ahu’ena Heiau temple, 941 Aiiieeeee! anthology, 293 Akha people, 715 “Aku Tonpa” (Tibetan folktale), 1147–1148 Alcohol consumption, 1014, 1062 Alexander, Meena, 485 Ali, Nadia, 973 Ali, Samina, 486 Alien Land Act, 571, 1004 All American Girl (TV show), 28 All Souls Day, 352 Allen, Horace, 664 Altan Sav (Mongolian funeral rituals), 820, 821 Altars and shrines, domestic Burmese Americans, 56, 57 Chinese Americans, 229 Filipino Americans, 380 Hmong Americans, 418, 420 Indian Americans, 469, 482–483, 495 Japanese Americans, 584–585 Laotian Americans, 723, 724 Malaysian Americans, 791 Mongolian Americans, 834, 842 Nepali Americans, 868 Okinawan Americans, 891 Punjabi Americans, 1020 Sri Lankan Americans, 1049 Thai Americans, 1084–1085, 1085–1086 Tibetan Americans, 1128, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1172, 1172–1173, 1191, 1197, 1205 Alternative medicine. See Traditional medicine “Ama Le Ho” (Tibetan folksong), 1130 Amanollah, King, 106 Amar Das, Guru, 1035 Amerasians, 97–98, 1163 America Is in the Heart (Bulosan), 345, 385 American Born Chinese (Yang), 74, 296–297 American Brat, An (Sidhwa), 981 American Citizens for Justice, 235, 236
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I-2
Index American culture, 112, 505, 799. See also Assimilation American Folklife Center, xxxvi American literature, Indian influences and, 489 American Oriental Society, 47 American Samoa, 895, 896, 947–948 Amish people, 456–457 Amulets, 230, 767 Ancestors, ghosts, and spirits Burmese Americans, 133–134, 158, 169 Chinese Americans, 228–230, 260–261, 261–262, 305–306 Filipino Americans, 336–337, 372–373 Hmong Americans, 417–418 Indian Americans, 461–463 Indonesian Americans, 520–523 Japanese Americans, 576–577 Korean Americans, 660–661, 669, 670–671 Laotian Americans, 717–719, 755 Malaysian Americans, 764–768, 803 Okinawan Americans, 890–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 899–900, 906, 918–919, 942 Pakistani Americans, 960–961 Thai Americans, 1084–1085 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1172, 1174, 1191, 1205, 1210, 1212 Anderson, Sherwood, 620 Angad Dev, Guru, 1035 Angel Island, 304, 1001 Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella (Coburn), 186, 187 Anglican Church, 1051–1052 Anglo-Afghan wars, 106 Anglo-Burmese wars, 128 Animals Burmese Americans, 160 Chinese Americans, 231 Chinese zodiac and, 250–251 Guam and, 912–913 Hmong Americans, 442 Indian Americans, 488, 500–501, 509 Indonesian Americans, 552 Japanese Americans, 623 Mongolian Americans, 828, 829 Nepali Americans, 871–872
Pacific Islander Americans, 936 Pakistani folktales and, 984 Animism Burmese Americans, 55, 56, 135, 142, 156 Filipino Americans, 372, 387, 403 Hawaiian Natives, 924 Hmong Americans, 414, 416–417, 417–418, 442 Laotian Americans, 718, 723 Thai Americans, 1106–1107, 1112 Vietnamese Americans, 1173 Anna and the King of Siam (Leonowens), 1107 Anthropology, material culture and, 18–19 Antimiscegenation laws, 92–93, 95–96, 100–101, 332, 390, 1010–1011 Ao ba ba (Vietnamese clothing), 1171 Ao dai (Vietnamese dress), 1170 Ao gam (Vietnamese clothing), 1171 Aoki, Brenda Wong, 101 Apl.de.ap (musician), 361 Apologies, Japanese Americans and, 642 Arab ethnicity, Afghan Americans and, 117 Architecture Chinese Americans, 291–292, 325–328 Indian Americans, 480, 481, 488 material culture and, 20 mosques and, 494–495 temples and worship spaces, 172–173 Arjan Dev, Guru, 1019, 1035 Arranged marriages, 866, 1050 “Artifact” music, 4 Artifacts, material culture and, 17, 18–19 Arts and crafts Afghan Americans, 114 Burmese Americans, 131, 134–135, 151–152 Cambodian Americans, 185–186 Chinese Americans, 230–231, 329–330 Filipino Americans, 337–339, 339–340 Hawaiian Natives, 925–926 health and wellness, 13 Hmong Americans, 418–421, 453–455 Indonesian Americans, 523–524 Japanese American National Museum, 611–613
Index Japanese Americans, 573, 577–578, 593–595, 609, 610–611, 623, 624–625, 628–629 Korean Americans, 661–663 Laotian Americans, 719–720 lotus flowers and, 68, 69 material culture and, 19 music and, 1–5 Nepali Americans, 854–855 Okinawan Americans, 880–883 Pacific Islander Americans, 900–901 Pakistani Americans, 961–963 Punjabi Americans, 1005–1006 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048–1049, 1060 Thai Americans, 1085–1086 theatre and, 51–54 Tibetan Americans, 1128–1130 Vietnamese Americans, 1165–1166 visual culture and, 54–58 See also Dance; Music; Theater Arundale, Rukmini Devi, 1059–1060 Asawa, Ruth, 611 Asia, precolonial, 35–37, 43 Asian American Panethnicity (Espiritu), 11–12 Asian American studies, xxxvi, 42–43 Asian American Theatre Company, 53 Asian fetish, 26–27 Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, 16–17 Asian Pacific Heritage Month, 62, 63–64, 914 Asian Pride movement, 67 Asiatic Barred Zones Act (1917), 6 Assimilation Chinese Americans, 224, 286, 287 Filipino Americans, 383 grocery stores and, 22 Hmong Americans, 415–417, 436, 443 Indian Americans, 460 Japanese Americans, 591, 603–604, 609, 613 Laotian Americans, 715–716 Malaysian Americans, 762, 788–789 material culture and, 19 Mongolian Americans, 817–818, 835 Nepali Americans, 874 Okinawan Americans, 886
Pacific Islander Americans, 921 Pakistani Americans, 957, 958, 959, 967–968, 970, 979, 988 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 88–89 Punjabi Americans, 1025 religious beliefs and, 47 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046, 1049, 1064 swastikas and, 87–88 Thai Americans, 1082, 1095–1096, 1105–1106 in Tibet, 1128 Tibetan Americans, 1144, 1145 Vietnamese Americans, 1161–1162, 1163, 1195–1196, 1201 Association of the Nepalis in the Americas (ANA), 853, 866, 874 Astrology, 509–510 Attan (Afghan dance), 114 Au pairs, 1083 Aung San, 128, 149–150, 159 Aung San Suu Kyi, 128–129, 150 Authenticity Afghan Americans, 113 Chinese American literature and, 302 mixed race Asian Americans, 96 Pacific Islander Americans, 937 Autobiographical fiction, 16 Avalokitesvara, 64–66, 232, 289 Avatars, reincarnation and, 75 Aw, Tash, 794 Ayurveda medicine Burmese Americans, 174 Indian Americans, 463–465, 511–512 Indonesian Americans, 563, 565 Nepali Americans, 872–873 Punjabi Americans, 1039, 1040 Sri Lankan Americans, 1078 Azeez, N. I. L. A., 1063 “Baby Chicken Stars” (Thai folktale), 1086–1087 Baby luaus, 945 Baby showers, 846 Bachelors, 354, 1001–1002 Baci strings, 741, 743, 746, 750, 751, 752
I-3
I-4
Index “Bad days,” Mongolian Americans and, 845 Bahai’ism, 503, 504, 748 Bahasa Indonesia language, 566 Bakla (third gender), 35, 45 Balagtas, Francisco, 394 Balboa, Vasco Numez de, 894 Baldwin, Shauna Singh, 485–486 Balikbayan boxes, xxxviii, 76, 339–340, 373–374 Balinese people, 548–549, 784–785 Bama Sagar (spoken Burmese), 176 Bama Sar (written Burmese), 176 Bamboo crafts, 523–524 Bamboo Dancers, The (Gonzalez), 386 Bangskaul (ceremony for the dead), 214 Barefoot Gen (Nakazawa), 17 Barraquiel, Joel, 40 Basant festival, 970 Bascom, William, 934, 935 Bassac theater, 190 Batbayar, Davagiin, 833 Bathing ceremony, 1092–1093, 1175 Batik designs, 420, 455–456, 526, 527 Bazaars, Indonesian Americans and, 525–526 Beauty pageants, 301, 341–342, 580–581 Beauty standards Filipino Americans, 341–343, 342–343, 371 Indian Americans, 477–478 popular culture and, 34 Bellingham riots, Punjabi Americans and, 1004 Ben-Amos, Dan, 54 Berger, John, 54 Berson, Misha, 51–52 Betel nut boxes, 56–57, 135 Betel quids, 152–153 Better Luck Tomorrow (film), 33 Between Silences (Jin), 281 Bhagavad Gita, 489 Bhangra dance, 971–972 Bharatanatyam dance, 1059–1060 Bhindranwale, Jarnail Singh, 1019 Bhumibol Adulyadej, King, 1103 BIBAK organization, 377, 380–381, 382 Bie (Mongolian dance), 825 Biggers, Earl Derr, 278 Bindi dots, 508 Birds, 161–162
Birmingham School, 59 Birth order, 549 Birth rituals Afghan Americans, 122 Chinese Americans, 309 Filipino Americans, 404 Hmong Americans, 425–426, 448–449 Indian Americans, 498, 506–507 Indonesian Americans, 561 Japanese Americans, 621 Korean Americans, 679, 705, 708 Laotian Americans, 752 Malaysian Americans, 804, 805–806 Mongolian Americans, 842–843 Nepali Americans, 869 Pacific Islander Americans, 944–945 Pakistani Americans, 982–983, 989 Punjabi Americans, 1031 Sri Lankan Americans, 1074–1075, 1076 Thai Americans, 1113 Vietnamese Americans, 1206–1207 Birthdays, 588, 639, 705, 804–805, 1207 Bisexuality, 39 Bishop, Claire Hutchet, 15 Black-Chinese intermarriage, 96 Blanket ceremonies, 262 Blind Men and the Elephant, The (Malaysian folktale), 797 Boat people, 1162, 1166–1168 Boat People (film), 1167 Boats and seafaring, 924, 925 Bodhisattvas, 64–66 Bok Kai Temple and parade, 231–233 Bollywood movies, 479 Bonifacio, Andres, 365 Boon Bang Fai festival, 730, 751 Borglum, Gotzon, 625 Bouchard, David, 272 Boun-gyi (Burmese dance), 142 Bowing Burmese Americans, 169 Cambodian Americans, 215 Chinese Americans, 261, 262 Indian Americans, 508 Japanese Americans, 641 Nepali Americans, 870–871 Sikhism and, 1018
Index social relationships and, xxxvii–xxxviii Tibetan Americans, 1158 Boy Who Cried Wolf, The (Malaysian folktale), 797 Brahamanism, 747 Brancusi, Constantin, 625 Brass lamps, 1048 Bread of Salt and Other Stories, The (Gonzalez), 366 Bride, The (Sidhwa), 981 Bride price, 740, 753 Brocka, Q. Allan, 45 Brother Rabbit: A Cambodian Tale (Ho, Ros, and Hewitson), 186, 187 Brother the Size of Me, A (Doss), 665 Brushwork, calligraphy and, 247 Bua Xou Mua, 430–431 Buck, Pearl S., 97 Buddha, 84–86, 1102, 1150 Buddhism, 1150–1153 Avalokitesvara and, 64–66 Burma and, 127–128 Burmese Americans, 133, 135, 136, 137–138, 138–139, 141–142, 147, 153, 156–157, 160, 164–165 Cambodian Americans, 183, 185–186, 191–192, 194, 195, 200–201, 202, 207, 209, 210, 211–212, 219 Chinese Americans, 255, 307, 321 Dalai Lama and, 1133–1134 Filipino Americans, 334 health and wellness, 13 Indian Americans, 476, 503, 504 Japanese Americans, 570, 583, 584, 588, 591–592, 622–623, 637, 638, 640, 643–644 Korean Americans, 664, 669, 670, 671, 672, 701, 703 Laotian Americans, 715, 716, 723, 725–726, 729–730, 744, 746, 747 lotus flowers and, 69 Malaysian Americans, 777, 801–802 Mongolian Americans, 815, 824, 838, 840–842, 846–847 Nepali Americans, 852, 858, 863, 868 in North America, 47 Okinawan Americans, 891
reincarnation and, 74–75 sexuality and, 36 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1054, 1058, 1059, 1071, 1072–1073 swastikas and, 87 Taiwanese Americans, 313, 314–315 Taoism and, 255 temples and worship spaces, 172–173 Thai Americans, 1083, 1085–1086, 1091–1092, 1097, 1104, 1109–1110, 1110–1111, 1113, 1115 Tibetan Americans, 1128–1129, 1134, 1155 transnationalism and, 50 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1174–1175, 1197, 1204, 1205–1206 See also Theravada Buddhism Bui Vien, 1160 Bulosan, Carlos, 344–345, 368, 385 Bunker, Chang and Eng, 1081, 1095 Burger people, 1044–1045 Burma, history of, 127–129 Burmese American Catholic Fellowship (BACF), 165 Burmese Americans ancestor worship, 133 arts and crafts, 134–135 Chinese Americans and, 224, 225 cultural identity, 153–154 dance and, 141–144 death and funeral rituals, 137–138 festivals and celebrations, 138–141 folktales, 145–146 foods and cooking, 146–148 ghosts and the supernatural, 133–134 health and wellness, 152–153, 173–176 heroes and heroines, 148–151 history, people, and culture, 127–132 home decoration, 151–152 literature, 154–156 music and, 144 myths and legends, 156–158 names and naming practices, 158–159 nature and animals, 160–162 proverbs and maxims, 162–163 religious beliefs, 135–137, 163–166 rites of passage, 166–167
I-5
I-6
Index Burmese Americans (continued) social etiquette, 167–168 speech and language, 176–177 superstitions and taboos, 169–171 temples and worship spaces, 172–173 visual culture and, 55–58 Burmese Monks Association, 141, 143, 160, 173 Bush, George W., 27 Butsudan (shrine), 584–585 Byaw (Burmese dance), 142 California, Yokohoma (Mori), 620 Calligraphy, 230, 246–248, 284, 962, 978 Cambodian Americans arts and crafts, 185–186 clothing and jewelry, 188–189 cultural identity, 201–202 dance and music, 189–191 death and funeral rituals, 191–193 families and communities, 193–195 festivals and celebrations, 195–196 foods and cooking, 198–199 health and wellness, 216–217 heroes and heroines, 199–201 history, people, and culture, 179–185 home decoration, 185–186 literature, 186–188, 204–205, 206–207, 1223 music, 8, 189–191, 196–197 names and naming practices, 205–206 oral tradition and, xxxvii proverbs and maxims, 207–209 religious beliefs, 209–212 rites of passage, 213–214 social etiquette, 214–215 speech and language, 219–221 temples and worship spaces, 211–212 “The Killing Fields,” 202–204 urban legends, xxxix, 217–219 Canada, 1001, 1055–1056, 1057 Cantonese language, 324 Cao, Lan, 8–9, 72, 1199–1201 Cao Cao, 279–280 Caodaism, 1173, 1196–1197, 1204–1205 Caricature, Asian American humor and, 28 Carnival/Fair of the Ghosts, 462 Carpenter, Frances, 15, 665
Carpio, Bernardo del (Filipino folktale), 393–394 Carroll, Denise, 51 Cartoons and animation, 634–636 Caste system Indian Americans, 499 Indonesian Americans, 548–549 Nepali Americans, 858–859, 869 Sri Lankan Americans, 1049–1051, 1068–1069, 1069–1070 Catering businesses, 538, 559 Catholicism Filipino Americans, 334, 336, 350–351, 357, 372, 375, 380, 401, 402–403 Guam and, 911–912 Indonesian Americans, 555 Korean Americans, 669, 670 Laotian Americans, 747 Malaysian Americans, 801, 802 Pacific Islander Americans, 920–921, 943 the Philippines and, 49 religious beliefs and, 47 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051, 1055 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1174, 1193–1194, 1197, 1204 Cedoreck (Center for Documentation and Research on Khmer Civilization), 204 Celibacy, Buddhism and, 36 Cemeteries Chinese Americans, 262 Laotian Americans, 726 Malaysian Americans, 765 Pacific Islander Americans, 907 Pakistani Americans, 966 Vietnamese Americans, 1176 Census, U.S., mixed race Asian Americans and, 94 Center for Lao Studies (CLS), 729 Chai, Mary Lee, 99 Chairil Anwar, 546 Chamorro people, 902–903, 912, 917–922, 929, 1235–1236 Champuru (Okinawan food), 884 Chan, Charlie, 81, 248, 277–278 Chan, Jeffrey Paul, 293 Chandra, Vikram, 486 Chang, Eliot, 26
Index Chang, Leonard, 695 Chang, Tisa, 53 Chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony), 579–580 Charity, 153, 395–396 Chauvinist and Other Stories, The (Mori), 620 Cherry Blossom Festival, 580–581, 592, 646, 883 Chetry, Kiran Carrie, 854 Chi, martial arts and, 248–249 Chicago School, youth culture and, 59–60 Children and youth Afghan Americans, 123–126 Burmese Americans, 166–167, 172–173 Cambodian Americans, 193–195, 201–202, 212, 220–221 Chinese Americans, 233–234, 253, 286, 287–288, 310, 324–325 Filipino Americans, 338–339, 348–349, 353, 404–405, 409–410 Hmong Americans, 439–440 Indian Americans, 506–507 Japanese Americans, 590, 608 Mongolian Americans, 816–818 Nepali Americans, 859, 869 Pakistani Americans, 968 second and subsequent generations, 78 Sri Lankan Americans, 1074–1075 Thai Americans, 1090, 1111 Tibetan Americans, 1144 Vietnamese Americans, 1178 See also Youth culture Children’s literature Afghan Americans, 115–116 Burmese Americans, 145, 156 Cambodian Americans, 186–188, 205 Chinese Americans, 272–274 Hmong Americans, 423–424 Japanese Americans, 581–583 Korean Americans, 663–664, 664–666 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 14–18 Punjabi Americans, 1007–1008 Thai Americans, 1086–1087 Children’s songs Chinese Americans, 233–234 Filipino Americans, 345–346
Indian Americans, 465–466 Indonesian Americans, 524–526 Japanese Americans, 582–583 Korean Americans, 663 Laotian Americans, 720–721 Malaysian Americans, 768–771 Pacific Islander Americans, 903–904 Pakistani Americans, 963–964 Tibetan Americans, 1130–1131 Vietnamese Americans, 1168–1169 Chin, Frank, 53, 256–257, 294 Chinese American literature and, 293, 302 love and sexuality, 82 Maxine Hong Kingston and, 263, 289 Chin, Vincent, 234–236, 283 China Chinese Americans and, 226–227 Hmong people and, 413 Korea and, 655 Okinawa and, 887 Tibet and, 1127, 1128, 1149 Vietnam and, 1213–1214, 1217 China Men (Kingston), 288, 289, 293 Chinatowns, 236–246, 264, 300–301, 327–328 Chinese Americans ancestor worship, 228–230 architecture, 291–292, 325–328 arts and crafts, 230–231 Asian American dating and, 103 Burmese Americans and, 153, 154 calligraphy, 246–248 children’s literature and, 272–274 Chinatowns, 236–246 clothing and jewelry, 251–253 cultural identity, 286–288 dance, 269–270 death and funeral rituals, 257–263, 305–306 deities, 280, 320–322 families and communities, 264–266 feng shui and, 266–267 festivals and celebrations, 267–268, 300–301 films, 277–278, 290–291 foods and cooking, 274–277 ghosts and the supernatural, 228–230, 238–241 heroes and heroines, 263–264, 282–283, 296–297
I-7
I-8
Index Chinese Americans (continued) history, people, and culture, 223–228 home decoration, 283–284 Indonesian Americans and, 529 interracial/interethnic marriage, 96 literature, 256–257, 281–282, 288–289, 292–294, 302–303, 316–317 martial arts, 248–249 mixed race Asian Americans and, 91 model minority stereotype and, 70 the Monkey King, 296–297 music, 233–234, 270–271 myths and legends, 297–299 names and naming practices, 299–300 paper sons and daughters, 303–304 proverbs and maxims, 304–305 religious beliefs, 253–257, 307–308 rites of passage, 309–310 root quests and, 76 social etiquette, 311–313 speech and language, 324–325 suicide and, 11 temples and worship spaces, 231–233, 313–316 theater, 241–246, 285–286, 294–296 traditional medicine, 322–324 urban legends, 238–241 Vincent Chin, 234–236 yin and yang, 329–330 zodiac and, 250–251 Chinese Christian Churches, 254–255 Chinese Connection, The (film), 290 Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), 6, 93, 223, 237, 264–265 Chinese Indonesians, 542–543, 550–551, 555, 558 Chinese influences, Filipino Americans and, 333, 362, 391 Chinese Malaysians, 759, 762–763 clothing and jewelry, 773 death and funeral rituals, 775–776 families, 779–780 festivals and celebrations, 781 foods and cooking, 787, 788, 789 ghosts and the supernatural, 766–767 home decoration, 791–792 languages and, 793
music, 769 names and naming practices, 795, 796 proverbs and maxims, 799 religious beliefs, 764–765, 802–803 superstitions and taboos, 807 wedding ceremonies, 805 Chinese Mongolians, 812 Chinese Music Society of North America, 271 Chinese Performing Artists on America, 271 “Chinese religion,” Malaysian Americans and, 761 Chinggis Khaan, 831, 832 Chinggis Khan Ceremony, 823, 824, 832, Ching Ming. See Qing Ming Chinn, Lenore, 38 Chiota, Jon, 878 Chi You, King, 434 Cho, Chung Hyun, 662 Cho, Henry, 25, 26 Cho, John, 681 Cho, Margaret, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31–33, 44–45 Choi, Susan, 695 Choichi, Terukina, 882 Choo, Jimmy, 790 Chopstick test, 96 Choup (traditional medicine), 216 Chow, Robin Nathalis, 144 Christianity, 48 Burmese Americans, 136, 139–140, 159, 164, 165 Chinese Americans, 224, 225, 254–255, 307, 308 Filipino Americans, 356–357, 401–403 Hmong Americans, 416–417, 445, 446, 447–448 Indian Americans, 503, 504 Indonesian Americans, 545, 554–555 Japanese Americans, 583, 584, 637 Korean Americans, 669, 670, 690–693, 694, 701–703 Laotian Americans, 724, 747–748, 749 Malaysian Americans, 777, 801 Mongolian Americans, 842 Nepali Americans, 852 Pacific Islander Americans, 906, 941–942, 943 Pakistani Americans, 987 Sri Lanka and, 1045
Index Sri Lankan Americans, 1049, 1051–1052, 1055, 1059, 1071, 1074, 1075 Taiwanese Americans, 315 Thai Americans, 1110 Vietnamese Americans, 1197, 1204 See also Catholicism; Protestantism Christmas, 356, 533, 970, 1052 Chu, Louis, 293 Chual Chhnam Thmey (Cambodian New Year), 195–196 Chupa (Tibetan clothing), 1131–1132 Churches Filipino Americans, 356–358 Indonesian Americans, 555 Korean Americans, 690–693, 701–703, 706 Pacific Islander Americans, 898, 908 See also Mosques; Temples and worship spaces Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving), 674, 675 Chuukese people, 899 Circle dances, 731 Circular mobility, 897–898 Circumcision, 404–405, 507 Citizenship Amerasians and, 97 Filipino Americans, 332 flexible citizenship and, 61 Japanese Americans, 571, 574, 590 Korean Americans, 656–657 Sri Lankan Americans, 1065 U.S. Pacific Island territories and, 896 Civil disobedience, 585–587 Civil Liberties Act (1988), 633 Civil rights movement, Japanese Americans and, 70, 574–575, 609, 621–622 Clan groups, Hmong Americans and, 413–414, 439 Classical dance, Thai Americans, 1098–1099, 1117–1118 Classical music Cambodian Americans, 197 Chinese Americans, 270–271 Hmong Americans, 431 Indian Americans, 475 Korean Americans, 677, 697 Thai Americans, 1098 Climate, Sri Lanka and, 1043
Clothing and jewelry Burmese Americans, 57–58, 130, 170 Cambodian Americans, 188–189 Chinese Americans, 251–253, 261–262 death and funeral rituals, 257–258 Filipino Americans, 338, 346–348 folklife and, xxxviii Hmong Americans, 419–420, 424–425, 426, 455 Indian Americans, 466–467, 508 Indonesian Americans, 526–528 Japanese Americans, 645 Korean Americans, 666–668 Laotian Americans, 721–722, 736–737 Malaysian Americans, 771–774 material culture and, 19 Mongolian Americans, 818–820, 845–846 Nepali Americans, 855–857, 866 Pacific Islander Americans, 904–906, 944 Pakistani Americans, 964–965, 988, 991 Punjabi Americans, 1006 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053–1054 Thai Americans, 1087–1088, 1117–1118 Tibetan Americans, 1131–1132, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1170–1171, 1212 See also Textiles Coburn, Jewell, 187 Code-switching, 410, 457, 513. See also Speech and language “Coining,” 756 Collective behavior, 452–453, 590, 673 Colonialism Burma and, 128 Filipino Americans and, 370–371, 389–390, 407 Guam and, 912, 918 Indonesia and, 541, 546 Korea and, 655, 687 mixed race Asian Americans and, 95 Pacific Islands and, 894–896, 948, 952 the Philippines and, 343, 364, 383, 405–406 Sri Lanka and, 1043–1044, 1045 Tahiti and, 950 Comfort Woman (Keller), 8, 9, 72 Comfort women, 668–669 Comic books, 496–497
I-9
I-10
Index Coming of age ceremonies Indian Americans, 507 Indonesian Americans, 561 Laotian Americans, 753 Nepali Americans, 869–870 Pacific Islander Americans, 945 Pakistani Americans, 989–990 Punjabi Americans, 1032 Sri Lankan Americans, 1075, 1076 Community organizations. See Cultural and community organizations Complementary Alternative Medicines (CAM). See Traditional medicine Compound words, Mongolian language and, 848–849 Confucianism Chinese Americans, 253–254, 304–305, 307 Chinese zodiac and, 251 Frederick Douglass and, 47–48 Japanese Americans, 622–623, 642 Korean Americans, 663–664, 670, 690–691, 692, 703–704 Malaysian Americans, 802–803 sexuality and, 36–37 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1197, 1204 Consolidated Chinese Benevolent Association, 238 Contemporary Afghan American Literature (Saed and Muradi), 119 Cordova, Dorothy Laigo, 358 “Cow Herder and Weaver” (Korean folktale), 700 Cows, Hinduism and, 500–501 Cox, Palmer, 272 Creation stories. See Origin tales Cremation Cambodian Americans, 192 Indonesian Americans, 529, 530 Korean Americans, 671 Malaysian Americans, 777 Nepali Americans, 857 Pacific Islander Americans, 907 Punjabi Americans, 1008–1009 Tibetan Americans, 1135 Crime and punishment, 204, 218, 234–236. See also Gang activities Crockett, Lucy Herndon, 665
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (film), 248 Cult of Jewels, Burmese Americans and, 175 Cultural and community organizations Cambodian Americans, 183, 195–196 Chinese Americans, 226, 227 Filipino Americans, 341, 355, 358–359, 368–369, 371, 377, 396–398 Indian Americans, 468 Indonesian Americans, 519 Korean Americans, 72–703, 657, 680, 681 Laotian Americans, 729 Malaysian Americans, 763–764, 783, 786 Mongolian Americans, 826 Nepali Americans, 853, 860–861, 866, 874 Okinawan Americans, 879 Pacific Islander Americans, 908, 909, 937 Pakistani Americans, 959 Punjabi Americans, 1011, 1012 Sikhism and, 1018 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1065–1066, 1069 Thai Americans, 1089, 1121 Tibetan Americans, 1136, 1138, 1139, 1140, 1144 Vietnamese Americans, 1194 Cultural Care Au Pair, 1083 Cultural identity Afghan Americans, 109–110, 110–114, 117–120 Burmese Americans, 153–154 Cambodian Americans, 182–184, 201–202 children’s literature and, 17 Chinese Americans, 223, 224, 286–288 Filipino Americans, 333–335, 370–372, 383–384, 398–399 folklore and, xxxix–xl Hawaiian Natives, 923 Hmong Americans, 435–437 immigration and, 5–7 Indian Americans, 481–482 Indonesian Americans, 519–520, 540–543 Japanese Americans, 603–605 Korean Americans, 682–683, 684, 687 Laotian Americans, 715–716, 735–736 Malaysian Americans, 763, 771–772, 792–793 material culture and, 19
Index Mongolian Americans, 815, 835–836 Nepali Americans, 852, 858–859, 865–866 Okinawan Americans, 877–878 orientalism and, 73–74 Pacific Islander Americans, 930–931 Pakistani Americans, 957, 978–980 Polynesians and, 938 Punjabi Americans, 1021–1022 religious beliefs and, 49–50 root quests and, 76–77 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046–1047, 1064–1066 Thai Americans, 1095–1096, 1103–1104, 1111, 1120 Tibetan Americans, 1128, 1139–1140, 1144–1145 “Twinkies,” “Bananas,” and “Coconuts,” 88–89 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnamese Americans, 1163–1164, 1169, 1182, 1195–1196, 1201–1202 visual culture and, 58 youth culture and, 61–62 Cultural Revolution, 281 “Cupping,” 756 “Curious Case of Ah-Top, The” (Cox), 272 Dagvadorj, Dolgorsurengiin, 833 Dalai Lama, 831 Mongolian Americans, 833, 842 reincarnation and, 75 Tibetan Americans, 1133–1134, 1136, 1138, 1143, 1149–1150, 1155 Damphu drums, 861 Dance Afghan Americans, 114, 125 Burmese Americans, 141–144 Cambodian Americans, 189–191, 200, 206 Chinese Americans, 269–270 Filipino Americans, 359–360, 380–382, 397–398 Indian Americans, 467–469 Indonesian Americans, 534–536 Japanese Americans, 595–596 Korean Americans, 675–677, 689, 696 Laotian Americans, 721, 730–732
Malaysian Americans, 783–786, 790 Mongolian Americans, 825–826 Nepali Americans, 861–862 Okinawan Americans, 881–882, 887 Pacific Islander Americans, 900, 913–914, 951 Pakistani Americans, 971–972 Sri Lankan Americans, 1059–1061 Thai Americans, 1090, 1098–1099, 1104, 1116–1120 Tibetan Americans, 1138–1140 Vietnamese Americans, 1181–1184, 1213 Dari language, 113 Dates and calendars, 250–251, 521–522, 1137 Dat Phan, 24, 25 Dating and courtship Hmong Americans, 432, 438 Japanese Americans, 631–632 Laotian Americans, 728, 740, 753 Mongolian Americans, 843 Nepali Americans, 859 Pacific Islander Americans, 945–946 Pakistani Americans, 992 Sri Lankan Americans, 1075 See also Marriage Daubat (Burmese dance), 142 Daughter from Danang (film), 77 Daura Suruwal (Nepali clothing), 855–856 Davenport, Charles, 93 David Kaukauea, King, 929 “Deadly Waters” ghost story, 240 Death, suicide and, 10–14 Death and funeral rituals Afghan Americans, 123 Burmese Americans, 137–138, 169 Cambodian Americans, 191–193, 214 Chinese Americans, 229, 238, 257–263, 305–306, 310 Filipino Americans, 336, 350–352, 372, 374–376 Hmong Americans, 414, 425–427, 432, 450 Indian Americans, 470–471 Indonesian Americans, 528–531, 561 Japanese Americans, 587–589, 592–593, 640, 643–644 Korean Americans, 671–672
I-11
I-12
Index Death and funeral rituals (continued) Laotian Americans, 717–718, 725–727 Malaysian Americans, 766–767, 774–778 Mongolian Americans, 820–822 Nepali Americans, 857–858 Pacific Islander Americans, 906–907, 921, 946 Pakistani Americans, 966–967, 990 Punjabi Americans, 1008–1010 Sri Lankan Americans, 1054–1055, 1075 Thai Americans, 1092–1093, 1113, 1114 Tibetan Americans, 1134–1135, 1152, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1174–1177, 1207 Death pollution, 258–259, 260 Debutantes, 348–349, 405 Decolonialization, Pacific Islands and, 896–897 Deel (Mongolian clothing), 819 Deities Burmese Americans, 156–158 Chinese Americans, 228, 229, 278–280, 297–299, 320–322 Indian Americans, 478, 481, 495–497, 500 Pacific Islander Americans, 919–922, 942 Sri Lankan Americans, 1070, 1073–1074 Tibetan Americans, 1153, 1154 Vietnamese Americans, 1180 Demographics Afghan Americans, 107–108 Cambodian Americans, 181–182 Chinese Americans, 224, 225–226 Fiji and Fijians, 910 Filipino Americans, 331 Indian Americans, 489–490 Indonesian Americans, 516, 538 Japanese Americans, 569 Korean Americans, 658 Laotian Americans, 714 Malaysian Americans, 760 Mongolian Americans, 813 Nepali Americans, 851, 862 Okinawan Americans, 878 Pacific Islander Americans, 893, 931 Pakistani Americans, 955–956, 972 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046 Tibetan Americans, 1135, 1136 Vietnamese Americans, 1163 Dengue Fever (band), 190, 197
Departed Spirits of the Viet Realm (Ly), 1189–1190 Deportations. See Repatriations Derogatory terms, Chinese Americans and, 224 Desai, Anita, 485 Desai, Kiran, 486 Desani, Govindas Vishnudas, 486 Deshain (Nepali festival), 860 “Desi” culture, 956, 979–980 Devil dancing, 1061 Dhaka Topee (Nepali hat), 856 Dharmapala, Anagarika, 1063–1064 Dharmic religions, 74–76 Dias, Maurice, 1060 Diaspora, music of, 4 Dilowa Gegeen, 811–812, 841 Dining etiquette, 311–312, 733, 871, 1101, 1209 Disagreements, Japanese Americans and, 650 “Disappearing Lady” ghost story, 240 DJs, 359–360 Dokdo, Korea, 667 Dol (first birthday), 705 Dom (traditional Mongolian cures), 847 Domestic religious practices Burmese Americans, 135–137 Chinese Americans, 254–255 Indian Americans, 469–470 Japanese Americans, 583–585 Korean Americans, 669–671 Laotian Americans, 723–724 Thai Americans, 1091–1092 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1174 Donald Duk (Chin), 256–257 Dorson, Richard, 54 Doss, Helen, 665 Douglass, Frederick, 47–48 Dowries, 740, 753, 1075 Draft resisters, World War II, 585–587 Dragon Ball manga series, 598 Dragon Boat Festival, 268 Dragon New Year, The (Bouchard), 272 Dragons, Chinese Americans and, 231 Drug abuse, 565 Drunken Tiger (musical group), 697 Dukun (traditional Indonesian medical practitioner), 563, 564, 565 Dun, Tan, 246
Index Durand Line, Afghanistan and, 106 Durians, 146 Dutch Indonesians, 517 Duttu Gemunu, 1063 Dynasty Warriors (video game), xxxviii–xxxix, 589 East Goes West (Kang), 695 East West Players, 53 Ebens, Ronald, 235, 283 Economic immigration, 763, 1095 Education Asian American humor and, 27 Cambodian Americans, 182 Chinese Americans, 253, 287 Hmong Americans, 417, 449, 452 Indonesian Americans, 517–518 Korean Americans, 703 Malaysian Americans, 802 Mongolian Americans, 811, 815, 818, 823 Nepali Americans, 853 Pakistani Americans, 987 Thai Americans, 1083–1084 Vietnamese Americans, 1178 Eid celebrations, 112, 121, 969–970 El Shaddai, 402–403 Elder abuse, 460–461 Elders, respect for Burmese Americans, 169–170, 177 Cambodian Americans, 193–194, 208, 214 Chinese Americans, 253 Filipino Americans, 336, 353, 371, 387, 392, 407 Hmong Americans, 452 Indian Americans, 508 Indonesian Americans, 532, 551, 552 Japanese Americans, 588 Korean Americans, 691, 710–711 Laotian Americans, 715, 754, 758 Malaysian Americans, 761, 780, 809 Mongolian Americans, 845 Nepali Americans, 870–871 Pakistani Americans, 991, 992, 996 Thai Americans, 1114–1115 Vietnamese Americans, 1178, 1208, 1212 Elephant motifs, 152, 1021, 1086
Elephant Walk restaurant, 199 Employment Malaysian Americans, 761 Nepali Americans, 853 Punjabi Americans, 1003 Thai Americans, 1081–1082, 1083, 1084 Viet Kieu experience, 1219–1220 Empress of Heaven. See Tianhou/Mazu Endogamy, 102 English-Chinese Phrasebook, 293 English language skills Afghan Americans, 113 Burmese Americans, 129 Cambodian Americans, 220 Chinese Americans, 287, 325 Filipino Americans, 333–334, 371, 409 Ha Jin and, 281–282 Hmong Americans, 458 Indian Americans, 512–513 Indonesian Americans, 546 Korean Americans, 698 Malaysian Americans, 760, 794, 808 Mongolian Americans, 835, 848 Nepali Americans, 852, 874 Pakistani Americans, 996–997 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046 Thai Americans, 1123, 1124 Tibetan Americans, 1157 Vietnamese Americans, 1163 Englithai language, 1123 Enkhbat, Badar-Uugan, 833 Enter the Dragon (film), 290 Entertainment. See Dance; Music; Popular culture Epics, xxxvii, 489, 499, 744, 828, 1023 Espiritu, Yen Le, 11–12 Ethnic communities Burmese Americans, 131, 164 Cambodian Americans, 180, 181, 195–196, 201, 211, 220 Chinese Americans, 236–238, 264–266, 286–287 Filipino Americans, 333, 387–389 Hmong Americans, 427–428 Indian Americans, 490–492 Indian literature and, 489 Indonesian Americans, 515, 533–534, 537
I-13
I-14
Index Ethnic communities (continued) Japanese Americans, 591, 614–615 Korean Americans, 658, 673, 682, 693–694 Malaysian Americans, 763 Mongolian Americans, 813, 822–823 Nepali Americans, 851–852, 862, 865–866 Okinawan Americans, 878 Pacific Islander Americans, 907–908 Pakistani Americans, 955, 967–968, 970 Punjabi Americans, 1002, 1012–1013, 1021–1022 second and subsequent generations, 78–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046, 1065 Thai Americans, 1081, 1082, 1088–1090, 1096, 1099, 1108, 1120–1121 Tibetan Americans, 1127–1128, 1130, 1135–1136, 1140 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnamese Americans, 1161, 1178–1179, 1193–1194, 1198–1199, 1206 Ethnic groups Fiji and Fijians, 910 Filipino Americans, 333, 390 grocery stores and, 21–22 Indian Americans, 475–476, 490 Indonesian Americans, 517, 518, 525, 536, 548, 551–552, 555, 566 Laos and, 735–736 Laotian Americans, 714–715, 747 Malaysia and, 759–760 Malaysian Americans, 762–763, 771, 774–775, 784–786, 793, 800–801 model minority stereotype and, 70–71 Mongolian Americans, 813–814, 826, 848 Nepali Americans, 852, 861, 873–874 Pacific Islander Americans, 893, 930–931 Polynesians and, 938 religious beliefs and, 48–49 Sri Lanka and, 1044–1045 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Ethnic hierarchies, Asian American dating and, 103 Ethnic identity. See Cultural identity Ethnomusicology, 1–5 Eugenics, 92–93 Eugenio, Damiana, 400 Eurasians, 97 European exploration, Pacific Islands and, 894–895
Evangelical Christianity, 1052 “Evil eye,” 993 Exogamy, 102, 413–414, 416, 439 Exorcisms, 157 Experimental films, 684 Extended families Cambodian Americans, 193 Hawaiian Natives, 923 Indonesian Americans, 531–532 Laotian Americans, 728 Malaysian Americans, 779, 780 Nepali Americans, 858 Pakistani Americans, 967, 968 Thai Americans, 1095 Vietnamese Americans, 1178 Eye contact, Japanese Americans and, 650 Fair Play Committee, 586 Fairy tales, 273. See also Myths and legends Families Chinese Americans, 253, 286, 324–325 Filipino Americans, 334, 371 Hmong Americans, 413–414, 415–416 homosexuality and, 37 Indian Americans, 471 Japanese Americans, 608 Korean Americans, 698 Laotian Americans, 715 love and sexuality, 80, 82 Mongolian Americans, 815, 817, 822 mother-daughter relationships and, 8–9, 71–73 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 5–10 queer studies and, 43 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047 Families and communities Cambodian Americans, 193–195 Chinese Americans, 264–266 Filipino Americans, 353–355, 376–377 Hawaiian Natives, 923 Hmong Americans, 427–428 Indonesian Americans, 531–532 Japanese Americans, 590–591 Korean Americans, 673–674
Index Laotian Americans, 727–729 Malaysian Americans, 778–781 Mongolian Americans, 822–823 Nepali Americans, 858–859 Pacific Islander Americans, 907–908 Pakistani Americans, 967–968 Punjabi Americans, 1010–1012 Sri Lankan Americans, 1055–1057 Thai Americans, 1088–1090, 1095–1096 Tibetan Americans, 1135–1137 Vietnamese Americans, 1177–1179 Fa Mu Lan (Mulan), 243–244, 263–264, 272, 282, 289, 299 Fa Ngum, King, 734–735 Family reunification, immigration and, 1011 Far, Sui Sin, 14, 293 Farewell to Manzanar (Houston), 590, 618 Farmers’ band dance, 676 Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), 897 Feng shui Chinese Americans, 262, 266–267, 283–284 Filipino Americans, 370 Hmong Americans, 414, 416 Malaysian Americans, 764–765, 766 material culture and, 19 Festivals and celebrations Afghan Americans, 111–112, 114, 122–123, 124–126 Asian Pacific Heritage Month, 63–64 Burmese Americans, 130, 138–141, 144, 157 Cambodian Americans, 183–184, 190, 195–196, 199 Chinese Americans, 231, 232–233, 238, 244, 245, 261, 267–268, 269, 300–301, 305–306 Filipino Americans, 335, 336, 348–349, 355–356, 361, 363, 378, 381, 382, 396–398, 405–406 Hmong Americans, 429–430 Indian Americans, 468, 472–474, 478, 481, 491, 496, 497 Indonesian Americans, 519, 532–534 Japanese Americans, 570, 575, 580–581, 583, 591–593, 596, 598, 645–646 Korean Americans, 667, 674–675, 683, 696 Laotian Americans, 729–730, 732, 745–746, 751 Malaysian Americans, 767, 781–782, 783, 786, 789
Mongolian Americans, 814, 818, 821, 823–824, 825, 836 music and, 2–3 Nepali Americans, 859, 860–861, 862–863, 868 Okinawan Americans, 879, 883–884 Pacific Islander Americans, 908–910, 920, 928, 929, 930, 939 Pakistani Americans, 968–970 Punjabi Americans, 1011, 1012–1014 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1058–1059, 1073 Taiwanese Americans, 316 Thai Americans, 1083, 1096–1098 Tibetan Americans, 1131, 1137–1138, 1139 Vietnamese Americans, 1169, 1172, 1179–1181, 1183, 1190, 1210–1211, 1211–1213, 1214 Fiestas. See Festivals and celebrations Fifth Book of Peace, The (Kingston), 289 Fiji and Fijians, 910–911 Filipino American History Month, 359 Filipino American National Historical Society, 358–359 Filipino American National Museum, 359 Filipino Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 336–337, 372–373 arts and crafts, 337–339 Asian American dating and, 103 balikbayan boxes, xxxviii, 339–340 beauty pageants, 341–342 beauty standards, 342–343 clothing and jewelry, 346–348 cultural identity, 370–372 death and funeral rituals, 350–352 families and communities, 353–355 festivals and celebrations, 355–356, 396–398, 405–4406 Filipino American National Historical Society, 358–359 foods and cooking, 362–364 gender roles and, 364–366 heroes and heroines, 368–369 history, people, and culture, 331–336 home decoration, 369–370 indigenous peoples and, 372–384
I-15
I-16
Index Filipino Americans (continued) jeepneys and, 384 literature, 366–367, 385–386, 392–394, 1224–1227 Manilamen, 387–389 mixed race Asian Americans, 389–390 music, 345–346, 359–361, 361–362 names and naming practices, 391–392 origin tales, 386–387 “Pinoy and Pinay,” 398–399 political activism and, 344–345 proverbs and maxims, 399–401 queer folklore and folklife, 40, 45 religious beliefs, 356–358, 401–403 rites of passage, 348–349, 403–405 root quests and, 76–77 social etiquette, 395–396, 406–408 speech and language, 409–411 traditional medicine, 408–409 Films Cambodian Americans, 200 Chinese Americans, 248, 264, 277–278, 290–291 Indian Americans, 479 Japanese Americans, 610 Korean Americans, 661, 681, 683–685 love and sexuality, 81, 82–83 Malaysian Americans, 790 Mongolian Americans, 819–820 orientalism and, 73–74 popular culture and, 33 Punjabi Americans, 1042 Thai Americans, 1094 Tibetan Americans, 1150 Vietnamese Americans, 1167, 1190 First Person Plural (film), 684 Fists of Fury (film), 290 Five Chinese Brothers, The (Bishop), 15 Flag Day (Samoa), 947 Flexible citizenship, 61 Floral arrangements, 593–595 Florante at Laura (Balagtaz), 394 Flower cloths, 418–420, 456 FOBs (fresh off boat), 667 Folk dance. See Dance Folk music. See Music
Folk religions Cambodian Americans, 210–211, 212 Chinese Americans, 228–229, 255, 278–280, 307, 320–322, 324 Filipino Americans, 336–337, 403 Hmong Americans, 445–446, 450–451 Indian Americans, 509–510 Indonesian Americans, 520–521 Korean Americans, 664, 704 Laotian Americans, 748, 750 Malaysian Americans, 799–801 Okinawan Americans, 890–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 941, 942, 943 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Thai Americans, 1112 Tibetan Americans, 1153–1154 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1181, 1196–1198, 1205, 1210. See also Ancestors, ghosts, and spirits Folk songs, 233–234, 345–346, 431–432. See also Music Folklore Afghan Americans, 114–115 Amy Tan and, 316, 317 Burmese Americans, 155–156 Cambodian Americans, 186–188 Chinese Americans, 227–228, 272–274, 292–294 defined, xxxv–xxxvi Filipino Americans, 385–387, 392–394 Hawaiian Natives, 925–927 Indonesian Americans, 551–553 Japanese Americans, 617–618 opera theaters and, 242–243, 243–244 Pacific Islander Americans, 918, 925–927 Pakistani Americans, 959 See also Literature Folktales Burmese Americans, 145–146 Cambodian Americans, 206–207 children’s literature and, 14–15 Chinese Americans, 232, 302–303 Filipino Americans, 342–343 Hmong Americans, 423–424, 440–442 Indian Americans, 499 Japanese Americans, 597–599 Korean Americans, 699–700
Index Laotian Americans, 737–738, 744 Malaysian Americans, 796–798 Mongolian Americans, 828–829 Sri Lankan Americans, 1066–1067 Thai Americans, 1118 See also Literature Fonseka, Sarath, 1063 Foo, Josey, 790 Foods and cooking Burmese Americans, 130, 146–148, 168 Cambodian Americans, 198–199 Chinese Americans, 274–277, 284, 313, 330 Filipino Americans, 335, 338, 362–364, 377–379 “Got Rice?” slogan, 66–68 grocery stores and, 21–23 Guam and, 912 Hmong Americans, 433–434 Indian Americans, 460, 463, 475–477 Indonesian Americans, 536–538, 557–560, 562 Japanese Americans, 599–601, 644 Korean Americans, 675, 678–680, 707 Laotian Americans, 732–734 Malaysian Americans, 787–789 Mongolian Americans, 814, 815, 829–831, 844 Nepali Americans, 852, 864–865 Okinawan Americans, 883, 884–885 Pacific Islander Americans, 916–917 Pakistani Americans, 973–975, 993–994 Punjabi Americans, 999–1000, 1014–1015 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1061–1062 Thai Americans, 1083, 1101–1102 Tibetan Americans, 1141–1142 Vietnamese Americans, 1187–1188, 1213 “Foolish Old Man” (Chinese legend), 298 Foreignness, root quests and, 76–77 Fort Minor (musical group), 640–641 Fortune cookies, 276–277, 305 “Four Dragons, The” (Chinese legend), 298 Four tantras, traditional Tibetan medicine and, 1156–1157 Fox folktales, 660 France, Tahiti and, 950–951 Frankfurt School, youth culture and, 59 Free Life, A (Jin), 281
Free Tibet movement, 1143, 1144, 1149–1150 Freedom, Hmong Americans, 453–454 Freedom of speech, 1215, 1216 French Indochina, 713 Fu Manchu films, 277–278 Fulbeck, Kip, 98, 99 Fuller, Buckminster, 625 Funeral homes, 192–193, 375, 718, 857, 1177 Funeral services. See Death and funeral rituals Gabriela Network (GABNet), 368–369 Galang, M. Evelina, 386 Games and toys, 675, 912, 1006, 1165 Ganesha (Hindu god), 500 Gang activities Cambodian Americans, 201, 220 Chinese Americans, 227 Hmong Americans, 417 Sri Lankan Americans, 1057 youth culture and, 59, 60 Gardening, 611, 652–653, 834 Gay men, 38, 342. See also Homosexuality; Queer folklore and folklife; Queer studies Gender, 35, 159 Gender roles Cambodian Americans, 193–195, 215 Filipino Americans, 364–366, 393 folklore and, xxxvii Hmong Americans, 415, 427 interracial/interethnic marriage, 101 Korean Americans, 691, 692, 708 Laotian Americans, 727–728 Malaysian Americans, 780 Nepali Americans, 856, 859, 871 Pacific Islander Americans, 942 Pakistani Americans, 964, 966, 981–982, 987–988, 989–990, 991–992 Punjabi Americans, 1010, 1027 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053 Thai Americans, 1118 Genghis Khan, 831 Gentlemen’s Agreement, 571, 632, 656 Geomancy. See Feng shui Gesar’s Epic (Tibetan folktale), 1145, 1147 Geser Khan epic, 828
I-17
I-18
Index Geshe Wangyal, 812, 841 Ghadar Party, 1005 Ghazal music, 963 Ghose, Zulfiqar, 981 Ghosh, Amitav, 486 Ghost stories, 238–241, 244–245, 273, 462, 598–599 Ghosts and the supernatural Burmese Americans, 133–134 Cambodian Americans, 191 Chinese Americans, 228–230, 238–241, 260–261 Hawaiian Natives, 926 Korean Americans, 660–661, 664 Malaysian Americans, 764–768 Pacific Islander Americans, 899 Pakistani Americans, 960–961 Thai Americans, 1106–1108 Vietnamese Americans, 1209–1210 Gift, The (X iong), 424 Gifts and gift giving Japanese Americans, 642, 644 Korean Americans, 706–707 Laotian Americans, 742, 753 Malaysian Americans, 775, 807 Mongolian Americans, 844 Pacific Islander Americans, 906–907 Pakistani Americans, 991 Sri Lankan Americans, 1075 Vietnamese Americans, 1207 Girei origami, 629 “Goddess and the Giant, The” (Cambodian folktale), 207 Gold jewelry, 252, 736–737, 856 Golden Land of Legends, 149 Goldilocks chart, 102–103 Gonzalez, N. V. M., 366–367, 386 Good Earth, The (film), 32 Gorn, Steve, 475 “Got Rice Bitch?” (song), 67 “Got Rice?” slogan, xxxix, 66–68 Gotanda, Philip Kan, 610, 618 Government Burma and, 128–129, 149–150 Cambodia and, 203–204 Nepal and, 868
Samoa and, 948 United States, 30 Graduation ceremonies, 990 Grammar Burmese language and, 176–177 Hmong language and, 458 Korean language and, 711 Malaysian Americans, 808 Mongolian language, 849 Grandfather’s Journey (Say), 17 Grandmother Tales (Carpenter), 15 Grant, Glen, 598–599 Grass Roof, The (Kang), 695 Great Britain, 106, 1005 Great Game, the, 105–106 “Great Gourd from Heaven, The” (Laotian folktale), 1233–1235 “Green Frog, The” (Korean folktale), 699, 700 Greetings, social etiquette and Indonesian Americans, 562 Laotian Americans, 758 Nepali Americans, 870–871 Pakistani Americans, 991 Thai Americans, 1114–1115 Tibetan Americans, 1155, 1157–1158 Vietnamese Americans, 1208, 1212 Grimm’s fairy tales, 1077 Gripe water, 1079 Grocery stores, 21–23, 111, 363, 1121, 1188 GSoba Rig-pa (traditional Tibetan medicine), 1156 Gu, Kim, 681 Guam literature, 1235–1236 narrative folklore and, 919–920, 934 Pacific Islander Americans, 911–913, 917–922 United States and, 896 U.S. Pacific Island territories and, 895 World War II, 902–903 Guandi (deity), 278–280 Guanyin. See Avalokitesvara Gung Do (Korean archery), 689 Gurbani kirtan (Sikh epic), 1015–1016 Gurdwara (Sikh temple), 1005, 1013, 1017–1018, 1036 Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scripture), 1037, 1038
Index Guru Nanak, 1007, 1019, 1023–1024, 1029, 1034–1035, 1037 Gurung people, 860 Gurus, Sikh, 1007, 1013, 1018–1019, 1023–1024, 1033–1036, 1037–1038 Gutal (Mongolian boots), 819 Gyaltsen, Dhondup, 1136 Gyalwa Gedun Drup, 1133 Gyatso, Rigzin Tsangyang, 1130 Gyatso, Tenzin. See Dalai Lama Gye (Korean American credit system), 673 Ha Jin, 281–282 Hafez, 115 Hagiwara, Makoto, 276 Haiku, 616–617 Haircutting ceremonies, 816–817, 842–843, 846, 1113 Hairstyles, 740, 1053–1054 Hajj pilgrimage, 990 Halal foods, 787, 788, 993–994 Hamamoto, Darryl, 82 Hamid, Mohsin, 982 Han dynasty, 279 Hanbok (Korean dress), 666, 667 Hands, using correct, 510, 563, 844, 871 Han Suyin, 293 Hangin, Gombojov, 811, 824 Hanging papers, 230–231, 247 Hanh Thi Pham, 38 Hapa, 98–100 Hapa Issues Forum, 99 Har Krishan, Guru, 1035 Har Rai, Guru, 1035 Hara, Mari, 99 Hargobind, Guru, 1019, 1035 Hari Krishna movement, 48 Harmony, maintaining, 254 Hasu-Houston, Velina, 52 Hate crimes, 234–236, 283 Hats, Mongolian, 819 Hatta, Mohammad, 539 Hawaii festivals and celebrations, 908 Japanese Americans, 607, 632 Korean Americans, 656, 676
Pacific Islander Americans, 922–928, 939–940 Pearl Harbor and, 630–631 U.S. annexation of, 895–896 Hawaii United Okinawa Association, 879, 883 Hawaiian Creole English (HCE), 935–936 Hawaiian Natives clothing and jewelry, 904–905 dance and, 900, 913–914 folk religions, 942 hapa and, 98, 99 model minority stereotype and, 71 music, 915 names and naming practices, 933 Pacific Islander Americans, 893 rites of passage, 944–945 surf and surfing, 949 Hawaiian Renaissance, 939 Hawaiian sugar plantations, 331–332, 601–602 Hayakawa, Sessue, 617 Head, touching, 170, 215, 754, 846 Headscarves, 964 Healers, Pacific Islander Americans, 952–953 Health and wellness Burmese Americans, 152–153, 173–176 Cambodian Americans, 216–217 Chinese Americans, 322–324 Filipino Americans, 408–409 Hmong Americans, 446, 450–451 Indian Americans, 463–464 Malaysian Americans, 775 Pacific Islander Americans, 915, 952 Sri Lankan Americans, 1079 Taoism and, 255 See also Traditional medicine Heaton, Matt and Shannon, 1100 Henna, 477–478, 491, 1006 Herbal medicines Burmese Americans, 174–175 Chinese Americans, 322–323 Filipino Americans, 408 Indonesian Americans, 563, 565 Japanese Americans, 648 Laotian Americans, 755–756 Mongolian Americans, 847 Pakistani Americans, 994–995 Sri Lankan Americans, 1078–1079
I-19
I-20
Index “Herit and Weasel” (Sri Lankan folktale), 1076–1077 Heroes and heroines Burmese Americans, 148–151 Cambodian Americans, 199–201 Chinese Americans, 244, 263–264, 282–283, 296–297 Filipino Americans, 365, 368–369 Hmong Americans, 434–435 Indian Americans, 478–479 Indonesian Americans, 538–540 Japanese Americans, 602–603 Korean Americans, 680–682 Laotian Americans, 734–735 Malaysian Americans, 789–791 Mongolian Americans, 831–833 Pacific Islander Americans, 928–930 Pakistani Americans, 975–977 Punjabi Americans, 1018–1020 Sri Lankan Americans, 1063–1064 Thai Americans, 1102–1103 Tibetan Americans, 1142–1143 Vietnamese Americans, 1189–1191, 1213–1215 Hewitson, Jennifer, 187 Heyerdahl, Thor, 894 Hijra (third gender), 35 Hindi language, 465, 512–513 Hinduism Afghan Americans, 120 Burmese Americans, 135, 136, 147, 163, 164 Cambodian Americans, 209 Filipino Americans, 337 Indian Americans, 462, 469–470, 472, 473, 476, 478, 479–482, 482–483, 495–497, 500–501, 503–504, 505–506 Indian literature and, 489 Indonesian Americans, 529–530, 541, 548 lotus flowers and, 69 love and sexuality, 80 Malaysian Americans, 761, 777, 800 Nepali Americans, 852, 857, 865, 868, 869 Pakistani Americans, 987 Punjabi Americans, 1008–1009, 1010, 1022, 1029, 1031–1032 reincarnation and, 74–75 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048, 1049–1050,
1054–1055, 1058, 1059, 1071, 1073–1074 swastikas and, 87 Hinduism Today (magazine), 496 Hinglish, 513 Historical experiences, folklore and, xxxvi–xxxvii Historical fiction, children’s literature and, 16 Historical narratives, 441, 828 Historiography, queer studies and, 44 History, people, and culture Afghan Americans, 105–110 Burmese Americans, 127–132 Cambodian Americans, 179–185 Chinese Americans, 223–228 Filipino Americans, 331–336 Hmong Americans, 413–417 Indian Americans, 459–461 Indonesian Americans, 515–520, 541–543 Japanese Americans, 569–576 Korean Americans, 655–660 Laotian Americans, 713–717 Malaysian Americans, 759–764 Mongolian Americans, 811–816 Nepali Americans, 851–854 Okinawan Americans, 877–880 Pacific Islander Americans, 893–899 Pakistani Americans, 955–960 Punjabi Americans, 999–1005 Sri Lankan Americans, 1043–1047 Thai Americans, 1081–1084 Tibetan Americans, 1127–1128 Vietnamese Americans, 1159–1165 HIV/AIDS, 42 Hla, Luda U, 145 Hmong Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 417–418 arts and crafts, 418–421, 453–455 Asian American humor and, 27 clothing and jewelry, 424–425 cultural identity, 435–437 dance, 732 death and funeral rituals, 425–427 families and communities, 427–428 festivals and celebrations, 429–430 foods and cooking, 433–434 heroes and heroines, 434–435
Index history, people, and culture, 413–417 literature, 423–424, 440–442, 1228–1230 music, 430–432, 437–438 names and naming practices, 439–440 nature and animals, 442–443 proverbs and maxims, 443–444 religious beliefs, 445–448, 723–724 rites of passage, 448–450 social etiquette, 452–453 speech and language, 457–458 story cloths and, xxxviii textiles, 453–457 traditional medicine, 450–451 Hmong people, Laos and, 714 Ho, Minfong, 187, 205 Ho Chi Minh, 1190, 1215 Hoa Hao Buddhism, 1173, 1196, 1197, 1205 Holidays. See Festivals and celebrations Holt, John Dominis, 926 Home decoration Burmese Americans, 133, 151–152 Cambodian Americans, 185–186 Chinese American architecture and, 327, 328 Chinese Americans, 283–284 feng shui and, 266–267 Filipino Americans, 369–370, 379–380 Hmong Americans, 420 Indian Americans, 482–484, 510–511 Indonesian Americans, 523–524 Japanese Americans, 584–585, 646–647 Korean Americans, 662 Laotian Americans, 720 Malaysian Americans, 791–792 Mongolian Americans, 833–834, 842 Nepali Americans, 854–855 Pacific Islander Americans, 900–901 Pakistani Americans, 962, 977–978 Punjabi Americans, 1005–1006, 1020–1021 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048–1049 Thai Americans, 1085–1086 Tibetan Americans, 1129 Vietnamese Americans, 1191–1192, 1212 Homeopathic medicine, 995, 1040 Homophobia, 39–40 Homosexuality interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 love and sexuality, 81, 83
queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 queer studies and, 41–46 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051–1052, 1067 Hong Fook Tong, 241, 285–286 Hong Kong, 252, 1001, 1017 Honor suicide, 11, 12 Honorifics Burmese Americans, 159, 168 Cambodian Americans, 215 Filipino Americans, 391 Hmong Americans, 457–458 Indian Americans, 498 Indonesian Americans, 551, 562, 566–567 Korean Americans, 698 Korean language and, 711 Laotian Americans, 728, 743, 754 Mongolian Americans, 845 Nepali Americans, 871 Vietnamese Americans, 1208 Hoopoe (mythical bird), 114–115 Horse-head fiddle, 837 Horton, Frank, 63 Hosoi, Christian, 603 Hospitality. See Social etiquette and customs Hot Air Balloon celebrations, 160–161 Housing, 326, 369, 379, 414, 416. See also Architecture; Home decoration Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki, 590, 618 Hsi Lai Temple, 314 Hsu, Evonne, 271 Hsu, Hong-yen, 648 Htin Aung, 145 Huhm, Halla Pai, 676 Hui, Ann, 1167 Hula dance, 913–914, 915, 925 Human rights organizations, 200 Humor and comedy Burmese Americans, 142 Cambodian Americans, 184 Pakistani Americans, 988 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife, 23–29 popular culture and, 31–33 queer studies and, 44–45 Humoral medicine, 152, 216, 847, 872–873 Hunting, Mongolian Americans and, 814, 831 Hur Jun, 709
I-21
I-22
Index Hurricane Katrina, 1193–1195 Huynh, Hung, 1188, 1202 Hwan gap (60th birthday), 705 Hwang, David Henry, 52–53, 294 Hwang, Jason, 246 Hwang, Jason Kao, 271 Hwang, Rah, 662 Hyperfeminization, 37–38, 80, 82, 101 I Ching, 329–330, 766 Ibrahim, Ramli, 790 Icons, Indian Americans and, 479–480 Identity. See Cultural identity Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church), 402 Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), 402 Igorot people, 372–380 Igus, Toyomi, 582 Iijima, Geneva Cobb, 582 Ikat designs, 526, 527 Ikeda, Stuart David, 618 Illegal immigration, 224, 518, 1108, 1220 Immigration Afghan Americans, 105, 107–108 Burmese Americans, 135–136 Cambodian Americans, 179–181, 218–219, 220 Chinese American architecture and, 326, 327 Chinese Americans, 223–224, 237, 264–265, 299–300, 303–304, 307 cultural identity and, 5–7 ethnomusicology and, 1–2 Filipino Americans, 331–333, 376, 383, 387–389 Hmong Americans, 415 Indian Americans, 459 Indonesian Americans, 515, 516–517, 517–518, 540–541, 542–543 Japanese Americans, 569–570, 574, 583–584, 590, 594, 601–602, 614, 631–632 Korean Americans, 655, 656–657, 657–658, 667, 693–694 Laotian Americans, 736 love and sexuality, 81 Malaysian Americans, 759–760, 762, 763 minority groups and, 49
model minority stereotype and, 70 Mongolian Americans, 811, 812, 813–814, 822 Nepali Americans, 851 Okinawan Americans, 878, 888 Pacific Islander Americans, 896–897, 897–898 Pakistani Americans, 955, 957–958 Punjabi Americans, 1000–1001, 1002–1003, 1011, 1038–1039 religious beliefs and, 49–50 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1045–1046, 1055–1056, 1064–1065 Thai Americans, 1081–1082, 1083, 1095, 1108 Tibetan Americans, 1127, 1136 Vietnamese Americans, 1159–1164, 1166–1167, 1197 Immigration and Nationality Act (1965), 1–2, 6–7, 237, 332–333, 673, 851 Imperialism, 92, 95, 105–106 Improvisation, opera theaters and, 242–243 In Search of Roots Program, 76 Inada, Lawson, 293 Independence movement, Korean, 656–657 India, Sri Lanka and, 1043–1044 Indian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 461–463 Burmese Americans and, 153, 154 clothing and jewelry, 466–467 dance, 467–469 death and funeral rituals, 470–471 ethnic communities, 490–492 festivals and celebrations, 472–474 foods and cooking, 475–477 henna, 477–478 heroes and heroines, 478–479 history, people, and culture, 459–461 home decoration, 482–484, 510–511 literature, 484–487, 489–490, 492–494, 499 music, 465–466, 474–475 myths and legends, 495–497 names and naming practices, 497–498 nature and animals, 500–501 Pakistani Americans and, 956 proverbs and maxims, 501–503
Index religious beliefs, 469–470, 503–505 religious buildings and worship spaces, 479–482, 487–488, 494–495 rites of passage, 505–507 social etiquette, 508–509 speech and language, 512–513 superstitions and taboos, 509–510 traditional medicine, 463–465, 511–512. See also Punjabi Americans Indian classical dance, 467 Indian Malaysians, 759, 762–763 clothing and jewelry, 773 families, 780 foods and cooking, 787, 788 home decoration and, 792 languages and, 793 names and naming practices, 796 superstitions and taboos, 807 Indian nationalism, 1005, 1024 Indigenous peoples Burmese Americans, 147, 153 Filipino Americans, 338, 346–347, 372–384, 391 Guam, 917–919 Hawaiian Natives, 922–923 Indonesian Americans, 531, 534, 560 Malaysia and, 759, 765 Malaysian Americans, 766, 799–801 Indirect communication, Japanese Americans, 649 Indirect discourse, homosexuality and, 37 Indo-Fijians, 910 Indonesia, Malaysia and, 771, 784–785 Indonesian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 520–523 arts and crafts, 523–524 clothing and jewelry, 526–528 cultural identity, 540–543 dance, 534–536 death and funeral rituals, 528–531 families and communities, 531–532 festivals and celebrations, 532–534 foods and cooking, 536–538, 557–560 heroes and heroines, 538–540 history, people, and culture, 515–520 literature, 545–548, 551–553, 1230–1232 music, 524–526
names and naming practices, 548–551 proverbs and maxims, 553–554 puppet theatre, 544–545 religious beliefs, 554–557 rites of passage, 560–562 social etiquette, 562–563 speech and language, 566–567 traditional medicine, 563–565 Indonesian Independence Day, 533 Inheritances, 776, 992 Inoue, Rena, 603 Inouye, Daniel K., 602, 605–606 Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, The (Rohmer), 277 International Education and Resource Network (iEARN), 984–985 Internet Cambodian Americans, 184 Indian Americans, 468 Indonesian literature and, 547 Malaysian Americans, 777 Mongolian Americans, 814 popular culture and, 33–34 Qing Ming and, 306 religious beliefs and, 50 Sri Lankan Americans, 1067 Interracial/interethnic marriage Afghan Americans, 125 Indian Americans, 460 Japanese Americans, 575, 604 Korean Americans, 691 Laotian Americans, 728, 742 Malaysian Americans, 776, 801 mixed race Asian Americans, 95–96, 100–104 Mongolian Americans, 815 Nepali Americans, 870 Pakistani Americans, 990 Punjabi Americans, 1002, 1010–1011, 1025, 1033 Sri Lankan Americans, 1050, 1057, 1068–1069 Thai Americans, 1082 Introductions, Chinese Americans and, 311 Iqbal, Allama, 975–976, 986 Irish-Chinese intermarriage, 96
I-23
I-24
Index Islam Afghan Americans, 120, 121–123 Burmese Americans, 135, 136, 137, 140, 163–164 Cambodian Americans, 209–210 Filipino Americans, 334, 351–352, 403 Indian Americans, 469, 470, 473, 476, 494–495, 498, 502, 503, 504, 507 Indonesian Americans, 528–529, 530, 532, 533, 541, 555–556, 564–565 Laotian Americans, 748 Malaysian Americans, 765, 772, 774–775, 776–777, 792, 793, 804 Nepali Americans, 852 Pakistani Americans, 956, 960, 966, 973, 976, 978, 980, 982, 986–989, 990, 993 Punjabi Americans, 1010, 1021, 1022, 1029 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1049, 1055, 1059, 1068–1069, 1074, 1075 Thai Americans, 1111 Issei generation, 78 Itinerant laborers, 344, 368 Ito, Michio, 625 Iwamatsu, Atsushi, 598 Iyer, E. Krishna, 1059–1060 Jade jewelry, 252 Jagchid Sechen, 812 Jainism Indian Americans, 470, 476, 487–488, 503, 504 lotus flowers and, 68, 69 Punjabi Americans, 1029 “Jana Gana Mana” (song), 465 Japan, 655, 668–669, 892, 902, 903 Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), 574, 586, 604, 609, 626–627 Japanese American internment camps, 571–572, 573, 605, 606–610, 632–634 arts and crafts and, 577 children’s literature and, 16, 582 draft resisters and, 586 families and, 590–591 Hawaii and, 630
literature and, 618 pilgrimage to, 632–634 redress movement and, 7–8 religious beliefs and, 584 root quests and, 77 social etiquette and, 643 Japanese American National Museum, 591, 604, 611–613 Japanese Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 576–577 antimiscegenation laws and, 101 arts and crafts, 577–578, 593–595, 610–611, 624–625, 628–629 Asian American dating and, 103 cultural identity, 603–605 dance, 595–596 death and funeral rituals, 587–589 Dynasty Warriors (video game), 589 ethnic communities, 614–615 families and communities, 590–591 festivals and celebrations, 580–581, 591–593 foods and cooking, 599–601 fortune cookies and, 276 hapa and, 99 Hawaiian sugar plantations and, 601–602 heroes and heroines, 602–603 history, people, and culture, 569–576 home decoration, 646–647 interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 literature, 581–583, 597–599, 615–617, 617–618, 620, 627–628, 651–652 marriage, 631–632 martial arts, 618–619 mixed race Asian Americans, 91 model minority stereotype and, 70 music, 8, 582–583, 596–597, 640–641, 644–646 names and naming practices, 621–622 nature and animals, 622–624 Okinawan Americans, 888–889 Poke´mon, 634–636 political activism, 605–606 proverbs and maxims, 636–637 religious beliefs, 583–585, 637–638 rites of passage, 639–640 rituals and ceremonies, 579–580 second and subsequent generations, 78 social etiquette, 641–643
Index speech and language, 649–651 superstitions and taboos, 643–644 traditional medicine, 647–649 World War II, 585–587, 626–627, 630–631 Zen gardens, 652–653 See also Okinawan Americans Japantowns, 614–615 Jataka Tales, 155–156, 207, 744, 747, 1066, 1221–1223 Javanese people, 550, 784–785 Javanese puppets, 544–545 Jayasuria, Sanath, 1064 Jeepneys, 384 Jehan, Noor, 976 Jets, The (musical group), 915 Jew, Jeanie F., 63 Jewelry Cambodian Americans, 188–189 Chinese Americans, 252 Filipino Americans, 347–348 Hmong Americans, 425 Indian Americans, 466–467 Indonesian Americans, 528 Korean Americans, 666–667 Laotian Americans, 736–737 Malaysian Americans, 772–773, 773–774 Mongolian Americans, 819 Nepali Americans, 856 Pacific Islander Americans, 905 Pakistani Americans, 965 Sri Lankan Americans, 1054 Thai Americans, 1088 Tibetan Americans, 1132 Vietnamese Americans, 1171 Jikihara Toshihei, 616 Jin, Ha, 281–282 Jinn (spirits), 960–961 Jinnah, Muhammad Ali, 975 Johnson, Lyndon B., 1160–1161 Joo, Brian, 677 Jootis (Punjabi shoe), 1006 Journey from the Fall (film), 1167, 1190–1191 Journey to the West, 296 Joy Luck Club (film), 33, 82 Joy Luck Club (Tan), 71, 317 Judaism, 120, 503, 504
Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit (Spagnoli and Wall), 186–187, 205 Judo, 618–619 Jung, David, 276 Kabuki theater, 596 Kadohata, Cynthia, 618 Kaji, Bruce T., 612 Kalmyk Mongolians, 811, 812, 835, 840–841 Kalmyk Mongols, 822 Kamani, Ginu, 486 Kamehameha Day (Hawaii), 908 Kamehameha I, King, 929 Kampo (traditional Japanese medicine), 647–649 Kanazawa, Tooru, 617 Kandyan dance, 1060 Kang, Younghill, 694–695 Kapwa (shared identity), 406–407 Karate, 619, 885 Karma Burmese Americans, 169–170 Cambodian Americans, 191 Laotian Americans, 716 reincarnation and, 75 religious beliefs and, 210 Sikhism and, 1038 Thai Americans, 1091–1092 Katoeys (lady boys), 36 “Kaundinya and Soma” (Cambodian folktale), 1223 Kawai, Tochihiro, 577, 578 Kechog, Ngawang, 1143 Keepers of the Flame (film), 939 Keller, Nora Okja, 8, 9, 72, 99, 695 Kendo, 619 “Kenji” (song), 641 Keppetipola, 1063 Khalistan, 1019 Khalkh Mongols, 813–814, 835 Khan, Imran, 975 Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali, 963, 972, 976 Khan, Shah Rukh, 1064 Khatak dance, 971 Khene (musical instrument), 430 Khin Myo Chit, Daw, 145 Khmer Arts Academy, 190
I-25
I-26
Index Khmer Guided Placement (KGP) program, 180 Khmer Rouge, xxxix, 179, 194, 202–204, 210, 217–218 Khmu people, 732 Khon (Thai dance), 1099, 1100 Khurem and khantaaz (Mongolian clothing), 819 Killing Fields, the, 203–204 Killing Fields, The (film), 200 Kim, Daniel Dae, 32–33 Kim, Elaine, 82, 695 Kim, Patti, 695 Kim, Richard, 694, 695 Kim, Ronyong, 695 Kim, Sooja, 662 Kim, Young Oak, 612, 656 Kim of Korea (Norris and Lum), 665 Kina, Laura, 92, 99 King, Rodney, 658 King and I, The (musical), 1107 King of the Hill (TV show), 747 King’s Birthday (Thailand), 1097 Kingsbury, Charles Winslow, 1070 Kingston, Maxine Hong Chinese American literature and, 302–303 Chinese Americans, 227, 288–289 Fa Mu Lan and, 263–264 Frank Chin and, 293 the Monkey King and, 296 mother-daughter relationships and, 71 opera theaters, 245 Kinnara Taiko, 646 Kinship ties Filipino Americans, 352, 354, 376, 391–392 Hmong Americans, 413, 427, 439, 452 Korean Americans, 698 Laotian Americans, 743 Pacific Islander Americans, 897–898, 907, 918 Punjabi Americans, 1001 See also Families and communities Kirant (Nepali folk religion), 852 Kirchner, Bharti, 485 Kitayama, Henry, 611 Kivakaruni, Chitra Banerjee, 485 Kiyama, Henry Yoshitaki, 617 Kneubuhl, John, 932
Kneubuhl, Victoria, 932 Ko Hung, 318 Kogawa, Joy, 617 Koothu dance, 1060–1061 Korea, 655, 659 Korean American Adoptee films (KAAF), 683–685 Korean American Adoptee literature (KAAL), 685–686 Korean Americans adoptions, 683–688 ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 660–661 arts and crafts, 661–663 Asian American dating and, 103 clothing and jewelry, 666–668 cultural identity, 682–683 dance, 675–677 death and funeral rituals, 671–672 ethnic communities, 693–694 families and communities, 673–674 festivals and celebrations, 674–675 foods and cooking, 678–680 heroes and heroines, 680–682 history, people, and culture, 655–660 literature, 663–664, 664–666, 685–686, 694–696, 699–700, 1232–1233 martial arts, 689–690 mixed race Asian Americans, 91 music, 677–678, 696–698 names and naming practices, 698–699 proverbs and maxims, 700–701 religious beliefs, 49, 669–671, 690–693, 701–704 rites of passage, 704–706 social etiquette, 706–707 speech and language, 710–711 superstitions and taboos, 707–709 traditional medicine, 709–710 World War II, 668–669 Korean Church in America, 690–693 Korean Hand Therapy, 710 Korean Tales (Allen), 664 Korean War, 16, 657, 687–688 Koreatowns, 679, 693–694 Korematsu, Fred, 572 Koten music, 886–887, 888
Index Koy, Jo, 26, 31 Krishna, 75 Kuda kepang (Malaysian dance), 783 Kuhio Day (Hawaii), 908 Kunsel, Tenzin, 1143 Kwan, Michelle, 227 Kwon, Yul, 682 Labor unions, 344, 368, 602 Lac Hong Dance Ensemble, 1182 Lacquer ware, 151–152, 1165 Lahiri, Jhumpa, 486 Lama dances, 1140 Land mines, 714 Land ownership, 571, 590, 1000, 1004–1005 Landscapes, 17–18, 160, 267, 652–653 Languages Afghan Americans, 113 Burmese Americans, 129, 150, 176–177 Filipino Americans, 333–334, 371 grocery stores and, 22 Hawaiian Natives, 922–923 Hmong Americans, 437 Indian Americans, 465, 512–513 Indonesian Americans, 541, 553, 566 Indonesian literature and, 545–546 Khmer, 219 Lao language, 735–736 Malaysian Americans, 760, 793, 798, 808 Mongolian Americans, 848 Nepali Americans, 852, 873–874 Okinawan Americans, 877 Pacific Islander Americans, 935–936, 939 Pakistani Americans, 956, 966 Punjabi Americans, 999 See also Speech and language Lantern ceremony dance, 1182–1183 Lantern Festival, 268 Lao Heritage Foundation (LHF), 729 Lao language, 735–736, 757 Lao Tse, 251, 318–319 Lao Tzu. See Lao Tse Lao Vision Magazine, 738 Laos, 414–415, 434–435, 713 Laotian American National Alliance, 729 Laotian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 717–719 arts and crafts, 719–720 clothing and jewelry, 721–722, 736–737
cultural identity, 735–736 dance, 730–732 death and funeral rituals, 725–727 families and communities, 727–729 festivals and celebrations, 729–730, 745–746 foods and cooking, 732–734 heroes and heroines, 734–735 history, people, and culture, 713–717 literature, 737–739, 744–745, 1233–1235 music, 720–721 names and naming practices, 742–743 oral tradition and, xxxvii proverbs and maxims, 746–747 religious beliefs, 723–724, 747–752 rites of passage, 752–754 rituals and ceremonies, 739–742 social etiquette, 754–755 speech and language, 757–758 traditional medicine, 755–756. See also Hmong Americans Larrick, Nancy, 15 Lassi (yogurt drink), 1014 Latino Americans, 102 Laughter of My Father, The (Bulosan), 385 Lavelle, Todd Tongdee, 1100 Law-Yone, Wendy, 155 Le Loi, 1190 Lee, Ang, 82–83, 248 Lee, Bobby, 24 Lee, Bruce, 81–82, 227, 248, 290–291 Lee, Chang Rae, 695 Lee, Chol Soo, 680–681 Lee, C. Y., 293 Lee, Helie, 682 Lee, K. W., 680 Lee, Lela, 33–34 Lee, Marie G., 665 Lee, Sammy, 656 Lee, Stacey, 61 Lee, Yong Baek, 662 Legal system, hate crimes and, 235–236 “Legend of the Pineapple, The” (Filipino folktale), 1224–1226 Legend of the Watermelon, The (Vietnamese folktale), 1186 Legend of White Snake (opera), 244–245 Legend Sondayo (Minahal), 40
I-27
I-28
Index Leis (garlands), 900, 905, 924, 925 Lemar Aftaab magazine, 118 Lemon Notebook (Remoncho) journal, 615–617 “Lenggang Kangkung” (Malaysian folk song), 769 Leong, Russell, 40 Leonowens, Anna, 1107 Lesbians, 36, 38 LGBT. See Queer folklore and folklife; Queer studies Lhamo, Yungchen, 1141 Li, Gladys, 51 Li, Jet, 248 Li shi (lucky money), 259 Liberation Day (Guam), 902 Library of Congress, American Folklife Center and, xxxvi Liem, Deann Borshay, 684 “Life Story of Orphan Toua, The” (Hmong folktale), 1228–1230 Lim, Shirley Geok-lin, 790, 794–795 Lin, Justin, 33 Lin, Maya Ying, 227, 291–292 Lion dances, 269–270 Literary criticism, 293, 302, 316, 366 Literature Afghan Americans, 115–116, 118–120 Burmese Americans, 145, 154–156 Cambodian Americans, 186–188, 204–205, 206–207 Chinese Americans, 256–257, 272–274, 281–282, 288–289, 292–294, 296–297, 302–303, 316–317 Filipino Americans, 344–345, 353–354, 366–367, 385–386, 392–394 Hmong Americans, 423–424, 440–442 Indian Americans, 484–487, 489–490, 492–494, 496–497, 499 Indonesian Americans, 545–548, 551–553 Japanese Americans, 581–583, 597–599, 610, 615–617, 617–618, 620, 627–628, 651–652 Korean Americans, 663–664, 664–666, 682, 685–686, 687, 694–696, 699–700 Laotian Americans, 737–739, 744–745 love and sexuality, 80
Malaysian Americans, 790, 793–795, 796–798 Mongolian Americans, 828–829 mother-daughter relationships in, 71–73 orientalism and, 74 Pacific Islander Americans, 925–927, 931–932, 934–935 Pakistani Americans, 980–982, 983–985 Punjabi Americans, 1007–1008, 1023–1024 queer folklore and folklife, 40 Sikhism and, 1015–1016, 1030 Sri Lankan Americans, 1066–1067 Thai Americans, 1086–1087, 1106–1109 Tibetan Americans, 1145–1146, 1147–1148 Vietnamese Americans, 1167, 1185–1187, 1199–1201 See also Children’s literature Little Buddha (film), 212 Little India, 490–492 Little Saigon, 18, 1161, 1198–1199, 1206, 1213 Liu Guo Da Feng Xiang (opera), 285–286 Living in Half Tones (film), 684 Lo Blia Yao, 434 Loh, Vyvyane, 794 Long, Zhou, 246 Long song (Mongolian), 836 Looking Like the Enemy (film), 613 Los Angeles riots, 658, 673, 693 Lotka paper, 855 Lotus flowers, 68–69 Louie, Edward, 276 Louisiana Filipino Americans, 387–389 Vietnamese Americans, 1193–1195 Love and sexuality, 79–84, 100–104 Love children, 93–94 Loving v. Virginia (1967), 93 Low, Evan, 283 Lowe, Pardee, 293 Loyalty questionnaire, 608, 626–627, 628 Lucky money, 259 Luddi dance, 971 Luk thung (Thai music), 1100 Lum, Peter, 665 Lumber industry, 1003–1004 Ly Te X uyen, 1189–1190 Lyfoung, Touby, 434
Index M. Butterfly (Hwang), 52–53, 294–295 Ma, Sheng-mei, 289 Ma, Yo-Yo, 271, 282 Madal drums, 861 Mae Nak Phra Khanong (Thai folktale), 1107–1108 Maeda, Sentoku, 633 Magazines, 118, 119, 496, 615–617, 1094 Magellan, Ferdinand, 405, 406, 894–895 Magical tales, Mongolian Americans, 828, 829 Mahat, Prem Raja, 863 Mahayana Buddhism, 65–66, 69, 86, 750, 1072, 1150–1151 Mahidol, Prince, 1081 Mahjong, 284 Mahta, Gita, 485 Mai lu (buying the road), 260 Mako, 53 Malakas at Maganda creation story, 386–387 Malay people, 772–773, 778–779, 796 Malaysia, 759–760, 761–762, 771, 784–785 Malaysian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 764–768 clothing and jewelry, 771–774 cultural identity, 792–793 dance, 783–786 death and funeral rituals, 774–778 families and communities, 778–781 festivals and celebrations, 781–782 foods and cooking, 787–789 heroes and heroines, 789–791 history, people, and culture, 759–764 home decoration, 791–792 literature, 793–795, 796–798 music, 768–771, 786–787 names and naming practices, 795–796 proverbs and maxims, 798–799 religious beliefs, 799–803 rites of passage, 804–806 speech and language, 808–809 superstitions and taboos, 806–807 Malaysian Independence Day, 781 Malaysian influences, Filipino Americans, 362, 371 Malaysian language, 808
“Malin Kundang” (Indonesian folktale), 1230–1231 Mam, Somaly, 200 Mamiya, Yoshio “Buddy,” 612 “Man that Chops Wood” (Thai folktale), 1087 Manalansan, Martin F., 43, 45 Manalo, Felix, 402 Mandalas, 1153–1154 Mandarin language, 324 Manicka, Rani, 794 Manila Village, Louisiana, 388 Manilamen, 387–389 Mano po (kissing of hands), 407 Manongs (union organizers), 368 Manyue (birth ritual), 309 Maori people, 893, 894 Mapa, Alec, 45 Maria Clara de los Santos, 365 Marriage Afghan Americans, 111–112 antimiscegenation laws, 92–93, 95–96, 100–101, 332, 390, 1010–1011 Chinese Americans, 310 Hmong Americans, 413–414, 416, 439, 449–450 Indian Americans, 498 Japanese Americans, 631–632 Laotian Americans, 728, 739–742 Nepali Americans, 866 out marriage and, 30 Pakistani Americans, 990, 992 Punjabi Americans, 1031–1032 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1049–1050, 1068–1069 Thai Americans, 1082 See also Interracial/interethnic marriage; Wedding ceremonies Marshall Islands, 897 Martial arts, 248–249, 290, 618–619, 689–690, 731, 885 Martyred, The (Kim), 695 Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church, 1193, 1194 Masculinity, 256–257, 364, 365 Masjid Al-Hikmah, 556 Mask dance, 675–676 Mass culture. See Popular culture
I-29
I-30
Index Mass media Cambodian Americans, 183 Chinese Americans, 225 Filipino Americans, 335 Japanese Americans, 603 Korean Americans, 681 Okinawan Americans, 879–880 Thai Americans, 1093–1094 Vietnamese Americans, 1198 youth culture and, 59 Massage therapy, 219, 408, 464, 512, 648–649 Material culture, 18–21, 21–23, 911–913. See also Arts and crafts; Home decoration Matrix films, 94 Matsunaga, Ernest Michio, 618 Matsunaga, Masayuki, 602 Max Havelaar (Multatuli), 546 McCarran-Walter Act (1952), 6 Meatless Days (Suleri), 981–982 Medical schools, 175, 1078, 1122 Medicine. See Health and wellness; Traditional medicine Meditation, 464, 565 Mehendi. See Henna Melanesia, 895, 936 Memorial Day, 352 Memorial services. See Death and funeral rituals Mental health, 10–14, 756, 995 Merit ceremonies Cambodian Americans, 212 Laotian Americans, 749 Malaysian Americans, 776 Thai Americans, 1083, 1085, 1091, 1097 Mermaid’s Muse, The (Bouchard), 272 Mestizaje (mixed race people), 389–390 Metal crafts, 523, 854–855, 961 Micronesia, 895 Mid-Autumn Festival, 1180–1181 Migrant workers. See Itinerant laborers Military servicemembers Amerasians and, 97–98; Daniel K. Inouye and, 605 Filipino Americans, 390 Japanese Americans, 602, 630–631 Pacific Islander Americans, 898 Punjabi Americans, 1001
Thai Americans, 1082 Tibetan Americans, 1144 Minahal, Maiana, 40 Minang people, 550 Minarets, mosques and, 494–495 Mineta, Norman, 63 Minh Tran and Company, 1183 Minjung nationalist movement (Korea), 667 Minyo music, 887, 888 Mirror of Eastern Medicine, The (Hur Jun), 709 Mirzoeff, Nicholas, 54 Misaka, Wataru, 602–603 Miss Saigon (Schonberg), 53 Mixed race Asian Americans Amerasians, 97–98 Filipino Americans, 389–390 hapa and, 98–100 interracial/interethnic marriage and, 100–104 Japanese Americans, 575 literature and, 294 origin tales, 91–97 Mochizuki, Ken, 582 Model minority stereotype Asian American humor and, 28 Chinese Americans, 287 Japanese Americans, 604 Korean Americans, 683 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 69–71 sexuality and, 37–38 suicide and, 12–13 youth culture and, 60–61 Modernization, Afghanistan and, 106–107 Mohanraj, Mary Ann, 1067 Mohori music, 197 Money, Chinese death rituals and, 259, 260 Mongolia, Tibet and, 846–847 Mongolian American Cultural Association (MACA), 822–823 Mongolian Americans children and youth, 816–818 clothing and jewelry, 818–820 cultural identity, 835–836 dance, 825–826 death and funeral rituals, 820–822 families and communities, 822–823
Index festivals and celebrations, 823–824 foods and cooking, 829–831 heroes and heroines, 831–833 history, people, and culture, 811–816 home decoration, 833–834 literature, 828–829 music, 826–827, 836–837 names and naming practices, 837–838 proverbs and maxims, 839–840 religious beliefs, 840–842 rites of passage, 842–844 social etiquette, 844–845 speech and language, 848–849 superstitions and taboos, 845–846 traditional medicine, 846–848 Mongolian School of the National Capital Area (MSNCA), 818, 835 Monkey Bridge (Cao), 8–9, 72, 1199–1201 Monkey King, 296–297, 298–299, 598 Monks, Buddhist, 749, 751. See also Buddhism Monlan Chenmo festival, 1137 Moon, Dawn X iana, 271 Mori, Toshio, 602, 620 Mormon Church, 896–897, 943 Mosel, Arlene, 272 Mosques, 494–495, 556, 987, 1068. See also Churches; Temples and worship spaces Mother-daughter relationships, 8–9, 71–73, 316, 1201 Motherland tours. See Root quests Mount Popa, 157, 160 Moxibustion, 648 Mukerji, Dhan Gopal, 484 Mukherjee, Bharati, 485, 492–494 Mulan. See Fa Mu Lan (Mulan) Multatuli, 546 Multiculturalism, Afghan Americans, 112–113 Muong language, 1217 Muradi, Sahar, 119 Muralitharan, Muttiah, 1064 Murayama, Milton, 618 Museums, 18, 611–613, 939, 1163–1164 Music Burmese Americans, 144 Cambodian Americans, 183, 189–190, 196–197, 202
Chinese Americans, 233–234, 241–246, 270–271 death and funeral rituals, 259 Filipino Americans, 338, 345–346, 359–361, 361–362 “Got Rice?” slogan, 67 Guam and, 902 Hmong Americans, 430–432, 437–438 Indian Americans, 465–466, 474–475 Indonesian Americans, 524–526 Japanese Americans, 582–583, 596–597, 610, 640–641, 644–646 Korean Americans, 677–678, 696–698 Laotian Americans, 720–721 Malaysian Americans, 768–771, 786–787, 790 Mongolian Americans, 826–827, 836–837 Nepali Americans, 862–863 Okinawan Americans, 880–881, 882–883, 886–890 Pacific Islander Americans, 903–904, 914–915, 927–928 Pakistani Americans, 963–964, 972–973, 976 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 1–5 Punjabi Americans, 1015–1016 racial discrimination and, 8 Sikhism and, 1030 Thai Americans, 1090, 1098, 1099–1101, 1104, 1116–1120 Tibetan Americans, 1130–1131, 1139, 1140–1141, 1143 Vietnamese Americans, 1168–1169, 1184–1185 Musical instruments Cambodian Americans, 190, 197 Chinese Americans, 271 Hmong Americans, 430, 438 Indian Americans, 475 Indonesian Americans, 524–525, 535 Korean Americans, 677, 696 Laotian Americans, 731 Mongolian Americans, 827, 828, 837 Nepali Americans, 862, 863 Okinawan Americans, 879, 886, 887
I-31
I-32
Index Musical instruments (continued) Pacific Islander Americans, 901, 914, 927–928 Pakistani Americans, 972 Thai Americans, 1098, 1119 Tibetan Americans, 1129, 1139 Myanmar, 131–132. See also Burmese Americans Myths and legends Burmese Americans, 149, 156–158 Chinese Americans, 282, 297–299 Filipino Americans, 353–354, 386–387 Hmong Americans, 440–441 Indian Americans, 495–497 Indian literature and, 489 Korean Americans, 663, 709 Mongolian Americans, 828 Pacific Islander Americans, 928–929, 934–935 Vietnamese Americans, 1185, 1189, 1213–1214 Na, An, 665 Naadam (Mongolian sports festival), 814, 818, 824 Nai Htaw Paing Ensemble, 144 Naidan, Tuvshinbayar, 833 Nakano, Mia, 35, 38 Nakashima, George, 578 Nakasone, Harry Seisho, 882 Nakazawa, Keiji, 17, 617 Names and naming practices Burmese Americans, 129, 158–159, 166 Cambodian Americans, 205–206 Chinese Americans, 299–300 Filipino Americans, 333, 391–392 Hmong Americans, 439–440 Indian Americans, 497–498 Indonesian Americans, 548–551 Japanese Americans, 621–622 Korean Americans, 698–699 Laotian Americans, 742–743 Malaysian Americans, 795–796 Mongolian Americans, 816, 837–838 Pacific Islander Americans, 932–933 Pakistani Americans, 982–983, 989 Punjabi Americans, 1024–1026, 1032
Sri Lankan Americans, 1069–1071 Thai Americans, 1105–1106 Tibetan Americans, 1146–1147 Vietnamese Americans, 1201–1202 Naming, power of, 98–99 Naqvi, Maniza, 981 Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant (Honolulu), 300–301 Narrative folklore Filipino Americans, 392–394 Hmong Americans, 453–455 Korean Americans, 699–700 Laotian Americans, 744–745 Malaysian Americans, 796–798 Pacific Islander Americans, 934–935 Pakistani Americans, 983–985 Thai Americans, 1106–1109 Tibetan Americans, 1147–1148 Vietnamese Americans, 1185–1187 Naser-al-din, Molla, 115 Natalise, 144 National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, 132 National Heroes, Indonesia, 539 National Pinoy Archives (NPA), 358–359 Nationalism Afghan Americans, 116 Indian nationalism, 1005, 1024 Punjabi Americans, 1021–1022 Vietnam and, 1218 Native Hawaiians. See Hawaiian Natives Nature and animals Burmese Americans, 160–162 Hawaiian Natives, 924–925 Hmong Americans, 442–443 Indian Americans, 500–501 Japanese Americans, 593–594, 622–624 Mongolian Americans, 846 Pacific Islander Americans, 924–925 Navalar, Arumuka, 1064 Nazism, swastikas and, 87–88 Nepal, government of, 868 Nepali Americans arts and crafts, 854–855 clothing and jewelry, 855–857 cultural identity, 865–866 dance, 861–862
Index death and funeral rituals, 857–858 families and communities, 858–859 festivals and celebrations, 860–861 foods and cooking, 864–865 history, people, and culture, 851–854 music, 862–863 proverbs and maxims, 866–868 religious beliefs, 868–869 rites of passage, 869–870 social etiquette and customs, 870–872 speech and language, 873–875 traditional medicine, 872–873 Nepali language, 874 New Age religions, 898 New Caledonia, 895, 897 New Tide, The (magazine), 344 New World Theatre, 52 New Year celebrations Burmese Americans, 140 Cambodian Americans, 183–184, 196 Chinese Americans, 230, 247, 267, 269, 284, 300–301, 312–313 Hmong Americans, 418, 429, 454 Japanese Americans, 591, 593 Korean Americans, 674, 675, 678–679 Laotian Americans, 716–717, 730, 745–746 Malaysian Americans, 767, 789, 791–792, 807 Mongolian Americans, 818, 823–824 Nepali Americans, 860 Okinawan Americans, 883 Pacific Islander Americans, 909 Sri Lankan Americans, 1058 Taiwanese Americans, 316 Thai Americans, 1097 Tibetan Americans, 1137–1138, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1180, 1211–1213 Newah people, 860, 862–863 Newspapers, Thai Americans and, 1093–1094 Ng, FaeMynne, 294 Ng, Irene, 790 Ngor, Haing S., 200 Nguyen, Dat, 1202 Nguyen, The-Vien, 1193 Nguyen Ngoc Ngan, 1167 Nicknames Japanese Americans, 621
Laotian Americans, 743 Mongolian Americans, 838 Pakistani Americans, 983 Thai Americans, 1105, 1106 Tibetan Americans, 1146 Vietnamese Americans, 1201 Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan), 593 Nipa huts, 369 Nisei generation, 78. See also Second and subsequent generations Nisei Week Festival, 79 Nitz, Michael, 235, 283 “No Tigers in Borneo” (Indonesian folktale), 1231–1232 Noguchi, Isamu, 578, 602, 624–625 “Nolbu and Heungbu, the Two Brothers” (Korean folktale), 700 Noli Me Tangere (Rizal), 354, 365 Nomadic lifestyle, Mongolia and, 815 No-No Boy (Okada), 628 No-No boys, 585, 626–627, 631 Non Resident Nepalese Association (NRNA), 853 Nonverbal communication, Japanese Americans, 649, 650 Nonya (Indonesian cuisine), 558 Norbu, Thupten Jigme, 1136 Normativity, queer studies and, 42, 43 Norris, Faith, 665 North American Guqin Association, 271 Northern Marianas Islands, 896, 897 Novel of Justice, The (Gonzalez), 366 NRN National Coordination Council of the USA, 853 “Nu Wa Makes People and Mends a Hole in the Sky” (Chinese legend), 298 Nuchigusui (Okinawan foodways), 884–885 Nuo dances, 270 Nursery rhymes, 465, 769, 770 Obama, Barack, 226, 482, 682, 958, 976 Obon festival, 576, 596, 638 Odiyan Buddhist Center, 1150 Offerings Chinese Americans, 306 Indonesian Americans, 522, 562–563 Laotian Americans, 755
I-33
I-34
Index Offerings (continued) Mongolian Americans, 834 Sri Lankan Americans, 1072–1073 Thai Americans, 1085 Tibetan Americans, 1142 Vietnamese Americans, 1176–1177 Ogata, Paul, 26 Oh, Sandra, 29–30 “Oh Duang Champa” (Laotian song), 720–721 Ohno, Apolo Anton, 603 Okada, John, 602, 627–628 Okamoto, Kiyoshi, 586 Okinawa, 97–98, 588, 619 Okinawan Americans arts and, 880–883 dance, 881–882 festivals and celebrations, 883–884 foods and cooking, 884–885 history, people, and culture, 877–880 martial arts, 885 music, 882–883, 886–890 religious beliefs, 890–892 speech and language, 892 Okinawan Association of America, 883 Okinawan Festival, 883 Okinawan Peace Network, 879 Okubo, Mine, 611 Omura, James, 586 Ondaatje, Michael, 1067 Ondar (Mongolian singer), 827 One Tribe (Galang), 386 Onon, Urgunge, 811 Ooh-Si (Burmese dance), 142 Opera and opera theaters, 241–246, 285–286 Oral tradition Cambodian Americans, 206 Filipino Americans, 345, 393 folklore and, xxxvi Hmong Americans, 423, 440–442 Laos and, xxxvii Laotian Americans, 744 Malaysian Americans, 794 Mongolian Americans, 828 Pacific Islander Americans, 934. See also Urban legends Ordination, Thai Americans and, 1111, 1114 Oriental Exclusion Act (1924), 614, 632
Orientalism, 73–74, 294–295 Orientalism (Said), 73, 278 Origami, 628–629 Origin of the Vietnamese People, The (Vietnamese folktale), 1186 Origin tales Chinese Americans, 272, 273 Filipino Americans, 342–343, 386–387, 392–393 Hawaiian Natives, 923 Indonesian Americans, 552 Korean Americans, 663 Laotian Americans, 738 mixed race Asian Americans, 91–97 oral tradition and, xxxvii Pacific Islander Americans, 893–894, 920, 921–922, 934 the Philippines and, 364–365 Tibetan Americans, 1147 Vietnamese Americans, 1186, 1189 Orzolek, Karen Lee “Karen O,” 677–678 Otherness, 23–24, 27–28, 73–74, 383 Out marriage, 30 Outmigration, to India, 461 Ovoo (ritual cairn), 841 Pa yao (Laotian clothing), 722 Pacific Imperial pigeons, 936 Pacific Islander Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 899–900 animals, 936 arts and crafts, 900–901 Asian American dating and, 103 clothing and jewelry, 904–906 cultural and community organizations, 937 cultural identity, 930–931 dance, 913–914 death and funeral rituals, 906–907 families and communities, 907–908 festivals and celebrations, 908–910 Fiji and Fijians, 910–911 foods and cooking, 916–917 Guam, 911–913, 917–922 Hawaii and Hawaiian, 922–928, 939–940 heroes and heroines, 928–930 history, people, and culture, 893–899
Index literature, 925–927, 931–932, 934–935, 1235–1236 model minority stereotype and, 71 music, 903–904, 914–915 names and naming practices, 932–933 Polynesians, 938–939 religious beliefs, 940–944 rites of passage, 944–946 Samoa and Samoans, 946–948 speech and language, 935–936 surf and surfing, 948–950 Tahiti and Tahitian, 950–951 traditional medicine, 952–953 World War II, 902–903 Pacific Islander Festival Association, 909 Page Act (1875), 6 Paik, Mary, 695 Pakiksama (hospitality), 395–396, 407 Pakistani Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 960–961 arts and crafts, 961–963 clothing and jewelry, 964–965 cultural identity, 978–980 dance, 971–972 death and funeral rituals, 966–967 families and communities, 967–968 festivals and celebrations, 968–970 foods and cooking, 973–975 heroes and heroines, 975–977 history, people, and culture, 955–960 home decoration, 977–978 literature, 980–982, 983–985 music, 963–964, 972–973 names and naming practices, 982–983 proverbs and maxims, 985–986 religious beliefs, 986–989 rites of passage, 989–991 social etiquette and customs, 991–992 speech and language, 996–997 superstitions and taboos, 992–994 traditional medicine, 994–995 See also Punjabi Americans Pakistani Independence Day, 969, 970 Palau, 897, 933 Palikat, Nicolette Louisa, 786–787 Pan, Christine, 38 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife
Asian Pacific Heritage Month, 63–64 assimilation and, 88–89 Avalokitesvara and, 64–66 children’s literature and, 14–18 families and, 5–10 “Got Rice?” slogan, 66–68 grocery stores and, 21–23 humor and comedy, 23–29 lotus flowers and, 68–69 love and sexuality, 79–84 material culture and, 18–21 model minority stereotype and, 69–71 mother-daughter relationships, 71–73 music and, 1–5 orientalism and, 73–74 popular culture and, 29–34 queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 queer studies and, 41–46 reincarnation and, 74–76 religious studies and, 46–51 root quests and, 76–77 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), 84–86 suicide and, 10–14 swastikas, 86–88 theater and, 51–54 visual culture and, 54–58 youth culture and, 59–62 Pan Asian Theater Company, 53 Pandita, Sakya, 1145 “Panties for Peace” protest, 171 Paper crafts, 720, 855 Paper sons and daughters, 76–77, 224, 303–304 Papua New Guinea, 895 Parents and parenting, 162, 193–194, 253, 709, 1111. See also Children and youth; Families and communities Park, Lena, 677 Park, Linda Sue, 665 Parody, 66–68, 499 Parol (Christmas lanterns), 356 Parrots, 161–162 Parsiism. See Zoroastrianism Pasalong (Laotian clothing), 722 Pashto language, 113 Paternalism, 80 Patriotism, 7
I-35
I-36
Index Pearl Harbor, attack on, 630–631 Pei, I. M., 227 Pele legends, 929 Pengajian (Islamic groups), 556 Penn, Kal, 29–30 Performance arts. See Dance; Theater Personal narratives, 441 Personality traits, Chinese zodiac and, 250–251 Perveen, Abida, 963 Peters, Russell, 25, 32 Phan Boi Chau, 1218 Phi Nhung, 1184–1185 Philippine Independence Day, 355 Philippines, 49, 95, 911–913. See also Filipino Americans Philippines Is in the Heart, The (Bulosan), 385 Philosophy, 48, 253–254, 318–319, 329–330 Phung Thi Chinh, 1214 Picture brides, 569–570, 631–632, 656 Pigeons, 936 Pidgin, 935–936 Pii May Lao (Laotian New Year), 745–746 Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN), 396–398 “Pinoy and Pinay,” 398–399 Playwrights, 51–52 Poetry, 431–432, 547, 616–617, 1169 Poke´mon, 634–636 Pol Pot, 202, 204 Political autonomy, ideal of, 436–437 Political involvement Asian American humor and, 26–27 children’s literature and, 15–17, 115–116 Chinese Americans, 226, 282–283 Filipino Americans, 342, 344–345, 399 “Got Rice?” slogan, 66–68 Japanese Americans, 572–573, 605–606 Korean Americans, 668–669 Malaysian Americans, 761 Pakistani Americans, 958 Pan Asian American label, 30 queer folklore and folklife, 46 Vietnamese Americans, 1199, 1215–1216 Polynesian Cultural Center, 909, 913, 914, 937 Polynesians, 894, 895, 906, 929, 938–939 Pong Choolie, You Rascal! (Crockett), 665 Popular culture
Cambodian Americans, 183 Chinese Americans, 225, 290 Filipino Americans, 340 humor and comedy, 23–29 model minority stereotype and, 69–71 Mongolian Americans, 825–826, 835 Pacific Islander Americans, 903–904 Pakistani Americans, 984 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 29–34 Punjabi Americans, 1042 religious beliefs and, 50 Sri Lankan Americans, 1064 surf and surfing, 949 Vietnamese Americans, 1167, 1183, 1188 youth culture and, 59 Popular music Cambodian Americans, 190, 197 Chinese Americans, 271 Filipino Americans, 361 Hmong Americans, 430, 431, 438 Indian Americans, 475 Japanese Americans, 597 Korean Americans, 677–678, 697 Malaysian Americans, 786–787, 790 Mongolian Americans, 827, 837 Okinawan Americans, 882, 889 Pacific Islander Americans, 915 Pakistani Americans, 963, 964, 971, 972–973 Thai Americans, 1100 Tibetan Americans, 1131, 1141 Vietnamese Americans, 1184–1185 Population. See Demographics Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 201 Postwar period, Japanese Americans and, 573–574, 608–609, 614–615 Pottery and ceramics, 719, 961–962, 1086 Poverty. See Socioeconomic status Power structures, model minority stereotype and, 12–13 PraCh Ly, 8, 202 Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 546 Pran, Dith, 200 Prayer, 122, 350–351, 495, 842, 966 “Princess Bari, the Abandoned Daughter” (Korean folktale), 700
Index “Princess of the Night Rides” (Holt), 926 Professional organizations, Chinese Americans, 227 Pronatalism, 688 Proposal ceremony, 843 Prostitution, 82, 668–669 Protestantism Burmese Americans, 139–140 Filipino Americans, 351, 356–357, 401–402 Indonesian Americans, 554–555 Korean Americans, 49, 669, 670, 690–693 Laotian Americans, 747–748, 749 Malaysian Americans, 801 Pacific Islander Americans, 942, 943 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051–1052 Proverbs and maxims Burmese Americans, 162–163 Cambodian Americans, 207–209 Chinese Americans, 304–305 Filipino Americans, 399–401 Hmong Americans, 441, 443–444 Indian Americans, 501–503 Indonesian Americans, 532, 553–554 Japanese Americans, 586, 636–637 Korean Americans, 700–701 Laotian Americans, 725, 729, 746–747 Malaysian Americans, 798–799 Mongolian Americans, 839–840 Nepali Americans, 866–868 Pakistani Americans, 985–986 Punjabi Americans, 1026–1028 Sri Lankan Americans, 1076–1077 Tibetan Americans, 1148–1149 Vietnamese Americans, 1202–1203 See also Speech and language Proxy weddings, 742 Pujas (shrines), 479–480, 483 Puku’i, Mary Kawena, 929, 930, 939–940 Pungmul dance, 676 Punjabi Americans arts and crafts, 1005–1006 cultural identity, 1021–1022 death and funeral rituals, 1008–1010 families and communities, 1010–1012 festivals and celebrations, 1012–1014 foods and cooking, 1014–1015 heroes and heroines, 1018–1020
history, people, and culture, 999–1005 home decoration, 1005–1006, 1020–1021 literature, 1007–1008, 1023–1024 names and naming practices, 1024–1026 proverbs and maxims, 1026–1028 religious beliefs, 1015–1016, 1028–1030, 1033–1039 religious buildings and worship spaces, 1017–1018 rites of passage, 1030–1033 speech and language, 1041–1042 traditional medicine, 1036–1041 See also Indian Americans; Pakistani Americans Punjabi language, 999, 1000, 1029–1030 Puppet theatre, 143, 197, 522, 523–524, 534, 544–545 Qawwali music, 963, 972 Qazi, Javaid, 981 Qigong (healing), 324 Qing Ming, 238, 261, 305–306, 776 Qipao (Chinese dress), 251–252 Queen’s Birthday (Thailand), 1097 Queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 Queer Pin@ y Conference (QPC), 45–46 Queer studies, 41–46, 83 Quilting, 456–457 Race riots, 658, 673, 693, 1004 Racial discrimination Asian American humor and, 28 children’s literature and, 15 Chinese Americans, 226–227, 287, 291–292 ethnic identity and, 6 Filipino Americans, 334, 398–399 Indian Americans, 461 Japanese Americans, 571, 574, 584, 613 Laotian Americans, 715–716 love and sexuality, 81, 83 in Malaysia, 759–760, 762, 803 Malaysian Americans, 762 orientalism and, 73–74 Pakistani Americans, 958 popular culture and, 30
I-37
I-38
Index Racial discrimination (continued) Punjabi Americans, 1001–1002, 1003–1004, 1010–1011 second and subsequent generations, 7–8 sexuality and, 39–40 Sikhism and, 1018, 1039 Racial hierarchies, interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 Racial purity, myth of, 91–92 Racial slurs, 88–89 Racism, mixed race Asian Americans and, 94 Rajapakse, Mahinda, 1063 Ram Das, Guru, 1035 Rama VI, King, 1105 Ramadan, 122, 969 Ramanathan, Ponnambalam, 1063 Rao, Raja, 484 Rap and hip-hop music Filipino Americans, 360, 361 Japanese Americans, 640–641 Korean Americans, 677, 697 Pacific Islander Americans, 915 Pakistani Americans, 972, 973 Rapanui, 897 “Rasa Sayang” (Malaysian folk song), 769 Ray, Aishwarya, 1064 Redress movement, Japanese Americans, 574–575, 609, 633 Refugee groups Afghan Americans, 108 Cambodian Americans, 179, 180–181, 201–202, 203–204 folklore and, xxxix Hmong Americans, 415, 427–428 immigration and, 7 Indonesian Americans, 518 Laotian Americans, 714, 719, 747 Punjabi Americans, 1002 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046, 1055–1056 Tibetan Americans, 1127, 1136, 1149 Vietnamese Americans, 1159, 1160, 1161, 1162, 1163, 1166–1168, 1178–1179, 1195–1196 Reincarnation Burmese Americans, 133 Cambodian Americans, 191–192
Dalai Lama and, 1133 Laotian Americans, 717–718 Mongolian Americans, 820 Nepali Americans, 857 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 74–76 Tibetan Americans, 1152 Religious beliefs Afghan Americans, 120–123, 125 Avalokitesvara and, 64–66 Burmese Americans, 55–56, 57, 58, 133, 135–137, 156–158, 163–166 Cambodian Americans, 209–212 Chinese Americans, 224–225, 228–229, 253–257, 307–308 Filipino Americans, 334, 355, 356–358, 370, 372–373, 401–403 health and wellness, 13 Hmong Americans, 414, 416–417, 417–418, 432, 445–448, 450–451 Indian Americans, 459–460, 469–470, 473–474, 476, 479–482, 487–488, 501–502, 503–505, 509 Indonesian Americans, 520–522, 528–530, 541, 542, 554–557 Japanese Americans, 583–585, 594, 637–638 Korean Americans, 669–671, 690–693, 701–704 Laotian Americans, 716, 723–724, 747–752 lotus flowers and, 68–69 Malaysian Americans, 760–761, 764–765, 799–803 Mongolian Americans, 815, 820, 823, 835–836, 840–842 Nepali Americans, 852, 854, 860, 865, 868–869 Okinawan Americans, 890–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 899, 919–922, 940–944 Pakistani Americans, 956, 957, 986–989 Punjabi Americans, 999, 1000, 1015–1016, 1022, 1028–1030, 1033–1039 reincarnation and, 74–76 religious architecture and, 20 religious studies and, 46–51
Index sexuality and, 35, 36–37 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), 84–86 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051–1052, 1068–1069, 1071–1074 suicide and, 11 Thai Americans, 1091–1092, 1109–1112 Tibetan Americans, 1133–1134, 1149–1153, 1153–1154 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1174, 1196–1198, 1204–1206 See also Folk religions; Temples and worship spaces Religious buildings and worship spaces, 479–482, 487–488, 494–495, 868, 1017–1018. See also Churches; Mosques; Temples and worship spaces Religious studies, Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 46–51 Religious tolerance, 47 Reluctant Fundamentalist, The (Hamid), 982 Remittances Chinese Americans, 226 Filipino Americans, 339–340 Indonesian Americans, 520 Mongolian Americans, 822 Pacific Islander Americans, 898 Pakistani Americans, 957 Punjabi Americans, 1000 Thai Americans, 1111 Viet Kieu experience, 1219–1220 Reparations, Guam and, 902–903 Repatriations, 202, 218–219, 958 Restaurants Cambodian Americans, 198–199 Chinese Americans, 275–277 Filipino Americans, 363 Indian Americans, 463, 490 Indonesian Americans, 537–538, 557–560, 564 Japanese Americans, 600 Korean Americans, 679 Laotian Americans, 733 Malaysian Americans, 788 Nepali Americans, 852, 864 Okinawan Americans, 885 Pakistani Americans, 975 Punjabi Americans, 999–1000, 1015
Thai Americans, 1083, 1084 Vietnamese Americans, 1187–1188 Return of the Dragon (film), 290 Reverse racism, 82 Reyes, Isabelo de los, 402 Reyes, Severino, 394 Rice-feeding ceremonies, 869 Richmond, W. Edson, xxxv–xxxvi Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (TV show), 45 Rigg, Kate, 26–27 Rites of passage Afghan Americans, 123–126 Burmese Americans, 57, 136, 166–167 Cambodian Americans, 213–214 Chinese Americans, 309–310 Filipino Americans, 348–349, 403–405 Hmong Americans, 440, 448–450 Indian Americans, 505–507 Indonesian Americans, 560–562 Japanese Americans, 638, 639–640 Korean Americans, 704–706 Laotian Americans, 752–754 Malaysian Americans, 804–806 Mongolian Americans, 816–817, 842–844 Nepali Americans, 868, 869–870 Pacific Islander Americans, 944–946 Pakistani Americans, 989–991 Punjabi Americans, 1030–1033 Sri Lankan Americans, 1074–1076 Thai Americans, 1113–1114 Vietnamese Americans, 1206–1208 See also Death and funeral rituals Rituals and ceremonies Burmese Americans, 166–167, 168, 170–171, 172–173 Cambodian Americans, 191–193, 211, 212 Chinese Americans, 229, 238, 266–267, 305–306 Filipino Americans, 350–352, 373–374, 374–376 Indian Americans, 510–511 Indonesian Americans, 521, 522 Japanese Americans, 579–580 Laotian Americans, 739–742, 750–751 Mongolian Americans, 831, 842 Sikhism and, 1038
I-39
I-40
Index Rituals and ceremonies (continued) Sri Lankan Americans, 1074 Thai Americans, 1091 Tibetan Americans, 1152 Vietnamese Americans, 1180, 1209–1210 See also Rites of passage Rizal, Jose, 365, 394 Roberts, Warren, xxxvi Rohmer, Sax, 277 Romance of Three Kingdoms, The, xxxviii–xxxix, 279, 589 Romantic love, 79–80, 984 Roofs and supports, Chinese American architecture and, 326 Root quests, 76–77, 409–410, 685–686, 1022 Ros, Saphan, 187 Rosaries, 350–351, 921 Rosca, Ninotchka, 368–369 Rumi, 986 Russian Mongolians, 812, 813 Ryoan-ji Zen garden, 653 Ryu Gwan-soon, 681 Ryukyu Kingdom, 877 Sacrificial rituals, 375, 378, 426, 442, 983 Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (Coerr), 629 Saed, Aohra, 119 Sai Baba festival, 1058–1059 Said, Edward W., 73, 278 Sa-I-Gu, 658, 693 Saints, feast days of, 336 Saka Dawa festival, 1137 Sakai, Kimiko, 582 Sakya’s Eloquent Advice (Pandita), 1145 Salwar kameez, 466, 964–965, 1053 Samarasan, Preeta, 790 Samoa and Samoans, 893–894, 899, 915, 946–948 Sampot (sarong), 188 San Francisco earthquake, 303 Sand mandalas, 1153–1154 Sansei generation, 7–8, 78 Sanshin (musical instrument), 886, 887, 888 Sanskrit language, 1070, 1071 Santa Marian Kamalin statue, 911, 913, 920
Santo Nin˜o Festival, 405–406 Sargent, Inge, 155 Saris, 466, 1052 Sasaki, Sadako, 629 Satdjadham project, 738 Satire, 142, 143 “Saving face,” 1041–1042 Say, Allen, 17, 582 Schonberg, Claude Michel, 53 Sculpture, 611, 624, 625, 628–629, 854 Seashore Story (Yashima), 598 Season of Grace, A (Gonzalez), 366 Second and subsequent generations Afghan Americans, 109 Burmese Americans, 167–168 Cambodian Americans, 220–221 Chinese Americans, 225, 245, 286, 294, 307–308 Japanese Americans, 570, 571, 623, 642–643, 650 Korean Americans, 691, 692, 698, 706 Laotian Americans, 724, 744 Malaysian Americans, 798, 799, 806 Mongolian Americans, 811, 814–815, 835 Nepali Americans, 859, 874 Okinawan Americans, 888–889 Pacific Islander Americans, 908, 931 Pakistani Americans, 957, 958, 979, 988 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife, 7–8, 8–9, 77–79 Punjabi Americans, 1011 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053–1054, 1066, 1076 Thai Americans, 1083–1084, 1095 Tibetan Americans, 1145 Vietnamese Americans, 1179, 1188, 1196, 1218 youth culture and, 61 Secret History of the Mongols, The, 828 Seeds from a Silent Tree: An Anthology by Korean Adoptees, 685 Segregation, mixed race Asian Americans and, 95–96 Sejong, King, 681 Self-deprecation, 24, 28 Selvadurai, Shyam, 1067 Senanayake, Don Stephen, 1063
Index Senge, Lobsang, 1143 Seo, Dae, 662 Sep Noi music, 431 Sep Nyai music, 431 September 11 terror attacks Afghan Americans, 117–118 Burmese Americans, 151 Filipino Americans, 334 Japanese Americans, 609, 613 Pakistani Americans, 958, 980, 988 Punjabi Americans, 1011 Sepyan (curry), 147 Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories (Yamamoto), 651 Sex trafficking, 200 Sexuality Asian fetish and, 26–27 Chinese American literature and, 256–257 folklore and, xxxvii Hinduism and, 1031 interracial/interethnic marriage, 102–103 Pakistani Americans, 993 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife, 79–84 popular culture and, 32–33 queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 queer studies and, 41–46 Sri Lankan Americans, 1067 Shadow music, 1100 Shah, Idries, 115 Shalsa, Sat Bir, 1040 Shamanism, 414, 445–446, 446–448, 450–451, 704 Shapiro, Sophiline Cheam, 190, 200 Sharma, Akhil, 486 Shea, Peggy Deitz, 422 Sheik, Shaheen, 475 Sherpa people, 860 Shiatsu massage, 648–649 “Shimchong, the Blind Man’s Daughter” (Korean folktale), 700 Shin-byu (rite of passage), 57, 136, 166–167, 172–173 Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike,” 5, 8, 610–611, 640–641 Shintoism, 583, 584, 622, 637, 638 Shiren, Kokan, 652
Shoes, removing, 707, 871, 1115, 1209 Shopping and materialism, 18–21, 21–23 Shurangama Sutra, 64–65 Shwe Hlaing Dwa, 165 Siamese twins, 1081 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). See Buddha; Buddhism Sidhwa, Bapsi, 981 Sikhism children’s literature and, 1007 death and funeral rituals, 1009 festivals and celebrations, 1013 Indian Americans, 470, 476, 503, 504 literature and, 1023–1024 Malaysian Americans, 761 names and naming practices, 1024–1025 Punjabi Americans, 1000, 1010, 1011, 1015–1016, 1022, 1029–1030, 1033–1039 rites of passage, 1032–1033 temples and worship spaces, 1028 Silang, Gabriela, 365 Silk Road, Pakistani folktales and, 984 Singaporean Americans, 763–764 Singh, Baba Deep, 1019 Singh, Bhagat, 1024 Singh, Bhai Mani, 1007, 1019 Singh, Gobind, 1007, 1019, 1024, 1035, 1037 Singh, Jawala, 1004–1005 Singh, Ranjit, 1007 Singh, Udham, 1024 Single Shard, A (Park), 665 Sinh (Laotian skirt), 721–722 Sinhalese people, 1045, 1050–1051, 1063, 1068, 1071 Sirena legend, 929 Skin color, Asian American dating and, 103 Sky burials, 471, 1135, 1152–1153 Slack-key guitars, 901, 927, 928 Slametan (Indonesian death ritual), 530 Slang, 177, 566, 618, 849 Snapshots: This Afghan American Life, 119 Social etiquette and customs Afghan Americans, 109, 111, 123 Burmese Americans, 167–168, 169–170 Cambodian Americans, 207–209, 214–215 Chinese Americans, 254, 311–313 Filipino Americans, 395–396, 406–408, 410
I-41
I-42
Index Social etiquette and customs (continued) Hmong Americans, 452–453 Indian Americans, 508–509 Indonesian Americans, 562–563 Japanese Americans, 579–580, 641–643 Korean Americans, 706–707 Laotian Americans, 754–755, 758 Malaysian Americans, 809 Mongolian Americans, 844–845 Nepali Americans, 870–872 Pacific Islander Americans, 915 Pakistani Americans, 991–992 Punjabi Americans, 1026–1027, 1041–1042 Sikhism, 1017–1018 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1076 Thai Americans, 1114–1116 Tibetan Americans, 1154–1156 Vietnamese Americans, 1208–1209 Social relationships, bowing and, xxxvii–xxxviii Social status Cambodian Americans, 214–215 Filipino Americans, 390 Indonesian Americans, 548–549 Japanese Americans, 641 marriage and, 100 mixed race Asian Americans, 95 Nepali Americans, 859 Pacific Islander Americans, 949 Sri Lankan Americans, 1070 visual culture and, 58 Social stigma, suicide and, 11 Social technologies, 30–31, 50 Social welfare activities, 49–50, 150, 307–308, 460–461 Socializing, 22–23, 460, 725, 823–824 Society Islands. See Tahiti and Tahitian Socioeconomic status Cambodian Americans, 181–182, 194–195 Chinese Americans, 225–226 Filipino Americans, 334 Hmong Americans, 436 Indian Americans, 461, 466, 488, 490 Malaysian Americans, 761 Pacific Islander Americans, 898, 951 Pakistani Americans, 957 Sri Lankan Americans, 1056–1057
Vietnamese Americans, 1161–1162, 1163, 1196 Sodhi, Balbir Singh, 1039 Soka Gakkai International (SGI), 637–638 Solomon Islands, 933 Song, Cathy, 695 Soul-calling, 447 South Asian Americans, 87, 96, 103. See also Indian Americans; Pakistani Americans South Asian culture, 113 Soviet Union, Afghanistan and, 107 Spagnoli, Cathy, 186–187, 205 Spanish influences, Filipino Americans, 333, 362–363, 389–390, 391 Speech and language Burmese Americans, 176–177 Cambodian Americans, 207–209, 219–221 Chinese Americans, 233–234, 246–247, 324–325 Hmong Americans, 457–458 Indian Americans, 512–513 Indonesian Americans, 566–567 Japanese Americans, 642, 649–651 Korean Americans, 710–711 Laotian Americans, 757–758 Malaysian Americans, 808–809 Mongolian Americans, 848–849 Nepali Americans, 873–875 Okinawan Americans, 892 Pacific Islander Americans, 935–936 Pakistani Americans, 996–997 Punjabi Americans, 1022, 1041–1042 Thai Americans, 1122–1125 Tibetan Americans, 1157–1158 Vietnamese Americans, 1215–1218 See also Proverbs and maxims Spices Burmese American foods and, 147 Cambodian American foods and, 198 Filipino American foods and, 378 Hmong Americans, 433, 434 Indonesian Americans, 559–560 Nepali Americans, 864 Pakistani Americans, 974 Punjabi Americans, 1014 Sri Lankan Americans, 1062
Index Spirits Burmese Americans, 133–134, 141–142, 152, 156, 157–158, 169 Cambodian Americans, 210–211 Chinese Americans, 260–261 Filipino Americans, 336–337, 351, 372–373, 385–386, 393 Hmong Americans, 414, 416–417, 417–418, 425, 426, 442–443 Indian Americans, 461–462, 509 Indonesian Americans, 520–521, 522, 552, 563 Japanese Americans, 573, 576–577, 594, 622, 623, 644 Korean Americans, 708 Laotian Americans, 716, 718–719, 723–724, 726, 754 Malaysian Americans, 775 Mongolian Americans, 821, 838 Thai Americans, 1085 Spiritual healing, 408–409 Sports Burmese Americans, 130–131 Japanese Americans, 602–603 Malaysian Americans, 790 martial arts, 248–249, 290, 618–619, 689–690, 731, 885 Mongolian Americans, 814, 824, 833 Pacific Islander Americans, 948–950 Pakistani Americans, 975 Sri Lankan Americans caste system, 1049–1051 clothing and jewelry, 1053–1054 cultural identity, 1064–1066 dance, 1059–1061 death and funeral rituals, 1054–1055 families and communities, 1055–1057 festivals and celebrations, 1058–1059 foods and cooking, 1061–1062 heroes and heroines, 1063–1064 history, people, and culture, 1043–1047 home decoration, 1048–1049 literature, 1066–1067 names and naming practices, 1069–1071 proverbs and maxims, 1076–1077 religious beliefs, 1051–1052, 1068–1069, 1071–1074
rites of passage, 1074–1076 traditional medicine, 1078–1079 St. Malo, Louisiana, 388 “Star Maiden, The” (Filipino folktale), 1226–1227 Step from Heaven, A (Na), 665 Stereotypes Afghan Americans, 112–113 children’s literature and, 15 Chinese American literature and, 256–257 Chinese Americans, 226–227, 277–278 gay men and, 38 humor and comedy, 23–24, 25, 26 Japanese Americans, 604 model minority stereotype and, 69–71 popular culture and, 30, 32 Sri Lankan Americans, 1069 theatre and, 53 Stone Goddess, The (Ho), 205 Story cloths, xxxviii, 453–455, 456 Storytelling festivals, 932 Street food vendors, 559 Student groups, 763–764, 782, 853, 959, 988, 1143 Student immigrants, 813, 822, 1081, 1095, 1159–1160 Studying abroad, Malaysian Americans and, 806 Submission of Rose Moy, The (Li), 51 Suematsu, Dyske, 34 Sufism, 963, 984, 986, 988–989 Sugar industry, 331–332, 601–602, 656 Sugita de Queiroz, Chizuko, 611 Suharto, 538, 541 Suicide, 10–14 Sukarno, 538, 539–540, 541 Sukarnoputri, Megawati, 542 Sukhbaatar, D., 832 Suleri, Sara, 981 Sumo wrestling, 833 “Sun and Moon, The” (Korean folktale), 699–700 Superstitions and taboos Burmese Americans, 169–171 Cambodian Americans, 205, 215 Chinese zodiac and, 251 Hawaiian Natives, 924
I-43
I-44
Index Superstitions and taboos (continued) Indian Americans, 509–510 Indonesian Americans, 549, 562–563 Japanese Americans, 643–644 Korean Americans, 672, 707–709 Laotian Americans, 754–755 Malaysian Americans, 806–807 Mongolian Americans, 816, 838, 844, 845–846, 847 Nepali Americans, 871–872 Okinawan Americans, 891–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 942, 949 Pakistani Americans, 960–961, 992–994 Thai Americans, 1115–1116, 1119 Vietnamese Americans, 1209–1211 See also Ghosts and the supernatural Surf and surfing, 948–950 Suriyothai, Somdet Phra Sri, 1103 Surnames, 837–838, 983, 1105, 1146, 1202. See also Names and naming practices Sushi, 599, 600 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 542 Swastikas, 86–88, 483 Swin Tien Lo Company, 241 Symbols and slogans, 66–68, 86–88, 483 Taarof (hospitality), 109 Tae kwon do, 689 Tagalog language, 371, 409, 410 Tagawa, Cary, 610 Taglish, 410 Tahiti and Tahitian, 897, 950–951 Tai chi, 249, 255 Taiko drumming, 595–596, 610, 644–646 Taiwanese Americans, 313–316 Taj Mahal, 483 Tajiri, Satoshi, 635 Tale of Kieu, The (Nguyen), 1219 Tales of Chinese Children (Far), 14 Taliban, Afghanistan and, 107 Tamil people caste system and, 1050 death and funeral rituals, 1054–1055 heroes and heroines, 1063 immigration and, 1056–1057 Muslim Sri Lankans and, 1068 names and naming practices, 1070
proverbs and maxims, 1076 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1065–1066 Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), 1044, 1045, 1065–1066 Tan, Amy, 33, 71, 227, 246, 316–318 Tanabata celebration, 598 Tanaka, Seiichi, 646 Tantric Buddhism. See Vajrayana Buddhism Taoism Chinese Americans, 307, 318–319, 324 feng shui and, 266 Filipino Americans, 334 Japanese Americans, 622–623 Malaysian Americans, 764–765, 766, 802–803 sexuality and, 36 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1197, 1204 yin and yang, 329–330 Tarian lilin (Malaysian dance), 784 Tatami mats, 646–647 Tatara, K. T., 26 Tathagata Meditation Centre, 164 Tattoos, xxxvii, 900 Tea, 148, 734, 829, 974, 1078, 1141 Tea ceremony (chanoyu), 579–580 Tegh Bahadur, Guru, 1019, 1035 Television, 28, 29–30, 32, 290, 1094 Temples and worship spaces Burmese Americans, 136, 164, 172–173 Cambodian Americans, 183, 194, 211–212 Chinese Americans, 231–233, 255, 254–255, 313–316, 326 Indian Americans, 478, 479–482, 487–488, 496 Japanese Americans, 638 Laotian Americans, 728–729, 749 Mongolian Americans, 840–841 Nepali Americans, 869 Pacific Islander Americans, 941 Punjabi Americans, 1005, 1011, 1017–1018 Sikhism, 1028 Sri Lankan Americans, 1072–1073, 1073–1074 Thai Americans, 1088–1089, 1089–1090, 1096, 1108, 1110
Index Vietnamese Americans, 1205–1206 See also Churches; Mosques “Ten Suns, The” (Chinese legend), 298 Teng, Vienna, 271 Tenglish language, 1123 “Tepuk Amai-Amai” (Malaysian folk song), 769 Terrence, Krissada, 1100 Tet festival, 1172, 1180, 1184, 1192, 1210–1211, 1211–1213 Tethong, Lhadon, 1143 Textiles Burmese Americans, 133–134 Cambodian Americans, 188 Filipino Americans, 338, 347, 380 Hmong Americans, 415, 418–420, 453–455, 455–458 Indonesian Americans, 523, 526–528 Malaysian Americans, 774 Mongolian Americans, 833–834 Pacific Islander Americans, 904–905 Pakistani Americans, 962 Punjabi Americans, 1006 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048–1049 Thai Americans, 1086 Tibetan Americans, 1129 See also Clothing and jewelry Thai Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 1084–1085 clothing and jewelry, 1087–1088 cultural identity, 1103–1104 dance, 1098–1099, 1116–1120 death and funeral rituals, 1092–1093 ethnic communities, 1120–1121 families and communities, 1088–1090, 1095–1096 festivals and celebrations, 1096–1098 foods and cooking, 1101–1102 heroes and heroines, 1102–1103 history, people, and culture, 1081–1084 home decoration, 1085–1086 literature, 1086–1087, 1106–1109 mass media, 1093–1094 music, 1099–1101, 1116–1120 names and naming practices, 1105–1106 religious beliefs, 1091–1092, 1109–1112
rites of passage, 1113–1114 social etiquette and customs, 1114–1116 speech and language, 1122–1125 traditional medicine, 1121 Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC), 1121 Thai language, 757, 1103, 1104, 1123, 1124 Thai Town, 1096, 1120–1121 Thaiglish language, 1124 Thailand, 35–36, 414–415, 733 Tham, Hilary, 790, 794–795 Thant, U, 149, 155 Thao with the Get Down Stay Down (musical group), 1184 Theater Cambodian Americans, 190 Chinese Americans, 241–246, 269–270, 285–286, 294–295 Filipino Americans, 396–398 Indian Americans, 486 Indonesian Americans, 534–535, 544–545 Japanese Americans, 596, 610, 618, 628 the Monkey King and, 297 Pacific Islander Americans, 932 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 51–54 Punjabi Americans, 1015–1016 Sri Lankan Americans, 1061 Theravada Buddhism, 1150 Burmese Americans, 136, 156–157, 171 Cambodian Americans, 191, 202, 210 Laotian Americans, 718, 723, 746, 748, 749–750, 750–751 Sri Lankan Americans, 1072 Thai Americans, 1110 visual culture and, 55, 56 Thoms, William, xxxv “Three Feats of Strength, The” (Guamanian folktale), 934 Threshold designs, Indian Americans and, 510–511 Throat-singing, 826, 836 Thumbun (making merit), 1083, 1085, 1091, 1097 Tianhou/Mazu, 315, 316, 320–322 Tibet, Mongolia and, 846–847 Tibetan Americans arts and crafts, 1128–1130
I-45
I-46
Index Tibetan Americans (continued) clothing and jewelry, 1131–1132 cultural identity, 1144–1145 dance, 1138–1140 death and funeral rituals, 1134–1135 families and communities, 1135–1137 festivals and celebrations, 1137–1138 foods and cooking, 1141–1142 heroes and heroines, 1142–1143 history, people, and culture, 1127–1128 literature, 1145–1146, 1147–1148 music, 1130–1131, 1140–1141 names and naming practices, 1146–1147 proverbs and maxims, 1148–1149 religious beliefs, 1133–1134, 1149–1153, 1153–1154 social etiquette and customs, 1154–1156 speech and language, 1157–1158 traditional medicine, 1156–1157 Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom (TCCW), 841–842 Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), 1139 Tibeto-Burman foodways, 147 Tiger Tales: Hmong Folktales, 423 Tiger’s Daughter, The (Mukherjee), 492 Tihar (Nepali festival), 860 Tikki Tikki Tembo (Mosel), 272 Tilhari (Nepali wedding necklace), 856 Tirupati Temple, 481 Toelken, Barre, xxxv, 237 Toki, Higa, 883 Tonga, 900, 915 Tongan Americans, 944 Touring theater companies, 242, 285–286 Tourism, 937, 951 Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), 174 Traditional medicine Burmese Americans, 152–153, 173–176 Cambodian Americans, 216–217 Chinese Americans, 322–324 Filipino Americans, 408–409 Hmong Americans, 418, 440, 446, 450–451 Indian Americans, 462, 463–465, 511–512 Indonesian Americans, 563–565 Japanese Americans, 647–649 Korean Americans, 709–710 Laotian Americans, 755–756
Mongolian Americans, 815, 846–848 Nepali Americans, 872–873 Okinawan Americans, 884–885 Pacific Islander Americans, 918–919 Pakistani Americans, 994–995 Punjabi Americans, 1036–1041 Sri Lankan Americans, 1062, 1078–1079 Thai Americans, 1121 Tibetan Americans, 1156–1157 Tran, Truong Van, 1215–1216 Tran Ham, 1167, 1190–1191 Tran Trong Kim, 1218 Transgendered persons, 35–36, 39 Transliteration, of Chinese names, 299, 300 Transnationalism children’s literature and, 17 Filipino Americans, 399 grocery stores and, 22 Hmong Americans, 436 Indian Americans, 476 Japanese American National Museum, 612 religious beliefs and, 50 youth culture and, 61 Transportation, 384, 452, 871–872 Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book (Kingston), 289, 294, 296, 303 “Troubled” youth, 60 Truc Ho, 1167 Trung sisters, 1213–1215 Truong Van Tran incident, 1215–1216 Tsagang Sar (Mongolian New Year), 823–824 Tsam (Mongolian dance), 825 Tsampa (barley flour), 1141 “Tum Teav” (Cambodian folktale), 206 Turbans, 1027 Turntablism/mobile DJs, 359–361 “Twin laws of folklore,” 237 “Twinkies,” “Bananas,” and “Coconuts,” xxxix, 88–89, 224, 685 “Two Ladies Trung, The” (Vietnamese folktale), 1236–1239 Two Rice Cakes, The (Vietnamese folktale), 1186 Tzu Chi Compassion Relief Society (Ciji), 314–315 Uchida, Yoshiko, 582, 617 Uchinaguchi language, 877, 892
Index Uegaki, Chieri, 582 Ukuleles, 927–928 Unani medicine, 1040 Under the Starfruit Tree (Vietnamese folktale), 1185–1186 Ung, Luong, 205 United States, Pacific Islands and, 895–896, 896–897, 902–903, 947–948 Uno, Roberta, 52 Upadhyay, Samrat, 854 Urban legends, xxxix, 217–219, 238–241 Urdu language, 996 U-Shway Yoe (Burmese dance), 142 Utada, Hikaru, 597, 603 Vajrayana Buddhism, 171, 1134, 1150, 1151–1152 Values, 325, 395–396, 551, 552. See also Social etiquette and customs Vampires, xxxvii Vang Pao, 435 Vanuatu, 895 Ve Van Dan Viet (The Pride of the Vietnamese), 1164 Vedic literature, 489, 502, 857 Vegetarianism, 1014 Velarde, Mike, 402 Ventura, Cassandra (Cassie), 361 Verghese, Abraham, 486 Video games, xxxviii–xxxix, 279, 589, 634–636 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnam War Amerasians and, 97 Cambodian Americans, 179 Hmong Americans, 414–415 Laos and, 713–714 Laotian Americans, 736, 744 Vietnamese American literature and, 1199–1201 Vietnamese Americans, 1159, 1190 Vietnam War Memorial, 291–292 Vietnamese Amerasian Homecoming Act (1988), 98 Vietnamese Americans arts and crafts, 1165–1166 Asian American dating and, 103
clothing and jewelry, 1170–1171 cultural identity, 1195–1196 dance, 1181–1184 death and funeral rituals, 1174–1177 ethnic communities, 1198–1199 families and communities, 1177–1179 festivals and celebrations, 1179–1181, 1211–1213 foods and cooking, 1187–1188 heroes and heroines, 1189–1191, 1213–1215 history, people, and culture, 1159–1165 home decoration, 1191–1192 Hurricane Katrina and, 1193–1195 literature, 1185–1187, 1199–1201, 1236–1239 music, 1168–1169, 1184–1185 names and naming practices, 1201–1202 proverbs and maxims, 1202–1203 refugee groups, 1166–1168 religious beliefs, 1171–1174, 1196–1198, 1204–1206 rites of passage, 1206–1208 social etiquette and customs, 1208–1209 speech and language, 1215–1218 superstitions and taboos, 1209–1211 Truong Van Tran incident, 1215–1216 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnamese language, 1216–1218 Virgin ghost folktales, 660 Virgin Mary, 920, 921 Filipino Americans, 365 Vishnu, reincarnation and, 75 Visibility, queerness and, 44 Visual arts Burmese Americans, 131 calligraphy, 246–247 Cambodian Americans, 186 Chinese Americans, 231, 284 Filipino Americans, 380 Hmong Americans, 453–455, 456 Indian Americans, 483, 510–511 Japanese Americans, 611 Korean Americans, 661–662 Laotian Americans, 720 Nepali Americans, 855 Pakistani Americans, 977–978
I-47
I-48
Index Visual arts (continued) Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 54–58 queer folklore and folklife, 38 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048 Tibetan Americans, 1129 Vietnamese Americans, 1191 Voices of Vietnamese Boat People (Cargill and Huynh), 1167 “Vorvong and Sorvong” (Cambodian folktale), 206 Voting rights, Samoa and, 948 Wahid, 542 Waiting (Jin), 281 Wakahiro, Shoichi, 633 Wall, Lina Mao, 186–187, 205 Wallace, Stewart, 246 Wandering Souls Day, 1180, 1210 Wang, Wayne, 82 War babies, 93–94, 97–98 War brides, 657, 878, 889, 1082 War Brides Act (1945), 6, 237 War crimes, 203–204, 668–669 War dances, 381–382 War of 1812, 388 Watada, Ehren, 626–627 Water buffalo, Guam and, 912–913 Water puppets, 1165 Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose, 1167 Wat Thai temple, 1090, 1109, 1110 Wayang (shadow puppets), 534–535, 544–545 Wedding ceremonies Afghan Americans, 124–126 Burmese Americans, 167, 168, 170–171 Cambodian Americans, 188, 213–214 Chinese Americans, 252, 310 Filipino Americans, 381, 405 Hmong Americans, 432 Indian Americans, 466, 477, 507 Indonesian Americans, 561 Japanese Americans, 639 Korean Americans, 683, 704–705 Laotian Americans, 722, 737, 739–742, 753 Malaysian Americans, 804, 805
Mongolian Americans, 818, 843 Nepali Americans, 856, 862, 868, 870 Pacific Islander Americans, 944, 946 Pakistani Americans, 965, 992 Punjabi Americans, 1006, 1032–1033, 1042 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053, 1075 Thai Americans, 1113 Vietnamese Americans, 1170, 1171, 1207 See also Marriage Wells, Claudia, 790 Western cultures love and sexuality, 80, 81 myth of racial purity and, 91–92 orientalism and, 73–74 queer studies and, 43 “Twinkies,” “Bananas,” and “Coconuts,” 88–89 Western folktales, Malaysian Americans and, 797–798 Western medicine Indian Americans, 471 Indonesian Americans, 564, 565 Nepali Americans, 873 Pacific Islander Americans, 952 Pakistani Americans, 994, 995 Punjabi Americans, 1040 Sri Lankan Americans, 1078 Tibetan Americans, 1157 Western music, 2, 4 Whaling industry, Pacific Islands and, 896 Whispering Cloth, The (Shea), 422 White Americans, interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 White disease, myth of, 37 Who Killed Vincent Chin (film), 236 Widow ghosts, 1107 Widows, 907, 966, 1075 Wife (Mukherjee), 492 Wilson, Willard, 51, 54 Woman from Hiroshima, The (Mori), 620 Woman Warrior, The (Kingston), 71, 263–264, 288–289, 293, 302–303 Women. See Gender roles Wong, Anna May, 32 Wong, B. D., 52 Wong, Francis, 271 Wong, Jade Snow, 293
Index Wong, Kenneth, 155 Wong, Kristina, 34, 101 Wong, Shawn, 293 Wood carving, 523, 719, 854, 1005–1006 Woodblock prints, 1165–1166 “Woodcutter’s Family, The” (Korean folktale), 1232–1233 “World music,” 3–4 World War II Daniel K. Inouye and, 605 Filipino Americans, 332, 368 Japanese American internment camps, 606–610 Japanese American National Museum and, 613 Japanese Americans, 571–572, 585–587, 602, 626–627, 630–631 Korean Americans, 668–669 Malaysian Americans, 794 Mongolian Americans, 812 Pacific Islander Americans, 902–903 Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival, 879 Worship. See Religious beliefs; Temples and worship spaces Writers. See Literature Writing systems, 420, 423, 757–758, 1217–1218 Wu long (Malaysian dance), 784 Wu shi (Malaysian dance), 784 Xieng Mieng stories, 738 Xiong, Ia, 422 Xiong, Tou Ger, 27 Yakudoshi (bad years), 639 Yamamoto, Hisaye, 602, 618, 651–652
Yamasaki, Minoru, 602 Yamashita, Yoshitsugu, 619 Yamauchi, Wakako, 617 Yan, Sophie, 271 Yang, Gene Luen, 74, 296–297 Yang, Heesung, 661–662 Yang, Jerry, 227 Yangge dances, 270 Yashima, Taro, 617 Yellow Turban Rebellion, 279 Yellowface, actors and, 32 Yeoh, Michelle, 790 Yep, Laurence, 294 Yike theater, 190 Yin and yang, 329–330 Yoder, Don, xxxvi Yoga, 512, 1040 Yokai (spirits), 576–577 Yolk magazine, 66–67 Yoo, Paula, 665 Youth culture, 45–46, 59–62, 183, 184. See also Children and youth YouTube, 184 Yuri origami, 629 Yusuf, Hamza, 976 Zapin (Malaysian dance), 783–784 Zeba magazine, 119 Zen gardens, 652–653 Zodiac, Chinese Americans and, 250–251 Zoning laws, 211–212 Zorig, S., 832 Zoroastrianism, 471, 503, 504, 507, 987
I-49
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASIAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE AND FOLKLIFE
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASIAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE AND FOLKLIFE Volume Three
Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau, Editors
Copyright 2011 by Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Encyclopedia of Asian American folklore and folklife / Jonathan H. X. Lee and Kathleen M. Nadeau, editors. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5 (hard copy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-35067-2 (ebook) 1. Asian Americans—Folklore—Encyclopedias. 2. Asian Americans—Social life and customs— Encyclopedias. I. Lee, Jonathan H. X. II. Nadeau, Kathleen M., 1952– GR111.A75E63 2011 398.20 08995073—dc22 2010030699 ISBN: 978-0-313-35066-5 EISBN: 978-0-313-35067-2 15 14 13 12 11
1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America
CONTENTS
VOLUME ONE Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Asian American Folklore and Folklife PAN ASIAN AMERICANS
xxix xxxiii xxxv 1
Asian American Ethnomusicology and Folklore
1
Asian American Family, Memory, and Folklore
5
Asian American Female Suicide and Folklore
10
Asian American Folklore and Children’s Literature
14
Asian American Folklore, Folklife, and Material Culture
18
Asian American Grocery Stores
21
Asian American Humor and Folklore
23
Asian American Popular Culture and Folklore
29
Asian American Queer Folklore and Folklife
35
Asian American Queer Studies and Folklore
41
Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore
46
Asian American Theater and Folklore
51
Asian American Visual Culture and Folklore
54
Asian American Youth Culture and Folklore
59
Asian Pacific Heritage Month
63
Avalokitesvara
64
“Got Rice?”
66
Lotus Flower
68
Model Minority
69
Mother-Daughter Narrative in Asian American Literature
71
Orientalism and Folklore
73
Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions
74
Root Quest
76
v
vi
Contents
Second and Subsequent Generations
77
Sexuality, Love, and Folklore in Asian America
79
Siddhartha Gautama (c. 6th–5th Centuries BCE)
84
Swastika
86
“Twinkie,” “Banana,” “Coconut”
88
MIXED HERITAGE, MIXED RACE ASIAN AMERICANS
91
Myths of Origin
91
Amerasians
97
Hapa and Folklore
98
Interracial/Interethnic Marriage and Romance AFGHAN AMERICANS
100 105
History, People, and Culture
105
Culture and Language
110
Folk Dance, Folklore, and Children’s Tales
114
Identity
117
Religion
120
Rites of Passage
123
BURMESE AMERICANS
127
History, People, and Culture
127
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
133
Arts and Crafts
134
Domestic Religious Practices
135
Dying and Death Rituals
137
Festivals and Holidays
138
Folk Dance and Performance
141
Folk Music
144
Folktales
145
Foods and Foodways
146
Heroes and Heroines
148
Home Decoration
151
Humoral Medicine and Spirit Beliefs
152
Identity
153
Literature and Folklore
154
Contents
Mythological and Legendary Deities
156
Names and Name Giving
158
Nature and Animals
160
Proverbs and Maxims
162
Religion
163
Rites of Passage
166
Social Etiquette and Customs
167
Superstition and Taboo
169
Temples
172
Traditional Medicine and Healing
173
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
176
CAMBODIAN AMERICANS
179
History, People, and Culture
179
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decorations
185
Children’s Folklore
186
Clothes and Jewelry
188
Dance, Music, and Performance
189
Dying and Death Rituals
191
Family and Community
193
Festivals and Holidays
195
Folk Music
196
Foods and Foodways
198
Heroes and Heroines
199
Identity
201
“The Killing Fields”
202
Literature
204
Names and Name Giving
205
Narrative Folktales
206
Proverbs and Maxims
207
Religion
209
Rites of Passage
213
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
214
Traditional Medicine and Healing
216
vii
viii
Contents
Urban Legends
217
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
219
CHINESE AMERICANS
223
History, People, and Culture
223
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
228
Arts and Crafts
230
Bok Kai Temple and Parade
231
Children’s Folk Songs
233
Chin, Vincent (1955–1982)
234
Chinatown
236
Chinatown Ghost Stories
238
Chinatown Opera Theaters
241
Chinese Calligraphy
246
Chinese Martial Arts
248
Chinese Zodiac
250
Clothes and Jewelry
251
Confucian Traditions
253
Domestic Religious Practices
254
Donald Duk (Frank Chin) (1991)
256
Dying and Death Rituals
257
Fa Mu Lan
263
Family and Community
264
Feng Shui/Geomancy
266
Festivals and Holidays
267
Folk Dances and Performances
269
Folk Music
270
Folklore in Children’s Literature
272
Foods and Foodways
274
Fortune Cookie
276
Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan
277
Guandi
278
Ha Jin (1956–)
281
Heroes and Heroines
282
Contents
Home Decoration
283
Hong Fook Tong
285
Identity
286
Kingston, Maxine Hong (1940–)
288
Lee, Bruce (1940–1973)
290
Lin, Maya Ying (1959–)
291
Literature and Folklore
292
M. Butterfly
294
The Monkey King (Sun Wukong)
296
Mythological and Legendary Deities
297
Names and Name Giving
299
Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant (Honolulu)
300
Narrative Folktale
302
Paper Sons/Paper Daughters
303
Proverbs and Maxims
304
Qing Ming
305
Religion
307
Rites of Passage
309
Social Etiquette and Customs
311
Taiwanese American Religious Temples
313
Tan, Amy (1952–)
316
Taoism
318
Tianhou/Mazu
319
Traditional Medicine and Healing
322
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
324
Vernacular Overseas Chinese Architecture
325
Yin and Yang
328
FILIPINO AMERICANS
331
History, People, and Culture
331
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
336
Arts and Crafts
337
Balikbayan Boxes
339
Beauty Pageants
341
ix
x
Contents
Beauty Standards
342
Bulosan, Carlos (1911–1956)
344
Children’s and Folk Song
345
Clothes and Jewelry
346
Debutantes
348
Dying and Death Rituals
350
Family and Community
353
Festivals and Holidays
355
Filipino American Churches
356
Filipino American National Historical Society
358
Filipino Turntablism/Mobile DJs
359
Folk Music
361
Foods and Foodways
362
Gender Folklore
364
Gonzalez, N. V. M. (1915–1999)
366
Heroes and Heroines
368
Home Decoration
369
Identity
370
Igorot Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
372
Igorot Balikbayans
373
Igorot Dying and Death Rituals
374
Igorot Family and Community
376
Igorot Foods and Foodways
377
Igorot Home Decoration
379
Indigenous Folk Dance and Performance
380
Indigenous Identity
383
Jeepneys
384
Literature and Folklore
385
Malakas at Maganda
386
Manilamen
387
Mestizaje
389
Names and Name Giving
391
Narrative Folklore
392
Pakikisama
395
Contents
Pilipino Cultural Night
396
Pinoy and Pinay
398
Proverbs and Maxims
399
Religion
401
Rites of Passage
403
Santo Nin˜o Festival
405
Social Etiquette and Customs
406
Traditional Medicine and Healing
408
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
409
Index
I-1
VOLUME TWO HMONG AMERICANS
413
History, People, and Culture
413
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
417
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
418
Bride Capture
421
Children’s Literature and Folktales
423
Clothes and Jewelry
424
Dying and Death Rituals
425
Family and Community
427
Festivals and Holidays
429
Folk Music
430
Folk Songs
431
Foods and Foodways
433
Heroes and Heroines
434
Identity
435
Music
437
Names and Name Giving
439
Narrative/Oral Folktale
440
Nature and Animals
442
Proverbs and Maxims
443
Religion
445
xi
xii
Contents
Rites of Passage
448
Shamanism
450
Social Etiquette and Customs
452
Story Cloths
453
Textiles
455
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
457
INDIAN AMERICANS
459
History, People, and Culture
459
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
461
Ayurveda
463
Children’s Folk Songs
465
Clothes and Jewelry
466
Dance
467
Domestic Religious Practices
469
Dying and Death Rituals
470
Festivals and Holidays
472
Folk Music
474
Foods and Foodways
475
Henna
477
Heroes and Heroines
478
Hindu Temples in America
479
Home Decoration
482
Indian American Writers
484
Jain Temples
487
Literature and Folklore
489
Little India
490
Mukherjee, Bharati (1940–)
492
Muslim Mosques
494
Mythological Hindu Deities
495
Names and Name Giving
497
Narrative Folktale
499
Nature and Animals
500
Proverbs and Maxims
501
Contents
Religion
503
Rites of Passage
505
Social Etiquette and Customs
508
Superstition and Taboo
509
Threshold Designs
510
Traditional Medicine and Healing
511
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
512
INDONESIAN AMERICANS
515
History, People, and Culture
515
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
520
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
523
Children’s Folk Songs
524
Clothes and Jewelry
526
Dying and Death Rituals
528
Family and Community
531
Festivals and Holidays
532
Folk Dance and Performance
534
Foods and Foodways
536
Heroes and Heroines
538
Identity
540
Javanese Puppets
544
Literature and Folklore
545
Names and Name Giving
548
Narrative Folklore
551
Proverbs and Maxims
553
Religion
554
Restaurants and Cuisine
557
Rites of Passage
560
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
562
Traditional Medicine and Healing
563
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
566
JAPANESE AMERICANS History, People, and Culture
569 569
xiii
xiv
Contents
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
576
Arts and Crafts
577
Chanoyu (Japanese Tea Ceremony)
579
Cherry Blossom Festival
580
Children’s Literature and Songs
581
Domestic Religious Practices
583
Draft Resisters during World War II
585
Dying and Death Rituals
587
Dynasty Warriors
589
Family and Community
590
Festivals and Holidays
591
Floral Arrangements
593
Folk Dance and Performance
595
Folk Music
596
Folktales
597
Foods and Foodways
599
Hawaii Sugar Plantation
601
Heroes and Heroines
602
Identity
603
Inouye, Daniel K. (1924–)
605
Internment Camps
606
Japanese American Artists
610
Japanese American National Museum
611
Japantown
614
Lemon Notebook (Remoncho)
615
Literature and Folklore
617
Martial Arts
618
Mori, Toshio (1910–1980)
620
Names and Name Giving
621
Nature and Animals
622
Noguchi, Isamu (1904–1988)
624
No-No Boys
626
Okada, John (1923–1971)
627
Origami
628
Contents
Pearl Harbor
630
Picture Bride/Shashin Hanayome
631
Pilgrimage to Japanese American Internment Sites
632
Poke´mon
634
Proverbs and Maxims
636
Religion
637
Rites of Passage
639
Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike” (1977–)
640
Social Etiquette and Customs
641
Superstition and Taboo
643
Taiko Performance
644
Tatami
646
Traditional Medicine and Healing
647
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
649
Yamamoto, Hisaye (1921–)
651
Zen Garden
652
KOREAN AMERICANS
655
History, People, and Culture
655
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
660
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
661
Children and Folk Song
663
Children’s Literature and Folklore
664
Clothes and Jewelry
666
Comfort Women
668
Domestic Religious Practices
669
Dying and Death Rituals
671
Family and Community
673
Festivals and Holidays
674
Folk Dance and Performance
675
Folk Music
677
Foods and Foodways
678
Heroes and Heroines
680
Identity
682
xv
xvi
Contents
Korean American Adoptee Film
683
Korean American Adoptee Literature
685
Korean American Adoptees
687
Korean American Martial Arts
689
Korean Church in America
690
Koreatown and Koreans Living Overseas
693
Literature
694
Music
696
Names and Name Giving
698
Narrative Folklore
699
Proverbs and Maxims
700
Religion
701
Rites of Passage
704
Social Etiquette and Customs
706
Superstition and Taboo
707
Traditional Medicine and Healing
709
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
710
LAOTIAN AMERICANS
713
History, People, and Culture
713
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
717
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
719
Children’s Folk Song
720
Clothes
721
Domestic Religious Practices
723
Dying and Death Rituals
725
Family and Community
727
Festivals and Holidays
729
Folk Dance and Performance
730
Foods and Foodways
732
Heroes and Heroines
734
Identity
735
Jewelry
736
Literature and Folklore
737
Contents
Marriage Rituals
739
Names and Name Giving
742
Narrative Folktale
744
Pii May Lao or Lao New Year
745
Proverbs and Maxims
746
Religion
747
Rites of Passage
752
Social Etiquette and Customs
754
Traditional Medicine and Healing
755
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
757
MALAYSIAN AMERICANS
759
History, People, and Culture
759
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
764
Children and Folk Song
768
Clothes and Jewelry
771
Dying and Death Rituals
774
Family and Community
778
Festivals and Holidays
781
Folk Dance and Performance
783
Folk Music
786
Foods and Foodways
787
Heroes and Heroines
789
Home Decoration
791
Identity
792
Literature and Folklore
793
Names and Name Giving
795
Narrative Folklore
796
Proverbs and Maxims
798
Religion
799
Rites of Passage
804
Superstition and Taboo
806
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
808
Index
I-1
xvii
xviii
Contents
VOLUME THREE MONGOLIAN AMERICANS
811
History, People, and Culture
811
Children
816
Clothes and Jewelry
818
Dying and Death Rituals
820
Family and Community
822
Festivals and Holidays
823
Folk Dance and Performance
825
Folk Music
826
Folktales
828
Foods and Foodways
829
Heroes and Heroines
831
Home Decoration
833
Identity
835
Music and Folk Song
836
Names and Name Giving
837
Proverbs and Maxims
839
Religion
840
Rites of Passage
842
Social Etiquette and Customs
844
Superstition and Taboo
845
Traditional Medicine and Healing
846
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
848
NEPALI AMERICANS
851
History, People, and Culture
851
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
854
Clothes and Jewelry
855
Dying and Death Rituals
857
Family and Community
858
Festivals and Holidays
860
Folk Dance and Performance
861
Folk Music
862
Contents
Foods and Foodways
864
Identity
865
Maxims and Proverbs
866
Religion
868
Rites of Passage
869
Social Etiquette and Customs
870
Traditional Medicine and Healing
872
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
873
OKINAWAN AMERICANS
877
History, People, and Culture
877
Art and Dance
880
Festivals and Holidays
883
Foods and Foodways
884
Martial Arts
885
Music
886
Religion
890
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
892
PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICANS
893
History, People, and Culture
893
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
899
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
900
Chamorro Folklore of World War II
902
Children and Folk Song
903
Clothing and Jewelry
904
Dying and Death Rituals
906
Family and Community
907
Festivals and Holidays
908
Fiji and Fijians
910
Filipino Material Culture on Guam
911
Folk Dance
913
Folk Music
914
Foods and Foodways
916
Guam and Chamorus
917
xix
xx
Contents
Guam: Narratives of Female Deities among the Chamorro
919
Hawaii and Hawaiian
922
Hawaii: Nature and Animals
924
Hawaiian Folklore
925
Hawaiian Folk Music
927
Heroes and Heroines
928
Identity
930
Literature and Folklore
931
Names and Name Giving
932
Narrative
934
Pidgin
935
Pigeons
936
Polynesian Cultural Center
937
Polynesians
938
Puku’i, Mary Kawena (1895–1986)
939
Religion
940
Rites of Passage
944
Samoa and Samoans
946
Surf and Surfing
948
Tahiti and Tahitian
950
Traditional Medicine and Healing
952
PAKISTANI AMERICANS
955
History, People, and Culture
955
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
960
Arts and Crafts
961
Children’s Folk Song
963
Clothes and Jewelry
964
Dying and Death Rituals
966
Family and Community
967
Festivals and Holidays
968
Folk Dance
971
Folk Music
972
Foods and Foodways
973
Contents
Heroes and Heroines
975
Home Decoration
977
Identity
978
Literature and Folklore
980
Names and Name Giving
982
Narrative Folktale
983
Proverbs and Maxims
985
Religion
986
Rites of Passage
989
Social Etiquette and Customs
991
Superstition and Taboo
992
Traditional Medicine and Healing
994
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
996
PUNJABI AMERICANS History, People, and Culture
999 999
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1005
Children’s Folklore
1007
Dying and Death Rituals
1008
Family and Community
1010
Festivals and Holidays
1012
Foods and Foodways
1014
Gurbani Kirtan
1015
Gurdwara
1017
Heroes and Heroines
1018
Home Decoration
1020
Identity
1021
Literature and Folklore
1023
Names and Name Giving
1024
Proverbs and Maxims
1026
Religion
1028
Rites of Passage
1030
Sikh Gurus
1033
Sikhism
1036
xxi
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Contents
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1039
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1041
SRI LANKAN AMERICANS
1043
History, People, and Culture
1043
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1048
Caste
1049
Christians
1051
Clothes and Jewelry
1053
Dying and Death Rituals
1054
Family and Community
1055
Festivals and Holidays
1058
Folk Dance and Performance
1059
Foods and Foodways
1061
Heroes and Heroines
1063
Identity
1064
Literature and Folklore
1066
Muslims
1068
Names and Name Giving
1069
Religion
1071
Rites of Passage
1074
Tamil Folktales and Proverbs
1076
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1078
THAI AMERICANS
1081
History, People, and Culture
1081
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit
1084
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1085
Children’s Folklore
1086
Clothes and Jewelry
1087
Community
1088
Domestic Religious Practices
1091
Dying and Death Rituals
1092
Ethnic Media
1093
Family and Community
1095
Contents
Festivals and Holidays
1096
Folk Dance and Performance
1098
Folk Music
1099
Foods and Foodways
1101
Heroes and Heroines
1102
Identity
1103
Names and Name Giving
1105
Narrative Folklore
1106
Religion
1109
Rites of Passage
1113
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
1114
Thai Dance and Music
1116
Thai Town
1120
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1122
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1122
TIBETAN AMERICANS
1127
History, People, and Culture
1127
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
1128
Children and Folk Song
1130
Clothes and Jewelry
1131
Dalai Lama (1935–)
1133
Dying and Death Rituals
1134
Family and Community
1135
Festivals and Holidays
1137
Folk Dance and Performance
1138
Folk Music
1140
Foods and Foodways
1141
Heroes and Heroines
1142
Identity
1144
Literature and Folklore
1145
Names and Name Giving
1146
Narrative Folktales
1147
Proverbs and Maxims
1148
xxiii
xxiv
Contents
Religion
1149
Sand Mandala
1153
Social Etiquette and Customs
1154
Traditional Medicine and Healing
1156
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1157
VIETNAMESE AMERICANS
1159
History, People, and Culture
1159
Arts and Crafts
1165
Boat People
1166
Children and Folk Song
1168
Clothes and Jewelry
1170
Domestic Religious Practices
1171
Dying and Death Rituals
1174
Family and Community
1177
Festivals and Holidays
1179
Folk Dance and Performance
1181
Folk Music
1184
Folktales and Narratives
1185
Foods and Foodways
1187
Heroes and Heroines
1189
Home Decoration
1191
Hurricane Katrina Experience
1193
Identity
1195
Indigenous Religious Traditions
1196
Little Saigon
1198
Monkey Bridge (Lan Cao)
1199
Names and Name Giving
1201
Proverbs and Maxims
1202
Religion
1204
Rites of Passage
1206
Social Etiquette and Customs
1208
Superstition and Taboo
1209
Tet
1211
Contents
Trung Sisters
1213
Truong Van Tran Incident
1215
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
1216
Viet Kieu
1218
Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
1221
Bibliography
1241
List of Contributors
1247
Index About the Editors
I-1
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Mongolian Americans History, People, and Culture Mongolian Americans are one of the most recent Asian ethnic groups to arrive in the United States. The first Mongols arrived in the late 1940s, but significant waves of immigrants did not start arriving until the 1990s and 2000s. Students make up the majority of arrivals over the past two decades, and some have achieved success in professional and academic careers. Most Mongolian Americans are firstgeneration immigrants arriving from Mongolia. Second-generation Mongolian Americans are almost exclusively the descendents of Kalmyk-Mongols, whose homeland lies in modern Russia. Between 10,000 and 15,000 Mongolians are living in the United States; about half of these are in the United States on a permanent basis.
Early Arrivals The first Mongols to arrive in the United States were the scholars Gombojov Hangin and Urgunge Onon. Both were native to China’s Inner Mongolia region and arrived in 1948 at the invitation of Owen Lattimore, then a professor of Asian studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Professors Onon and Hangin both enjoyed successful careers as translators and authors. As professor of Altaic and Uralic languages at Indiana University, Hangin compiled several dictionaries. His presence at Indiana University would establish that university as the preeminent place of scholarship for Mongolian studies. Hangin was also an early proponent for the international recognition of Mongolia; he successfully lobbied the United Nations to recognize the Mongolian People’s Republic, which became a reality in 1961. In 1988, Hangin, along with the well-known Tsorj Lama, founded the Mongolian American Cultural Association (MACA), which has helped bridge the divide between the United States and Mongolia. Secretary of State James Baker is the honorary directory of MACA’s advisory board. The year 1949 saw the arrival of another influential Mongol, Dilowa Gegeen Khutukhtu, a Khalkh Mongol and one of the last living Buddhas to come from
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Mongolian Americans: History, People, and Culture
Outer Mongolia. Dilowa Gegeen arrived in the United States via India, where he had been living as a political refugee. He joined Owen Lattimore’s Mongolia project at Johns Hopkins University and would later become an important spiritual leader for the Mongolian community in America. A memorial service for Dilowa Gegeen is still held annually at Tashi Lhumpo Temple in New Jersey.
Kalmyks Come to New Jersey The early 1950s saw the first arrival of Mongols in significant numbers. The newly arrived were Kalmyks, ethnic Mongols whose homeland of Kalmykia is located in Russia, near the western shore of the Caspian Sea. In 1920, at the end of the Russian Revolution, some 2,000 Kalmyks fled their homeland for fear of reprisals after supporting the White Russians against the Bolsheviks. The Kalmyks migrated across the Black Sea to Turkey and eventually to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Some of the refugees continued to Czechoslovakia and France. World War II proved to be a particularly hard time for the Kalmyk refugees, and many found themselves living in displaced persons camps in western Germany. Their fortunes changed in August 1951, when the U.S. Congress granted Kalmyks permission to immigrate to the United States. By 1952, nearly 600 Kalmyks had arrived in America. The newly arrived Kalmyks settled primarily in Lakewood and Howell (Freewood Acres), New Jersey. The dominant dialect of these Kalmyks is Buzava. The Kalmyk community built a Buddhist temple in Howell in 1955; Pearl S. Buck, Lowell Thomas, Lowell Thomas Jr., Alexandra Tolstoy, and Dilowa Gegeen Khutukhtu were among the attendees at the opening ceremony. Members of the Kalmyk community, who number around 3,000 people, have since spread to other parts of the United States. A second auspicious event occurred in 1955 when the Kalmyk high lama Geshe Ngawang Wangyal arrived in the United States. Geshe Wangyal would become a professor of Tibetan studies at Columbia University during the 1960s and 1970s. He was a key figure in the spreading of Buddhism in America and counted among his pupils the renowned Tibetologist Robert Thurman.
Mongol Arrivals from China, Taiwan, and India Small groups of Mongols, this time from China, Taiwan, India, and Outer Mongolia, trickled into the United States from the mid-1960s. Many of these were exiled scholars or Buddhist monks who arrived seeking political asylum. Several of the Mongol monks lived in Dharamsala, India, and were nominated by the current Dalai Lama to immigrate to the United States. Among the arrivals were Jagchid Sechen, a Kharchin Mongol, who would coauthor the book Mongolia’s Culture and Society (1980).
Mongolian Americans: History, People, and Culture
Mongols from Mongolia and Russia The collapse of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union created a new window of opportunity for Mongols seeking to immigrate to the United States. Small groups of Buriats and Tuvans, cultural relatives of the Mongols, left their respective republics in Russia and arrived in the United States in the early 1990s. An even larger influx of Mongols came from Mongolia itself, which had been wrapped up in communist isolation for the better part of the 20th century. The establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the United States in 1987 greatly facilitated this process. Mongolia had a cultural coming out in the United States in 1996, when the art exhibit titled “The Legacy of Chinggis Khaan” toured San Francisco, Denver, and Washington, DC. Students from Mongolia made up the vast majority of new arrivals in the 1990s. Around 60 percent of Mongolians arriving in the United States came into the country on student visas. By 2010, an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Mongolians lived in the United States. Many of the new arrivals travel back and forth between the United States and Mongolia because of their nonpermanent status. The Mongolian embassy in Washington, D.C, reports that 300 babies born in the United States during the 1990s were of Khalkh Mongol ancestry. While accurate numbers are difficult to ascertain, it is believed that the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Area has the largest population of Mongolians in any U.S. metropolitan area; estimates range from 2,000 to 3,500 people. Denver, Colorado, and Arlington, Virginia, also include a few thousand Mongolians in their respective populations. Other U.S. cities with Mongolians in the hundreds include Seattle, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The result of this disproportionate number of students means that the Mongol population in the United States is relatively young. Around 80 percent are believed to be under the age of 35. While some of these students have returned to Mongolia, many have remained in the United States to pursue careers or graduated school programs. Working Mongols typically send money back to family in Mongolia, and remittances from the United States have become an integral part of the Mongolian economy.
A Diverse Group of Immigrants Mongol arrivals to the United States between the 1950s and 1980s came from a number of countries and regions. Some had originated from China’s Inner Mongolia, which includes distinct regions including Ordos, Barga, Chahar and Sunid. Others had been exiled Mongols living in India, Taiwan and Europe. Although language and culture varies between these different groups, all can be considered under the umbrella name of Mongolian Americans.
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Mongolian Americans: History, People, and Culture
Khalkh Mongols have lived in United States for the shortest period of time, most for fewer than 10 years. Because only a fraction of Mongolians in the United States are U.S. citizens, the term “Mongolian American” is used infrequently. Rather, most Khalkh Mongols consider themselves to be simply “expatriate Mongolians living in America.” The 300 Khalkh Mongols born in the United States are nearly all under the age of 10.
Thriving Traditions Despite their brief history in the United States, Mongol traditions can be seen in every Mongolian community in America. In summer, groups of Mongolians from San Francisco to Washington, DC., gather for a traditional naadam (sport) festival. The centuries-old tradition of Naadam includes a Mongolian wrestling tournament, traditional singing, and archery. Huushuur, a fried-meat pancake, is typically eaten during Naadam festivals. Many attend these events in traditional Mongolian clothing, including the del (a felt cloak tied at the waist with a silk sash), toortsog or malgai (hat) and gutul (boots) Mongolians also observe Tsagaan Sar (White Month), the Mongolian New Year celebration usually held in February. Tsagaan Sar usually involves visiting with friends and relatives, feasting, and attending a service at Buddhist temple as well as a unique form of New Year’s greeting called zolgokh. Many Mongolians have brought their pastimes and tradition to the United States. For example, Mongolians are keen hunters, and some have taken up the sport on U.S. soil. The most popular animal to hunt is marmot, a large ground squirrel whose cooked flesh is considered a delicacy in Mongolia. Another pastime that is enjoyed by Mongolian Americans is the preparation and eating of traditional foods. In particular, Mongolians enjoy steamed meat dumplings called buuz. Meals based on rice, boiled meat, and potatoes are also common in Mongolian American households as they are in Mongolia itself. For special occasions, such as a wedding, the birth of a child, or the Tsagaan Sar New Year, Mongolian families will purchase and slaughter a sheep in the traditional manner. This involves cutting a hole in the sheep’s chest and inserting a hand to sever the aorta. The sheep is butchered, and its parts, including organs, are boiled in a large wok. The newly arrived Mongolians keep in close contact with one another, mainly through online chat forums as social networking sites. These technological changes have linked the disparate communities and have proven effective in spreading information. Internet users can now access U.S.-based online newspapers in the Mongolian language. However, the Americanization of second-generation Mongols is clearly evident. Young Mongolians raised in the United States have adopted American cultural attitudes and customs. In the United States, one is more likely to see Mongolians playing soccer or basketball than archery or wrestling.
Mongolian Americans: History, People, and Culture
Dating and marriage outside Mongolian circles is common. Mongolian parents struggle to keep their children from forgetting the Mongolian language, customs, and habits.
Challenges Facing Mongol Traditions There are significant hurdles in replicating true Mongolian culture in the United States. Chief among them is the fact that the most authentic cultural traits in Mongolia are born out of that country’s unique nomadic lifestyle. However, the nomadic population is not part of the greater migration overseas. The majority of Mongols making a home in the United States grew up in Ulaanbaatar, whose residents have already adopted a mostly Western lifestyle. Traditional legends, folklore, rituals and psyche have been altered in Ulaanbaatar, thanks in part to that city’s fast-paced, capitalist lifestyle. Further, some of the most important elements that encourage the perpetuity of Mongol culture are difficult to replicate. For example, Mongolian-style horse racing, living in a ger (yurt), ovoo (sacred cairn) worship, and traditional occupations such as livestock breeding are all unlikely propositions for newly arrived immigrants to major metropolitan areas of the United States.
Maintaining Traditions Despite the challenges of preserving Mongolian culture, the new immigrants have maintained much of their heritage. Religious leaders regularly organize seminars for Buddhist practitioners. Cafe´s in several U.S. cities serve traditional Mongolian foods. Local Mongolians can also hire the services of a doctor trained in traditional Mongolian medicine. There has also been a certain amount of blending between U.S. and Mongolian cultural values. This includes the emergence of hip-hop groups that rap in the Mongolian language. Mongolians have also brought their traditional family structures to the United States. In a typical Mongolian household, both parents work while grandparents or elder siblings care for small children. High emphasis is placed on education, and children are expected to attain college degrees. Working family members share their earnings with siblings and parents in need of money without thought of repayment. Large purchases, such as a home, car, airline tickets, or college tuition, might be collected from several relatives. Family units among Mongolians in America tend to be smaller than those in Mongolia. While maintaining traditions, Mongolians are easily adaptable people and have been able to fit into the American lifestyle. Many believe this is the result of their nomadic traditions, as nomads must learn to adapt to whatever environment nature gives them. Young Mongolians have found a place in American society but still keep the best traditions of Mongolia in their new home.
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Mongolian Americans: Children
Prospects for the Future The overwhelming majority of Mongolians living in America were born in Mongolia. These first-generation immigrants are struggling to adjust to life in a new country and face the challenges similar to any immigrant community. However, they remain proud of their heritage and maintain Mongol traditions in their small communities. Because the second generation of Mongolian Americans is so young, it is difficult to make a long-term analysis of Mongolian American culture. —Michael Kohn
Further Reading Algaa, Solongo. “Growth of Internal and International Migration in Mongolia.” Paper delivered at the International Conference of Asia Pacific Migration Research Network, May 25–29, 2007. http://apmrn.anu.edu.au/conferences/8thAPMRNconference/ 6.Sologo.pdf (accessed July 30, 2010). Bahrampour, Tara. “Mongolians Meld Old, New in Making Arlington Home.” Washington Post, July 3, 2006. Clayton-Holland, Adam. “Among the Mongols.” Denver News, July 26, 2006. http://www .westword.com/2006-07-06/news/among-the-mongols/full (accessed July 30, 2010). Lowry, Brandon. “Keeping Heritage in Mind.” Denver Post, August 13, 2006. http://www .denverpost.com/news/ci_4175100 (accessed July 30, 2010). Onon, Urgunge. My Mongolian World: From Onon Bridge to Cambridge. Kent, UK: Global Oriental, 2006. Rubel, Paula. The Kalmyk Mongols: A Study in Continuity and Change. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1967.
Web Sites Kalmyk American Society Web site: http://www.kalmykamericansociety.org/ Olna Gazur Web site: http://www.olnagazur.org
Children Infants and very young children are vulnerable to disease and accident in a traditional nomadic setting. Parents take great measures to protect their children; some will even give their children what seem like disparaging names (e.g., Es-oldokh, “cannot be found,” or Nokhoi-baatar, “dog-warrior”) to throw off jealous demons. When a child survives to certain important ages (one, three, five, or seven, depending on local custom), a haircutting ceremony is held to mark the occasion. Before this point, the child’s hair is never cut. At the haircutting ceremony, the child wears
Mongolian Americans: Children
Mongolian American children use goat ankle bones to count their living relatives in Arlington, Virginia. The activity is part of a class intended to teach the children their cultural roots, including crafts, dances, and how to read and write Mongolian. (Linda Davidson/ The Washington Post/Getty Images)
his or her finest clothes. Family and friends all take turns cutting a bit of hair. This is a time for feast and celebration. Family is paramount throughout a child’s life. In choosing a spouse, for instance, a Mongolian American looks for someone who is either Mongolian or has a great affinity to Mongolian culture. Someone who does not fit this criteria or who otherwise meets with parental disapproval is undesirable. The new member of the family must draw the bonds closer, not loosen them. The Mongolian American community acts as one extended family, with families taking in roommates and adopting children as if they were their own. Parents will sometimes “adopt” their siblings’ children to bring them to the United States. One Inner Mongolian man who immigrated to the Washington, DC., area adopted seven children from Mongolia. The community wants the best for its youngest generation, which often means American education and careers. Indeed, success for the next generation drives many to immigrate. In general, Mongolian Americans are very adaptable to their new environment and try to acculturate as much as possible. Children adapt especially quickly to American culture, especially if they arrive in the United States at a young age.
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Mongolian Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
The pace of a child’s assimilation may shock her or his parents and grandparents, especially if children have trouble speaking Mongolian. Preteens and teenagers tend to have stronger connections with Mongolia. To educate children about their heritage and to serve the Mongolian American community, several Mongolian schools have been established. For example, the Mongolian School of the National Capital Area (MSNCA), founded in 2007 in Arlington, Virginia by Munguntsetseg Frankosky and Nyamsuren Dash, offers Mongolian language and culture courses for children, math tutoring for high school students preparing for college, and English courses for adult learners. There is also a Mongolian school serving the Denver area. These schools hold contests and festival programs where children sing, dance, and give other traditional performances. Travel back to Mongolia is prohibitively expensive for most families, even though immigrants tend to be from the city and therefore wealthier than most Mongolians. Because of this, children are not able to go back to see family and experience a native Mongolian environment. Some children do go back, either on their own or with a volunteer project such as Flastaff International Relief Effort (FIRE) or Conservation in Mongolia. —Anne M. Henochowicz
Further Reading Jagchid, Sechin, and Paul Hyer. Mongolia’s Culture and Society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1979.
Web Sites American Mongolian Academy, Mongol School: http://mongolschoolusa.org/contact.php. Mongolian School of the National Capital Area Web site: http://www.themongolian school.com.
Clothes and Jewelry Traditional clothing and jewelry are a significant part of the rich cultural heritage of Mongolian people. Each ethnic Mongolian group has its distinct traditional clothing and jewelry, which is preserved to some extent to the present-day Mongolian American traditional style. Very few Mongolian Americans now wear traditional Mongolian clothing and jewelry. Some traditional clothing and jewelry are worn during traditional festivals and ceremonies such as the Mongolian New Year, Naadam festivals, or traditional weddings. Sometimes, modernized versions of the traditional dresses are worn mainly by Mongolian American women at formal parties or banquets.
Mongolian Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
The most common piece of traditional clothing worn by Mongolian Americans is the deel. It is a long, double-breasted overcoat with long sleeves and a high collar held together with a long sash called a bous. Traditionally, only the men’s deel was worn with bous. Therefore, men were called boustei khun, which simply means “the one with bous”; and women were called bousgyi khun, meaning “the one with no bous.” Nowadays, the deel worn by men and women differ little in design other than such details as border trimmings, the forms of sleeves, and cut. Deel worn by the Mongolian Americans are mostly summer styles made with fine materials such as silk. The winter deel lined with animal skin is rarely worn by Mongolian Americans. The traditional Mongolian boots are called gutal. The gutal is a brightly decorated heelless boot made out of soft leather. Gutal are worn with long socks called oimos. The upper part of oimos that shows above the gutal is sewn with broad strips of leather or other strong material decorated with traditional patterns. In most cases, Mongolian American men substitute the gutal with Western-style leather boots, while women prefer fashionable high heels to go with their traditional deels. Occasionally, Mongolian Americans wear traditional hats with their deel. Traditionally, the style of hat denoted social status and varied significantly from one ethnic group to another. Today, these styles no longer carry the significance of its wearers’ social position. The construction of the hat itself still carries the traditional significance: the unity of all Mongolian tribes. The cone on top of all Mongolian hats is sewn together with 32 knots, each representing one of 32 Mongolian tribes. Khurem and khantaaz, elegant waistcoats, are worn occasionally by young Mongolian Americans, mostly men. Khurem and khantaaz are usually made out of silk, cashmere, wool, or fine leather. The border of the khurem and khantaaz is adorned with various traditional patterns in contrasting colors. The most common piece of traditional jewelry that many Mongolian Americans wear regularly is the wedding ring. Mongolian wedding rings are made mostly out of gold or platinum. The men’s wedding ring has a design of two interlocking circles and is called Khatan Suikh, or “Queen’s Carriage.” The women’s wedding ring has a design of two interlocking rectangles and is called Khaan Buguivsh, or “King’s Bracelet.” The interlocking circles and rectangles of Mongolian wedding rings symbolize everlasting love. Some Mongolian Americans own traditional jewelry that was handed down by their ancestors. This jewelry consists mostly of cherished family heirlooms that are rarely worn in public. Occasionally, traditional Mongolian styles find their way into Hollywood movies in America. The one traditional Mongolian costume that somehow made its way into Hollywood is the Khalkh Mongolian married women’s outfit. In The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode I, Queen Amidala wears a costume that
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was inspired by a Khalkha Mongolian married women’s outfit. The most recent appearance of a Mongolian style in Hollywood is the traditional Mongolian hat worn by Elizabeth Swan in Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World’s End. —Bolortsetseg C. Smith
Further Reading Badamkhatan S. Mongolian Clothes and Dresses. Ulaanbaatar: Committee of Science and Higher Education of the Mongolian People’s Republic, 1959. Ganbat, J. Mongolian National Clothing for a Dance. Ulaanbaatar: Inner Mongolian National Press, 1997.
Web Site Myagmar, Saruul-Erdene. “Mongolian Clothes in Hollywood.” Mongolian Cultural Center Web site, May 29, 2008. http://www.mongolcc.org/index.php?option=com _content&task=view&id=82&Itemid=1 (accessed July 30, 2010).
Dying and Death Rituals The beliefs, ceremonies, and rituals surrounding death among Mongolian Americans are still heavily influenced by religion. A religious monk plays a significant role in all rituals and ceremonies surrounding death. Mongolian American death rituals can be divided into three main stages: rituals shortly before death, funeral rituals, and rituals after the funeral. Mongolians believe in reincarnation. Entering death with a positive state of mind, surrounded with family, and hearing sounds of prayers and bells is considered fortunate and is believed to help the deceased become reborn on a higher level. Traditionally, when an individual neared death, a monk would be called to the house to pray for the individual. Based on the birth date of the deceased and the timing of the death, the invited monk will determine from the book of death ceremonies, called the Altan Sav or the Golden Box, the type and timing of the burial. Mongolians do not touch the body of the deceased right after death. However, before the body becomes stiff, the body is placed in a certain position with a few drops of milk placed in the mouth. The face is covered by a khadag, a blue scarf, and the body is wrapped in white cloth right away. Any reflective objects such as mirrors and glasses are removed from the room where the body is kept. If it is not possible to remove them, they are covered with dark cloth. Making loud noises around the body is strictly prohibited, as it may startle the spirit. Once an individual passes away, Mongolians do not say the deceased person’s name aloud and instead address the person as taliigaach, or the one who went away.
Mongolian Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
Traditionally, there were four methods to dispose of the body: burying, cremating, mummifying, and leaving it on the open steppe. While the methods of burying, cremating, and mummifying were traditionally used for religious figures and wealthy individuals, leaving the body on the open steppe was commonly used among ordinary people. Today, the methods of burying and cremating the deceased bodies are commonly used among Mongolian Americans. The deceased person’s portrait is painted prior to the funeral ceremony and is placed at the head of the body during the funeral ceremony with candles and offerings placed in front of it. Funeral rituals such as who will touch the body first, the burial location, which direction should the funeral mass first go and come back, and what types of ceremonies should be performed are strictly determined by the Altan Sav. The Altan Sav also determines in which life-form the deceased will be reincarnated. Precautions are always taken at the funeral ceremonies to prevent any unlucky events from happening to the spirit. When an individual passes away due to a tragic event or is deemed to pass away during an unlucky time, special religious rituals and prayers are performed to correct any possible misfortune. Lately, it has become common among Mongolian Americans to use recordings of these prayers for this purpose rather than inviting a monk to perform these rituals. The body of the deceased is placed in a casket that fits the body well. The top side of the casket is covered with blue cloth, symbolizing the blue sky, while the bottom part of the casket is covered with yellow or green cloth, symbolizing the mother earth. The outside of the casket is covered entirely with blue or red and black cloth. The person who touches the body first is usually a male who is chosen in accordance with the astrological calendar. During the funeral ceremony, this person wears his hat backwards, folds his sleeves in, or folds his collars inside. These rituals signify communications with the other world and therefore are strictly prohibited during normal time. Funerals take place either on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays. Tuesdays and Saturdays are considered unlucky days; therefore, no funeral ceremonies are held on those days. Within 49 days after the funeral, the deceased family has monks come to perform special prayers for the deceased. Also, the immediate family members of the deceased are prohibited to attend weddings and other special celebrations, go hunting, slaughter an animal, or have a haircut within the 49 days of the funeral. On the 49th day after the funeral, the family of the deceased invites friends and family for a special celebration and offers food and treats to kids and dogs, marking the end of their grieving period. —Bolortsetseg C. Smith
Further Reading Bawden, Charles R. Confronting the Supernatural: Mongolian Traditional Ways and Means. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden: Hubert & Co., 1994.
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Mongolian Americans: Family and Community Rubel, Paula G. The Kalmyk Mongols. Bloomington: Indiana University Publications, Uralic and Altaic Series, 1967. Sampildendev Kh., Urtnasan N., and Dorjdagva T. Mongol Zan Uil, Bayar Esloliin Tovchoon. Ulaanbaatar: Bambi Foundation Publications, 2006.
Family and Community There have been three major waves of Mongolian immigration to the United States. In the 1950s, Kalmyk Mongols from Russia escaped persecution and settled in New Jersey. The Kalmyk Buddhist Temple in Freehold, New Jersey, was established in 1955. Some Mongols from Inner Mongolia, China, also came over in the 1950s, after their country became communist. In the 1980s, Mongolian engineering students enrolled in the Colorado School of Mines, starting a community in the Boulder-Denver area. Today, Denver and Ulanbaatar are sister cities. By far the greatest number of immigrants have been coming to the United States since 1990, after Mongolia transformed from a communist government to a democratic republic. Communities have formed in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and other major cities. The Denver community continues to expand. The largest community is centered in Arlington, Virginia, where Mongolian is one of the most spoken languages in the public schools. Some Mongols come to the United States for education or temporary work, but later decide to stay on. Others immigrate to improve their family’s quality of life, as the United States offers more opportunities for education and career success. Mongols immigrate both legally and illegally; illegal aliens come to the United States via Russia or Europe. Family is central to Mongol life and values. People try to live together as much as they can, if possible in their extended family. However, many families are separated as spouses and children come over one by one from Mongolia to the United States. Sometimes a parent takes one child over first, other times the parents immigrate first. When the family is split, the members in the United States will usually send money home, even if they are strapped for cash. In America, the Mongol community is close-knit and supportive. Couples and families happily take in roommates who would otherwise live outside of the community. There is an apartment complex in Arlington almost exclusively inhabited by Mongolian families. The Mongolian communities of metropolitan areas have established cultural and philanthropic organizations to educate children about their heritage, provide services to adults and families, host festivals and cultural events, and to send aid back home to Mongolia. Many societies host competitions for children to display their talents in traditional music and dance. The Mongolian American Cultural
Mongolian Americans: Festivals and Holidays
Association, founded in 1988, has created an annual Chinggis Khan Ceremony to celebrate the father of the Mongol empire and the accomplishments of its people. The Washington, DC., area has two Mongolian schools, both of which serve to unite the community in education and celebration: the Mongolian School of the National Capital Area in Arlington, and the American Mongolian Academy in Germantown, Maryland. Inter-city connections are also important to the community. For instance, sports teams will travel from their home cities to play each other at Naadam, the summer festival. Mongolian Americans are often eager to adapt to their new environs. Although they are proud of their traditions, they are unafraid to assimilate into American culture. —Anne M. Henochowicz
Further Reading Bahrampour, Tara. “Mongolians Meld Old, New in Making Arlington Home: Drawn Partly by Schools, Enclave Rapidly Arises.” Washington Post, July 3, 2006. Cayton-Holland, Adam. “Among the Mongols: Steppe by Steppe, the Hordes Are Descending on Denver.” Denver Westword News, July 6, 2006. Ts, Baatar. “Social and Cultural Change in the Mongol-American Community.” Anthropology of East Europe Review 17(2) (1999).
Festivals and Holidays Mongolian religious holidays blend shamanic and Tibetan Buddhist practices. Despite the suppression of all religious practices under communism, some Christian practices have also made their way in Mongolia, along with secular traditions. For instance, Mongols celebrate Shine Jil, the secular New Year, with the folk religious characters of Grandfather of Winter, the Snowflake Girls, and the Snow Daughters. Some Soviet holidays, such as Martiin Naim (Women’s Day) on March 8 and Khukhdiinn Bayar (Children’s Day) on June 1, are also observed. These syncretic practices are further adapted to the American situation, as Mongols accommodate to suburban life and American values. The most important holiday is Tsagang Sar (White Month), the lunar new year. Like the Chinese New Year, Tsagang Sar is a domestic celebration, a time to be with family and visit friends and neighbors. Seven days before the New Year, offerings are made to the God of Fire. On Tsagang Sar itself, offerings are made to heaven and ancestors. Families make buuz (meat dumplings), oldav (long stacks of cookies), and a special layered bread called heviin boov: an odd number of layers are stacked, symbolizing happiness and suffering in turn, so that the stack always begins and ends with happiness. Visiting family by going door to door
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(originally yurt to yurt) is called alishlakh. In America, alishlakh is often replaced by a party in one person’s home. The heavy drinking accompanying most Mongol parties is also tempered by the need to drive home at the end of the night. After Tsagang Sar, Naadam is the biggest event on the Mongolian calendar. This summer festival is celebrated with competitions of the Three Manly Sports: wrestling, horseback riding, and archery. Naadams are held in parks in the United States. Traditionally, children race horses across several miles of steppe. In Arlington, Virginia, which has the largest Mongolian community in the United States, the children have a foot race instead. There are other events at Naadam, such as dancing, music, and performances by contortionists and acrobats. Mongolian American soccer teams and other sports clubs representing different cities also compete at Naadam fairs. The Chinggis Khan Ceremony, held annually by the Mongol American Cultural Association (MACA) in New Jersey, is unique to the United States. First organized by the late professor Gombojab Hangin in 1988, the ceremony is held in a hotel or other large space and includes traditional music, dance and other performances by both professional and children’s groups, and keynote speeches, all celebrating Chinggis Khan’s life and legacy as the progenitor of the Mongolian people. Observant Buddhists often pray at Tibetan Buddhist temples in the United States, although there are also Mongol lamas at some of these. Families may ask a lama to read sutras or lead services for them in a time of need. In the case of a crisis, such as an illness, the family will go to New Jersey to pray at the Kalmyk temple. MACA also hosts religious events, such as the annual memorial service for His Holiness Dilowa Gegen Hutugtu. —Anne M. Henochowicz
Further Reading Atwood, Christopher. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File, 2004. Bahrampour, Tara. “Mongolians Meld Old, New in Making Arlington Home: Drawn Partly by Schools, Enclave Rapidly Arises.” Washington Post, July 3, 2006. Cayton-Holland, Adam. “Among the Mongols: Steppe by Steppe, the Hordes Are Descending on Denver.” Denver Westword News, July 6, 2006. Jagchid, Sechin, and Paul Hyer. Mongolia’s Culture and Society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1979. Pegg, Carole. Mongolian Music, Dance, and Oral Narrative: Performing Diverse Identities. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001.
Web Site Mongol American Cultural Association: http://www.maca-usa.org.
Mongolian Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
Folk Dance and Performance Mongolian dance draws on nomadic and religious traditions. The bie (biy) dance, which originates in Western Mongolia, uses upper body movements to perform stylized reenactments of daily activities and to tell stories. Bie is traditionally a domestic performance. Like other traditional art forms, bie is now often performed on stage at public events. It is also altered for the stage. For instance, the bie dancer traditionally kneels, using no leg movement whatsoever. On stage, however, the dancers may incorporate lower body movement. Similar dances include jimchin, a pantomime of watering and harvesting fruit trees performed by women, and a dance performed to the song “Aduuchin” (“Horsemen”), in which men and women alternate the movements of horse riding. Once a year, usually at the beginning of summer, the tsam (cham) dance is performed on temple grounds and at other public spaces. Tsam is a Tibetan Buddhist costumed dance in which fables and moral principles are performed. Tsam should incorporate 108 different masks, representing 108 deities and supernatural beings; 108 is the number of beads on a Buddhist rosary. It is also 12 times 9; nine is the most important number in Mongolian spirituality and shamanism. Anyone who views Tsam earns merit; it is a type of purification. Religious dances are also performed on important days of the year, such as the Buddha’s birthday and Tsagang Sar (the lunar new year, literally “White Month”). Such dances are also performed to mark special occasions, such as a visit from the Dalai Lama or other dignitary. Dance-like movements are also incorporated into other events. For instance, before each round of a wrestling match, each opponent ritually circles his helper and spreads his arms like wings, moving like an eagle. These traditional dances are performed at community events and festivals, such as Naadam (the summer festival), as well as public performances and competitions organized by the Mongolian American community. Performances from the Soviet Union have also come into the Mongolian repertoire, such as contortion. In the bowl dance, a female performer balances several bowls on her head while spinning on her toes and moving her arms in both graceful arcs and “Russian style herky-jerky” movements. At the Middfest in Middletown, Ohio, in 2008, dancers from Mongolia performed a comical “doll dance”: two dancers wore doll costumes with their torsos in the dolls’ heads and their arms in the dolls’ pigtails. As with singing, Mongols love to dance. Aside from traditional dances, people will waltz and boogie-woogie at social events. As the first generation of American-born children grows older, they bring American and pop dance moves into the performance repertoire. Hip-hop culture is especially popular among
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teenagers in both Mongolia and the United States. Although hip-hop music and dance is not yet accepted in performances by some community organizations, a pop routine danced to a Black Eyed Peas song made its way into the Arlington, Virginia, 2006 Mongolian Children’s Festival. At parties and formal celebrations, older couples may waltz. —Anne M. Henochowicz See also: Mongolian Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Bahrampour, Tara. “Mongolians Meld Old, New in Making Arlington Home: Drawn Partly by Schools, Enclave Rapidly Arises.” Washington Post, July 3, 2006. Jagchid, Sechin, and Paul Hyer. Mongolia’s Culture and Society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1979. Pegg, Carole. Mongolian Music, Dance, and Oral Narrative: Performing Diverse Identities. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001.
Folk Music The music of Mongolia features unique styles of throat-singing (overtone singing), and instrumental tunes have largely remained unchanged over the past few centuries. The immigration of Mongolians in the United States dates back to the 1940s. However, a majority of the roughly 15,000 to 20,000 Mongolian immigrants have arrived after 1990, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union. Today, a majority of Mongolian Americans live in San Francisco; Los Angeles; Chicago; New York; Washington, DC; Philadelphia; and New Jersey. Unfortunately, the relatively recent cultural identity and establishment of Mongolian Americans, along with low population numbers and little growth, have limited commercialization and widespread popularity of Mongolian or Mongolian American music. Instead, academic institutions and cultural arts organizations such as the Mongol American Cultural Association, the Festival of Mongolia, and the Mongolia Society have fostered and essentially preserved the traditional music of Mongolia for Western audiences. Notably, Mongolian Americans are composed of several distinct ethnic groups, including Kalmyk, Moghol, Daur, Buryat, Aimak, Tuvan, Ordos, Bayad, Oirats, Chahar, and others. Importantly, the Kalmyk-American Cultural Association, founded in New Jersey in 1997, provided a musical outlet for two 40-member Kalmyk State Song and Dance Ensembles to tour the area schools in Howell, New Jersey.
Mongolian Americans: Folk Music
The majority of popular Mongolian music in America is performed by Mongolian- and Tuvan-based groups and ensembles such as Alash, Chirgilchin, Egschiglen, Huun Huur Tu, and Tyva Kyzy that have toured the United States over the past 15 years. Many groups incorporate the national instrument of Mongolia, which is the two-stringed horse-head fiddle, called a morin khuur. Other instruments include the Jew’s Harp, tsuur (wind instrument), limbe (wind instrument), surnai (horn), lavai (shell horn), bushguur (trumpet), khuuchir (fiddle), tovshuur (lute), yoochin (dulcimer), shudraga (banjo), yatga (zither), tuur (frame drum), and various bells, rattles, and cymbals. Traditional and contemporary electric Ondar, a Mongolian throat singer, performs instruments, including keyboards, with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at the drums, and guitars, have been adopted 26th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado, June 19, 1999. by some groups with a national and (AP Photo/Mickey Krakowski) international following. Alas, most of the diverse musical styles of rock, pop, classical, rap, folk, and dance are almost wholly performed within the country of Mongolia, and virtually none of it is performed, let alone created, in the United States. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Mongolian Americans: Folk Dance and Performace.
Further Reading Pegg, Carole. Mongolian Music, Dance, and Oral Narrative. CD included. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001.
Web Sites Baatar, Ts. “Social and Cultural Change in the Mongol-American Community.” http:// condor.depaul.edu/~rrotenbe/aeer/v17n2/Baatar.pdf (accessed December 31, 2009). Face Music. “Traditional Instruments—Mongolia.” http://www.face-music.ch/instrum/ Mongolia_instrum.html (accessed December 31, 2009).
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Folktales Folktales are the most ancient form of the Mongolian oral tradition. Mongolian folktales have been passed down by generations through the everyday language of common people. These oral tales were not related to written words and were not formerly collected and published until the 19th and 20th centuries. Therefore, traditionally the greatest stress has been placed upon the storytellers’ intellectual ability to memorize the stories as well as their performance skills to influence their audiences. When the first Mongolians settled in America in the late 1940s and early 1950s, they brought their local folktales and traditional religious stories with them. Those stories were not written down and were committed only to the memories of the storytellers. Musical instruments that once often accompanied the reciting of traditional tales are no longer used by Mongolian Americans. However, one form of oral tradition still carries on: Mongolian American parents and grandparents still tell traditional folktales to their children and grandchildren. In recent years, there have been a number of books published in the United States, containing collections of popular Mongolian folktales. Mongolian folktales are classified into the following categories: myths, epics, legends, animal tales, magic tales, and tales related to the everyday life of ordinary people. The Secret History of Mongols is the earliest masterpiece of Mongolian traditional literature. Although The Secret History of Mongols is mainly seen as the historical retelling of the Mongolian empire, it contains a great deal of traditional verse, songs, folktales, and myths. Even after centuries past, The Secret History of Mongols still remains the unrivaled literary treasure of all Mongolians around the world. The epic of Geser Khan is the most well-known heroic epic of all time, particularly among the Kalmyk and Oirod Mongolians. Traditionally, all epics were sung by the storyteller accompanied by musical instruments. Although traditional ways of reciting these epics are no longer practiced among the Mongolian Americans, many Mongolian Americans have access to the written sources of these epics. The legends are a significant part of Mongolian oral tradition. Mongolian legends contain narratives of historical events. As these tales travel from generation to generation and from storyteller to storyteller; they slowly evolve along the way, only to keep the loose view of the actual historical event that happened long ago. While some legends are known to most Mongolians, many legends are known only to certain groups of people or, in some cases, only to certain Mongolian families. The most common legends are related to historical figures and events, traditional wrestlers, famous race horses, and to the origins of names of certain mountains, rivers, and unique natural formations.
Mongolian Americans: Foods and Foodways
Many Mongolian folktales are related to animals. Animals in Mongolian folktales represent different human attributes. Animals such as horses, lions, and rabbits usually are displayed as smart and wise, whereas animals like wolves, foxes, and hedgehogs are exhibited as stupid, deceiving, and cunning. The magical tales are perhaps the most beloved of all folktales. Each magical tale has a hero, often an unassuming character who overcomes many obstacles with the help of magical objects or magical animals. At the end of these stories, peace and happiness is brought to ordinary people. The tales related to the everyday lives of ordinary people are represented in the humorous tales of Belensenge, the Mongolian version of a trickster or a naı¨ve liar, and the satirical tales of Badarchin, a traveling monk who begged his way from one family to the next seeking aids for himself and for his monastery. —Bolortsetseg C. Smith
Further Reading Bawden, Charles R. Mongolian Traditional Literature: An Anthology. New York: Kegan Paul Limited, 2003. Jamba, Dashdondog, and Borolzoi Dashdondog. Mongolian Folktales. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2009. Metternich, Hilary R. Mongolian Folktales. Boulder, CO: Avery Press, 1996.
Foods and Foodways The Mongolian American diet is significantly meat-based and born out of Mongolia’s nomadic traditions. Mongolian foods have been easily transferred to the United States as the availability of principal ingredients, such as meat, potatoes, rice, and flour, is widely available and affordable. A Mongolian meal almost always begins with su¨u¨tei tsai (milk tea). Mongolian tea is brewed by combining mashed tea stems, salt, and goat’s milk. The tea stems favored by Mongolians are pressed into a brick and broken off with a hammer when needed. Mongolians may drink several cups of tea per day. A favorite dish among Mongols is buuz (pronounced “bots”), a small meatfilled dumpling that is steamed inside a metal container. In Mongolia, mutton is the preferred meat for making buuz, while most Mongolians living in the United States prefer beef, a less fatty meat. A similar dish is bansh, basically small buuz that are placed in su¨u¨tei tsai and eaten like a soup. Khuushuur is a similar food because it is also made from ground meat and flour; however, this dish is usually prepared in the shape of a pancake
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This is a yueving, a cookie often served at home in a large bowl along with aaruul (dried curds) and bread. The yueving in this photo is particularly large, and is filled with raisins and a sweet paste. It was served at Tsagaan Sar (White Month, the lunar new year), February 2010, by the lamas at the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana. The yueving features a swastika, which is a Buddhist symbol of balance and harmony. The word yueving comes from the Chinese yuebing (mooncake), a rich, moist cake that also has a designed surface. (Anne Henochowicz)
and then fried. Mongols particularly enjoy khuushuur during the Naadam festival, when the supply almost never fulfills the demand. Another common dish is simply known as chansan makh (boiled meat). Chansan makh includes large chunks of meat (usually mutton), boiled together with potatoes and onions. The best cut of the dish is the head, and it is important that the head face the patriarch of the home. To prepare this dish, Mongolians in America usually need to procure, slaughter, and butcher their own sheep. Thus, it is only a dish available on special occasions. Another unique dish in Mongolia is tsuivan. This is prepared by steaming small slivers of dough and then combining with chunks of meat. More common is khurag, fried pieces of meat combined with either rice or potatoes. As typical dishes, Mongolians in American may eat tsuivan or khurag several times a week.
Mongolian Americans: Heroes and Heroines
Marmot meat is considered a delicacy in Mongolia. These animals are native to parts of the western United States, and marmot hunting has become a popular pastime for Mongolians living in Colorado and other western states. In Mongolia, roasted marmot is called bodoog. To prepare this dish, the hunter beheads the marmot, removes the entrails, and then inserts hot stones into the torso. The neck is sealed up with wire so the stones can cook the meat from the inside. The fur is then singed off in a campfire or with a blowtorch. Dairy products are an important part of the Mongol diet, particularly in summer. Light snacks include tarag (yogurt), and aaruul (dried curds). Aaruul is another item that is hard to find in U.S. supermarkets, so every Mongolian stocks up on some before traveling to the United States. Yogurt is sometimes eaten with jimis (berries). Milk is considered holy and is used in daily rituals. Women will usually flick a spoonful of milk towards the sun in the morning, welcoming the new day. Airag (fermented horse milk) is popular in Mongolia in summer, and Mongolians returning to the United States often bring a bottle with them to share with friends and family. Vodka is a common alcoholic beverage among Mongolian Americans. Like milk, it is considered holy and is used in rituals to honor the sky, the earth, and the elements. —Michael Kohn
Further Reading Cramer, Mark. Imperial Mongolian Cooking: Recipes from the Kingdoms of Ghengis Khan. New York: Hippocrene Books, 2001.
Web Sites http://www.mongolfood.info/en/ http://www.mongoluls.net/ger/meatmilk.shtml
Heroes and Heroines In the pantheon of heroes and heroines honored by Mongolian Americans, one name stands high above all others—Chinggis Khaan. Better known as Genghis Khan in the West, the 12th-century conqueror still holds an honored place in the heart of every Mongol. In addition, a number of personalities are considered heroes by Mongolian Americans, ranging from the Dalai Lama to a pair of Mongolian athletes who won gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chinggis Khaan is more than a national hero for Mongolians. He is the founding father of their nation, the forger of an empire, and the person who put Mongolia on the world stage. Mongols show a godlike reverence for Khaan and continue to honor his memory in ways that can be considered religious.
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Mongolian Americans: Heroes and Heroines
Genghis Khan (center) and his two sons, Jochi and Ogadai, as illustrated in the Mongol history, Jami al-Tawarikh (Compendium of Histories). One of the greatest of Asian conquerors, Genghis Khan was able to unite various Mongolian clans into an army that not only defeated everything in its path, but also enabled him to establish a vast empire. (Scala/White Images/Art Resource, NY)
Ceremonies to honor Chinggis Khaan are held annually in New Jersey by the Kalmyk-Mongol community. The ceremonies include the lighting of oil lamps and the reading of prayers before an image of Chinggis Khaan. The first such memorial ceremony was conducted in 1987. Within the homes of Mongolian American families, it is common to see a painting or wall hanging featuring the image of Chinggis Khaan. In 2006 the Mongolian embassy in Washington proposed to erect a statue of Chinggis Khaan in America’s capital city. No such statue has been erected, although the idea continues to be explored. In the 20th century, two more Mongolian leaders emerged to become national heroes. The first, D. Sukhbaatar, led Mongols to independence in the 1921 communist revolution. The second, S. Zorig, helped usher democracy into Mongolia in 1990. Both men are considered to be heroes of their age and are a source of inspiration for Mongolian Americans. Zorig, who was murdered in 1998, became a symbol of responsible governance in this period of Mongolia’s economic and political transition.
Mongolian Americans: Home Decoration
The Dalai Lama continues to be another source of inspiration for the Mongolian American community. His lectures in cities across America draw large numbers of Mongolians, and the Dalai Lama frequently holds private meetings for Tibetan and Mongolian devotees. Mongols consider the Dalai Lama to be a living Buddha and are inspired by his teachings of nonviolence, coexistence, and harmony. Several Mongolian athletes have risen to prominence on the international stage in recent years, providing inspiration for Mongolian Americans. Two of these sports heroes burst onto the scene at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Tuvshinbayar Naidan and Badar-Uugan Enkhbat, who compete in judo and boxing, respectively, became national heroes when they both won Olympic gold medals, the first Olympic golds for any Mongolian athlete. Mongolian sumo wrestlers are also revered. Davagiin Batbayar was the first successful Mongolian in the sumo leagues and was ranked maegashira for 58 tournaments in a row. Batbayar retired from the sport in 2006, and is recognized as a Mongolian hero for his philanthropic efforts in his home country. Dolgorsurengiin Dagvadorj, known in Japan as Asashoryu Akinori, is one of the most successful athletes in the history of sumo; in 2003 he was inducted as the 68th Yokozuna. Mongolian Americans striving for athletic success hold up all of these sportsmen as national heroes. —Michael Kohn See also: Tibetan Americans: Dalai Lama (1935–).
Further Reading Onon, Urgunge, and Owen Lattimore. Mongolian Heroes of the Twentieth Century. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1976. Pearson, Harry. “Mongolia Toasts Its Sons of Sumo with Milky Teat.” The Guardian, April 12, 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2003/apr/12/comment.harrypearson (accessed July 30, 2010). Pressley-Montes, Sue Anne. “Ghengis Khan Statue Sought.” Washington Post, October 6, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006 100501534.html (accessed July 30, 2010). Weatherford, Jack. Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. New York: Crown, 2004.
Home Decoration For people who have just arrived in the United States and are not established in a career, home decor may be spare and very Americanized. For those who have been in the country for longer, their homes may have objects which resemble the decoration of a ger (yurt). Wall hangings may be rugs, leather, or posters, often
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depicting Chinggis Khan. Rugs were originally used as wall hangings to keep the home warm. Today, these hangings and other objects depicting Chinggis Khan display national and ethnic pride. People may also hang a morin huur (horse-head fiddle) with a blue khadag (silk scarf). The khadag is used to welcome guests, give blessings, and offer wine and gifts. It is often tied to the neck of the morin huur before the instrument is played. Images of Buddhist deities and figures may also hang on the walls. Immigrants from Inner Mongolia also enjoy hanging calligraphy in the traditional Uyghur script. Many households, even those that are not Buddhist, set up small altars which feature pictures of the Dalai Lama or other religious figure, photographs of deceased relatives, oil or butter lamps, and incense. A khadag is often draped along the perimeter; this may be the same khadag wrapped around the neck of the morin huur. The altar is typically placed in a main room, such as the living room, on an elevated surface. Family members make offerings at the altar on Tsagang Sar (“White Month,” the lunar new year) and informally throughout the year, placing fruit and candies under the photographs. People also pray at the altar for a loved one who is going on a long trip or has fallen ill; to remember the dead; or for the safekeeping of family members. Thus, the altar is a vital and central element of the home. The altar usually faces the main entrance to the house. In a ger, guests also sit facing the door. At large gatherings, family members will sit in a circle around the inner perimeter of the ger in order of seniority and gender. The ger should face south. This configuration is maintained in modern homes when possible. The living room becomes an important gathering place for Mongolian Americans, like the single room of a ger, even for people from urban backgrounds. Most Mongolian Americans live in apartments and so do not have the space to garden. Immigrants also tend to come from Ulanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city, and so do not have experience with yards. However, Mongolian Americans who own homes adopt the American custom of lawn care; a fair number of these homeowners work in construction or home repair. People who lived in the countryside or who visited relatives in rural areas back home have more of a knack for gardening and sow vegetable plots. —Anne M. Henochowicz
Further Reading Atwood, Christopher. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File, 2004. Jagchid, Sechin, and Paul Hyer. Mongolia’s Culture and Society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1979. Sneath, David. Changing Inner Mongolia: Pastoral Mongolian Society and the Chinese State. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Mongolian Americans: Identity
Identity The experience of Mongolians in America has been a brief one. Only the Kalmyk-Mongols, whose numbers remain small, have been in America long enough to carve out a distinct identity that could truly be called “Mongolian American.” The identity of Mongolians from Mongolia remains generally unchanged due to their brief exposure to the United States. The first Kalmyk-Mongols arrived in the United States in the early 1950s. With more than 50 years in the United States, their community now includes significant numbers of second- and third-generation Americans. The Kalmyks who were born or otherwise raised in the United States are fully Americanized. The younger generation of Kalmyks will speak English as their first language and adhere closely to American values and cultural traits. However, Kalmyks also identify with the history, legends, and culture of the Mongol people. They respect Mongolian heroes such as Chinggis Khaan and participate in Naadam and other Mongol festivals. Second- and third-generation Kalmyks live their lives according to Buddhist principles of peace and respect toward all living beings. The overwhelming majority of Mongols from Mongolia have been in the United States for less than 10 years. Cultural assimilation is slow for some Mongols due to language barriers. Others have attained a ready grasp of the English language and find themselves quickly assimilated into mainstream American society. Some have taken American names to more easily blend into their schools or places of work. Many still live somewhere between both Mongolia and the United States; they work in the United States for a few months and go back to their families in Mongolia before returning to the United States again. The Khalkh Mongolians most settled in the United States are those with small children now in the school system. It is these children who have dived headlong into the American lifestyle. Parents now express concern that the Mongolian language skills of their children have been diminished. To maintain a Mongolian identity, some communities have organized weekend schools that instruct children on language and Mongolian culture. The largest is the Mongolian School of the National Capital Area (MSNCA) in Arlington, Virginia. While Mongolian children express a deep interest in learning the history of their people, their social and educational experience is an American one. Young Mongolians idolize NBA basketball stars and American pop singers as much as any American children their age. Many feel caught between two worlds, Mongolian life at home and the American experience outside their doors. Despite their short history in the United States, signs of a unique cultural identity are emerging. Khalkh Mongols are a spiritual people, and Mongolian families participate actively in Buddhist or Christian services. Mongolians place high value
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on nuclear family relations, and they are committed to the education of their children. Furthermore, as a nomadic people, Mongolians easily adapt to new environments and have shown a desire to succeed in the United States. The Mongolian identity in America is undergoing significant changes and will continue to do so as a second generation of Mongolians is raised in the United States. —Michael Kohn
Further Reading Sabloff, Paula. Modern Mongolia: Reclaiming Ghengis Khan. Berkeley: University of Pennsylvania Museum, 2001.
Web Site Mongolian School of the National Capital Area Web site: http://www.mongolian school.com
Music and Folk Song Song is communal in the Mongolian community. At holidays and informal gatherings, all present will share a song. Singing at informal events usually begins spontaneously and may continue late into the night. At a party or festival, one of the more senior people present will give a speech and take several shots of vodka. He will then pass the bottle to the next person, who will take one shot and then sing. Everyone gathered must sing one song. People will sing more traditional songs and reminisce about the old country. At both informal and formal events, people often sing songs about the homeland. “Khalunn Elegiin Nutag” (“Hot Liver Country”) is popular. Some songs are about love of one’s parents, such as “Minii eej” (“My mother”) and “Minii aav” (“My father”). Many songs describe the land itself—its rivers and mountains, its horses and wide-open skies. In one form of song, urtyn duu (long song), melisma and melodic contour illustrate the landscape; for example, a long song from the plains may start low and move slowly, then suddenly rise up as do the hills in the distance. Long song has become professionalized over the past century, with stars such as the late Norovbanzad singing with the accompaniment of both traditional and Western instruments on her recordings. People also sing national music, which on recordings typically involves men singing patriotic songs. Most people lack the skill and training to sing in the two most refined styles of Mongolian singing: urtyn duu, and khoomei (throat singing). The latter, traditional in western regions, involves control of the vocal cords to produce deep notes and overtones. These vocal forms, as well as much traditional instrumental music, is more often heard in recordings or staged events in the United States.
Mongolian Americans: Names and Name Giving
The morin huur (horse-head fiddle) has become a symbol of Mongolian music and culture. The morin huur has two thick strings and a bow traditionally made from horsehair, and a carved horse head at the top of the neck. Different legends surround its invention: in each, a man loses his beloved horse and makes the instrument from its remains. Many people display morin huur in their homes. Western Mongols also play the topshuur, a two-stringed lute sometimes likened to a banjo. Mongolian Americans also listen to pop music from Mongolia. Famous singers include Ariunaa, Nomin Talst, and Serchmaa. Rock, heavy metal, and hiphop have all become popular over the past few decades. Among the betterknown performers are Ice Top, Sally, and Bold. Children who were either born in the United States or who came over at an early age tend to listen to American music. Still, people maintain a connection with music from home. Some bands, such as Altan Urag, Bolormaa, Ariunaa, Nomin Talst, and Hurd, make their way to the United States on tour. The Inner Mongolian folk-rock artist Tenger, who has a following in both China and Mongolia, regularly visits his family in the United States. —Anne M. Henochowicz See also: Mongolian Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Levin, Theodore, and Valentina Su¨zu¨kei. Where Rivers and Mountains Sing: Sound, Music, and Nomadism in Tuva and Beyond. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. Marsh, Peter K. The Horse-head Fiddle and the Reimagination of Tradition in Mongolia. New York: Routledge, 2004. Pegg, Carole. Mongolian Music, Dance, and Oral Narrative: Performing Diverse Identities. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001.
Names and Name Giving Traditionally, Mongols do not have surnames. Sometimes parents would make a compound of the father’s name and a chosen name, but not always. People identified themselves by kinship and tribal affiliation. In the communist era, Mongols followed the Soviet surname system of patronymics and, in cases where the father is not known, matronymics. In the past few years, Mongols have started using clan names as surnames. In Mongolia and Inner Mongolia (China), the surname is written before the given name. As the surname is not very important, many Mongols in
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Mongolia abbreviate their surname and write their given name in full (e.g., Ts. Boldbaatar). In the United States, Mongols put the surname after the given name. In the case of a marriage between an American and a Mongolian, the Mongolian surname may be used as a middle name. Naming traditions allow for many possibilities. Children may be named after a place (often a river), positive qualities or objects (e.g., Beleg or “gift,” and Saikhan or “sweet”), or Buddhist deities. Many names are Tibetan, such as Dorj (Tibetan Dorje), meaning “lightning bolt.” Many names combine a religious name with a Tibetan day of the week, only sometimes corresponding to the day on which the child is born: for example Purev-Dorj (“Thursday’s Dorj”) or Myagmar-suren (“Tuesday’s Lord Indra”). These religious names are more common among middle-aged and elderly people. Some parents give their children very humble names so as not to call the attention of demons to the child. A name like Ene-bish (“not this”) or Nergui (“no name”) keeps a child safe, whereas a more noticeable name, such as Altan-tsetseg (“golden flower”) would make the demons jealous and bring their evil upon the child. Some groups, such as the Khorchin of eastern Inner Mongolia, will only call the child “baby” until it is named at Sariin Hurim, the haircutting ceremony. Even afterwards, people may not use the child’s name, to prevent ghosts from stealing their souls. Traditional names do not indicate gender, but more recently, parents have added feminine and masculine markers to names: for example, Tsetseg (flower) and Chimeg (decoration) for girls, Bat (strong) and Baatar (hero or warrior) for boys. Whenever possible, practicing Buddhists will ask a lama to name their children. Local priority for naming, in descending order, goes to the grandfather, grandmother, community elder, and finally parents. Mongolians are concerned with fitting into American society, and so parents often choose English names or nicknames for their children. Some children have Mongolian first names and Anglo-American middle names; they may go by their middle names. Parents may also choose a Mongolian name that sounds like an English name or can easily become a nickname. Examples are Mishel (Michelle, “Smile”), Sara, Anu (Anne), Cholon (Charles), and Irgen (Eric). Adults often shorten their name or pronounce it differently for Americans: for example, a man named Bold would pronounce it “bold,” rather than more accurately as “bald.” —Anne M. Henochowicz
Further Reading Humphrey, Caroline. “On Being Named and Not Named: Authority, Persons and Their Names in Mongolia.” In Barbara Bodenhorn and Gabriele Vom Bruck, eds. The Anthropology of Names and Naming. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Mongolian Americans: Proverbs and Maxims
Proverbs and Maxims Mongolian folk culture is rich with proverbs and maxims. Mongolian proverbs and maxims are the direct reflection of the wisdom, morals, traditional views, customs, and everyday lives of Mongolians. The proverbs illustrate the common sensual and practical experiences of Mongolians in simple and vivid phrases that are widely known and repeated by people over long periods of time. Mongolian maxims are the proverbs that describe basic rules of conduct and are mostly presented in two- to four-line poem forms. Although most proverbs and maxims that are still extensively used among Mongolian Americans are handed down from generation to generation, the morals and values reflected in them remain intact in today’s Mongolian American lives. Mongolian American proverbs and maxims can be classified into the following categories: proverbs and maxims that describe philosophical views of nature and life, the ones that describe social and political views, and those that describe the customs and everyday lives of people. The following proverbs explain the laws of nature and life: “Yum bolgon uchirtai, uchir bolgon utgatai,” or “Everything has a cause and the every cause has a meaning.” “Uuliig tsas dargad, eriig nas dardag,” or “Snow covers up the mountain, age covers up the man.” And, “Zovlon uzeegyi khun jargal medekhgyi” or “The one who never grieved could not recognize happiness.” Many proverbs and maxims reveal the social and political views of people. The following are the examples that are still commonly used within the Mongolian American communities: “Toriin toloo ogtono booj ukhekh,” or “A mouse hangs himself for a state cause.” This proverb describes somebody who goes above and beyond his or her call of duty to express one’s political view. “Deeree suudlaa olokhgyi bol dooroo guidlee olokgyi,” or “If the ones at the top could not locate their seats, the ones at the bottom would not find their run”—meaning that when the people in power could not reach a solution or make an appropriate decision, the people underneath their leadership would not know what is expected. The following proverbs and maxims demonstrate the important cultural norms and appropriate behaviors that are essential in Mongolian American culture. “Asuukhaar asga,” or “Better dump it than ask,” means that if one wanted to offer something to someone, it is better just hand it to that person than asking if that person needs it. “Id gekhed amsakh, uu gekhed tamshaalakh,” or “Barely taste it when offered food and barely sip it when offered drink”; this proverb demonstrates the Mongolian custom that frowns upon not accepting or appreciating what is offered. “Nokhoi khamartaa khurekheer uch,” or, “A dog is a swimmer once water reaches his nose,” meaning that one will overcome any challenges when options are exhausted. “Aival buu khii, khiivel buu ai,” or “Do not start if afraid, do not be
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afraid once started.” “Aaviin biid khuntei tanilts, agtnii biid gazar uz,” or “Meet people when your father is alive, travel places when the horse is strong.” “Sokhriin gazar sokhor, gololongiin gazar dogolon,” or “Be a blind in blind men’s land and be a limp in limp men’s land”—this means that one should always follow the common rules and customs of others when traveling or living in their land. “Ikh barisan ch omkhii, baga barisan ch omkhii,” or “It still stinks whether one just touched it or took a handful of it,” meaning that no matter how small was the actual outcome, the consequence of any wrongdoing is the same for all possible outcomes. Last, there is “Nugeliin nudiig gurilaar khuurakh,” or “Tricking devil’s eyes with flour dough.” This phrase is used when describing one’s lousy work. —Bolortsetseg C. Smith
Further Reading Akim Khatigan, G. Dictionary of Mongolian Proverbs. Ulaanbaatar: Bembi San, 2001. Rinchensambuu, R. Mongolian Proverbs. Volumes 1 and 2. Ulaanbaatar: Bembi San, 2002.
Web Site Wisdom of Nomads: Sayings and Proverbs. Mongolia Today Online Magazine Web Site: http://www.mongoliatoday.com/issue/1/wisdom.html.
Religion As practitioners of Tibetan-style Buddhism, many Mongolians have kept their faith alive after arriving in the United States. Mongolians regularly attend Buddhist services and meditation programs where these are available. Because Buddhist temples are limited in the United States, many Mongolians practice Buddhism at home. Christianity is also widespread among Mongolian American communities, and Mongolian churches have recently opened in several major American cities. Kalmyks arriving in the United States in the 1950s became the first significant population to bring Tibetan-style Buddhism to America. Their pioneering efforts included the construction of Tashi Lhumpo Temple in Howell (Freewood Acres), New Jersey. Two more Buddhist temples, Nitsan and Rashi Gempil Ling, have since been constructed in Howell. In August 2008, a special ceremony was held at Tashi Lhumpo to honor two senior monks, Baksha Jampel Dorj and Gen Yonten Gyamtso. The pair have led temple services since the early 1970s, while as of 2010, the 90-year-old Gyamtso still distributed holistic remedies to members of the community.
Mongolian Americans: Religion
A temporary ovoo, or ritual cairn, at the 2008 MiddFest in Middletown, Ohio. In Mongolia, ovoo serve as landmarks on the vast steppe, or on mountaintops or other high places. Passersby usually place a stone on the ovoo, encircle it three times, and make an offering of food or alcohol, all to ensure a safe journey. Khadag, ceremonial scarves made of Silk are tied around the tree branch at the center. Shamanic rituals are also held at the site of the ovoo. They are also visited during Tsagaan Sar (White Month, the lunar new year). (Anne Henochowicz)
The Kalmyk high lama Geshe Ngawang Wangyal has also been instrumental in developing the Tibetan Buddhist community in the United States. Geshe Wangyal taught Tibetan studies at Columbia University during the 1960s and 1970s, and was a mentor to the Tibetologist Robert Thurman. Another important figure in the development of Tibetan Buddhism in America was the Mongol monk Dilowa Gegeen Khutukhtu, a living Buddha who first arrived in the United States in 1949. From his base in Baltimore, Dilowa Gegeen served the Kalmyk-Mongol Buddhist community and was considered its senior authority. He made frequent trips to Howell and paid visits to the Kalmyk Mongols residing in Philadelphia. On the U.S. west coast, the main center for Mongolians to practice Buddhism is the Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom (TCCW), located in Mill Valley, California. Arjia Rinpoche, the former abbot of Kumbum Monstery in Amdo and the only Tibetan high lama of Mongol descent, is the leading monk at the center. The center provides occasional services in Oakland, closer to the Mongolian base.
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The home of a Mongolian Buddhist will typically contain an altar with Buddhist paraphernalia. These might include small Buddhist statues, a rosary, a prayer wheel, and at least one photo of the Dalai Lama. Mongolians personalize their altar and may include the picture of a deceased family member. While at home or during their daily routine, Mongolians chant basic prayers, such as “Om, Mani Padme Hum” (“Hail! Jewel in the lotus”) in private moments of prayer and meditation. Mongolians also perform ariulukh (spiritual cleansing), particularly after visiting a lama or going to the temple. To perform this ritual, the adherent will burn crushed juniper leaves in a cup and pass it around his or her body three times while chanting a prayer. Although Buddhism is the dominant religion in Mongolia, a solid percentage of Mongolians living in the United States are Christians. Missionary groups, including Mormons, Catholics, Protestants, and Seventh-Day Adventists, actively seek converts in Mongolia and send them to the United States for religious education and missionary training. Mongolian Christian churches have growing congregations in cities such as Los Angeles, Oakland, Denver, and Washington, DC. —Michael Kohn See also: Mongolian Americans: Superstition and Taboo.
Further Reading Prebish, Charles, and Tanaka, Kenneth. The Faces of Buddhism in America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
Web Sites Olna Gazur Web site: http://www.olnagazur.org/ Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom Web site: http://www.tccwonline.org/
Rites of Passage Rite of passage celebrated among Mongolian Americans mark the important milestones of human development with traditional rituals and ceremonies. The most popular rites of passages celebrated among the Mongolian American communities are births, first haircutting ceremonies, and weddings. Traditionally, a monk plays a significant role in all Mongolian rite-of-passage ceremonies and rituals. However, the major religious ties and the involvement of a monk once associated with those rituals are no longer in full practice in the United States. One of the most commonly used rites surrounding the birth of a Mongolian American child is a baby-naming ritual. Traditionally, babies were given names
Mongolian Americans: Rites of Passage
by a monk based on the astrological calculations of their birthday. Today, most Mongolian American babies are given names by their parents. Once the name is chosen, the father whispers the baby’s name three times in the baby’s left ear. Occasionally, when a newborn baby gets sick constantly or the family had lost their previous baby; they may still choose to visit a monk to rename the baby with a name that considered appropriate based on the baby’s astrological calculations. A child’s first haircut is an important rite of passage for Mongolians. The haircutting ceremony usually takes place for boys when they are three or five, and for girls when they are four or six. The date of the ceremony is chosen in accordance with the astrological calendar. A person who was born in a year with a zodiac sign that matches well with the child’s birth year sign will be chosen for the first cut. Once the first lock of hair is cut, the scissors with a khadag or a blue scarf tied around its handles is passed around clockwise in the room, so everybody has the chance to cut a small lock of hair and offer presents to the child. After the ceremony, the bag where the hair was kept is wrapped with a khadag and stored away. Traditionally, after the haircutting ceremony, the child’s hair is shaved completely except for the small rectangular patch left on the child’s forehead. Today, most Mongolian Americans take their children to a hair salon after the haircutting ceremony to get a professional haircut. Marriage marks the most popular rite of passage for Mongolian Americans. The traditional wedding involves a complex series of formal rites and ceremonies. Although most of those rituals are not practiced in full among Mongolian Americans today, certain rituals are still followed by most. One of them is the proposal ceremony. Traditionally, a groom’s father or an uncle gives an unannounced visit to the woman’s father’s house to ask for the woman’s hand in marriage. For this occasion, the man’s proposal messengers place a khadag on the woman’s parents’ shrine and take out the vodka, food, and treats that they brought with them. In most cases, proposal visits turn into a big party. If the woman’s family keeps the khadag, the proposal is accepted. When the proposal is rejected, the woman’s father simply returns the khadag to the messenger. Once the proposal is accepted, the appropriate date for the wedding is chosen according to the astrological calendar. Actual wedding ceremonies are divided into two main parties. First, a group from the groom’s side, including the groom, will visit the bride’s parents’ house to bring the bride to the groom’s house. Everybody invited from the bride’s side will be at the bride’s parents’ house. After a big feast at the bride’s parents’ house, the entire group goes to the groom’s place, where the actual wedding takes place. It is common for Mongolian Americans to choose to have a Westernstyle wedding, as opposed to a traditional Mongolian wedding, especially for marriages to a non-Mongolian partner. Even at those weddings, traditional rituals such as offering milk and a khadag to the newlyweds are still practiced. —Bolortsetseg C. Smith
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Further Reading Rubel, Paula G. The Kalmyk Mongols. Bloomington: Indiana University Publications, Uralic and Altaic Series, 1967. Sampildendev, Kh., N. Urtnasan, and T. Dorjdagva. Mongol Zan Uil, Bayar Esloliin Tovchoon. Ulaanbaatar: Bambi Foundation Publications, 2006.
Social Etiquette and Customs The essence of Mongolian customs and ethical norms are derived from the traditional nomadic lifestyle. Today, most Mongolian Americans are far removed from the pastoral nomadic lifestyle that once defined the very character of all Mongolians. Although the strict norms of etiquette and customs of the past are no longer practiced in full swing among the Mongolian Americans, most Mongolian Americans are knowledgeable about these customs and are expected to follow certain social etiquette norms that are still considered acceptable and proper by the members of Mongolian American communities. Hospitality and courtesy are the two most readily recognizable social virtues of Mongolian Americans. Any visitors to a Mongolian American family, whether the visit was announced or unannounced, are immediately seated and served, at the very least, tea and cookies. In many cases, the entire course of a meal is served. As the hospitality of feeding guests with whatever the host family has is expected, accepting and eating at least a small amount of what is offered is expected from the guest. Not eating or at least tasting what was offered is considered rude and insulting to the host. Serving food or drink in a cracked cup or a plate is considered bad luck. There is an old belief that the happiness of the family may be swallowed by the guest through the crack of the cup or a plate along with the food and drink served. If someone notices a crack in a cup or a plate on which the host served food or drink without realizing, the guest should turn the cup or a plate to place the crack away from oneself to avoid the taboo. Traditions of gift exchange when visiting another family has been maintained to some extent among the Mongolian Americans. Living on the steppe, usually in such remote areas, visits between nomadic families were made infrequently, and gifts were brought on each occasion. Today, bringing a gift when visiting another Mongolian American family is common only for those visits made after a long lapse of time. When giving and accepting food or drink and exchanging gifts, one should always use the right hand. Sleeves of clothing should be pulled down when receiving and accepting food or gifts. Passing objects with sharp edges or blades with the edge and a blade first is considered rude and hostile. Additionally, giving and receiving things between your fingers is considered rude and insulting.
Mongolian Americans: Superstition and Taboo
The elders are highly respected among the Mongolian Americans. Mongolian Americans do not call their elders by their first names. The elders are addressed as uvuu, or a grandfather, and emee, or a grandmother. Similarly, in most occasions, Mongolian Americans address somebody older than themselves as akh, or uncle, and egch, or aunt. However, these customs do not apply when Mongolian Americans are addressing elders or significantly older individuals from non–Mongolian American backgrounds. Mongolian American elders are seated and served first when visiting a family or arriving at any formal cultural event. In most cases, when meeting for the first time or meeting during Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian Lunar New Year celebration, Mongolian Americans great their elders in traditional ways supporting the elders’ elbows with their palms facing upwards offering their cheeks for a kiss. —Bolortsetseg C. Smith
Further Reading Baatar, Tsend. The Chinggis Heritage in the USA: Mongolian Americans in the 20th Century. Ulaanbaatar: 2001. May, Timothy Micheal. Culture and Customs of Mongolia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2009. Rubel, Paula G. The Kalmyk Mongols. Bloomington: Indiana University Publications, Uralic and Altaic Series, 1967.
Superstition and Taboo Superstition and taboo can affect the daily lives of Mongolian Americans in many different ways. The beliefs that Mongols carry with them are borne out of their traditional nomadic roots as well as their Shamanic and Buddhist beliefs. Many superstitions are related to ones’ astrological sign, and Mongolians will frequently consult with a lama before making important decisions. One principle superstition among Mongolian Americans is the belief that every individual has a day in the week that is particularly inauspicious. This “bad day” is usually determined by a lama, and on such a day, one should avoid important business dealings or risky activities. According to popular belief, getting a haircut on one’s bad day is strictly taboo. Such an act could result in any number of problems and even a serious calamity. Various forms of divination can determine one’s bad day, such as the reading of astrological charts. There are a number of unique day-to-day occurrences that affect the life of a Mongolian American. For example, Mongols consider an individual’s hat and belt to be sacred objects; neither should be left on the floor under any circumstances.
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Mongolian Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
Touching another person’s hat is also considered poor form. In general, one must be careful not to touch the head of another, and this includes children. It is considered taboo, for example, to pat a child on the head. Another typical belief is that one should not step on the threshold of a home, as committing such an act would be symbolic of stepping on the neck of the homeowner. Furthermore, there are additional taboos to avoid when visiting a Mongolian home. Notably, guests should not sit at the head of the living room (i.e., the furthest point from the door), as this is reserved for the head of the household. As milk is considered sacred, Mongols take care not to spill any. Some traditional Mongolian beliefs are in conflict with American traditions. Baby showers are one example. It is considered bad luck to give gifts to an unborn child; therefore, baby showers are rare in Mongolian communities. One of the more unique rituals in Mongolian American society is the first haircutting of a child. Boys get their first haircuts at the age of two and four, while girls have their haircut at ages three and five. In all cases, the head of the child must be shaved. The person doing the haircutting must be specially chosen because that persons’ zodiac sign must have a special correlation to the child. Because Mongolians have a close relationship with nature, there are many taboos associated with the protection of the environmental elements. For example, it is considered taboo to pollute a river or lake. Mongolians also try to avoid digging up the sacred earth or cutting trees. Committing such acts can harm spirits, which are believed to reside in the natural world. However, because America is moving towards a more mainstream environmental consciousness, such “taboos” can help Mongolians to assimilate with American values. —Michael Kohn See also: Mongolian Americans: Religion.
Further Reading May, Timothy Michael. Culture and Customs of Mongolia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2009.
Traditional Medicine and Healing Traditional healing and medicine have been practiced among Mongolians over many years. By the 16th century, Tibetan Buddhism had become the leading religion among Mongolians. Therefore, traditional Mongolian medicine has been influenced heavily by Tibetan traditional medicine practices. The basic principles of Mongolian medicine mainly follow the guidelines of Tibetan traditional
Mongolian Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
medicine and Tibetan Buddhism. Ayurveda and Chinese medical practices have also influenced traditional Mongolian medicine. Traditionally, doctors or emchi were educated in Buddhist monasteries. Emchi have played a significant role in medical and healing practices among Mongolians. In the early 20th century, along with the communist ideology, Western medicine was introduced to Mongolians. Under the communist system, traditional healing and medical practices were restricted. In the early 1990s, the official ban was lifted, and after years of restriction, the traditional medical practices were once again recognized and practiced widely. This helped all Mongolians, both in and outside of their homeland, to become reintroduced to the centuries-long traditions of the healing and medical cultures of the past. Although, most Mongolian Americans today use Western medicine, some traditional healing practices are still used among Mongolian Americans as alternate medicines. Mongolians believe that human health relies on the balance of the three lifesustaining principles: khii or wind, shar or bile, and badgan or phlegm. Imbalance in these life-sustaining principles results in illness. Therefore, reestablishing the balance of the life-sustaining principles is the primary task of emchi, or traditional doctors. The most commonly used Mongolian traditional healing and medical practices among Mongolian Americans are herbal medicine, bone setting, and dom, or traditional household cures. Mongolian herbal medicine is one of the most commonly used remedies among Mongolians. Countless plants and herbs are used to cure illnesses from the common cold to terminal diseases. While use of some herbs and plants as medicines do not require special expertise or any medical training, some require extensive medical expertise and careful measurement. Bone setting is an area of Mongolian traditional medicine performed by a bariach or bone setter. Most bone setters do not have formal medical training and usually are taught by their elders. Broken bones and displaced joints are fixed by bone setters who merely rely on their ability to feel and direct the bones and joints back in to their proper positions. Traditional Mongolian household cures are referred to as dom. They are mostly based on superstitions. The following examples demonstrate a few of many dom that are still in use among Mongolian Americans. For a stiff neck, bowing three times to a beautiful woman relieves the pain. If someone’s tear duct is clogged and is causing discomfort, touching the opposite knee with that eye seven times while saying “Em Dom, Em Dom” cures the trouble. Placing a hot wooden handle of a knife on cold sores cures them. When a baby cannot sleep and cries all night, placing rocks collected from a crowded public place takes care of the situation. Counting eases mental unrest. And, drinking hot water cures headaches. —Bolortsetseg C. Smith
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Further Reading Baavrai Ch., and Boldsaikhan B. Mongolian Traditional Medicine. Ulaanbaatar: State Publishing House, 1990. Sukhbat Sh., and Byandelger G. Mongolian Medicine. Ulaanbaatar: Shod Press Publications, 2006.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Mongolian American vernacular language and speech refer to the everyday language spoken by Mongolian Americans as distinguished from the literary language used among the people. Each ethnic Mongolian group represented in the United States, such as Mongolians, Kalmyks, Buryats, and Inner Mongolians, has its own distinct spoken dialect. However, Mongolian American vernacular language does not refer to different dialects; it refers to the common language spoken in the Mongolian American communities. Since most Mongolian American communities today are composed largely of immigrants who did not arrive in the United States until the 1990s and 2000s, there are no significant differences between the vernacular languages spoken among the Mongolian Americans in the United States and the Mongolians in the country of Mongolia. However, a few small traits slightly distinguish the Mongolian language spoken among the Mongolian Americans in the United States as that from the language spoken in their ancestor’s land. The most significant traits of Mongolian American vernacular language that separate it from the written Mongolian language are the distinctive use of compound words using English and Mongolian words, the distinctive use of adding Mongolian suffixes to English words, and the use of distinctive vocabulary and phrases. Most Mongolian Americans are bilingual, speaking both Mongolian and English. On a daily basis, English is spoken far more than Mongolian among Mongolian Americans. This may explain the reason why frequently used English words are common in vernacular Mongolian language spoken within the Mongolian American communities. Most compound words that contain both English and Mongolian words are new words and phrases that are introduced to the Mongolian American vernacular language as new products and technologies as well as new social economical terms entering our daily lives. For example, the word shilen cable, or high-speed Internet, was introduced to everyday language of Mongolian Americans as the Internet has became significant part of their daily lives. The words zamiin cheques or traveler’s cheques, banknii zeel or bank loan, and collegiin tolbor or college tuition are
Mongolian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
just a small sample of the many compound words that contain both English and Mongolian words in them. Mongolian language is classified as an agglutinative language, meaning that suffixes are added to the word stem to make grammatical changes. For example, to say the word yav or to go in the past tense, one could add the simple past tense suffix “–san” to the word stem yav to say yavsan, or went. In the vernacular Mongolian American language and speeches, it is common to add Mongolian suffixes to English words to make grammatical changes within a sentence. In the following examples, the past tense suffix –san, future tense suffix –na, and the present tense suffix –dag are added to an English verb chat to make the grammatical changes within the sentences—for example, “Bi naiztaigaa chatlasan,” or “I chatted with my friend”; “Bi naistaigaa chatlana,” or “I will chat with my friend”; and “Bi naiztaigaa chatladag,” or “I chat with my friend.” There are certain slang words and phrases that are commonly used within the Mongolian American communities in the United States. For instances, khar mongol, or a black Mongolian, refers to illegal Mongolian immigrants; while tsagaan mongol, or a white Mongolian, refers to Mongolians living and working legally in the United States. —Bolortsetseg C. Smith
Further Reading Aryunbold, Y. Modern Mongolian. Ulaanbaatar: Mongolian Educational University Press, 2004. Kullmann, Rita. Mongolian Grammar. Ulaanbaatar: Jensco Ltd, 1996. Sambuudorj, Ochirbat, and Luvsandash Erdenesuvd. Dictionary of Mongolian Slang Words. Ulaanbaatar: Mongolian Academy of Science Press, 2002.
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Nepali Americans History, People, and Culture Nepali Americans represent many ethnic, caste and class, and language groups among those of Nepali heritage. The majority are recent immigrants to the United States following the opening of the borders of Nepal to outsiders in the early 1950s. Earlier migrations from India may have included the Nepali soldiers from the Gorkha province of Nepal who fought with the British forces and were known as “Gurkhas.” The earlier census combined immigrants into the category of “Asian,” so it is not possible to determine nationality. In 1960, Nepal established diplomatic relations with the United States. In 1965, immigration laws were revised to eliminate restrictive annual quotas, increasing the wave of immigrants who came to seek work or to study in the United States. It has been reported that 56 Nepalis came to the United States in 1975, but documentation is not available to substantiate that claim. Subsequent revisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act created the 1990 diversity lottery (DV) and awards up to 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. In spite of those changes, Nepali immigrants remained few until later in the 1990s. In 1998, 226 Nepalis were winners in the DV-1999 diversity lottery while there were 593 Nepalese DV-2010 winners. The number of Nepali Americans is still a small number of the U.S. immigrant population. According to the 2000 census, 11,715 reported Nepalese ancestry up from the 2,516 in 1990. The median age was 29.8 years, and 62.4 percent were male. The number of Nepali Americans who obtained legal permanent resident status has grown steadily, from 78 in 1987, to 447 in 1997, to 4,093 in 2008. In 2000, 203 were naturalized, compared to 1,632 in 2009. Student visas numbered 6,061 in 2005–2006 compared to only 686 student visas in 1996. The Nepali community has grown to an estimated 150,000. Significant communities of Nepali Americans exist in Colorado, California, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Texas, and in large metropolitan areas such as the New York City area, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Portland, and St. Paul. Sizable numbers also live in various cities of California and Virginia.
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Religion, Language, Culture The majority of Nepali Americans identify themselves as Hindu and/or Buddhist and may also identify as followers of other faiths, including Christianity, Islam, or Kirant, that is a combination of animism, ancestor worship, Hinduism, and Tibetan Buddhism. Many of the cities where Nepali Americans live in the United States have Hindu and Buddhist temples, although in less populated areas, that may not be the case. Religious festivals include Nepali, Newari, Sherpa, Tibetan, and other ethnic celebrations by Nepali Americans. The first Nepalese Buddhist temple in the United States was consecrated in Portland, Oregon, in 2009. About 2,000 Buddhist temples and centers exist in the United States. The Portland temple was the first one dedicated to a form of Buddhism practiced in Nepal. The primary language spoken by many is Nepali. Of the more than 126 other listed languages and dialects spoken in Nepal, Newari is also commonly spoken as is Hindi, which allows for conversation with many other South Asian Americans. Other languages that may be spoken by Nepali Americans include Rai, Tibetan, Gurung, and Limbu. Schools teach English in the cities in Nepal, so many who immigrate are also English speakers. The term “Nepali American” takes into account the many ethnicities, religions, languages and associated values that immigrants to the United States bring with them. In addition to Nepali, other more frequently indicated ethnicities include Newars, Indians, Tibetans, Gurungs, Magars, Tamangs, Bhotias, Rais, Limbus, and Sherpas. Integrating customs and beliefs influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism can be difficult for those who come from a society that values a communitarian approach to one that is based on individualism. Additionally, American culture tends to have people speak very directly, which may be seen as impolite by Nepali Americans who may be used to an indirect style of language that is seen as polite. To be on time for a dinner might be seen as being hungry and impolite in Nepali culture, whereas to be late in the United States may be seen as impolite. Social distances, the “personal space,” in the United States may be seen as impersonal. The English language may be seen as less formal and impolite in comparison to the honorific structure found in Nepalese. Cultural foods for Nepali Americans are distinctive. They are similar to other south Asian foods in spice and ingredients, but Nepali Americans are quick to point out they are distinctly Nepali. Food preferences may include a meatless cuisine that includes rice, spicy vegetable dishes, and sweet desserts as are often found at cultural gatherings. A search of the Internet reveals Nepali influence from coast to coast. A plethora of restaurants serving Nepalese cuisine are found across the United States. Portland Nepali residents started a community garden to feed them as well as refugee families. Arts and crafts revealing Nepali culture are exhibited across the states. The Nepal America Journalist Association is headquartered in Virginia.
Nepali Americans: History, People, and Culture
Education and Occupation Many Nepalese immigrate to the United States for education and work. Wealthier families are able to send their children to the United States to attend school. Students often apply for work permits and then apply for citizenship. According to the 2000 census, of the Nepali American population over age 25 (n = 8,165) a total of 1,955, or 23.9 percent, had graduate or professional degrees, compared to 2,150 or 26.3 percent who had bachelor’s degrees. The median family income indicated in the 2000 census for Nepali Americans was $42,096. Of those employed, 36.6 percent were in management, professional, and related occupations, compared to 22.2 percent in service occupations, 27.1 percent in sales and office occupations, and 11.4 percent in production or transportation. By industry, 20.3 percent were in retail trade; 21.5 percent were in education, health, and social services; 17.5 percent were in art/entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services; and 9.1 percent were in professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services. While the median income enables people to live a middle-class life, information from Nepali American Organizations indicates many earn only minimum wage, struggle financially and socially, and require assistance.
Nepali American Organizations and Notable People American Nepalese associations provide social support and venues for participation in events that help Nepali Americans retain their cultural heritage as they integrate into American culture. Many university student, state, and regional associations (e.g., Association of Nepalese in Midwest America) provide support to community members, including English language and culture classes, Nepali language courses, affordable health screenings and health services, finding housing for newcomers, information about schools and education, banking and financial planning, scholarships for students, language and cultural classes for American-born Nepali young children, and more for community members. They also gather resources to help those back in Nepal, especially following disasters. The Association of the Nepalis in the Americas (ANA) was founded in July 1983 in New York. Since its inception ANA has grown steadily as an international organization, attracting a diverse membership that includes resident Nepalis in the Americas and many other international scholars, scientists, outdoor enthusiasts, and philanthropists who share an interest in the Nepali culture. The Non Resident Nepalese Association (NRNA) NRN National Coordination Council of USA (NCC) is another prominent national organization that holds town hall meetings, hosts conventions, publishes a newsletter, and develops an emergency fund for those in the United States who need assistance. Two notable
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Nepali Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
Nepali Americans include Kiran Carrie Chetry, a news anchor at CNN, and Samrat Upadhyay, author and professor of creative writing at Indiana University. —Marsha Greer
Further Reading Collins, Glenn. “Looking for a Sherpa in Nepal? Try New York.” New York Times, April 3, 1998.
Web Sites Barnes, Jessica S., and Claudette E. Bennett. “The Asian Population: 500,000.” U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce: http://www.census.gov/prod/ 2002pubs/c2kbr01-16.pdf (accessed April 24, 2010). Department of Homeland Security. “Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status During Fiscal Year 2008.” http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/data/DSLPR08c.shtm; cobbook135.xls (accessed April 23, 2010). U.S. Census. “Table FBP-1. Profile of Selected Demographic and Social Characteristics: 2000 Population Universe: People Born in Nepal.” http://www.census.gov/population/ cen2000/stp-159/STP-159-nepal.pdf (accessed April 24, 2010).
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration The arts and crafts of Nepal are strongly influenced by themes derived from Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions. These religious themes also have influenced the other cultural arts and crafts created by other ethnic groups. The most important and visible art is the architecture of Nepal. Temples in pagoda styles are seen everywhere in the cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Patan. The magnificent wood and stone carvings with erotic postures of miniature men and women on the windows or the stone and wooden struts are magnificent. The famous carved wooden windows of the ancient palaces and temples have been replicated in the modern concrete buildings. The miniatures of these very wooden windows, the famous one being the Peacock Window of Bhaktapur, the wooden doors, the little metal statues of deities, and masks and other wooden and stone carvings are some of the arts and crafts with which Nepali Americans like to adorn their houses. They take with them the essence of their homes embodied in these miniatures. On every Nepali American wall, one can see a miniature of the peacock window, or a wooden carving, a mask, or a metal figurine of a deity on a desk. These are all reminders of the homes they have left behind. Metal works, mainly of bronze and copper alloy, stone carvings, wood carvings, and paintings, again with religious themes, have been the other arts and crafts of
Nepali Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
which Nepal is proud. Thangka, a form of painting that has strong religious motifs drawn from Buddhist tradition, is very popular among the tourists in Nepal. It is also one of the many tangible manifestations of the Nepali American identity that they carry back with them to adorn the walls of their living rooms. Images of Buddhist figures, scenes drawn from religious stories, and “mandala” or the wheel of life are the usual themes depicted, either on cotton cloth or canvas and framed usually with brocade. Colorful woolen carpets with ethnic motifs are also an important part of decorations in Nepali American homes. Carpets from Nepal are popular around the world, and to have them in the homes is an important part of Nepali American home decorations. Paper crafts like notebooks, diaries, greeting cards, lampshades, and calendars, all made from the bark of the “lokta” plant that grows along the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, are very common sights in Nepali American households. The lokta paper is also known as Daphne Papyracea, and is a self-generating plant. The products of this lokta paper are a favorite of Nepali Americans. One can see the colorful (vegetable dye) lampshades hanging from the ceilings of patios or living rooms, or greeting cards exchanged on occasions or sent to their American friends during seasonal greetings. —Sangita Rayamajhi
Further Reading Gajurel, Chavilala L, and K. K. Vaidya. Traditional Arts and Crafts of Nepal. Delhi: S. Chand and Sons, 1994. Slusser, Mary. Arts and Culture of Nepal. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point, 2005.
Web Site Nepal: http://www.visitnepal.com/nepal_information/art_and_religion.php.
Clothes and Jewelry Nepali American men have fully adopted Western clothes and have relegated their native dress to the far recesses of the closet to be retrieved for special Nepali occasions. This sartorial assimilation has been made easy because in their own native country, unless one is traditionally stiff or made to conform by some government rules, men traditionally prefer Western-style clothes. Daura Suruwal, the native dress of Nepal, is in a class by itself. Unlike the similarities of Indian, Pakistani, Bahgladeshi, and, to some extent, Afghani native dresses, it has its own uniqueness. Daura is the open-faced shirt, sans collar or cuffs, with two overlapping flaps in front that is tied with eight strings (four inner
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and four outer). Suruwal is the trouser, leg-hugging tight at the bottom, loose and baggy at the top. A Western-style vest and coat and a tight-fitting cap, called Topi, that perches and rises some three inches above the head, completes the native dress ensemble. Some Nepali American men prefer to wear jewelry in the form of rings and necklaces and occasionally earrings as a fashion statement, and in this respect, they are not far removed from average American men. They do, however, retain native taste and prefer jewelry from Nepal with intricate design and made of 18–24 karat gold. Living in a male-dominated society, Nepali women have less choice than to wear native garments. Young adults Nepali boy wearing Dhaka Topee hat. wear salwar, a baggy trouser; kamiz, a (John Lamb) loose-fitting shirt; and a light shawl. Adults wear the staple shari, a strip of four- to nine-meter-long, elaborately printed cloth; cholo, a tight-fitting blouse; and a complement of a shawl. Such an acculturation has stifled Nepali American women from adopting Western-style clothes. However, gradual change is in the offing. Nepali American women prefer jewelry made of 18–24 karat gold, a standard in Nepal. More often than not, their jewelry pieces—rings, earrings, necklaces, bangles, charms and amulets—are handcrafted in Nepal. Nepali jewelry also incorporates precious and semiprecious stones, the most common being garnet, agate, red coral, turquoise, and lapis. Nepali wedding custom requires the groom’s family to give the bride a special necklace called Tilhari. This necklace consists of seven golden beads—three round and four flat—joined together. It can be made of gold or silver. The necklace itself is then strung with strands of red glass beads called Pote. On the wedding day, the groom places the necklace around the bride’s neck, symbolizing the status of the bride as a married woman. Once a woman is widowed, she is no longer allowed to wear Tilhari. Every now and then, it is not uncommon to come across a Nepali American dressed in daura suruwal and topi, accompanied by his wife in colorful sari and cholo with Tilhari necklace around her neck, on their way to some special social occasion. —Uday Lama
Nepali Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
Further Reading Singer, Jane Casey. Gold Jewelry from Tibet and Nepal. New York: Thomas & Hudson. 1996.
Web Site “The Gorkha Culture and GJMM’s Project of Daura Suruwal-Chawbandi Choli.” DarjeelingTimes.com. http://www.darjeelingtimes.com/news/news/The-Gorkha -Culture-and-GJMMs-Project-of-Daura-Suruwal-Chawbandi-.html (accessed July 31, 2010).
Dying and Death Rituals For a Nepali American, whether he is a Hindu or a Buddhist, death means entering into the realm of reincarnation where the spirit undergoes the process of rebirth. Both religions prescribe funeral rites to guide the spirit during this transition, and the more exactingly these rituals are performed, the clearer the direction is for the spirit to follow. Here, in America, their adopted country, there are no rivers whose sources are the great Himalayas, the adobe of gods and goddesses, and whose every drop of water is as demulcent and sacred as it is vital for the ablution of the body before and after death. Here, there are no cremation ghats dotting the river banks along ancient temples where cremation can take place and ashes dissolved into the river’s numinous water. And here, it is not always easy to find competent Hindu priests or Lamas to lead and guide the proper performance of the funeral rites. Having come from a country steeped in tradition, it is not always easy for Nepalese Americans to modify cultural and traditional prerequisites, particularly at a time of bereavement. But so far, they have adjusted well to accommodate the new circumstances without compromising their cultural and traditional essence. Moreover, they have found a way to utilize local resources and essentialize the process. For the Hindus, funeral rituals are detailed in the Vedas, their ancient scripture. The scripture calls for death to occur at a river bank, with the dying person intoning God’s name. It calls for a hurried cremation and the scattering of the ashes into the river. It calls for a 13-day mourning period and prescribes a special ceremony to be held one year after death. In the United States, some funeral homes provide cremation services. The initial rites are performed at the funeral home prior to cremation or at the family home after cremation. Most families collect the ashes, making plans to immerse them into one of the native rivers at a future return trip to Nepal. If the local ceremony seems inadequate or truncated, the family can take solace in repeating it, as elaborately as is desired, in Nepal.
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For Buddhists, it is tradition that provides guidance. The Buddhists put less emphasis on where and how a person dies. The corpse is given an ablution before cremation while the lamas chant the scripture. Tradition requires that a final funeral ceremony be held within a year. This is an important ceremony during which the lamas guide the spirit to its final destination. The duration of this ceremony can be as short as a single day or as long as 180 days. Nepali Buddhists use local funeral homes to cremate their dead. Buddhist temples and lamas, not necessarily in close proximity, are available to perform the final ceremony. Some families prefer to perform this last rite in Nepal. —Uday Lama
Further Reading Blackburn, Stuart H. “Death and Deification: Folk Cults in Hinduism.” History of Religion 24(3) (1985). Scho¨mbucher, Elizabeth, and Claus Peter Zoller, eds. Ways of Dying: Death and Its Meanings in South Asia. New Delhi: Manoher, 1999.
Web Site “Funeral Rites of the Hindus and the Buddhists.” Webhealing.com. http://www .webhealing.com/articles/lama.html (accessed July 31, 2010).
Family and Community Most Nepali American families are of Aryan-Indo origin and trace their descent through the male line, although some, like the Tibeto-Burmese families, are based on a matrilineal system. In Nepal, the basic social unit is paribar, or family. The nation of Nepal is ethnically and culturally diverse; nevertheless, the sociocultural fabric is primarily patriarchal. The families are traditionally extended ones, with generations of family living together. This is a common phenomenon in traditional homes in the city and in the rural areas in Nepal. But, a smattering of nuclear families can be found in cities in the United States, where they have migrated to pursue their careers or other jobs. Recently arrived relatives and friends may be offered temporary housing in a Nepali American family. In Nepal, ethnic identity is distinguished principally by religion (Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim), language, and dress. This places limitations on the range of social relationships that Nepali may have in terms of possible spouses, friendships, and career choices and opportunities because social organizations and religious observances reinforce these distinctions. However, Nepali Americans are not
Nepali Americans: Family and Community
limited in this way because traditional Hindu caste restrictions are largely abandoned in the United States. Nepali American children, once they reach legal adult age, are not expected to leave home, and generally continue to live with their parents. Leaving home only happens if the job takes them to another location or for their education. In Nepal, social status is measured by personal wealth. This is the same in Nepali American communities. In Nepal, because of the social structure, the male members of the family are expected to earn the livelihood. Of course, this changes in the modern setting. Among Nepali Americans, both the male and the female members of the family working to contribute to the family income is a common phenomenon, and the burden rests on both of them. Nepali American women occupy a higher economic and social status in the United States, because Nepali tribal and communal customs dictate women’s lower social status. This is also determined by traditional caste and ethnic restrictions. The other important aspect of Nepali Americans is how the second- and thirdgeneration children grow up. In Nepal, dating, especially for girls, is looked down upon; in the United States, the parents are more liberal in this regard yet are wary of who their daughters are involved with. Their concern is more about getting their children married within the Nepali American communities. Nepali American families gathering together on special religious and cultural occasions like “Dashain” and “Tihar” is a common phenomenon. Not only do the members of the same family gather together in one home, but it is also an occasion for Nepali American families in groups to get together, see each other, recount stories and experiences, and celebrate the festivals as their cultural wealth. Temples are again one significant place, a meeting ground for Nepali American families to maintain their identity, keep up the tradition, and show their concern for each other. Conferences and cultural events in several different parts of the United States are organized every year. This is another way to show solidarity, and this is the place and time when parents seek prospective marriage partners for their children. On the whole, Nepali American families remain close knit as families and communities, and thus maintain their tradition and identity. —Abashya Jung Rayamajhi
Further Reading Axinn, William, Dirgha Ghimire, and Jennifer Barber. “The Influence of Ideational Dimensions of Social Change of Family Formation in Nepal.” In Rukmalie Jayakody, Arland Thornton, and William Axinn, eds. International Family Change, Ideational Perspectives. New York: Taylor and Francis Gr., LLC, 2008. Turin, Mark. “Rethinking Tibeto-Burman Linguistic Identities and Classifications in the Himalayan Periphery.” Quest Himalaya Journal. http://www.questhimalaya.com/ journal/turin-tibeto-burman-01.htm (accessed July 31, 2010).
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Festivals and Holidays Of the diverse range of festivals and holidays celebrated among Nepali Americans, most are religious and cultural in nature and range from Hindu holidays unique to Nepal to New Year celebrations distinct to Nepal’s indigenous ethnic groups. The festivals and holidays celebrated by the various religious and ethnic subgroups within Nepali America mirror those celebrated by their respective communities in Nepal. In Nepali America, one of the traditionally most popular festivals among Hindus is Deshain, a harvest-based religious holiday in autumn in which families gather, elders provide blessings to younger family members, and special pujas (Hindu rituals) are performed, particularly to the goddess Durga. Families enjoy homemade feasts of traditional Nepali foods, as in most all festivals, and Deshain food often features goat meat and special sweet dishes. Tihar, which takes place a month after Deshain, is a five-day long Hindu festival culminating in Bhai Tika, a ritual in which sisters honor brothers with special pujas and gifts. Hindu women may celebrate teej, a three-day festival when they fast, wear red saris, and perform special pujas for the long lives of their husbands. Buddha Jayanthi, the birthday of the Buddha, is also widely celebrated by Buddhists, and Hindus, too. Many Nepali Americans celebrate Baisakhi, the holiday that marks the New Year according to Nepal’s official lunar calendar (called Bikram Sambat), but depending on their ethnicity, they may celebrate other New Year’s days as well. Newahs, or Newars, an ethnic group indigenous to the Kathmandu valley that practices a unique blend of Hinduism and Buddhism, celebrate the New Year according to their calendar (called Nepal Sambat) with a Mha Puja ceremony in which they create elaborate mandalas and perform puja to the self for prosperity. Gurungs and Sherpas celebrate their New Year with Lhosar, a holiday that involves dancing, singing dohori (traditional call and response songs) and the preparation of traditional foods. In Nepali America, most festivals and holidays are celebrated at home with family, as is the practice in Nepal. But many have also begun to celebrate religious and cultural holidays outside the home with other families in their region at restaurants, hotels, or Nepali mandirs (temples) at events sponsored by local and national Nepali American organizations. These organizations promote specific festivals and bring Nepalis together within a given city or region. These events are often part of larger missions that promote cultural and religious heritage, and often include children’s programs, instruction in Nepali languages (such as Nepali, Newah, or Sherpa), networking opportunities, and fund-raising efforts. The festivals and holidays that have come to be promoted by Nepali organizations largely
Nepali Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
reflect the emergence of ethnic identities and cultural claims that have arisen in Nepal since the 1990s. —Megan Adamson Sijapati
Further Reading Duschinski, Haley. “The Nepalese American Experience: History and Culture.” In Huping Ling and Allan Austin, eds. Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 2010. Leonard, Karen Isaksen. The South Asian Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Folk Dance and Performance Nepal’s cultural diversity is inversely proportional to its size. As small a country as it is (about the size of Arkansas), Nepal is home to more than 10 major ethnic groups, each with its own language, custom, and style of folk dance. In a broader sense, Nepali folk dance can be classified into two regional categories: hill region and plain region. While it is the taxonomist’s job to classify each dance, a Nepali American is less concerned about the origin or ethnicity of a dance than to identify it as a Damphu dance or a Madal dance. Damphu and Madal are quintessentially Nepali drums. Damphu is a double-sided round drum with a long wooden handle. The drummer holds it vertically with one hand and generates rhythm by striking either side of it with the palm of his other hand. Madal is a double-headed drum about 12 inches long with a leather strip. The drummer wears the strip over the head and plays it with both palms. These two percussion instruments are the heartbeat of Nepali folk dance. In fact, most folk dances are performed while a singer or a group of singers sings with only the beat of Damphu or Madal to accompany the song. Damphu dance is basically a couple’s dance in which the drummer dances with his female partner in a slow motion. Madal dance, on the other hand, is a fast-paced affair, and any number of dancers can participate. In any case, it is the blend of lyrics, the visible expression of joy and happiness in the dancer’s movement, and the rhythmic beat of the drum that delights and excites the audience. Nepali folk dance is a staple entertainment of the Nepali American community during special occasions, but it becomes de rigueur during native holidays such as Dasai and Tihar. Anyone willing to step out of shyness is welcome to step onto the dance floor and showcase his or her latent talent. Nepali folk dance is versatile in that it accommodates any number of dancers. Its moves are not formalized, thus giving the dancer leeway for improvisation. Nepali folk dance is rigorous in that it encompasses all sorts of movements—from a “boogie-woogie” style of knees held closer while hips sway from side to side, to a
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fondu style of lowering the body by bending the knee, to a line-of-dance style in which one group of dancers turns counterclockwise while others turn clockwise. In the United States, no club or professional troupe specializes in Nepali folk dance. There are, however, more than 14 Nepali associations, both ethnic and nonethnic, in the United States. On special occasions, these associations host cultural programs featuring folk music and dance of Nepal. Here is an opportunity for those aficionados among Nepali Americans to see a particular ethnic folk dance. —Uday Lama See also: Nepali Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Singh, C. B., and D. B. Shrestha. Ethnic Groups of Nepal and Their Ways of Living. Ratna Pustak Bhandar, Kathmandu, 1992.
Web Site For dance demonstration, visit the Nepali Folk Dance Web site: http://www.nepalhub.com/ nepali-classics/nepali-folk-dance-552.html (accessed August 25, 2010).
Folk Music The Nepali American population is one of the smallest Asian American communities—it consists of around 10,000 individuals, though some estimates approach 100,000. Most Nepali Americans live in California, New York, Washington, DC., Chicago, Dallas, and other areas in the Northeast and West Coast. Unfortunately, the popularity of contemporary Nepali American music is extremely limited. In fact, a majority of musical performances are reserved for private parties, weddings, and national holidays. Historically, Nepali weddings featured the musical accompaniment of a paanchai baajaa (five instruments), which is a traditional Nepali ensemble of damaha (kettledrum), narsinga (horn), dholaki (two-sided drum), sahanai (shawm), and jhyaali (cymbals). Interestingly, a paanchai baajaa often incorporates more than five members and instruments. Over the last few years, wedding parties desired a more modern sound for celebration, often trading in traditional instruments for Western brass horns and military-style uniforms. Festivals highlight vibrant forms of song and dance. The Newar ethnic groups perform masked dances with gyrating motions and trance-like states. The Newar farmers provide drumming services on large cylindrical drums (dhime baajaa) with cymbals on festival days. A bansuri baajaa combines barrel drums and flutes as another type of processional band. A subset of song and dance, folk music, is widely practiced in Nepal with little following in the United States. However,
Nepali Americans: Folk Music
Nepalese folk singer Prem Raja Mahat sings while playing the sarangi, in his Baltimore, Maryland, home, October 3, 2003. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
one performer based in Baltimore, Maryland, Prem Raja Mahat, is an ambassador of folk music and a prominent musician on the Nepali sarangi instrument. The role of Buddhism is prominent in Nepali American culture. Buddhist shrines host singing groups with various instrumentation. A dance-drama, known as cham, is performed on the day after the full moon of October–November. Buddhist monks parade in costumes and masks mimicking characters in the story of Buddhism’s victory over the Bon religion in Tibet. In addition to Buddhism, liturgical music differs according to the respective religions of Hinduism, Shamanism, Christianity, and Islam that are practiced by Nepali Americans. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Nepali Americans: Folk Dance and Performance.
Further Reading World Music, Vol. 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific. 200 ed., s.v. “Nepal: The Hills Are Alive.”
Web Sites Mahat, Prem Raja Web site. http://www.premraja.com (accessed February 23, 2010). The Association of Nepalis in Americas Web site. http://anaonline.org/web (accessed February 23, 2010).
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Foods and Foodways Nepalis in America gather for festivals and other events and often serve foods that symbolize life in the Terai or border area with India, the hilly areas, and the mountains of Nepal. Food can connect one to their homeland and is often a source of bonding with others to call up stories and visions of that birthplace. A common meal found at many Nepali American gatherings is the “national food” of Nepal, a meal consisting of daal, bhat, and tarkari. Daal (typically boiled lentils, chickpeas, split peas, mung beans, or other beans), bhat (boiled rice), and tarkari or vegetables that are often leafy greens, including mustard or turnip greens, saute´ed in spices. Other vegetables commonly served include okra, potato, mushrooms, and cauliflower. Paneer or a type of cottage cheese may be found in vegetable dishes. Common spices or masala used in most dishes include cumin, coriander, fenugreek, jwanu (lovage seeds), chilies, ginger, mustard seed, and more. Achar or pickle often also is part of that meal and may be made from fruit, meat, or vegetables combined with chili, mustard seed, and other spices. Another favorite may be momo, a wrapper made from flour and water, then filled with a mixture of meat or
Authentic Nepali foods are served at Little Nepal restaurant in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood. Diners can order Himalayan momo, Indian style samosa, spicy vegetable tarkari (curry), lentils, Basmati rice, and naan. Little Nepal was founded by a native Nepali who belongs to the Tamang ethnic group from the high Himalayas. (Jonathan H. X. Lee)
Nepali Americans: Identity
vegetables, onion, cumin, or other ingredients, and then steamed, pan fried, or deep fried. Momo is a common food in Tibetan culture but is found throughout Nepal and increasingly is found as fast food in America. Many Nepali Americans are vegetarians, while others may eat pork, chicken, fish, or beef. Roasted or saute´ed chicken in spices ranging from hot to mild is a favorite. Other favorites include samosa, a fried turnover stuffed with meat, vegetables, or a combination of both. Pakoda or vegetable fritters are another favorite. Spiced tea, often served with milk, is the drink of choice by many. Puffy fried bread with heavy raw honey and potato pancakes may be the choice for those who are from the higher elevations of Nepal. Mango Lassi, a drink made from fresh mango, milk, yogurt, sugar, and a dash of cardamom, is a favored choice. Desserts include puddings, doughnuts, milk burfi (milk or ricotta cheese, clarified butter, cardamom, and sugar that is fried or baked and served as small morsels), cake, and Rasbari or milk balls, a milk-based dessert in which the milk is boiled and then vinegar is added, followed by using cheese cloth and pressing out the water. —Marsha Greer
Further Reading Association of Nepalis in the Americas. The Nepal Cookbook. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1996. Vaidya, Hind. Nepalese Cookery. Kathmandu, Nepal: Sahayogi Press, 1993.
Identity Religion has always been a way of maintaining the cultural identity of Nepali Americans. Nepal is primarily a Hindu country, with approximately 90 percent of the population practicing this religion; and second to Hinduism is the Buddhist religion. In many of the sociocultural practices in the country, one sees the permeation of religious traditions, especially in marriage rituals, rites of passage, and festivals. In the United States, religion is the primary factor that has sustained the Nepali American identity. Visit to the temples on every religious and festive occasion is a common phenomenon, which not only keeps the Nepali American community together, but says a lot about their identity. Sunday schools are organized at community centers or in the temples for young children to learn the Nepali language and the traditional cultural norms and standards. This is one important way in which the parents have made sure the second- and third-generation Nepali American children do not lose sight of their cultural wealth, which is also their identity. The new Nepali Americans settling in the United States always look for a neighborhood where their own community people are living. This is true of those
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who are less affluent; they tend to live in the same neighborhood or at least close together. This makes it easy for them to maintain various cultural and religious activities, which are markers of their identity. But those who are wealthy generally do not care for the neighborhood and chose to live in any upscale neighborhood, though continue to meet the other Nepali Americans at the community gatherings, during festivals or otherwise. Marriage is another important cultural dynamics to maintain the identity. Nepali Americans, no matter of which generation, prefer to get their children married within the Nepali American community itself. When Nepali American parents look around for prospective brides or grooms for their children, it is often from within the Nepali American community or from Nepal. Arranged marriages are still very common in Nepal, and children who make their own choice of partners, is still not easily accepted. The Nepali Americans in the United States, too, embody this notion. Marriages, therefore, in most cases take place within their own communities and ethnic groups. Among Nepali Americans, there is an increasingly strong movement to assert their identity. This is manifested through community gatherings, cuisine, festivals and temples, professional groups, associations like the Association of Nepalis in the Americas (ANA), ethnic group associations at the universities, Internet chat groups, and matrimonial Web sites. Clothing, interestingly, is not a major marker of identity among Nepali Americans. But dressing up in the traditional clothes like wearing saris while going to temples or during festivals and community gatherings is a very common marker of identity. —Sangita Rayamajhi See also: Nepali Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Acharya, Madhu Raman. Nepal Cultural Shift. New Delhi: Adroit, 2002. Cameron, Marry M. On the Edge of Auspicious. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998. Social Inclusion Research Fund. Identity and Society: Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Nepal. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point, 2009.
Maxims and Proverbs The ubiquitous Nepali songs available on YouTube, the burgeoning Nepali newspapers and magazines available on line, the ease and the urge to communicate in native tongue while at home or at gatherings where natives outnumber nonnatives—these are some primary sources that will prevent Nepali proverbs (ukkhans) and maxims (uktis) from falling into desuetude.
Nepali Americans: Maxims and Proverbs
Ukkhans and uktis are important heritages of Nepali Americans. These gems of collective wisdom provide a cultural link to the old country. As long as there are communication links with the homeland, as long as there are households conversing in the native language, ukkhans and uktis will survive in the new country. Ukkhans and uktis are so intertwined in the Nepali language, spoken and written, that children are exposed to them from early childhood. When a grandmother notices conflicting orders given to a child, she hectors the parent and soothes the child by saying, “Listen to all, but listen to your heart.” Growing up into adulthood, the child gets exposed to many ukkhans. Two examples are the following: “When brothers fight, a dolt wins” and “One who is guilty has the loudest voice.” These examples illustrate two salient points: They rhyme (in the original Nepali), and they express simple truth. Ukkhans and uktis also come in two other formats: question and question-andanswer. Besides dispensing simple and general truth, they express humor, sarcasm, plain silliness, and, in some cases, anachronistic ideas. Some representative examples are the following: • “Bahra barsa Ramayan pade, Sita kasko juwai?” Translated literarily, it says, “Read Ramayana for 12 years, now you ask who is Sita?” Its true intention, however, is to convey how dull-headed one can be for not following the story line or conversation. • “Keti kasto chha? Bhannai naparne.” (How’s the girl? Everything is hunky dory.) In this example, a question is asked and an answer provided. The subject “girl” can be substituted for anything. It expresses a situation or moment that turns out to be contrary to what was expected or intended. Nepali ukkhans and uktis mirror the country’s social, economic, cultural, and religious life. While some of them, no doubt, speak of universal truths, most of these pithy sayings express the people’s cultural and social mores, popular belief, history, environment, and natural observation. The provenance of these sayings cannot be pinpointed to a single source; rather, they have been handed down from one generation to another. How culture has played an important part in shaping these sayings can be found in the following two examples: • “Pani khanu mulko, biha garnu kulko.” (For drinking water, find the source; for marriage contract, seek a compatible clan.) This proverb clearly promotes inter-caste marriage, the societal norm. • “Mardako dus goth.” (A virile person has ten sheds.) This proverb clearly hints at a person’s ability to maintain 10 households at once, a reflection of the society’s past practice of polygamy. —Uday Lama
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Further Reading Proverbs and Sayings from Nepal. Translated from Nepali. Folklore Series. Nepal: Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1994. Sawhney, Clifford. The Book of Common and Uncommon Proverbs. Nepal: Pustak Mahal, 1994.
Religion Until the 1990s, when Nepal was still a monarchy, the country was considered the only Hindu kingdom in the world. But after the overthrow of the monarchy, the country has been declared a secular state. Almost 90 percent of the population are Hindus, approximately 5 percent are Buddhists, and the remaining 5 percent are Islam, Christians, Jains, and others. Almost every individual identifies with one or the other religion. The two religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, which to some extent are inseparable, are widely practiced in the land. One example of the merging of the two religions is seen in the worship of the virgin goddess Kumari, who is selected from the Buddhist family but worshiped essentially by Hindus and Buddhists alike. Having a worship room or a puja room in every home in Nepal is very common. Going regularly to the temples, monasteries and mosques and churches are also a common phenomenon. This very religious tradition, which is a part of life of almost every Nepali and a marker of their identity, is carried over to Nepali American homes in the United States. Almost every Nepali American home has a little room or a little space set aside where little stone or metal deities or holy books are placed. The religious rituals naturally are transformed or modified in the new locale, and the daily ritual worship may not be as intense and long as in Nepal, but it is practiced daily when at least an incense stick is lighted in the name of the gods. Nearly all the women of the Nepali American families, if not all men, practice this. Nepal shares its religious diversity with its South Asian neighbors. The many temples, monasteries, mosques, and churches in various cities of the United States are frequented by all the Nepali American families as well as the other Asian American communities on special auspicious days. Programs on certain days of religious festivals are celebrated in temples with worship and feasting. Weddings, the rice-feeding ceremony (annaprasana), and the rite of passage (bratabandha) are also often carried out in these temples in the United States. The Nepali American children grow up learning and embodying the values and norms of their religion. They may grow up as part of the popular culture of the United States, and their language and mannerisms may be similar to other Americans, but their religion is always something to which they hold steadfast. —Sangita Rayamajhi
Nepali Americans: Rites of Passage See also: Nepali Americans: Rites of Passage.
Further Reading Allen, Michael. The Cult of Kumari. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point, 1996. Levine, Sarah, and David Gellner, eds. Rebuilding Buddhism: The Therabada Movement in 20th Century. Nepal. Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2008. Tuladhar-Douglas, William. Remaking Buddhism for Medieval Nepal. Delhi: Routledge, 2006.
Web Site “Nepal.” http://countrystudies.us/nepal/33.htm (accessed July 31, 2010).
Rites of Passage Most of the rites of passage practiced in Nepal are directed by religio-cultural traditions. Since the caste system still prevails very strongly in Nepal, the rites and rituals fall within their respective caste domains. Similarly, the diverse ethnic groups have their own rites and rituals, which are carried out according to their own religio-cultural traditions. When these Nepalis migrate to the United States, many of these practices, though never discarded, are modified to a great extent. Birth ceremonies, rice-feeding (annaprasana) ceremonies, and coming of age of the boys (bratabandha) are all carried out based on the astrological calendar. So, when the family foresees or decides upon such an occasion in the immediate future, a family astrologer in Nepal is consulted through a family member or a friend. The date and time for the particular ritual is indicated by the astrologer, ideally a year ahead of time, or at least four to six months ahead. Birth rituals, which usually occur on the 11th day of the birth of the infant, takes place in the home. A priest carries out the necessary procedure. In almost all the temples in the United States, there are priests, and they are invited to the homes to perform the rituals. In most cases, even though the temples are known as North Indian or South Indian temples, the religious ritual requirements of Hindus everywhere are all the same. Therefore, the priests in these temples are proficient to conduct the rituals. As for the rice-feeding ceremony, when the child is fed rice for the first time, a priest is commonly present to chant the mantras. But in the United States, this has been modified so that the child is taken to a temple by the parents’ family and friends. It is at the temple—if possible, the temple of Ganesha—where the child is given the first taste of rice. For bratabandha and weddings, a priest is very much needed to carry out all the rituals. Even then, it is very common for parents to take their boys to Nepal for the bratabandha, since this is a very important religious rite of passage for a boy, even
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more important than a wedding. In fact, the boy cannot get married without first going through this rite of passage. Even to get their children married most of the time, Nepali American families think it necessary to go to Nepal and have it done there. However, if the brantabandha ceremony takes place in the United States, the first thing the family does is to find a suitable priest who is very well versed in the religio-cultural idiosyncrasies of Nepal. Quite a reasonable number of these men have taken up this profession in the United States. Bratabandha is normally carried out in a temple in the United States. The accessories for this ritual are generally put together by the family, or sometimes even the priests do it. But in normal circumstances, and if there is ample time to prepare for the ritual, the accessories are brought in from Nepal. The rituals are often modified or even improvised, even when carried out in the temple. Weddings normally take place in a temple or sometimes in big community halls where it is possible for a large gathering of family and friends. On such occasions, family members and close friends come all the way from Nepal and elsewhere to attend the wedding. When the marriage is between two Nepali Americans, it is conducted in the traditional Nepali way. But if the marriage is between a Nepali American and one of a non-Nepali origin, then usually the marriage takes place twice, once in the traditional way of the Nepali and the other in the tradition of the non-Nepali. But no matter when or where it takes place, an astrologer is always consulted for an auspicious time and date. —Sangita Rayamajhi
Further Reading Acharya, Madhu Raman. Nepal Cultural Shift. New Delhi: Adroit, 2002. Benett, Lynn. Dangerous Wives and Sacred Sisters. New York: Columbia University, 1983. Majpurias. Marriage Customs in Nepal. Kathmandu: M. Devi, 2009.
Social Etiquette and Customs The social etiquette and customs for Nepali Americans are directed primarily by their religion, class, caste, and ethnicity. Due to this social and cultural diversity, the etiquettes and customs also tend to vary. But the many common etiquettes and customs practiced as a Nepali are commonly practiced by Nepali Americans in the United States. The mode of address is the most common and rigidly practiced among the young and old alike. Younger persons always greet the older person with respect, whether within the family hierarchy or outside. This is done by folding both hands in salutation and articulating the word “Namaste.” This is done both times, when greeting
Nepali Americans: Social Etiquette and Customs
the person when meeting for the first time in the day and also when saying goodbye. Addressing an older person by name is not an accepted social etiquette. Within the family, the older family members and relatives are never addressed by their names, but by the relation they keep, for example, uncle (Kaka), auntie (Kaki), elder sister (didi), elder brother (dai), etc. Of course, there are variations to these titles based on class, caste, and ethnic groups. Even outside the family structure, one never addresses a person who is older by his or her name. Professionals are addressed by their professional titles—“Dr.,” “Professor,” or “Mr.” Even menial workers are addressed as didi or dai. This practice is true of Nepali Americans as well. But many of the social etiquettes and customs pertaining to the family hierarchy have been transformed or modified in Nepali American homes. For example, the custom of the daughter-in-law eating only after the father-in-law finishes his meal, or after the older brother of the husband finishes his meal, is no long true in the United States. The custom has been modified to suit the situation. Yet some of these traditional customs are still in place in some Nepali American homes. Hugging and kissing each other on the cheeks is a practice cultivated in the United States and is also very common among Nepali Americans. Though again this mode of greeting would not be practiced between father-in-law and daughter-inlaw, or between a woman’s husband’s older brother and the woman. Another important etiquette is the wearing of shoes. Guests take off their shoes outside the living room or at the entrance of the living room of the host. Entering your host’s living room with your shoes on is considered very rude and inappropriate. Hospitality is another trait of the Nepali Americans. No matter what odd time of the day a guest shows up at the house, he or she is always offered refreshments. If the visit occurs during the main meal, the guest is invited to sit down for the meal, whether lunch or dinner. Nepali Americans take great pride in showing their hospitality. While serving food or extending the salt shaker, only the right hand is used. It is considered very rude to use your left hand while eating, serving, or offering anything to another person, whether it is food or any kind of gift. Superstitions and taboos are part of the social custom of Nepalis in Nepal and Nepali Americans in the United States. People are especially particular where infants and little children are concerned. A steel knife is placed under the pillow of an infant, which ensures the protection of the infant from all evil. Also, Nepali Americans never arrange their bedroom with the head of the bed facing north. Only dead bodies are placed in this position, and widows sleep thus, facing the south. When leaving the home for any reason, if anybody sneezes, it is considered to be an ill omen. So the person or persons turn around, enter the house for a few minutes, sit if possible, and then leave again. When starting the car any time of the day to go somewhere, a Nepali American will always touch the steering wheel with his or her hand and take it to the forehead in a gesture of reverence. Vehicles are considered the mounts of the owners as are certain animals considered the
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mounts of gods and goddesses and therefore revered. Vehicles in Nepal are worshiped by the owners on a special day of the year, during the Dashain festival, and is therefore revered at all times. When a black cat crosses the road, whether it is while walking or driving a car, it is considered to be a sign of bad luck, the black cat being the harbinger of bad news. These are some of the many superstitions and taboos still adhered to. Others have been either forgotten or modified by Nepali Americans. But then again, those Nepali Americans who have spent much of their lives in Nepal tend to believe in these superstitions and taboos more profoundly as they would follow rigidly the social etiquettes and customs in the United States. —Sangita Rayamajhi
Further Reading Benett, Lynn. Dangerous Wives and Sacred Sisters. New York: Columbia University, 1983. Cameron, Marry M. On the Edge of Auspicious. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1998. Das, A. N., and C. P Mitchell. “Beliefs Superstitions and Taboos Associated with Bamboos in Nepal and Its Implications.” Banko Jankari 15 (2005): 63–71. Lall, Kesar. Nepalese Customs and Manners. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 2010.
Traditional Medicine and Healing Ayurveda, “The Science of Life,” may be one of the complementary practices chosen for health and healing by Nepali Americans. This 5,000-year-old practice, conducted in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, is connected to the Hindu religion and is found in the Vedas or books of Indian wisdom, knowledge, and culture. The “tridosha theory of disease” is the basis of Ayurveda. The three doshas, or humors, are vata (wind), pitta (gall), and kapha (mucus). Disease is caused by a disturbance in the equilibrium of these humors. Balance is considered a “healthy” state of humans according to the Ayurvedic perspective. Daily and seasonal nutritional and behavioral actions and practice can maintain this balance. Traditional foods that Nepali Americans might eat to maintain or restore balance are seen as having six tastes—sweet (nourishes), sour (refreshes), salt (eliminates), pungent (heats), bitter (cools), and astringent (constricts)—in accordance with Ayurvedic principles. A typical, traditional Nepali meal would include those tastes. Many believe that one can self-heal if one follows the tenets to return to a state of equilibrium. Nepali Americans who seek to restore balance of the doshas using Ayurveda might change their diet, use herbs, use a neti pot, have hot oil massages, meditate, and do yoga or other daily activity. Some may follow Tibetan beliefs, which are also
Nepali Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
based on balance and restoring balance through diet, behavior, medicine, and physical therapy. Tibetan Amchi, or traditional naturopath practices, can be found in the United States. Tibetan medicine is based on three energies: rloong (wind), tri-pa (bile), and bad-ken (phlegm). To restore balance in Amchi, the relationship between body, mind, and soul is crucial. Medicine plants are necessary to restore balance. Some Nepali Americans may seek shamans for ritual “magic” and faith healing and to eliminate illness-causing spirits. Some may also turn to homeopathic medicines or naturopathic herb preparations that are available across the nation in stores carrying health products. Practitioners who are licensed medical doctors and who integrate Ayurveda into their Western medical model practice are found all across the United States in major cities where many Nepali Americans reside. Shamans or healers may be sought for advice, treatment, referral, or other health needs. Many Nepali Americans seek Western medical care as part of their integration into American society. Health insurance coverage may dictate types of care sought. Some insurance does pay for visits to naturopaths or other practitioners including massage therapists. Increasingly there is a movement to study Ayurvedic practices at the National Institutes of Health to determine those that may be incorporated into allopathic medicine. —Marsha Greer
Further Reading Gowans, Shanti. Ayurveda for Health and Well-Being. Mumbai, India: Jaico Publishing House, 2004. Joshi, Sunil. Ayurveda and Panchakarma. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 1997. Rajbhandary, Tara Keshari. Medicinal Plants of Nepal, Bulletin of the Department of Medicinal Plants, No. 3. Published by His Majesty’s Government of Nepal, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Department of Medicinal Plants. Thapathali, Kathmandu, Nepal, 1970.
Web Sites Clavan Healing Arts. “Nyerongsha Institute for Tibetan Medicine and Culture.” http:// www.clavan.net/index/nyerongsha (accessed July 31, 2010). DHHS. “Ayurveda Medicine: An Introduction,” 2009. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/ ayurveda/D287_BKG.pdf (accessed July 31, 2010).
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Nepal’s population of approximately 27 million people comprises diverse ethnic groups. All these ethnic groups have their respective vernacular languages, or dialects, which they term as their mother tongue. More than 120 languages are spoken
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in Nepal, and some of the major languages are Nepali, Newari, Bhojpuri Maithili, Tharu, Tamang, Magar, and Awadhi. Among these, Nepali is spoken by the majority (more than 58%) of the population. In Nepali American homes in the United States, the parents and most of the older people speak in their own mother tongues. But the second-generation Nepalis who have been born in the United States to Nepali parents or who have migrated to the United States at a school-going age barely speak in their mother tongue, though they profess to understand the language. When these children start school in the United States, the process of assimilation begins, and they speak only in the language of their peers. The children refuse to speak in the tongue of their parents in front of their friends, for fear of being ridiculed by them. At home, they speak in English with their siblings, and respond in English to their parents even when they are spoken to in their mother tongue. As a consequence, the language ultimately is reduced to being spoken only among the first-generation immigrant Nepalis. But again, there are very many Nepali American families who want their children to be able to speak their parents’ language so as to keep them connected with their roots. Therefore, they make sure that once the children are home from school, they speak in the language of their parents or are made to attend Sunday schools that offer such language classes. The youths who accompany their parents in the teens and early 20s are the hardest hit by the process of assimilation through language. Though they may come to the United States with a formal background, of what is known popularly in Nepal and in South Asia as “English Medium Schools,” the tone and accent of American English is something they are forced to wrestle with before they are able to master it. The process of acquiring the language could therefore, be in many instances demeaning, too. But at the same time, Nepali Americans who have migrated to the United States in this age group tend to straddle both worlds, Nepal and the United States, and therefore try to maintain a balance by speaking both the languages where and when necessary. When it comes to speaking the Nepali language in the United States, since it is recognized as the unspoken official language, almost every Nepali speaks it. Therefore, in Nepali American communities, during festivals and other times of socialization, all of them tend to speak in Nepali. One good example occurst when Nepali Americans meet during the annual conventions of organizations like the Association of Nepalis in Americas (ANA), which takes place in various parts of the United States. At these conventions, the language of the older people is always Nepali, with a lot of English words and terms thrown in; while among the younger generation, the language spoken is only English. But, again when the younger ones are introduced to older people during such occasions, they do often speak in Nepali, very slowly and with a very heavy American accent. Nepali language
Nepali Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
functions as the binding force that brings Nepali Americans together, though the majority of them come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. —Sangita Rayamajhi
Further Reading Kansakar, T. R., and M. Turin. Themes in Himalayan Languages and Linguistics. Kathmandu: South Asian Institute and Tribhuvan University, 2003. Rayamajhi, Sangita, and Bindu Subedi. Use of Language in the Nepali Press. Kathmandu: Across Publications, 1999.
Web Sites “Languages of Nepal.” Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp ?name=nepal (accessed July 31, 2010). “Nepal Language.” Maps of the World. http://www.mapsofworld.com/nepal/language (accessed July 31, 2010).
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Okinawan Americans History, People, and Culture Okinawan folkways in the continental United States and Hawaii continue the generous spirit of mutual sharing and friendship associated with yuimaru, a virtue that enabled the people of the Ryukyu Kingdom (1422–1879), centered in Shuri on the island of Okinawa, to develop an idiosyncratic culture and identity. Ryukyu was not a provincial outpost of Japan as commonly believed; indeed, it has shared a formal political history with Japan only since 1879, when it was forcibly annexed and became Okinawa Prefecture. While most present-day Okinawans may consider themselves to be part of Japan, and Okinawan Americans may think of themselves to be part of the Japanese American community, they nonetheless take pride in their non-Japanese identity and their singular cultural genealogy. The colors, rhythms, tastes, and sounds of East, North, and Southeast Asia woven into Okinawan cultural traditions evince the extensive commercial activities of Ryukyuan traders at these respective entrepoˆts. On the periphery of major cultural centers and subject to their competing geopolitical whims, Okinawans readily refer to themselves and their culture to be akin to champuru, a stir-fried mixed dish in which all manner of readily available ingredients are thrown in. This uniquely “mixed-up” people refer to themselves as Uchinanchu, call their island home Uchina, and speak Uchinaguchi, a language that, though related, is unintelligible to the Japanese. Yuimaru recalls the ancient need for members of a family unit to work together to eke out a bare subsistence and for households to undertake projects for the common good. This spirit is crystallized by the proverb Ichariba chodee, or “upon meeting we are siblings” (i.e., family). It also primes the Uchinanchu to new ideas, strange lands, and people. The bonds generated through yuimaru no doubt facilitated diplomatic discourse and commercial transactions; honed a solidarity and defiant deference against Japanese hegemony; and, more recently, united the community against Japanese prejudices and American indifference. The modern Uchinanchu identity is colored by nostalgia for its once-independent kingdom;
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by bitter memories of the Japanese imperial project, including forced assimilation and discrimination; by the “Typhoon of Steel” (the Uchinanchu reference to the Battle of Okinawa); by continued U.S. military presence; and by modernization and globalization. The playwright Jon Shiota and other Uchinanchu American writers artfully describe these experiences in “Voices from Okinawa” in the 2009 issue of Manoa. This essay begins with a sketch of the modern Uchinanchu diaspora, and proceeds to describe its social organizations, language, spiritual culture, arts, and other select aspects of the Uchinanchu American experience. The portable features of traditional Ryukyu—the Uchinanchu personality, beliefs, and folkways that accompanied the immigrants have evolved and continue to change. Frequent references to traditional Ryukyu are necessary to illuminate these transformations.
Diaspora Capitalism’s search for cheap labor with the termination of the African slave diaspora and the Japanese imperial designs after World War I prompted the modern Uchinanchu immigration. Statistics published by the Okinawan Prefectural Archives reveal that between 1899 and 1911, 13,335 Uchinanchus left their homeland. Of this number, 10,250 settled in Hawaii, and only 863 migrated directly to the continental United States. Between 1927 and 1940, 21,047 Uchinanchus migrated to Southeast and East Asia, and 31,243 to South America. By 1940, 75,318 persons, approximately 15 percent of the population, left the homeland. In 1946, more than 180,000 out of an estimated 332,000 Uchinanchus and their descendants were repatriated back to the war-shattered Okinawa Prefecture. The islands’ resources and economy could not support this sudden influx of people, thus generating a second wave of immigration, mostly to South America. Many of the postwar immigrants to the United States were women who married servicemen who were once stationed on Okinawa. In the late 1960s, with the growing prosperity of Japan, many overseas immigrants began returning to Japan and Okinawa. At present, the two largest concentrations of Uchinanchu persons reside in the state of Hawaii (approximately 55,000) and the greater Los Angles area (approximately 22,000). While smaller communities are found in the Pacific Coast states, the Okinawa prefectural government list of Okinawan Kenjinkais (prefectural associations) make known pockets of Uchinanchu communities scattered throughout the United States and Canada. Uchinanchus have formed associations in Germany, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, China, the Philippines, and Thailand, among other places. These communities include first, second, third, fourth and even fifth generations of Uchinanchu descent, with each generation retaining varying degrees of affiliation with their ancestral homeland and its traditions.
Okinawan Americans: History, People, and Culture
Kenjinkai (Prefectural Association) The early immigrants established associations for fellowship and mutual support; shared memories formed the basis for collective identity and even functioned as an extended family. The sheer number of immigrants enabled the Uchinanchus to organize into village, city, and event hamlet associations. The need to coordinate the relief efforts after World War II led to the formation of the Hawaii United Okinawa Association in 1951. One of the more memorable relief projects undertaken by the Hawai’i Okinawa Relief Committee and other charitable organizations was to raise $5 0,000 for the pur chase of 550 breeding hogs from the Midwest. Sent to Okinawa in 1948, the hogs were distributed among breeders, who were charged to share their piglets with other farmers throughout the islands. The descendents of these original hogs can still be found. The homeland has never forgotten the assistance of their disaporic compatriots. It was announced at the first Okinawan Studies Conference in March 2009 at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii that the rock group Begin would be sending 500 specially designed guitars to the United Hawai’i Association in appreciation of this gesture. The Begin instrument mimics the Hawaiian slack-key guitar. The Uchinanchu community in the continental United States was interned together with the Japanese. Nonetheless, the community also rallied to collect and send relief supplies. The Uchinanchu people have expanded the spirit of yuimaru, which at one time was necessary to ensure subsistence survival, and to include educational, business, and cultural exchanges. In 1990, the prefectural government staged the First Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival; 2,397 Uchinanchus from 17 countries gathered in Okinawa for the fourth festival 4,937 Uchinanchus from 21 countries descended on Okinawa. The fifth festival took place in 2010. The prefectural government established the Worldwide Uchinanchu Network Project, which in turn led to the Worldwide Uchinanchu Goodwill Ambassador program and the Worldwide Uchinanchu Business Group. The Okinawa prefectural government encourages ties to the homeland by offering scholarships for persons with Uchinanchu linage. The Hawaii United Okinawan Association organizes cultural and leadership tours to the homeland. Finally, the Okinawan Peace Network is a transnational network of individuals and organizations dedicated to supporting efforts of likeminded persons and organizations in the homeland to end the military presence in Okinawa. The strong bond between the homeland and the diasporic communities is worldwide. In 1984, Ryukyu Shimpo began a weekly series, “Sekai no Uchinanchu” or “Uchinanchu throughout the world,” that reported on activities of their compatriots abroad. Soon thereafter, Okinawa Television launched a similar series. Both series proved to be highly popular. Uchinanchus and their communities remember their common origins and are forging a new identity through the revival of Uchinanguchi, community building and networking, festivals, oral history
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projects, and pop culture. There is even the suggestion of an emerging PanUchinanchu identity, an identity defined not by ethnicity, but by yuimaru. —Ronald Y. Nakasone, assisted by Sayaka Inaishi
Further Reading Barrell, Tony, and Rick Tanaka. Okinawa Dreams OK. Strawberry Hills, New South Wales, Australia Private Guy International, 1997. Ethnic Studies Oral History Project. Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawan in Hawaii. Honolulu: Ethnic Studies Program, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1981. James, John C., and Terunobu Tamamori. Okinawa Society and Economy. Naha: Bank of Ryukyus International Foundation, 2000. Kerr, George H. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, 1958. Kobashigawa, Ben, trans. History of the Okinawans in North America. Los Angeles, CA: Hokubei Okinawa Club and Asian American Studies Center, UCLA, 1989. McDermontt, John F., et al. People and Cultures of Hawai’i: A Psychocultural Profile. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1980. Nakasone, Ronald, ed. Okinawan Diaspora. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002. Nakasone, Ronald, ed. Reflections on the Okinawan Experience. Fremont, CA: Dharma Cloud Publishers, 1996. Oe Kenzaburo. Japan the Ambiguous, and Myself: The Nobel Prize Speech and Other Lectures. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1995. Stuart, Frank, and Katsunori Yamazato, eds. Voices from Okinawa: Featuring Three Plays by John Shirota. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009.
Web Sites Hawaii United Okinawan Association: http://www.huoa.org/makutu/index.html. Okinawan Association of America: http://www.oaamensore.org/.
Art and Dance The Ryukyu court supported the performing and culinary arts to receive Chinese investiture missions and to entertain Japanese officials; but many of the details and recipes were lost after the dissolution of the kingdom. The end of World War II and the defeat of the Japanese imperial project released the longsuppressed Uchinanchu aesthetic and nationalist sentiments. Judging from the recent surge in recitals, concerts, karaoke bars, martial arts studios, and Okinawan restaurants, the diasporic community continues to revere and enjoy the distinctive rhythms, colors, and flavors of their artistic heritage. While the classical and folk
Okinawan Americans: Art and Dance
Members of the Northern California Okinawa Kenjinkai dance troupe lead a procession in San Francisco's Japantown in memory of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps during World War II, during a Japanese Day of Remembrance, February 23, 2003. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
repertoire echoes of Southeast Asian rhythms and Chinese and Japanese court music, recent Uchinanchu pop has integrated American blues, jazz, and reggae sounds.
Wudui (Dance) Strictly speaking, the classical arts refer to those forms created for the Ryukyuan court and performed by court-supported artists. The arts were considered to be part of the education of the Uchinanchu gentleman. After the dissolution of the kingdom and in an effort to preserve the classical tradition, former court performers opened dance studios fashioned after the Japanese iemoto or headmaster system. They incorporated folk elements to popularize their craft. As a result, at present there are many dance schools with their respective headmaster and style. The principal schools in the United States and Hawaii are the Jinpu Kai, Majikina, Miyagi, Ryusei Kai and Tamagusuku. Dance repertoires created and performed after the end of the kingdom is referred to as zo-wudui or miscellaneous dance, and include Hana-fu, Hamachidori, Chantame, Munjuru, and Kanayo-amakawa. These dances are part of the modern classical repertoire and are regularly performed by troupes through the
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Uchinanchu world. The dances choreographed since World War II is called sosaku buyo or creative dances. All performers learn both female and male dances. During the classical period, men performed female roles, a practice that continued even up until the World War II. Performers learn both male and female dances. Also popular are folk performances that include shishimai (lion dance), eisa (drumming, song and dance), and paranku (hand drum).
Uta-sanshin (Song and Sanshin) Wudui developed together with sanshin, a three-stringed plucked lute that is closely related to the Chinese sanxian. The sanshin is the prime Uchinanchu instrument. Classical uta-sanshin features a solo performer who sings (uta) and plucks the sanshin. The classical repertoire consists of more that 200 pieces contained in four volumes of Kunkunshi anthology. Unlike dance, the uta-sanshin tradition continues unbroken. The sanshin accompanies the dignified Kajadifu-bushi, which is the first number performed at public concerts, private gatherings, and even rehearsals. It also accompanies popular folk songs such as Tinsagu nu hana and Asado-yunta, and drives the rhythm of kachashi that concludes any concert and party. The 13-string. zither-like kutu (Jpn koto), the two-stringed kuchu, the teku (drums), and fansu (flute) are also popular. With the ease of travel between homeland and disaporic communities, it is difficult to distinguish the emergence of a separate diasporic musical and dance tradition. The Nomura-ryu Ongaku Dankai honored Hawaii-born and raised Harry Seisho Nakasone in 1988 with a concert in Urasoe City for his mastery of the uta-sanshin. Nakasone has received the highest honors the school offers; in 1958 he earned his shihan or master instructor degree; and in 1963 he was awarded the saiko-sho or grand master status, which at the time made him the only person to be so honored. More recently, in October 2008, more than 200 performers from Okinawa, Hawaii, and throughout the continental United States participated in the Teruya Katsuko 40th Anniversary Kutu Concert at the Redondo Beach Performance Arts Center. Terukina Choichi, a Living National Treasure laureate, also performed. On the other hand, pieces like Hawaii bushi or Hawaiian song are performed in the homeland. Since the early 1990s, the popularity of Uchina pop spread to mainland Japan and abroad. Kina Shokichi and the Champurus, the Rinken Band, the Nenes, Begin, and other pop groups synthesized Uchina rhythms with “Western” musical styles and instruments. Their lyrics, often in Japanese, project the Uchina world view and sentiments, including their frustration with the ubiquitous U.S. military presence. Kina’s plaintive Hana (“Flower”) yearns for peace blooming in the hearts of people, rather than these acts of war. Kadekaru Rinsho pleas for an independent Uchina in Jidai no nagare, The Passage of Time. —Ronald Y. Nakasone, assisted by Sayaka Inaishi
Okinawan Americans: Festivals and Holidays
Further Reading McDermontt, John F., et al. People and Cultures of Hawai’i: A Psychocultural Profile. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1980.
Web Site Hawaii United Okinawan Association: http://www.huoa.org/makutu/index.html.
Festivals and Holidays The diasporic Uchinanchu communities enjoy ancient and more recently invented traditions. The most significant celebrations are sogwachi, or New Year’s, and kajimaya, or the 97th birthday. Sogwachi is typically observed according to the lunar calendar. In addition to family celebrations, New Year’s is the one time that the community gathers to reminisce, enjoy traditional cuisine and performances. Kajimaya is, for all practical purposes, the culmination of birthday milestones based on the Chinese 12-year zodiac cycle. The first-year birthday is also celebrated with great fanfare; thereafter, the 13th, 25th, 37th, 49th, 61st, 73rd, and 85th birthdays are marked for special celebration. It is believed that the beginning of each 12-year cycle mark major transitions in an individual’s body, health, and fortune. Invented celebrations highlight Uchinanchu culture, identity, and presence in the larger community. The most ambitious is perhaps the annual Okinawan Festival, sponsored by the Hawaii United Okinawan Association. Open to the general public, the two-day affair includes programs of Okinawan music and dance from local troupes; groups from the continental United States and Okinawa often participate. Food booths feature popular Okinawan cuisine, such as ashitibichi, Okinawan soba, and andagi. There are also cultural displays and demonstrations, arts and crafts sales, and children’s games. The smaller Northern California Okinawa Kenjinkai highlights Uchinanchu culture by participating in the Sakura Matsuri [cherry blossom festival], a Japanese community-wide event. Based in the City of Gardena in greater Los Angeles, the Okinawan Association of America participates in the annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival. Significant milestones are occasion for celebrations: the centennial of the first Uchinanchu, Higa Toki, to immigrate to North America (1995); and the Okinawa Association of America celebrated the centennial (2009) of its founding with a week of activities. —Ronald Y. Nakasone, assisted by Sayaka Inaishi
Further Reading Kobashigawa, Ben, trans. History of the Okinawans in North America. Los Angeles, CA: Hokubei Okinawa Club and Asian American Studies Center, UCLA, 1989.
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Okinawan Americans: Foods and Foodways McDermontt, John F., et al. People and Cultures of Hawai’i: A Psychocultural Profile. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1980. Nakasone, Ronald, ed. Reflections on the Okinawan Experience. Fremont, CA: Dharma Cloud Publishers, 1996.
Foods and Foodways Uchinanchu American culinary culture is perhaps best characterized by the popular champuru. The readily available ingredients that are stir fried together is an apt metaphor for the extensive foreign tastes that formed traditional Ryukyuan cuisine, which has been further “mixed up” by Hawaiian and American ingredients and flavors. Familiar Uchinanchu American dishes reflect the tastes of the urban Naha and country side. Equally important is the mixing up that comes from eating and drinking together. Champuru is an extension of the spirit of yuimaru, liberally lubricated by awamori, a uniquely Uchinanchu liquor.
Champuru Some of the most readily available ingredients that are stir fried together are tofu, goya (bitter melon), chikina (mustard cabbage), tamana (cabbage), mamina (bean sprouts), green papaya, fu (wheat gluten) somin (somen noodle), and pork. Spam and corned beef, introduced during the American occupation, are now common features in champuru. Uchinanchu American families in Hawaii and California have access to most traditional ingredients such as goya, chikina, unsunaba (Swiss chard), kandaba (sweet potato leaves), fuchiba (mugwort), and sannin (alpinia zerumbet). Chefs have learned to substitute local ingredients. For example, banana leaves or ti (cordyline fruticosa) leaves are used to prepare muchi (rice cake) instead of sannin (shell ginger, alpinia speciosa).
Nuchigusui The Uchinanchu people regard food to be nuchigusu, “medicine for life” and kusuimun, “medicine.” Researchers attribute Uchinanchus’ longevity to their abundant consumption of dark green vegetables, tofu, seaweed, and moderate amounts of fish and pork; and to tianda (hand oil) or care in their preparation. The common kusuimun dish is shinji (long-simmered soup) that uses dark green vegetables and traditional medicinal ingredients such as kobu (kelp), chimu (liver), irabu (sea snake), squid, pork, and goat meat; the stock is made from bonito. Pork, along with tofu, is an important source of protein. It is popularly noted that Uchinanchus consume every part of the pig except its squeal. To get rid of
Okinawan Americans: Martial Arts
the excess fat, pork is boiled many times. Ashitibichi (pork feet) prepared with kobu and daikon is popular and provides a good source of gelatin. Other popular pork dishes include sokibuni (spare ribs) soup, rafute (grazed pork side slices), andansu (miso [fermented soybean paste]with pork), and mimiga (pickled ear). Sokibuni and rafute also garnish Okinawa-soba or noodle soup. Kub-irichi (stir-fried kelp), kubumaki (pork or fish wrapped in kelp), and ben’iimo (purple sweet potato) are very popular. Umukuji (sweet potato starch) is a unique product rarely found and used in Japan. Sata andagi, or simply andagi (Okinawan doughnut) is highly coveted. Uchinanchu Americans sometimes use poi (mashed cooked taro). The popularity of Uchinanchu cuisine has spawned a number of restaurants that serve traditional as well as fusion-style fares. Uchinanchu culinary arts reflect a people’s evolving historical and geographical experiences. —Ronald Y. Nakasone, assisted by Sayaka Inaishi
Further Reading McDermontt, John F., et al. People and Cultures of Hawai’i: A Psychocultural Profile. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1980.
Web Site Okinawan Association of America: http://www.oaamensore.org/.
Martial Arts Karate is popular among the diasporic Uchinanchu community. The Uchinanchus developed karate as a means of self-defense after the Satsuma overlords disarmed the population in 1609. Uchinanchu karate technique combines local tradition of hand-to-hand fighting with the martial arts tradition of Fukien, China. In contrast to other forms of “empty” fighting arts, Uchinanchu karate is never done as a competitive sport. There are many clubs and even a national organization, the American Okinawan Karate Association. —Ronald Y. Nakasone, assisted by Sayaka Inaishi See also: Japanese Americans: Martial Arts.
Further Reading McDermontt, John F., et al. People and Cultures of Hawai’i: A Psychocultural Profile. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1980.
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Music That Okinawans in the United States continue to preserve and perform Okinawan music is remarkable if one considers the pressures to give up Okinawan culture, starting with Japanese assimilationist policies over Okinawa and American assimilationist policies toward immigrants. One could argue, however, that Okinawan music has been an important medium through which Okinawans in America resisted assimilation.
Okinawan Music Traditions in the United States There are two main types of traditional Okinawan music brought to the United States by immigrants and preserved here. The first, koten ongaku (hereafter koten), is derived from court music of the former Ryukyuan kingdom. The main instruments used in koten are the sanshin (samisen or shamisen in Japanese), which is a three-stringed plucked instrument with an ebony shaft and a snakeskin-covered body, and the kutu (koto in Japanese), which is a 13-stringed zither. Other instruments used in koten include the teeku (taiko) or drums, kucho (kokyo) or standing violin, and the fue or flute. In koten, there is an emphasis on keeping as close as possible to the original court songs that have been passed down from the original
Sanshin performance at the Okinawan Festival in Hawaii, September 5, 2009. (PacificStock/StockphotoPro)
Okinawan Americans: Music
court music. Reflecting its aristocratic origins, koten is slow and restrained, concealing the deep emotional content of the songs. The other main type of traditional Okinawan music in the United States is minyo, or the music rooted in the experiences and sentiments of the common people in Okinawa. Minyo is still an organic tradition, and new songs are constantly being created both in Okinawa and the diaspora. Minyo songs tend to be less restrained that koten and to have faster rhythms, making them appealing to a wider audience, including non-Okinawans. The sanshin is also the main instrument in present-day minyo, but the kutu and kucho are used less than with koten. Instead, because of its repertoire of upbeat songs, percussion instruments such as the teeku and the samba (a hardwood clacking instrument) are used frequently. Further, because minyo is constantly absorbing different influences, it is not uncommon to see guitars and mandolins being used in minyo ensembles. Koten is performed by a wide range of musicians, from one to 50 or more musicians in an ensemble. Minyo is also performed solo or in groups, but the groups are usually not as large as koten ensembles. Further, koten, reflecting its origins in the Ryukyuan court, is almost always performed sitting on the floor or on a chair, while minyo is often performed standing up in a manner that seems similar to blues and country music. Both styles are performed as accompaniment for dancers. Some of the performances of music and dance attract several hundred to over a thousand people in Honolulu and Los Angeles. The annual Okinawan Festival in Hawaii, which features Okinawan music, dance, food, and other aspects of Okinawan culture, draws upwards of 50,000 people.
History Okinawa maintained a tributary relationship that it had established with China in the 14th century while being controlled by Satsuma, a powerful feudal domain in southern Japan. This required delicate diplomatic maneuvers involving the use of music and dance for entertaining envoys from both countries. Further, because the small Ryukyuan kingdom had few resources and no military force, the performance of music and dance was a way through which it could assert its dignity to its powerful neighbors. Minyo can be seen as the legacy of the creative energy of the commoners who developed in their own regions diverse repertoires of songs and dances for ceremonies and celebrations or to express happiness, heartbreak, hope, love, and nostalgia. Minyo is also connected to the commoner tradition in which young people would gather at night to court each other through song and dance. This tradition was frowned upon by the aristocratic upper class and was thus practiced clandestinely, but high social status among commoners was given to those who excelled in singing and dancing at these gatherings.
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In both koten and minyo, the sanshin and other instruments are subordinate to the song. The importance of the song is perhaps an extension of the ancient tradition of female shamans singing sacred songs. While the high status of female shamans gradually declined with the formation of the Ryukyuan kingdom and the influence of Chinese and Japanese patriarchy, songs and singing have almost divine status in Okinawa as much emphasis is placed on developing the vocal skill to express the meaning of the particular song. Most koten and minyo songs are composed of poems written in the ryuka form of three lines of eight syllables and one line of six syllables (for a total of 30 syllables). The theme of a large proportion of songs in both styles is love, but other themes include celebration, nature, life’s hardships, loneliness, and nostalgia. In 1879, Japan forcibly abolished the Ryukyuan kingdom and renamed the islands Okinawa Prefecture. The Japanese government increased measures to assimilate Okinawans through the schools and public education programs that stigmatized anything Okinawan as being backwards and barbaric, including Okinawan music. Despite these measures, koten musicians stubbornly preserved the music of the Ryukyuan court and the common folk continued to subversively create new songs.
Music in the Okinawan Diaspora The first organized group of overseas Okinawan immigrants arrived in Hawaii in 1900 to work in the sugar plantations there. Okinawans subsequently migrated in large numbers to North and South America as well as to the Philippines, Manchuria, the Marianas, and other former Japanese territories. In these places, Okinawan immigrants were discriminated by Japanese from other prefectures because of their ambiguous status as Japanese. Despite—or perhaps, because of—the discrimination, Okinawan immigrants played and sang songs that they had brought with them, often fashioning makeshift instruments out of available materials. One issei in Hawaii recalled the following: At night the Okinawans would play shamisen (three-stringed musical instruments) made out of tengara (tin cans) on which they put strings. So we had music with the tengara shamisen—“jara-jara, jan-jan, chan-chan”—and we danced Okinawan dances. Because of the discrimination that the issei or first-generation Okinawans experienced in overseas Japanese immigrant communities from the Naichi (mainland Japanese), many refrained from passing the Okinawan language to the nisei or second generation. Especially in Hawaii and the continental United States, nisei were subject to the assimilation policies and to anti-Japanese sentiment that reached a
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peak with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. However, music and dance was one aspect of Okinawan culture that remained vibrant despite the stigma. One nisei Okinawan from the island of Kaua’i said the following: We used to practice the bon dance. We used to have cans—burlap bags in the can as torch because no electricity. We used to light torch and practice in Banana Camp. We used to practice where Omine used to live by the river, under the monkey pod tree. With the torch light we used to practice. In those days Senaha man [Mr. Senaha]used to be playing [the sanshin], and here comes Kaneshiro man [Mr. Kaneshiro]with the taiko [drum]—“ nanika you? ashi age, ashi age!” [What’s the matter with you? Make your steps higher, make them higher!] Bon dance time they play music, like we had Machi playing violin. Okinawan music began experiencing a revival among the sansei or third-generation Okinawans in Hawaii in the 1980s following the political awakening of racial minorities in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. Searching for their roots, sansei in Hawaii began seeking instruction from issei (including postwar immigrants) and a few nisei Okinawan sanshin and kutu instructors, who had tenaciously preserved Okinawan music. Further, because of the large U.S. military presence in Okinawa, there has been a steady stream of Okinawan women immigrating to the United States as wives of U.S. military personnel since the end of World War II in 1945. Groups that learn koten and minyo exist in areas with concentrations of Okinawan women U.S. military bases such as Tacoma, Washington, or Fairfield, California.
Globalized Okinawan Music From the late 1980s, Japanese pop musicians began experimenting with Okinawan influences in their music. The popularization of Okinawan music in Japan contributed to the erasing of much of the stigma that had been attached to Okinawan culture. This paved the way for a large cohort of young Okinawan musicians who combined pop music and traditional Okinawan music to become well known in Japan and internationally. This new wave of Okinawan music has become popular not only among sansei and yonsei in Hawaii and the Americas, but also among non-Okinawans as well. While this new type of music is mainly consumed and not performed in the United States, there have been some musicians, often non-Okinawans, who have attempted to combine traditional Okinawan music with pop music. —Wesley Iwao Ueunten See also: Japanese Americans: Folk Music.
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Further Reading Ethnic Studies Oral History Project, Ethnic Studies Program (ESOHP), University of Hawaii. Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1981. Kerr, George H. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. 2nd ed. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. Nakasone, Ronald Y., ed. Okinawan Diaspora. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002. Okinawa Department of Commerce, Industry and Labor. Ryukyuan Dance. Okinawa: Okinawa Joho Co., 1995. Okinawan Club of America and the Asian American Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles. History of the Okinawans in North America. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles, 1988. Ueunten, Wesley. “The Okinawan Revival in Hawai’i: Contextualizing Culture and Identity Over Diasporic Time and Space.” PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 2007.
Religion Much of traditional Uchinanchu spiritual culture is site specific, centering on utaki, or sacred groves, and uganju or sacred (usually water) sites; nonetheless, immigrants carried the more portable features of the tradition—ancestral veneration, the yuta or shaman, their celebrations, and worldview to their new homes. Metaphysical support for the native spirituality is very vague and must be extrapolated from the Omorososhi, an anthology of 1553 archaic poems and shamanic incantations that reflect the ancient Uchinanchus’ aspirations and yearnings; their love of their island home; their relationship with Amemiku, their founding kami or deity; their belief in niraee kanaee (Jpn. nirai kanai), the dwelling place of the ancestral spirits and other deities; and their liaison with the myriad of spirits with whom they share their lives. These sentiments and beliefs have been overlaid and reinforced by Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and other nonnative ideas and ritual trappings. Yuimaru extends beyond the terrestrial community to the disembodied spirit world. The living honors the ancestral spirits through a complex series of communal and munchu or clan and family rituals; in return, the ancestral spirits ensure their progeny health and prosperity. Normally the family matriarch is the principal celebrant. In contrast, communal rituals are led by the kaminchu (Jpn. kami-bito), including the nuru, and yuta, the two principal spiritual functionaries; both roles are usually assumed by women who are believed to possess spiritual powers
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superior to that of men. The kaminchu and nuru are hereditary positions. Once organized nationally, the primary kaminchu of each village accompanied the chifijin (Jpn. kikoeogimi), the national priestess to Seefa Utaki, the national shrine to offer sacrifices to Amemiku and the original ancestors. While the ancient rituals were primarily concerned with ensuring bountiful harvest and followed the Chinese lunar calendar, communal observances in the diasporic community are directed toward remembering the ancestors and consoling disorientated spirits, especially those who perished during the Battle of Okinawa on June 23. Irei no hi commemorates the official end of the battle. The kaminchu has been replaced by religious professionals from Buddhist, Christian, and/or other traditions. The introduction of Jodo Shinhu (Pure Land) Buddhism after the 1609 Satsuma invasion and subsequent occupation began the erosion of the indigenous faith. Uchinaguchi expressions and notions were replaced by Japanese ones. Shinimabui or ancestral spirits came to be known as futuki, the Uchinanguchi expression for hotoke or the spirit of the deceased person. Hotoke originally referred to Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha. Likewise, niraee kanaee came to be associated with the Pure Land. But unlike the Japanese who set aside an entire room or butsuma to the Buddha and their ancestral spirits, the family altar occupies the central location in the main room of a traditional Uchinanchu home. From this favorable vantage point, the ancestral spirits observe the activities of their progeny, and are informed of births, deaths, marriages, and other significant family milestones. The typical American home is not designed with the ancestral altar in mind. Nonetheless, it is usually placed in a prominent location. More significantly, while the focus of the butsudan or Buddhist altar is the Buddha, in the Uchinanchu home it is dedicated to the ancestors and should be more correctly referred to as kami-dana or ancestral altar. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Uchinanchu families have largely abandoned shimi, the spring equinox observance in which families make a pilgrimage to the family tomb. After cleaning and maintaining the site, they offer sacrifices to the ancestral spirits, and share a meal. But the diapsoric families have not abandoned their ancestral spirits. They are remembered during eisa, which corresponds to the Buddhist Obon, on Mother’s and Father’s days, anniversary of death, birthdays, and other days of family significance. In Hawaii, family tombs are common, perpetuating the tradition that families should be together in death. Services honoring the ancestors are also observed before the family shrine. These occasions reinforce intergenerational ties. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that the twice-monthly sacrifices that are observed on the first and 15th of each lunar month at the family shrine have lapsed. Possessing paranormal powers of clairvoyance and prognostication, the yuta is consulted to interpret dreams, unusual or strange natural phenomena (such as the crowing of a hen) or freak accidents are commonly believed to be messages from
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the ancestral spirits. The yuta determines who is trying to communicate and why; and will recommend a response, including proper ritual. The yuta still wields a powerful influence in the disaporic community. —Ronald Y. Nakasone, assisted by Sayaka Inaishi
Further Reading Hui O Laulima, ed. Chimugukuru: The Soul, the Spirit, the Heart. Honolulu: Hui O Laulima, 2009. McDermontt, John F., et al. People and Cultures of Hawai’i: A Psychocultural Profile, Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1980.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner The non-Yamato (Japanese) identity of the Uchinanchus is most apparent in Uchinaguchi. Scholars speculate that the Uchinaguchi and Japanese languages diverged about 1,500 years ago and as a result are mutually unintelligible. After annexation, in an effort to assimilate its newly acquired subjects, the Meiji government mandated the use of Japanese in the schools; students were punished for speaking their native tongue. Uchinaguchi is still spoken among the older persons, but its use is quickly diminishing. Reaction against the homogenizing influence of Japanese culture and the continued presence of U.S. military bases have quickened an interest in reviving the native tongue and reaffirming Uchinanchu identity. The diasporic Uchinanchus speak “champuru Uchinaguchi”—that is, Okinawan mixed with Japanese and words from other languages. Uchinaguchi classes are offered in Hawaii and Los Angeles. In 2006, the University of Hawaii Press published Okinawan-English Wordbook by Mitsugu Sakihara (1928–2001). —Ronald Y. Nakasone, assisted by Sayaka Inaishi
Further Reading Sakihara, Mitsugu. Okinawa-English Wordbook. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006.
Pacific Islander Americans History, People, and Culture Introduction Some people believe that anyone who hails from the islands of the Pacific is a Pacific Islander (PI). While this may be geographically acceptable, geopolitics in the Pacific dictates that people from places like New Zealand, Australia, the western coastlines of the Americas, Alaska’s Aleutians, Japan, the Philippines, and Russia’s Kuril Islands do not consider themselves as Pacific Islanders. In some instances, native Hawaiians and the Maori of New Zealand do not see themselves, or are not perceived by other islanders, as Pacific Islanders. However as a category in the U.S. census, Pacific Islander America includes Native Hawaiians and the New Zealand Maori. Pacific Islander Americans, therefore, are descendants of the indigenous people of the islands of the Pacific Basin; some are new arrivals from the ancestral islands, others are local-born. PI Americans are a diverse group with multiple identities and ethnicities. They identify themselves as Polynesians, Micronesians, or Melanesians; these are colonial constructions based on physical appearance, language, and culture. In the 2000 U.S. Census, Pacific Islander Americans numbered 847,414, or 0.3 percent of the total population—there were 567,583 Polynesians, 114,194 Melanesians, and 14,152 Melanesians. Of the Polynesians, Native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Tongans were the largest groups. The Chamorro of Guam and the Northern Marianas made up the largest Micronesian group, although through the compacts of free association, an increasing flow of migrants has been evident from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and the Republic of Palau. The largest group from Melanesia is the Fijians.
History: Pre-contact and Pre-colonial Periods Indigenous cosmologies claim that the Pacific islands were created by the gods from rocks and rivers, sticks and stones, and worms. The Samoans believe that
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their god, Tagaloa-a-lagi, procreated and populated the Samoan archipelago. However, the Maori of New Zealand tell tales of Maui who fished up the North Island of New Zealand, which was later populated by the seven canoes of Maori tribes sailing in from what is now Rarotonga. These cosmogonies are contrasted by anthropological and archaeological findings, which yield two main migration theories: first, people known as the Austronesians moved from southern China through the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia and settled on the islands of the western Pacific. Another group called the Papuans was already in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. By 1000 BCE, a group from Lapita in Vanuatu reached the western archipelagos of the Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. Shards of Lapita pottery discovered in these islands in the mid-20th century are evidence of this link. This group is believed to be the ancestors of today’s Polynesians. After a few centuries, people migrated north to Micronesia and east to the Marquesas. Later migrations were launched from here to Hawaii, Tahiti, Rarotonga, and New Zealand. By 700 CE, more than 20,000 islands of the Pacific had been discovered and settled. Second, Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian archaeologist, put out a “drift” theory claiming that people from South America drifted on rafts and washed ashore on the islands. There was much debate about Heyerdahl’s theory, which prompted the Hawaii-based Polynesian Voyaging Society to embark on a phenomenal retracing of ancestral routes and ancient sailing methods in the 1970s. Whatever the explanation, it is generally accepted that by the age of European discovery, many of the islands of the Pacific were inhabited by people in thriving cultures and who traversed the seaways of the vast Pacific Ocean for war, trade, and fishing. Of course, some might even have drifted while fishing, as is occasionally the case in the Pacific today. Of course, the ocean was not called the Pacific then; in fact, the early arrivals had their own names for the Pacific Ocean. In Polynesia, it is either Moana (deep ocean), vasa loaloa (long and wide ocean), or Sami loloto (deep sea).
History: The European Age of Discovery and the Colonial Period Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a Spanish governor in what is today the Isthmus of Panama or the Panama Peninsula. His passion was to find gold for the Spanish throne. With the help of the indigenous people, Balboa pushed west and, on September 25, 1513, stood on the top of a mountain range along the Chucunaque River and looked down upon a wide expanse of calm water which he called the South Sea. He made it possible for people like Ferdinand Magellan to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan braved the rough seas around Cape Horn, the southern tip of Argentina. He called this passage the Straits of Magellan. He reached the
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Pacific in January 1520, called the waters Mar Pacifico (Pacific Ocean) because of its calm nature, and on March 6, 1521, finally sighted Guam where he found a thriving community of well-built and feisty Chammorro. In the early 1800s, the French botanist and linguist, Jules Sebastien Cesar Dumont d’Urville, sorted the Pacific people into three groups—Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. The term “Polynesia” means many islands, which form the Polynesian triangle with tips at Rapanui in the east, Hawaii in the north, and Aotearoa or New Zealand in the south. Polynesians are the Rapas, Marquesans, Tahitians, Tuamotus, Rarotongans (Cook Islanders), Tongans, Samoans, Hawaiians, Maori of New Zealand, Tokelauans, Tuvaluans, Niueans, Rotumans, Pitcairn islanders, the Austral islanders, and those in the Lau group of Fiji. Most of the islands of Polynesia are volcanic islands. There are some Polynesians in some islands of Micronesia such as Kapingamarangis. Micronesia means small islands, and they lie mostly north of the equator. Most of the islands of Micronesia are low-lying atolls, which are resource poor and extremely vulnerable to climatic forces. In Marianas are the Chamorro of Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam; Palauan, Yapese, Chuukese, Mortlockese, Satawalese, Pohnpeians, Kapimaragans, Kosraeans, Marshallese, and many others. These islands became associated with the United States at the end of World War II. They have been of great strategic importance to a super power encountering the threat of communism during the Cold War. Micronesian islands south of the equator are Kiribati and Nauru, but they are former colonies of Great Britain and Australia and are now independent nations. Melanesia is so called because of the dark-skinned people of the southwestern Pacific. The islands are mostly continental islands that include Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Fiji. They are resource rich and support a large majority of the people of the Pacific. Not many Melanesians migrate out. The island of Papua New Guinea was initially divided in the 19th century among the Dutch, Germans, and British. Today, what was Dutch Papua is the Indonesian territory of Irian Jaya; eastern and northern New Guinea became a protectorate of the League of Nations under Great Britain and later formalized as a United Nations mandate under Australian administration. New Caledonia belonged to the French, and Vanuatu was once a shared possession or condominium of the French and British until its independence in 1980. The Solomon Islands also gained its independence from the British in 1979. As Christianity and capitalism took hold in the Pacific, the colonial powers established administrations to protect missionaries and merchants, and to regulate commerce. The United States’ acquisition of Hawaii through the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893, Guam in the northern Micronesian islands as a spoil of the Spanish-American War in 1898, and the eastern Samoan islands through the Berlin Treaty of 1899 sealed relations with the people from these entities.
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In 1959, Hawaii moved from territorial status to statehood, becoming the 50th state in the Union. Guam and American Samoa have remained territories, although Guamanians are American citizens, while those born in American Samoa are nationals. Guamanians, Northern Marianas islanders, and American Samoans do not need visas to enter the United States; however, while in Hawaii, Alaska, or the U.S. mainland, American Samoans cannot vote in presidential or local elections unless they are naturalized. American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Marianas, however, have nonvoting representation in the U.S. Congress. By and large, these Pacific territories enjoy all of the other benefits available to American citizens, whether in the islands or in the United States. Many American Samoan nationals have maintained this status, although they have chosen the States as home. For the rest of the Pacific, migration to the United States requires sponsorship, a passport, visa, and an address. This is true of people from the independent Pacific, and the French and Chilean territories. The same is also true for the Micronesians of the freely associated states, although their relationships with the United States are under different terms as stipulated in their respective compacts of free association.
People: Geopolitics, Decolonization, and the American Experience The geopolitics of the colonial period often blurred the cultural and topographic distinctions of the Pacific islands. From Magellan’s discovery to the breaking up of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in the 1980s, European and American powers laid claims to various islands. The United States’ sphere of influence comprises all the islands of the Pacific north of the equator—that is, Hawaii and Micronesia. Its only territory south of the Pacific is American Samoa. Historically, Pacific Islanders’ affiliation with the United States began with American whaling and trading of the 18th century as ships traversed the Pacific between the U.S. West Coast and Asia and used the islands as pit stops to replenish supplies, and for rest and recreation. Soon, port towns emerged along the beaches of Honolulu (Oahu), Lahaina (Maui), Apia (Western Samoa), and Suva (Fiji). Island men themselves caught the travel bug and became sailors and fishers on some of the boats; some even settled in the fishing villages along the New England coast. Between the two world wars, most of the islanders that arrived on American soil were military and church families from American Samoa and Guam. The Mormon Church in Laie established church and education facilities; eventually, Samoan, Hawaiian, and Tongan communities emerged along Oahu’s north shore and Honolulu. Laie, Kahuku, and Hau’ula are a thriving Polynesian enclave where the Samoans and Tongans have benefitted from opportunities for higher education and employment provided by Brigham Young University (BYU) and
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the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC), respectively. Similar communities have developed in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a result of the core-periphery method of capitalism, resource depletion at the periphery (Pacific) and movement of labor from colony to colony displaced many islanders. The promises of wealth and a higher standard of living promoted by Christianity and Western education eluded the islanders, who saw a one-way flow of coconuts, phosphate, and sandalwood to the core countries and further impoverishment of people already struggling to survive natural disasters and overpopulation. As decolonization took hold and agreements with the colonial powers were forged, mass migration from villages to towns and from the islands to the colonizers’ homelands increased. By the 1970s and 1980s, boatloads and planeloads of Pacific Islanders landed in Honolulu, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the United States; Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand, and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. This was likewise for Paris, France, and Santiago, Chile, where Tahitians and New Caledonians and Rapas from Rapanui migrate, respectively. Under U.S. leadership, negotiations for decolonization and self-rule evolved into the splitting of the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) into four entities, three of which are currently in free association with the United States. In the early 1980s, the islands of the Northern Marianas chose to be a commonwealth of the United States, the Marshall Islands became a republic (RMI), and Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae formed the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Palau would be the last group to determine its political status and relationship with the United States. In 1994, Palau became a republic and signed a compact of free association with the United States. The islanders realized the pros and cons of remaining in the U.S. family. On the other hand, to the United States, the northern Pacific was of strategic importance especially during the Cold War. It remains as such today.
Culture: Migration and Circular Mobility A unique characteristic of Pacific Islander migration is its circularity or what is called “circular mobility.” Circular mobility is as old as the Pacific islands’ cultures themselves. It involves movements of people for lengthy stays in the host communities or back in their original ones. It is characteristic of PIs to travel to fulfill family obligations and to stay for a while even if that results in job losses, sporadic education, and/or economic hardship. Circular mobility is a feature of kinship economics, which demands resource sharing even from a distance. In times of famine, families and/or villages in the old days moved to live with relatives or in villages where crops were thriving; they stayed there until their crops recovered. There is a strong belief that kinship economics ensures that no one goes hungry or homeless; if and when hunger and homelessness happens, it is more a matter of choice than of necessity. Today, the
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urban centers have become the alternative land of plenty; however, the prioritization of resources largely favors the maintenance of kinship ties. As long as there is a homeland, there are relatives who need to be helped. Thus, remitting to relatives “back home” is a major economic activity of the PIs. There is still a popular belief among PIs that families are their life insurance policies; that as long as one contributes to funerals, church, and other community events, one does not have to worry about a burial plan or a graduation party. However, kinship economics has often run counter to Western notions of success—in a socioeconomic sense, it has restricted upward mobility. Another feature of PI America is church affiliation. Church communities as surrogate villages have become the cultural centers and the comfort zones for many islanders. In these places, PIs can speak their mother tongues, perform traditional ceremonies, wear traditional clothes, eat traditional foods, and share their resources. Traditional denominations impose high monetary demands on the members. Consequently, more and more islanders are embracing New Age religion, where the unconditional sharing of resources is antithetical. These New Age denominations do not focus on infrastructure development such as church buildings and pastors’ residences. Generally speaking, PI Americans, like other Americans, have found the United States a place where they could have the best of all their cultures. They, too, have experienced the pros and cons of cross-cultural encounters during their border crossings. They have found certain niches in the diversity that is America. Many have become successful athletes; many have mapped themselves into mainstream arts and professions. More and more have obtained college educations and higherpaying jobs. PIs are overrepresented in the U.S. military; however, much needs to be done—by them—to reduce an overrepresentation in prison, welfare lines, public housing projects, low-paying jobs, and under-education. PIs must find a way to balance their individual rights with group obligations. When compared to many other groups in the United States, PI Americans have a long way to go to enjoy the benefits of both modern and traditional cultures. For many of them, though, there is confidence in the fact that if and when all else fails, there is always a piece of land in the islands that they can return to and start again. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Further Reading Chapman, Murray. “The Cross-Cultural Study of Circulation.” Current Anthropology, 20(1) (1979): 111–114. D’urville, Jules-Sebastien-Cesar Dumont. “On the Islands of the Great Ocean,” Paris 1831. Translated by Isabel Ollivier, Antoine de Biran, and Geoffrey Clark. Journal of Pacific History 38 (2003): 163–174.
Pacific Islander Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Macpherson, Cluny. “The Polynesian Diaspora: New Communities and New Questions.” In JCAS Symposium Series. 14 (1997). Norton, Robert. “Culture and Identity in the South Pacific: A Comparative Analysis.” Man, New Series 28(4) (December 1993): 741–759. Rubinstein, Donald H. “Movements in Micronesia: Post-Compact (1987) Micronesian Migrants to Guam and Saipan.” In Grant McCall and John Connell, eds. A World Perspective on Pacific Islander Migration: Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Sydney: Centre for South Pacific Studies, University of New South Wales, 1993, 259–263.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Wherever they reside and whatever they do, Pacific Islanders continue to pay respect to their ancestors, use ghosts as a disciplinary tool, and practice traditions that appease all kinds of spirits. Faith healers or spirit mediums are used when modern medicine cannot heal the sick; as a last resort, Pacific Islanders seek particular mediums that deal with particular ghosts from their islands. Each group of islanders has their own terminology for ancestors, ghosts, and spirits. In Samoa, the ancestors are tua’a and they are respected for the wisdom handed down through oral traditions; they return as shape shifters or aitu and appear through different signs that can only be interpreted by a medium. Some aitu beguile unsuspecting humans and will kill unless they are discovered in time. The term for spirit is agaga, There are good agaga and bad ones. Sometimes, aitu and agaga are one and the same thing; however, this term tends to be understood in a biblical sense. Jesus is a good agaga, whereas Satan is a bad one. When chiefs die, their agaga go to Pulotu, an underwater world. If and when they return, they become aitu and are given an identity by the nature of their attacks, in which case the right mediums must be fetched. Chuukese believe that when a person dies, he possesses two souls, a good one and a bad one. The bad soul becomes the ghost that is feared, since they can cause sickness and death. The good soul works through someone to do good for the family or community. The good soul is showered with gifts and entertainment and the possessed/family is repaid with food, new ideas, and health and welfare. To exorcise a spirit, the medium partakes of preserved breadfruit, the smell of which is repulsive to the spirits. Generally speaking, Pacific Islanders use ancestors, ghosts, and spirits to deal with traditional affairs. The Judeo-Christian deity, on the other hand, dictates the moral and juridical order. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Religion.
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Further Reading Mitchell, Roger E. “Micronesian Ghosts and the Limits of Functional Analysis.” Asian Ethnology. 34(2) (1975): 87–101.
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration Pacific Islander American arts, crafts, and home decorations are wonderfully rich and various and characteristically reflect the indigenous people’s relationship with nature and their specific history. The dance traditions of Hawaiians and Tongan Americans, for example, exemplify a long tradition of dance with or without poetry. For Americans of Tongan ancestry, a formal line dance that commemorates historical events, places, or people and is performed by men and women is called lakalaka; for Hawaiians, the hula dance, which is historically sacred, tells the legends of Hawaiians’ relations with the gods, animals, landscape, and history to the sound of drums. This dance may also be performed with or without accompanying chants as is the case in Tonga. Some are performed sitting, as is the ma’ulu’ulu Tongan seated dance. Tattoos are a widely spread art form of Pacific Islander Americans, although there has not been as consistent of a presence for Hawaiians as for Samoans or New Zealand’s Maori, or, for example, the Marquesans, who were often traditionally tattooed from head to toe, including the tongue. Depending on time and place, the importance of tattoos varies in the history of Pacific Islander Americans from signifying hierarchical status, to sexual maturity, or genealogy, for example. Although different forms of the lei—or a series of items typically from nature strung together to make necklaces, head wreaths, bracelets, anklets, or belts— are most popularly associated with Hawaii, where they are made from indigenous flowers, plants, fruit, nuts, and the teeth of land and sea life, they are also a traditional craft of other Pacific islands. Additional Hawaiian traditions in this category are gourd carving, traditionally used for storing food and water; chants, such as the mele oli, recited without dance or instruments, and the mele hula, chants that are accompanied by dance are a very important means of artistic expression of Hawaiians. Chants reveal the Hawaiian view of nature and are often performed on special occasions to honor ancestors, pray to the gods, bless a child or home, and when surfing, mourning, or thanking, for example. Hula ki’i puppetry, which involves storytelling and puppets made from coconuts, tapa—or bark— lauhala, and other available natural materials, is another traditional art form that has recently been revived. Lauhala weaving involves cleaning and removing the thorns of these long strips of leaves, which are then
Pacific Islander Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
beaten by a tapa beater to soften them. Many home decorations such as boxes, baskets, mats, and hats are made with these lauhala leaves; however, fishnet knotting, traditionally made from olona, one of the strongest natural fibers known, is also used to hold baskets and gourds in the household, and in earlier times for the making of feather capes; the kiho’alu, slack-key guitar style of playing evolved with Hawaiians by the 20th century after the introduction of the guitar with the coming of Christian missionaries in 1820. Slack key involves playing with loosened strings while tuned to an open chord; kappa kuiki, Hawaiian quilts, may have evolved from the kappa moe or sleeping kappa mat made from tapa cloth, or they may also have developed after 1820; nevertheless, these gorgeous, brilliantly colored quilts characteristically illustrate indigenous leaf, floral, and fruit patterns such as that of the hibiscus, plumeria, anthurium, pineapples, coconuts, and the breadfruit tree. —Beverly J. Butcher See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Clothing and Jewelry; Hawaiian Folklore.
Further Reading Armstrong, Wayne. “Kui Nut Jewels of Hawaii.” Ornament 28 (2005): 40–41. Buck, P. H. (Te Rangi Hiroa). Arts and Crafts of Hawaii. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 2003. Handy, W. C. “Tattooing in the Marquesas.” Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Bulletin 1. Bayard Dominick Expedition. Pub. #3. Honolulu, 1922. Available at http://hbs .bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/pdf/bull1.pdf (accessed August 1, 2010). Kaeppler, Adrienne L. The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia. London: Oxford University Press, 2008. Liu, Robert K. “Ethnographic Arts: Polynesian Leis.” Ornament 27 (2003): 52–53. Thomas, Nicholas. Oceanic Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 1995.
Web Sites Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Our Arts, Our Land: A Young Readers Guide to Selected Folk Artists. Honolulu. http://www2.hawaii.edu/~hefner/pages/ artists.html (accessed March 2009). Public Broadcasting Service. “Skin Stories: The Art and Culture of Polynesian Tattoo.” PBS.com, http://www.pbs.org/skinstories/culture/index.html (accessed April 2010). Rodeghier, Katherine. “Tattoo Origins in the South Pacific.” Suite 101.com (Online, “Hawaiian Quilt Collection.”) http://www.hawaiian-quilts.com (accessed May 2010). Tahiti Tatou. “History of Polynesian Tattoo.” Tahiti Tatou. http://www.tahititatou.com/ history.html (accessed October 2009).
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Chamorro Folklore of World War II On December 8, 1941, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded the American territory of Guam, eventually capturing and occupying it for two and a half years. This period of invasion and occupation produced among the people of the island a corpus of resonant folklore enacted through song, testimony, memoir, ritual celebrations, and photos. The largest set of this corpus focuses on the suffering the island endured. It begins with the trauma and heroics of the invasion, then proceeds to the painful memories of Japanese brutality and the hardships of survival. One of the most popular of the ballads to survive this era upholds the hope of rescue by the United States in its title, which is also its refrain: “Sam, Sam, My Dear Uncle Sam, Won’t You Please Come Back to Guam.” Besides song and story, material memorializing occurs each year as survivors, their children, and other Guam residents faithfully trek into the jungles to the sites of the most horrible of the atrocities to conduct ceremonies of remembering. A second set of narratives revolves around the resistance to the occupation. Tales abound of underground radio networks, songs mocking Japanese work bosses, and resistance heroics. An often-recounted saga from this group describes how courageous Chamorro protected six navy men who had escaped into the jungle when the Japanese invaded. These stories persist as oral history but are also printed in newspapers and aired on local television and radio channels during the annual celebration of what the island has come to call Liberation Day. The festivities of Liberation Day evoke a third set of folklore, that of narratives that have grown around the return of the United States. On the one hand, the tales uphold the American soldier as hero and savior with an elaborate parade through the capital, Hagatna, in which the armed services, especially during the early days, were a main attraction. The sight of the flag waving and the marines marching inevitably prompted cheers and applause from the crowds. Alongside these stories of deep gratitude runs just as resilient, a discourse of betrayal and resentment for the injustices the Chamorro population suffered not at the hands of their enemy but of their liberators. In the disorienting years between 1944 and 1946, Chamorro found themselves further uprooted from their pre-war home as the military government razed whole villages and constructed new ones; as land holdings shrank and the military’s real estate increased to onethird of the island; and as the population of 21,000 indigenous people ballooned to 53,000, over 50 percent of that number newly arrived immigrants and military personnel. The darker narratives that form this group of folklore are politically charged and chronicle the land-grabbing of the military, the deferral of political status, the lack
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of a national vote, the absence of control over critical local issues like immigration, and the unacknowledged culpability on the part of their liberators for the brutality the people suffered as American allies. Today, the stories relating to this last complaint are the most passionate. Because Guam was under U.S. control, treaties with Japan excluded it from wartime compensations. Meanwhile, testimony from sister islands to the north and south receiving compensation provoked bewilderment and outrage that has lasted over 60 years as Congress time and again has tabled requests from Guam for war reparations. Of the corpus of war folklore, it is this one that remains protean. The actions of the United States before the last survivors of World War II atrocities die will determine how this story will end and what its burden will be in its future recountings. —Evelyn San Miguel Flores See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Filipino Material Culture on Guam; Guam and Chamorus; Guam: Narratives of Female Deities among the Chamorro.
Further Reading Farrell, Don A. The Sacrifice: 1919–1943. Tinian: Micronesian Productions, 1991. Guam’s Liberation. Dir. Annette Donner. Donner Video Productions, 1994. Howard, Chris Perez. Mariquita: A Tragedy of Guam. Hagatna: Cyfred, Ltd., 2002. Palomo, Tony. Island in Agony. Guam: Tony Palomo, 1984. Rogers, Robert F. Destiny’s Landfall: A History of Guam. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995. Sanchez, Pedro. Guahan Guam: The History of Our Island. Agana, Guam: Sanchez Publishing House, 1998.
Children and Folk Song Children in Pacific Islander America are a diverse group in terms of ancestry, culture, education, and geography. They may be immigrants or first, second, third, or even fourth generations. Some are proficient in their ancestors’ language and culture; others do not see the need to speak and practice them. Except in Hawaii, where the language is one of the official languages of the state—English being the other one—the rest of the PI groups are responsible for language and cultural maintenance. As far as folk song is concerned, even immigrant children may not have the folklore of their parents. Since the introduction of education and populist television in the islands, children’s folk songs have consisted of versions of the songs from Sesame Street,
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Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Uncle Remus’s tales, and Grimm’s fairy tales. Folk songs for Pacific Islanders are a rare occurrence in the United States. Consequently, PI children do not know the folklore of their immigrant parents and grandparents, and even if they are taught during early childhood, they are quickly forgotten once the children enter formal education. This reality often frustrates migrant parents, and in spite of efforts to motivate children to become competent in their ancestral folklore, competitive priorities of daily life in America do not lend well to its maintenance. Having said that, every generation of Pacific Islanders in the United States makes the effort to revive their folkways; across the nation, charter schools have become avenues for many indigenous people including the Hawaiians, Samoans, Tokelauans, and Micronesians to start nonprofit language schools where their children are introduced to folk music, dance, food, and traditional systems of respect and service. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Folk Dance; Folk Music.
Further Reading Ward, Marilyn J. “The Extent to Which American Children’s Folk Songs Are Taught by General Music Teachers throughout the United States.” PhD diss., University of Florida, 2003. http://www.neflin.org/marilyn/Marilyn%20Ward%20Dissertation.pdf (accessed August 1, 2010).
Clothing and Jewelry In Hawaii as well as in other Pacific islands from where Americans of this ancestry come, clothing and jewelry are traditionally made from available local materials from land and sea. For example, tree bark, which was traditionally made into cloth and is known as tapa or kapa in Hawaii, Siapo in Samoa, Masi in Fiji, and in Tonga as Ngatu, was customarily used by all of these islanders for clothing and sometimes for jewelry. When the import of Western textiles began in the 19th century, however, Hawaiians began to replace this traditional material with calico, for instance. Prior to the arrival of Christian missionaries in 1820, Hawaiians would wear clothing or not and largely used it as a status indicator. With the arrival of Westerners, however, non–Pacific Island ideas of respectability became instrumental in changing their clothing habits. Before the early 19th century, native Hawaiian women wore pa’u, several layers of tapa, specifically made by a process passed down through the generations that used the fibers of the mulberry or breadfruit tree. The pa’u was wrapped around the body: for royalty from below
Pacific Islander Americans: Clothing and Jewelry
the bust to the knees, while for commoners this traditional material was wrapped from the waist. Post 1820, the holok, which was inspired by the American day dress, began being worn by Hawaiian women as well as the mu’umu’u, which was also introduced to other island women across the Pacific. The holok is a floor-length, waistless, long-sleeved, yoked, loose-fitting dress that was first adopted by royalty and then worn by the lay population. It is still worn today as a traditional symbol of Hawaiian ethnicity and pride as this form of dress was adopted when the Hawaiian monarchy was still the governing power (until 1893). Another identity indicator and source of pride is the palaka shirt, which typically reflects the natural beauty of the islands through images and symbols of life found there: an assortment of native flowers such as the hibiscus blossoms, leaves, ferns, fish, and lizards are typical. This Aloha or welcoming shirt has become popularized through tourism. In regard to the jewelry of Hawaii and other Pacific islands, earrings, necklaces, rings, anklets, and head wreaths are made from local natural life such as tree bark, leaves, grass, ferns, seeds, nuts, shells, fruit, teeth of boars or sea mammals. Leis from Hawaii are the most well known form of jewelry, but other Pacific islands also have forms of the lei. A lei is a series of items, typically from nature, that are strung together to form a garland or wreath to be worn around the neck, arm, wrist, ankle, waist, or on the head. In Hawaii, they were traditionally worn during sacred hula dances as a form of worship, and today are largely given as a sign of respect or welcome. For example, long leis are strewn on the statues of important historical figures such as Kamehameha the Great or Queen Lili’uokalani as a form of honor and respect. Tourists are often greeted with leis as a form of warm welcome. The components of the leis of Hawaii are representative of the specific islands from which the natural materials come. The island people use their indigenous flowers, such as the lokelani of Maui or the kukui tree leaves and blossoms from Molakai, while the island of Ni’ihau uses shells to represent them in their leis. —Beverly J. Butcher See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration.
Further Reading Armstrong, Wayne. “Kukui Nut Jewels of Hawaii.” Ornament 28(4) (2005): 40–41. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web October 22, 2009. Brown, Desoto, and Linda Boynton Arthur. The Art of the Aloha Shirt. Honolulu, HI: Island Publishing, 2002. Buck, Peter H. (Te Rangi Hiroa). Arts and Crafts of Hawaii. Honolulu, HI: Bishop Museum Press, 2003.
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Pacific Islander Americans: Dying and Death Rituals Kaeppler, Adrienne L. The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia. London: Oxford University Press, 2008. Kuchler, Susann, and Graeme Were. “Clothing and Innovation: A Pacific Perspective.” Anthropology Today 19(2) (2003): 3–5. McDonald, Marie. Ka Lei: The Leis of Hawaii. Honolulu, HI: Ku Pa’a Publishing, 1995.
Web Sites Arthur, Linda Boynton. “History of Hawaiian Holoku.” http://www.waveshoppe.com/ aloha-attire.htm. British Museum. “Explore Highlight: Feather Cape.” http://www.britishmuseum.org. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1964. http://www.hawaiihistory.org.
Dying and Death Rituals More than anything else, nothing is more unifying for Pacific families today than the efforts to delay the death of a loved one; however, once one passes, a funeral becomes a family reunion and a socioeconomic activity. Pacific Islanders’ death and dying rituals have been greatly transformed by Christianity. However, vestiges of ancestral cultures persist, particularly in Pacific Islander (PI) beliefs in spirits and ghosts and their influence on the living. About 99 percent of Pacific Islanders are Christians, thus caring for the dying and burying the dead are determined by a blend of Christian and ancestral beliefs and practices. In ancient Polynesia, the dead person’s soul went to an underwater world to live called Pulotu. Today the Gospel promises an everlasting life in heaven which is achieved only through clean living and obeying God’s Ten Commandments. Death is very much part of the everyday of PI lives. Every day, there is a relative somewhere in the world, particularly in the islands, who is dead or close to it. PIs see death as inevitable and that when God calls, there is nothing anyone can do about it. Once the family accepts the immediacy of death, funeral arrangements are made and upon death, relatives are mobilized. Death and dying take on a socioeconomic dimension for PIs. PI funerals in America are monetary and service obligations. Samoans and Tongan funerals, for example, are expensive and elaborate affairs. A PI funeral involves a public manifestation of love through exchanges of food, artifacts, and cash. These often take place at the church or at funeral parlors. From the time of the passing until the actual burial, the family prepares a plan for receipt and reciprocation of gifts from relatives, friends, and associates. The size of the exchange is
Pacific Islander Americans: Family and Community
determined by how close the relationship is with the dead, although the average monetary gift today is about $500. Similar systems of reciprocation also exist in Micronesia. Mourning the dead for PIs varies from group to group, although generally, when PIs die, relatives travel from afar and stay with the widows or widowers and their children for a period of time. This is important so that the aggrieved does not feel lonely, and so that plans could be made for relocation if the widow wishes to return home. Traditionally, a widow’s parents or chiefs announce the return of their “girls” to their own villages. Today, many decide to remain with their children on their father’s land. As far as burial is concerned, only paramount chiefs could be buried in front of the village, while the rest of the people were buried in community cemeteries behind the village; today, the dead are buried in tomb-like graves as closely to the houses as possible. Since this practice is not permissible in the United States and other places, families are forced to buy burial plots, which they visit on special occasions. Cremation is a practice that is shunned by most Pacific islanders. In Hawaii, however, many native Hawaiians believe in cremation and a scattering of the ashes in the ocean. Many Micronesians and Polynesians prefer to send their parents and grandparents home for burial. Very few Melanesians are in the United States, but they, too, have adopted Christian and culturally determined death rituals. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Further Reading Metcalf, Peter, and Richard Huntington. Celebration of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Rituals. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Family and Community A Pacific Island (PI) family does not consist of just the parents and children as is the case with an American nuclear family, but all the individuals connected by blood and marriage wherever they reside. Therefore, PI families are extended in nature, and immigrants to America tend to live in large households that reflect kinship values and beliefs. It is not uncommon for Pacific Islander Americans to live in overcrowded quarters, a practice that makes them unattractive to housing developers, landlords, or neighbors. PIs cannot deny relatives or fellow “ethnics” a space to sleep or their last piece of taro; to do so is to be un-Pacific. PI families in America prefer to live close to each other. This is why there are high concentrations of islanders in certain states and cities. Initially, an individual or a
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group of individuals moves to a particular place for job opportunities. Communities in Alaska have grown due to jobs in fishing; Mormon communities are large in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Oahu, Hawaii, and huge concentrations of PIs, especially Samoans and Hawaiians, are evident in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Seattle. Most of them work in the low-paying service industry. Most PI communities in America are church communities. Church communities provide a comfort zone for many PIs who may find living among strangers lonely. By the second or third generation, however, membership in the church community may no longer be enough to define their identity; thus, they see themselves more in tune with their counterparts in other communities than with their immigrant or first-generation kin. If they find a parallel church, it is often one of the New Age denominations such as Word of Life or New Hope. Partnerships among private nonprofit organizations, the church, and the government have assisted PI communities stem the proliferation of drug and gang activities, promote PI arts and cultures through festivals and celebrations, and set in motion scholarship programs for academic and career development. These partnerships are already mentioned elsewhere in the PI section. Overall, PI families and communities are close-knit extended units with the same goals and aspirations for a safe and happy lifestyle in the United States. If there is one lasting truth about most PIs in America, it is that if all else fails, there is still a piece of land and relatives in the islands to return to and begin afresh. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Further Reading Lal, Brij V., and Kate Fortune, eds. The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
Festivals and Holidays Festivals and holidays in Pacific Islander (PI) America reflect the islanders’ Christian faith and indigenous pasts. PI festivals and celebrations in the western United States, including Hawaii, have become increasingly incorporated into nation-, state-, and citywide celebrations through participation in various holiday parades and tourist attractions. In Hawaii, Kamehameha Day and Kuhio Day are state holidays, respectively commemorating Kamehameha I’s unification of the Hawaiian islands in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and Prince Kuhio, Hawaii’s merry monarch who was responsible for the revival of the hula in the 1890s. More and more PI groups have sponsored floats and other performances for these parades. The “Makahiki,” an ancient Hawaiian festival celebrating harvest and the season of peace, has made a comeback in Hawaii. It is celebrated every year in November.
Pacific Islander Americans: Festivals and Holidays
Generally, sustaining indigenous identities has been one of the many goals of Pacific Islanders in America. Hence, various groups have organized special events that promote indigenous arts and cultures of the indigenous people of Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia. One such organization is the Pacific Islander Festival Association (PIFA) headquartered in San Diego, which sponsors an annual fall festival in September. The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, likewise features the Pacific Islander Festival, comprising traditional craft demonstrations, ethnic cuisine, educational programs, storytelling, and Dancers from the Lei Hulu Hula School in entertainment including music and Moiliili perform before the lei-draped statue of King Kamehameha in Honolulu, during the dance performances. Educational support is another goal annual celebration of Kamehameha Day, June 11, 2004. (AP Photo/Carol Cunningham) of these groups, and a very popular activity among PIs is the scholarship pageant. Various indigenous groups raise funds and stage pageants throughout the year for college-bound girls. Le Lalelei o Samoa Scholarship Pageant has become a big enterprise for the Samoan community in Hawaii. The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) in Hawaii also coordinates dance and song competitions among high school students from various island groups of Polynesia—Tahiti, Maori, Rarotonga, and Tonga. The famous Fire Knife competition is scheduled at the same time as the We, a Samoan festival. In the western Pacific, the 2009 lunar calendar project culminated with the firstever Lunar New Year festival on Guam, held on January 24, at the Guam Fisherman’s Cooperative at the Hagatna Boat Basin. During the all-day event, the Guam calendars were distributed to the public. Participants enjoyed exhibits, crafts and entertainment presented entirely in the Chamoru language. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Further Reading Lal Brij V., and Kate Fortune. The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
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Web Sites Countries and Their Cultures: http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Le-Pa/Pacific-Islander -Americans.html. Pacific Islanders’ Cultural Association (PIFA): http://www.pica-org.org/. San Diego Alliance for Asian Pacific Islander Americans: http://www.sdalliance.org/.
Fiji and Fijians Fiji is an independent nation southwest of Samoa and lies on the western side of the International Date Line. This puts it 22 hours ahead of Hawaii. Fiji is a group of more than 300 coral and volcanic islands, the largest of which is Viti Levu, where the capital of Suva is located. More than 90 years of British rule created a multicultural society in Fiji dominated by native Fijians and descendants of indentured Indian laborers brought in by the sugarcane farmers. Many of these laborers chose to stay in Fiji at the end of their contracts. Today, indigenous Fijians make up 57 percent of the population with Indo-Fijians coming second at 37 percent. The rest include Chinese, Caucasians, and other Pacific Islanders. The official languages are Fijian and English. The two major religions are Christianity (52%) and Hinduism (33%). Muslims make up just 7 percent of the population. In 1987, ethnic tensions resulted in a couple of military coups aimed at reclaiming indigenous Fijian rights to land and power. A third military coup (2006) has again caused trouble for Fiji where Indo-Fijians and the international community is concerned. Many Indo-Fijians have fled to the Pacific Rim since 1987. In the 1980 U.S. census, the Melanesian population in the United States was about 3,000, with 2,834 of them Fijians; by 1990, the number of Fijians had dramatically increased to 7,036; a mild increase of just 2,760 in 2000 put the count at 9,796. Of the 2000 number, approximately 8,000 Fijians were foreign born. Perhaps a likely explanation of the dramatic increase between 1980 and 1990 may be attributed to the coup mentioned above. Information regarding the ethnic and racial makeup of the Fijian population is not reflected in previous counts, though it would be interesting to find out from the 2010 census if another dramatic increase in this population took place subsequent to the 2006 military coup. Needless to say, of the current population, about 5,000 were above 25 years of age, and about 8,000 speak a language other than English in the home. Compared to most of the other Pacific Islanders, more than half of the population of Fijians in the United States were in the labor force. In 1990, about 81 percent of Fijians lived in California, about 3 percent in Hawaii, and the rest were distributed across states like Utah, Texas, and Washington. Today, a few live in Washington, DC. Like other PI groups in the United States, Fijians have
Pacific Islander Americans: Filipino Material Culture on Guam
also blended their indigenous and American cultures in ways that benefit them and others. While there may not be many Fijians in the United States, Fiji-U.S. relations have been benign, particularly with Fiji providing support for U.S. wars of the first decade of the 21st century. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Further Reading Norton, Robert. “Reconciling Ethnicity and Nation: Contending Discourses in Fiji’s Constitutional Reform.” The Contemporary Pacific, 12(1) (2000): 83–122.
Web Sites Barringer, Herbert R., Robert W. Gardenia, and Michael J. Levin. “Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States.” PacificWeb.org. http://www.pacificweb.org/. Fiji TV 1 News. “Fijians in America,” February 2009. http://vodpod.com/watch/1338252 -fijians-in-america-fiji-tv-1-news- (accessed August 1, 2010).
Filipino Material Culture on Guam For over 400 years, Guam and the Philippines’ shared histories under Spain and the United States have resulted in waves of Filipinos settling on Guam. Filipino sailors, soldiers, farmers, laborers, ex-convicts, political exiles, and professionals brought Philippine material culture that has become an integral part of Guam’s rich religious, agricultural, and social life. The five described below have been so integrated into the local culture that they have become cultural symbols and icons. One of Guam’s most important Catholic icons is the statue of Guam and the Mariana Islands’ patron saint, the Santa Marian Kamalin, which stands above the altar of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Basilica Cathedral in Hagatna. Legends about its origins abound. One claims that two crabs carrying votive candles escorted the 29-inch statue from sea to shore. Experts, however, believe the statue to be the from the Philippines not only because of its similarity to other religious icons in the Philippines, but also because its wooden parts are made of molave, a species of ironwood indigenous to the country. Although its voyage to Guam remains a mystery, sources claim that the statue of Santa Marian Kamalin probably graced a galleon ship that sailed between Mexico, Guam, and the Philippines in the 17th century, then sank off the Guam coast. Since then, the name “Kamalin” has been linked to the Tagalog word of Spanish origin, the kamalig, or storehouse of rice and other agricultural tools. Its origins have also been linked to the Luzon province of Camarines.
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Soon after the Spanish conquest, Catholic missionaries must have brought the Filipino mestisa costume to Guam. From Spanish colonization to early American rule, most Filipino and Chamorro women donned this traditional Spanishinfluenced dress, with tops woven from transparent pineapple, banana, or jusi fibers and skirts made of cotton. Colorful beaded abaca slippers completed the ensemble that women wore. Today, however, only a handful of much older women wear the mestisa. For most Guamanians, the mestisa is merely an outfit worn during cultural events and dance performances. The old Philippine game called the sungka’ was brought to Guam and transformed to the Chamorro tschongka, where two players place shells in seven face-to-face pairs of holes on a sculpted oblong board. Each player must try to bring as many shells as possible to his designated home pit on either end of the board. Recently, some locals have altered the shape of the oblong board to that of the Guam gecko. Locals and tourists purchase the game from the Chamorro Village’s souvenir shops. The pre-colonial Philippine drink called the tuba and tuba making reached Guam and Mexico through the galleon trade. The tuba is an alcoholic beverage that comes from the sap of coconut trees’ inflorescence cut at the tip. Using bamboo containers, Chamorro and Filipino farmers collect the sap dripping from the inflorescence tip, then let it ferment lightly to produce the mild and sweet tuba liqueur, or allow it to ferment longer to make vinegar. Some Guam residents used to distill the tuba to produce a strong rum-like liquor called aguajente, sold and served during fiestas and other festivities, until its manufacture was outlawed by the government. Chamorros also boiled and reduced tuba to make a syrup and sweetener called almibad. Today occasionally, a pickup truck or two parked along the side of the road would sell sweet tuba by the liter or by the gallon to passing motorists. Some farmers also bring tuba to local markets or put up big handwritten “Sweet Tuba for Sale” signs hammered on wooden poles. Colorful arrows above or below the signs point to the direction of their ranches, usually located along dirt roads branching off Guam’s main highways. A gallon of tuba sells for about $15. Precious to Guam is the Philippines’ beast of burden and national animal, the water buffalo, called kalabaw in the Philippines, and karabao on Guam. Brought to the Marianas by Spanish missionaries in the 1600s, the carabao has become an important icon for islanders, too. Traditionally, the carabao has always been a draught animal that pulled the plow for rice and other cultivation. It also provided islanders with transportation, milk, and meat. But Guam’s rich jungle flora and the cessation of rice cultivation on Guam have resulted in herds of wild carabaos roaming U.S. military–controlled land. When military officials announced plans to “thin” and exterminate the herds because too many of them were wreaking environmental havoc in the Naval Magazine, village mayors, residents, and farmers protested and asked to take them instead. Village mayors were then allowed to
Pacific Islander Americans: Folk Dance
take one or two each. Some of them held drawings, with the carabao as the prize. Carabaos are still so valued that their statues and fiberglass likenesses are displayed in the capital Hagatna, Tamuning, and a couple of villages. Some locals raise carabaos as trained pets in their ranches and ride them to go hunting in Guam’s jungles. Local aficionados buy and sell tame ones for as much as $2,000 each. Filipinos brought other flora, fauna, and material culture to Guam, but the Santa Marian Kamalin, the mestisa, tuba and tuba making, the tschongka, and the carabao have become integral to, and interwoven with, island life. Since the island’s local Filipinos comprise about one-third of the island’s population, it is likely that more Filipino cultural items will become part of the fabric of Guam’s local life. —Clarisa Garcia Quan See also: Filipino Americans: Arts and Crafts; Home Decoration; Pacific Islander Americans: Chamorro Folklore of World War II; Guam and Chamorus; Guam: Narratives of Female Deities among the Chamorro.
Further Reading Alkire, William. An Introduction to the Peoples and Cultures of Micronesia. San Francisco: Cummings Publishing Co., 1977. Beardsley, Charles. Guam Past & Present. Boston: Charles Tuttle Co., 1964. Fritz, Georg. The Chamorros: A History and Ethnography of the Marianas. Translated by Elfriede Craddock. Saipan: Division of Historic Preservation, 1986. Jorgensen, Marilyn Anne. “Expressive Manifestations of Santa Marian Camalin as Key Symbol in Guamanian Culture.” PhD diss., University of Texas, Austin, 1984. Major, Cat. Myths of Guam. Sacramento: n.p., 1987.
Folk Dance Pacific Islander American folk dance remains a big draw in places like Hawaii, where PI Americans entertain tourists on a daily basis. In fact, productions at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) in La’ie, Paradise Cove on the leeward coast of Oahu, and Tihati in Waikiki keep PI’s folkdances alive. Every year, the PCC hosts different PI dance festivals comprising high school, university, and community groups showcasing folk dance and folk music. These dance festivals have become popular places for the novice and expert to merge and create new moves. Perhaps the most recognized folk dance from the Pacific is the Hawaiian hula, which dominates performances in places like the ones mentioned above. In addition,
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every year, the Merry Monarch Festival in Hawaii celebrates Hawaiian culture and has spurred the formation of numerous hula halau around the United States and in Japan. Pacific Islander American clubs at different American universities, particularly those in California, attract many descendants and friends who come to learn and celebrate ancestral folk Dancers perform at the Polynesian Cultural dance and other folk ways. Center, Hawaii, July 26, 2008. (Jose Gil/ Folk dancing is also utilized by church Dreamstime.com) communities for fund-raising purposes. Pacific Islander American children are introduced to their parents’ folk dances during these fund-raising efforts. Dancing from a PI perspective is about strengthening culture: kinship relations, remembering the past, and/or fundraising for community projects. In other words, it is more a ceremonial, economic, and an historic tool than an art form. May has been designated as the Asia–Pacific Islander American month, and groups and individuals prepare various types of celebrations in their respective communities. Folk dancing, like other folkways, is critical to identity formation and maintenance. Perhaps the most popular of folkways, folk dance has both cultural and economic value for PI communities in the United States. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Folk Music; Polynesian Cultural Center.
Further Reading PICA, Pacific Islanders Cultural Association: http://www.pica-org.org/picawho/ picawho.html.
Folk Music The music of Pacific Islanders in the United States incorporates traditional instrumentation that is contemporized, including the ipu gourd drum, pahu log drum, ukulele, steel guitar, ukeke (bow), and nose flute. Oftentimes, electric bass, guitar, and drums are used in modern hip-hop and pop groups. The commercial impact of Pacific Islander music in America is relatively low, considering the entire population of individuals considered by the U.S. census to be Pacific Islander average approximately 900,000 individuals. Typically, the terminology of Pacific Islander includes individuals from New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vauatu, Fiji, Guam,
Pacific Islander Americans: Folk Music
Solomon Islands, Marianas, Samoa, Palau, Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Tonga, Tuvalu, Easter Island, and other Pacific islands. In recent times, the majority of Pacific Islanders live in Hawaii, California, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and Alaska. Historically, Hawaiians have been the largest population of Pacific Islanders in America. Specifically, Hawaiian music began in San Francisco in the 1910s. The growth of national and international tourism provided an outlet for musical accompaniment at beach resorts, hotels, and resorts that utilized the laid-back style of Hawaiian music. In the 1950s, tourist music began to morph into an academic pastime with the opening of numerous hula schools devoted to traditional music and dance. Traditional dance troupes performed at public venues, parks, festivals, and concert arenas, too. Numerous cultural organizations have formed to preserve and spread the music of Hawaii. The Kupa’a Pacific Island Resources formed in 1995 to bring the music and culture of Pacific Island cultures throughout the United States. The most successful Pacific Islander American group was The Jets. Born of Tongan, Fijian, and German ancestry, The Jets are a Minnesota-based R&B/pop group that formed in 1985 with members from the same family. The group garnished 12 hit singles, produced 13 albums, and received numerous awards, including one Grammy nomination for the song “Rocket 2 U.” The group’s recent work is largely gospel-based and most performances today occur in casinos and at private functions. A California-based hip-hop group, Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., is a Samoan band of brothers. The name stands for “Too Rough International Boo-Yaa Empire”. The “Boo-Yaa” also signifies the sound of a gun discharge. Formed in 1988, the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. performs hardcore gangster rap with dance and funk. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Folk Dance.
Further Reading “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In Dipannita Basu, Sidney Lemelle, and Robin Kelley, eds. The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture. London: Pluto Press, 2006. Fawcett, James T., and Benjamin V. Carino. Pacific Bridges: The New Immigration from Asia and the Pacific Islands. New York: Center for Migration Studies, 1987. The Jets. Magic. MCA Records. MCA-42085. Shore, Bradd. “Pacific Islanders.” In Stephan Themstrom, ed. Harvard Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980.
Web Site Steffes, Tracy. “Pacific Islanders.” Encyclopedia of Chicago. http://www.encyclopedia .chicagohistory.org/pages/942.html (accessed December 31, 2009).
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Foods and Foodways By and large, the indigenous Pacific Islander American foods and foodways reflect the agrarian values and practices of the islands from which they hail. Pacific Islander (PI) foods reflect the politics and economics of a particular era. In most places, food distribution is determined by the power hierarchies. Historically, violation of food protocols often resulted in intra- or inter-family or village disputes. Missionization and modernization have played a large part in transforming many of these protocols. However, some of these foodways have migrated as well, though in many ways, they eventually disappear by the second generation. PI staples consist of taro, bananas, yam, breadfruit, kumara or sweet potato, and tapioca. These were accompanied by fish or pork; chicken and beef as introduced meats were reserved for the chiefs and the elderly. Rural areas in the Pacific still prefer this diet, although exotic foods introduced by traders, sailors, and missionaries now make up a large part of the diet. Tin fish—mackerel, sadine, herring— are common as are canned corned beef, Spam, and canned sausages. Rice and potatoes are cheaper, and what have become staple proteins are low-grade meats from New Zealand and Australia such as turkey tails, mutton flaps, and lamb necks. Also favored are condiments such as shoyu and mayonnaise. With diets high in fat and cholesterol, PIs in both the homelands and America are vulnerable to noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, stroke, and heart failure. A Pacific Island function or meeting is incomplete without food. For example, Tongan and Samoan functions are saturated by an exchange of foods such as chicken, corned beef, spaghetti, cabin biscuit from Fiji, and all kinds of staples. Guamanians and Micronesians provide great feasts that have the imprints of their former colonizers. A most popular food item is Spam, which is accompanied by rice. As expensive as fish is, PIs will buy it and eat it raw, baked, or steamed in coconut cream. For some groups, the politics of food is critical for group cohesion. The politics of food for the Samoans reflects its Fa’amatai or chiefly system, and its feagaiga or sacred covenant with the church minister. Although not as strictly followed in the United States on a daily basis, when a dignitary visits, however, the hosts must extend respect through appropriate oratory and food presentation—e.g., the ali’i, or high chief, and the pastor are presented with the fish head or the chicken middle, while the tulafale, or talking chief, gets the fish tail, or the leg of chicken. The ali’i and pastor receive their hot drinks in china cups and saucers, while the talking chief gets the aluminum cup without a saucer. When sharing a cooked pig, the ali’i is given the midsection, while the talking chief receives a leg. Tongans also engage in unique foodways. When a person of stature or a non-Tongan visits, he or she is given a large amount of food, which is to be consumed while the host watches on. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Pacific Islander Americans: Guam and Chamorus
Further Reading Dresser, Norine. Multicultural Manners: Essential Rules of Etiquette for the 21st Century Edition. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2005. Lewis, George H. “From Minnesota Fat to Seoul Food: Spam in America and the Pacific Rim.” Journal of Popular Culture 34(2) (2000): 83–105.
Web Site Bindon, Jim. “Samoan Foodways.” Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama: http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant476/topics/samoa.pdf (accessed August 1, 2010).
Guam and Chamorus Guam is a 212-square-mile island located in the western Pacific Ocean. Specifically, it is the southernmost island in the Marianas chain and the largest in all of Micronesia. The other inhabited islands of this archipelago include Rota, Tinian, Saipan, and, farther to the north, Pagan, Anatahan, and Alamagan. Unlike Guam,
Thesia Blas, foreground, recites the Pledge of Allegiance in the native Chamorro language of Guam, with her classmates before the start of a Chamorro class at Carbullido Elementary School in Guam, September 4, 1997. After hundreds of years under foreign control, by the Spanish, the Japanese, and the Americans, the Chamorro people of Guam are on an allout search for their identity. (AP Photo/Norman Taruc)
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these islands have a covenant that classifies them as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which give them a different political relationship to that of the United States. The Marianas are volcanic islands located just north of the equator and east of the Philippines. The indigenous language and inhabitants are known as Chamoru (also spelled Chamorro). Some believe Chamorus migrated to Guam from Southeast Asia beginning in 4500 BCE, while others argue that Chamorus are the aboriginal inhabitants of the island. From the 17th century to the present, Guam has been colonized by three nations. Spain colonized the island from the 17th to the 19th centuries, Japan during World War II, and the United States since the beginning of the 20th century and into the present. Even though colonizers and immigrants from Asia, the Pacific, and the United States have socially and culturally influenced Guam and its people, many of its ancient customs still exist today. Chamoru society is based on various values that derive from ancient and modern customs. This cultural system is based on the central value of inafa’maolek or community interdependence. This means that family, kin, clan, and village community are more important than individuality. For Chamorus, extended family and clan comprise the primary family unit. Inafa’maolek can be understood through the practice of reciprocity. For example, chenchule’, or gift giving, is a critical component of inafa’maolek. Chenchule’ comes in many forms such as money, physical labor, service, and food. Inafa’maolek and chenchule’ are usually expressed during festive occasions or in times of bereavement. Other examples of existing Chamoru folklore include the belief in taotaomo’na or the spiritual ancestors of the people. The taotaomo’na inhabit all areas of the island, from urban neighborhoods to coastal jungles to family ranches. In particular, the taotaomo’na are the guardians of the island. A person must ask the taotaomo’na for permission before they can enter onto land, defile the land, or take resources from the land. Not asking permission will incur the wrath of the spirits of the taotaomo’na who will then cause harm such as getting lost in the jungle, inflicting bodily injury of some sort, and incurring a serious illness. Other jungle spirits are the duhendes, or mischievous little people, who are known to be tricksters that cast spells on people. These spells can result in a trance-like state of mind or the inability to speak. It is often said that their favorite victims are children who are extremely active and outspoken, for it is their personalities from which the duhendes derive their energy and inner strength. One way to reverse the effects cast by a taotaomo’na and duhendes is to seek the services of a suruhanu (male) or suruhana (female) spiritual/medicinal healer. These healers are connected to the ancient Chamoru healers known as maka˚hna. They use a combination of herbal medicine, spiritual prayer, massage, and personal power to cure the sick. To become a suruhanu or a suruhana, a child must display uncanny abilities and skills that include knowledge of jungle flora and a comfortable, prolonged stay
Pacific Islander Americans: Gaum
in the jungle for long periods at a time. Children who demonstrate these characteristics are often marked as possible apprentices. They are then subjected to learning the art of spiritual and herbal healing under the watchful eye and tutelage of a skilled practitioner. Today, a suruhanu and a suruhana are still consulted in regards to certain illnesses. —Alfred Peredo Flores See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Chamorro Folklore of World War II; Filipino Material Culture on Guam; Guam: Narratives of Female Deities among the Chamorro.
Further Reading Cunningham, Lawrence J. Ancient Chamorro Society. Honolulu, HI: Bess Press, 1992. Onedera, Peter R. “Fafa’ Na’ Gue Yan Hinengge Siha” (Ghosts and Superstitious Beliefs). Hagatna: Library of Congress, no. 06698599, 1994. Rogers, Robert F. Destiny’s Landfall: A History of Guam. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995. Thompson, Laura. Guam and Its People. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1947. Van Peenen, Mavia Warner. Chamorro Legends on the Island of Guam. Mangilao: Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam, 1974.
Guam: Narratives of Female Deities among the Chamorro Before the entry of Western culture, female deities across the Pacific Islands held powerful positions in the ancient orders of the gods that ruled the cosmos. As early as the 1600s, Christianity with its patriarchal stance began to usurp the place formerly held by these goddesses and eventually banished them and whole indigenous pantheons from the islanders’ minds as ignorance and superstition. But despite the many years that have passed and the domination of Western religion, the most foundational of these goddesses live on today in persistent narratives whose influence runs like an undercurrent beneath that of the Western flood, at times mixing, even at times flowing, against the larger stream. One might think immediately of Hawaii in this regard, with its numerous array of supernatural divinity still invoked whenever a Native Hawaiian recites her or his genealogy. But even in island cultures with histories of colonialism far longer than Hawaii’s, the goddesses as resistant remnants of a pre-patriarchal time endure. An example from the island of Guam in the area known as Micronesia serves as a representative case in point. As the first mooring of the earliest documented Western intrusion into the Pacific, this island holds the record for the longest
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period of Western colonization. Spain took possession of Guam in 1521 as the first Pacific territory that Magellan encountered in his circumnavigation of the globe. Over a century later, in 1668, the Spanish began the colonization of the island in earnest spurred by economic and religious zeal. According to the mythology of the island’s indigenous population known as Chamorro, Guam was the place where the universe and the human race began. Its creator was a female deity Fu’una (whose name means “the first one”). She formed the island from her brother Puntan’s body. Knowing that his time of change was near, Puntan (whose name some elders view as an allusion to the mature stage of the coconut) instructed his sister Fu’una to create the universe from his body. Fu’una did as he instructed, and the island of Guam or Guahan became the birthing place of the world. His body metamorphosed into earth; his chest, sky; his eyes became the sun, moon, and stars, and his eyebrows the rainbow. When her own time of change came, Fu’una, plunging into the ocean, rose from its bottom as had her brother’s body in her new manifestation as the world’s protecting spirit, symbolized by a projecting rock located off the southern shore of the island, the Rock of Fu’a. Between her brother and herself, they form the whole of the cosmos, he the material manifestation of the world, she its spiritual manifestation, guardian of the cosmos but especially of its birthing place, Guahan. Today, although over 85 percent of the island’s population claims Catholicism, the story of Fu’una, the goddess of creation, and her brother Puntan persists as a continuing form of oppositional force. The unyielding intimate relation with the Virgin Mary is one manifestation of the powerful sway the female supernatural still has over the island’s inhabitants. The most beloved of religious celebrations for Catholics is held on December 8 in honor of Guam’s patron saint. The ceremonies include an island-wide mass conducted at the Cathedral-Basilica in the capitol of Hagatna and a huge, elaborate procession with thousands in attendance. At the center of these celebrations is one of Mary’s most revered representations, the statue warmly referred to as Santa Marian Kamalen. In the most widely told legend surrounding this much beloved icon, the diminutive figure miraculously arrived on the island borne on the backs of a pair of giant crabs. The link to ancient mythology is subtly but clearly articulated in the link to the sea, the place from which the statue arrives, and in the messengers, steeds of the ocean floor, both bound metaphorically to the story of Fu’una and creation. But the influence of the creator female god is configured into other discourses as well beyond those of the arrival. In the midst of a staunchly patriarchal religion stands, or more aptly, kneels, a strong female figure, that of the techa, the muchrespected prayer leader of the central community rituals of the rosary or lisayu and the nobena, practices of group prayer that are pervasive across the island. A good Catholic home holds a nobena for its village saints once a year and at least three other nobenas to celebrate the Christmas, Lenten, and summer seasons. But
Pacific Islander Americans: Gaum
despite the joyous signifying of the nobena, it is the lisayu that preoccupies the island, both Catholic and Protestant, both male and female, at an everyday level. When someone dies, three lisayu or rosary cycles are set in motion. First, there is the lisayun matai, nine evenings of prayer beginning soon after the death. Next, there are nine more nights of praying just for the immediate family called the lisayun familia. The day of the funeral, there is a three- to four-hour viewing period preceded by a rosary before the actual mass and the funeral service itself. The official period of mourning ends with one more rosary to mark the first anniversary of the passing of the deceased. At each of these, the techa or prayer leader presides. In the past, the techa has always been female, and despite a few males venturing into the profession, the domain continues to be a powerful space of feminine influence in an otherwise male-centric religion. The rosaries held primarily in the homes of parishioners may also be held in the church. The core family, usually the elder women of the clan, sit closest to the family shrine of Mary, which is decorated with candles, flowers, and other chosen objects. A statue of Jesus and other saints may attend the shrine, but more often than not, Mary will hold a central place. The techa’s arrival is much anticipated and is the main event of the evening, for only after her arrival can the rosary begin. Should a techa not be presiding, then the matriarch of the home or one of the female members of the family who has learned the prayers and songs will lead out. As the voice of the techa or her counterpart rises loud and nasally, she paradoxically links the family and their visitors not only to their contemporary faith but to the beliefs of their ancestors, marked by the unmistakable similarity of the techa’s prayers to the tone and tempo of island chant. The word techa itself, some argue, comes from the Chamorro word tucha, referring to the act of leading out in a chant, this supported in part by at least one Western observer of early Guam who remarked about the leadership role that females held in religious chant. In the figure of the woman in pink and blue, then, it appears, Fu’una’s rule persists in this alternate sacred space she has claimed as home. Another manifestation of the power of the female creation god is her return. With the thoroughness of Americanization, postwar generations were never taught the Chamorro creation story of Fu’una and Puntan, and for the most part, neither was it passed down through oral literature since the United States’ zealous educational enterprise to Americanize all the Chamorro effectively silenced the stories from the past.. It took the unrelenting insistence of a core group of legislators, educators, and concerned citizens to excavate stories buried by American Western education. But once excavated, schoolchildren, teens, and young adults embraced the banished gods as family returned from exile. Today, the story of Fu’una and Puntan, unknown from the 1960s to the 1990s except to a few elders, is emerging once more as one of Guam’s most beloved narratives. It is featured as a video segue into Guampedia’s mythology section and celebrated through chants, poems,
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and stories by a new elite of highly educated young Chamorro who find in this persistent narrative renewed pride in their ancestry, explanations for the strength and assertiveness of their women, and rationale for an undergirding cultural philosophy termed inafa’maolek. Inafa’maolek points out, as the Fu’una and Pontan creation story so effectively enacts, that to work together for each other’s good is the highest principle of community, for by doing good we create larger and far more extensive waves of benevolence that ultimately result in a stronger, more enduring community. —Evelyn San Miguel Flores See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Chamorro Folklore of World War II; Filipino Material Culture on Guam; Guam and Chamorus; Religion.
Further Reading Department of Chamorro Affairs. Chamorro Heritage: A Sense of Place. Guidelines, Procedures and Recommendations for Authenticating Chamorro Heritage. Hagatna: Department of Chamorro Affairs, Research, Publication and Training Division, 2003. Palomo, Tony. Island in Agony. n.p., 1984. Perez-Iyechad, Lilli. “Novenas and Fiestas: Gratitude Portrayed.” In An Historical Perspective of Helping Practices Associated with Birth, Marriage and Death Among Chamorros in Guam. Lewiston, ME: Edwin Mellen Press, 2001. Sanchez, Pedro. Guahan Guam: The History of Our Island. Agana, Guam: The Sanchez Publishing House, n.d.
Hawaii and Hawaiian The Hawaiian Islands are located in the central Pacific Ocean, and although the archipelago contains 129 minor islands, eight main islands support the population of the 50th American state: Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Moloka’i, Kaho’olawe, Oahu, Kauai, and Ni’ihau. The total land mass is 6,422.6 square miles. The Hawaiian Islands are also the northernmost tip of the Polynesian triangle. More than 2,000 miles from the nearest continent, this volcanic archipelago is among Earth’s most isolated locations. Although in the recent past, the indigenous people of these islands referred to themselves as Native Hawaiian, there is a contemporary resurgence of Hawaiian terms such as Kanaka Maoli (“true people”), Kanaka Oiwi (“bone people”) or ‘Oiwi Maoli (“true bone”). This use of Hawaiian language is a marker of indigeneity differentiating between indigenous people who occupied the islands before European contact and more recent residents without a genealogical tie to the land.
Pacific Islander Americans: Hawaii and Hawaiian
These terms register the current indigenous nationalist struggle and the effort to revive the Hawaiian language (Kauanui). Some people believe that between 4,000 and 1,500 years ago, Kanaka Maoli migrated to Hawaii from Southeast Asia after stopping in other regions of the Pacific. Hawaiian tradition has multiple creation stories, but all emphasize the reciprocal and overtly familial relationship between Kanaka Maoli and their native land. Hawaiian culture stresses the community over the individual. Hawaiian culture is markedly inclusive in its ‘ohana (family), which includes extended family members as well. Kanaka Maoli may regard cousins with a closeness other cultures would reserve for siblings. ‘Oha refers to the root of the kalo (taro plant), and na means “belonging to”; hence the ‘ohana is a single, many-vined plant. Following this concept of extended family, Hawaiian culture is ambilineal: Lineage can be identified through both mother and father, rather than identifying solely with the father’s line as is the custom in Western cultures. Keeping with the strong sense of community, Hawaiian society and culture can be organized around the concept of pono. Pono’s many meanings include “righteousness,” “welfare,” “equity,” “in perfect order,” “correct,” and “necessary” (Puku’i). Stemming from this idea of righteousness is the practice of ho’oponopono, meaning “to make right” with one’s community (family, friends, place) as well as with oneself to restore a social or spiritual harmony. This process entails making amends with those one has injured or offended in any way. This requires reciprocity; just as the offender must be willing to make amends, the offended must be willing to do the work of forgiving. Historically a family-based spiritual process, ho’ oponopono is now cropping up in Hawaii’s legal system as a restorative justice that addresses the physical and emotional wounds crime creates. Some research has shown that this type of approach can increase participant satisfaction and rehabilitation better than prison and punishment in certain instances (Walker and Hayashi). Although Hawaii is heavily influenced by its American status, Kanaka Maoli culture survives and is perpetuated through a strong sense of community, family and righteousness. —Joyce Pualani Warren See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Family and Community; Hawaii: Nature and Animals; Hawaiian Folklore; Hawaiian Folk Music; Polynesian Cultural Center.
Further Reading Kauanui, J. Kehaulani. Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Sovereignty and Indigeneity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008. Puku’i, Mary Kawena, and Samuel H. Elbert. Hawaiian Dictionary. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986. Walker, Lorenn, and Leslie Hayashi. “Pono Kaulike: Reducing Violence with Restorative Justice and Solution-Focused Approaches.” Federal Probation 73(1) (2009).
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Hawaii: Nature and Animals When a great seafaring people landed in the Hawaiian Islands, they discovered a large and verdant land with fertile volcanic soil, abundant ocean resources, rich plant life, and a small collection of animals. This land engendered Hawaiians to a deep understanding and respect for their environment that remains evident today as ocean and plant life are integral to the Hawaiian lifestyle. Historically, Hawaiians worshipped nature gods and demonstrated an agricultural society and economy. All manner of nature was considered sacred, including stones, trees, birds, weather phenomenon, mountain cliffs, and forest clearings; these elements and their mana, or spiritual energy, were aspects of daily life. However above all, the growing of food was paramount to Hawaiians, and they regarded agricultural success as a religious and sacred duty. Today, plants, trees, and flowers are used in everyday life in Hawaii. Flowers and scented vines are used in the making of leis (garland worn around the neck) which are given to individuals on any number of personal or professional occasions, and hulu (bird feathers), shells, and seeds are also used to make leis. Koa wood, indigenous to Hawaii, is used to make canoes, bowls, furniture, and any number of items and is considered a prestigious commodity. Plants like ki (ti leaf) and hala (pandanus) are used to make traditional and modern household items such as hula skirts and floor mats, and other plants including kalo (taro) and niu (coconut) are part of the Hawaiian diet. Stemming from their heritage as great ocean voyagers, today’s Hawaiians are still quite ocean savvy. Outrigger canoe paddling, traditional net and spear fishing, spiritual and psychological cleansing, harvesting of limu (seaweed) and opihi (small mollusk), and surfing are just a few of the ocean blessings revered by Hawaii’s people. In addition, the sea continues to provide an outlet for travel, recreation, and exploration among inhabitants of the Hawaii and the Pacific. While animistic philosophy was a part of the ancient Hawaiians’ belief system, it is not widely held in today’s Hawaii and exists mostly as tradition or superstition. The ancients believed in kupua, human animal shapeshifters, and aumakua, departed ancestors who had the ability to possess the bodies of certain animals. Often Hawaiians will refrain from killing certain creatures associated with aumakua, such as moths and lizards, but this is more likely due to learned superstition or the ease with which Hawaiians accept and appreciate their environment. Today, Hawaiians regard animals as most Americans do—as food or as pets, but they reserve a kind of reverence and respect for animals who provide sustenance. Traditionally, the land itself has been considered to possess mana, and that is why those who are born in Hawaii are said to have a strong spiritual connection with the land and that they are kama’aina, or “of the land.” Ancient Hawaiians
Pacific Islander Americans: Hawaiian Folklore
believed they had a responsibility to take care of the land; unfortunately, not uncommon to colonized or subjugated aboriginal peoples, many Hawaiians have abandoned the traditional values of the land in favor of anger, discouragement, and ignorance. However, most modern Hawaiians try to emulate traditional roles as modern-day caretakers of the land, whether it is the ocean, the forest, or downtown Honolulu. —Nicole Kanahele Stutz See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Family and Community; Hawaii and Hawaiian; Hawaiian Folklore; Hawaiian Folk Music; Polynesian Cultural Center.
Further Reading Beckwith, Martha. Hawaiian Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1970. Fornander, Abraham. Ancient History of the Hawaiian People: To the Times of Kamehameha I. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing, 1996. Kanahele, George H. S. Ku Kanaka: Stand Tall. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986. Kupihea, Moke. Kahuna of Light: The World of Hawaiian Spirituality. Rochester, NY: Inner Traditions, 2001.
Hawaiian Folklore Hawaiian folklore, or those aspects of Hawaiian tradition which are passed on informally through direct observation, imitation, and/or word of mouth, is wonderfully rich and various. Traditional chants, known as mele oli, are recited without instruments or dance, while mele hula are chants with both. Chants were traditionally composed to honor ancestors or mourn loved ones, for example. Hula is historically a sacred dance to the gods that dramatizes some aspects of Hawaiian history or legend, typically in relation to the natural landscape. The Merrie Monarch Festival is an annual hula competition held in Hilo, Hawaii; hula competitions are also held on the mainland of the United States where native Hawaiian communities exist, such as in southern California. The Kumulipo is an extensive creation chant of traditional Hawaii. In regard to material traditions of Hawaii, the making and wearing of leis, a series of stringed items typically from nature, are omnipresent. The beautifully crafted works of art, which can be worn as necklaces, head wreaths, anklets, bracelets, or belts, are made from indigenous flowers, nuts, fruit, leaves, and ferns, for example. Traditional clothing was made from tapa, or bark cloth and is presently used for home decorations. Many of the contemporary traditional patterns reflect the flora and fauna of the islands, such
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as that which can be seen on the aloha shirt. Luaus are a traditional feast during which a pig is stuffed with hot rocks, wrapped in leaves, and buried in an imu or pit and cooked underground along with fish, taro, yams, and breadfruit. Canoe making is a tradition that is thousands of years old and traditionally was accompanied by ritual and prayer of kahunas, or priests, to facilitate the process. Ti leaves, for example, were used to ensure that evil spirits would be kept away from the canoe being built. Ti leaves are also used in present-day college life where students may post them in their dorms or bring them to football games to keep evil energy at bay. In addition, these leaves are used in traditional Hawaiian healing practices. Huaka’i po, or nightmarchers, are another traditional folk belief: These marching and chanting ghosts, who may be heard at sunrise or sunset, cannot see an onlooker who is laying down. To be seen by these marchers is not desirable; to do so causes death unless one has a relative amongst them, as is dramatized in John Dominis Holt’s short story “Princess of the Night Rides.” An important part of traditional Hawaiian folk belief is that of the significance of kapuna, or deceased ancestors and living elders; aumakua, guardian spirits, kupua, or nature spirits; and akua, or gods such as Pele, the volcano goddess or the four major gods of Ku, god of war and fertility; Kane, chief god and creator; Lono, god of agriculture and thunder; and Kanaola, god of ocean and wind. —Beverly J. Butcher See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration; Clothing and Jewelry; Family and Community; Hawaii and Hawaiian; Hawaii: Nature and Animals; Hawaiian Folk Music; Narrative; Polynesian Cultural Center.
Further Reading American Aloha. Dir. Lisette Marie Flanery and Evann Siebens, 2003. Armstrong, Wayne. “Kukui Nut Jewels of Hawaii.” Ornament 28(4) (2005): 40–41. Beckwith, Martha Warren, ed. and trans. The Kumulipo: A Hawaiian Creation Chant. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. Handy, E. S., and Mary Kawena Pukui. The Polynesian Family System in Ka’u, Hawaii. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing, 1998. Holt, John Dominis. “Princess of the Night Rides.” In Gavan Daws and Bennett Hymer, eds. Honolulu Stories: Voices of the Town through the Years, Two Centuries of Writing. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing, 2008. Liu, Robert. “Ethnographic Arts: Polynesian Leis.” Ornament 27(1) (2003): 52–53. Luomala, Katherine. “Hawaiian Religion.” In Mircea Eliade, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: MacMillan Publishing, Co., 1987. Pomakia, I. McGregor, Davianna. Na Kuaaine: Living Hawaiian Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. Pukui, Mary Kawena. Olelo No ‘Eau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings. Honolulu, HI: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Press, 1983.
Pacific Islander Americans: Hawaiian Folk Music Stillman, Amy Ku’uleialoha. “Hawaiian Hula Competitions: Event, Repertoire, Performance, Tradition.” Journal of American Folklore 109 (1996): 357–380.
Web Sites Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. “Our Arts, Our Land: A Young Readers Guide to Selected Folk Artists.” http://www2.hawaii.edu/~hefner/pages/artists.html (accessed March 2009). “Hawaiian Myths and Legends: The Legends of the Night Marchers.” To-Hawaii.com: http://www.to-hawaii.com/legends/night-marchers.php (accessed May 2010). Merrie Monarch Festival. http://www.merriemonarch.com (accessed April 27, 2010).
Hawaiian Folk Music The music of Hawaii is home to numerous styles of folk music, including but not limited to rock, metal, hip-hop, jazz, country, Polynesian, soul, R&B, reggae, and pop. Most Hawaiian musical styles reflect the trends of mainland American popular music. Hawaii’s population size of 1.3 million individuals and isolated geographic location somewhat limits the incorporation and establishment of many music styles and trends. Though, the majority of musical styles are probably most linked with ethnicity. Being the most populous state for Asian Americans, Hawaii contains large populations of Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, and indigenous Hawaiians. Perhaps the most iconic musical symbol of Hawaii is the ukulele. Introduced by Portuguese immigrants around 1900, the ukulele became a pervasive cultural symbol in popular island culture. It was originally based on the Portuguese cavaquinho. The Hawaiian translation of “ukulele” is Hawaiian slack key and 12-string guitar master Ledward Kaapana in concert at the literally “flea jumping.” It is so called Richmond Folk Festival, in Richmond, because the high-pitched strings Virginia, October 10, 2008. (Herbertt Quick/ evoke the image of a jumping flea. Dreamstime.com)
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This has been popularized by numerous musicians over the years, including Eddie Bush, Troy Fernandez, Daniel Ho, and Jake Shimabukuru. The steel and slack-key guitars follow in popularity. The slack-key fingerpicking style creates an open chord sound. In the 1960s, the slack-key style was relatively unknown outside of musical families. During the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance of the 1970s, guitarists played various finger-picking styles to mimic the vocal breaks in traditional Hawaiian singing. The most important guitarists of the Renaissance include Leonard Kwan, Keola Beamer, Raymond Kane, and Alice Namakelua. A number of annual festivals celebrate the music of Hawaii. A hula festival, the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival, is an international event featuring hula groups from around the world. Several festivals celebrate the music of the slack-key and steel guitar, including the Steel Guitar Association Festival, the Big Island Slack Key Guitar Festival, and the Gabby Pahinui/Atta Isaacs Slack Key Festival. There is also a Hawaii International Jazz Festival. The establishment of the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts, Hawaii Music Awards, and Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame provide an invaluable resource for Hawaii’s historical and contemporary music scene. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Family and Community; Folk Music; Hawaii and Hawaiian; Hawaii: Nature and Animals; Hawaiian Folklore”; Polynesian Cultural Center.
Further Reading Various Artists. Rough Guide to the Music of Hawaii. World Music Network. RGNET -1049. World Music, Vol. 2: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. 2000 ed., s.v. “Steel Slide Hula Baloos.”
Heroes and Heroines A hero or heroine is an individual in fiction or nonfiction who may or may not be believed to be of divine descent and who illustrates outstanding qualities and performs notable achievements in the world. Generations of Pacific Islander Americans have many tales of individuals who demonstrate such noble characteristics from their islands of origin. Narratives about the legends of Sirena and of Chief Gadao have their source in Guam, for example, while tales of the god Maui, trickster and culture hero, and of Pele, the volcano goddess and goddess of fire,
Pacific Islander Americans: Heroes and Heroines
abound throughout the islands. Historical individuals such as King Kamehameha I, a chief who united the Hawaiian Islands in the late 18th century; King David Kaukauea, who revived Hawaiian traditions after the dire effect of Western contact of the late 19th century; and Mary Kawena Puku’i, scholar, linguist and active bearer of Hawaiian traditions of the 20th century all demonstrate heroic behavior. The “Sirena” legend—a sacred or secular tale of the recent past that is believed to be true—is understood to have originated with the presence of the Spanish in Guam some time between the 16th and 19th centuries. This Chamorro tale about three women, which reflects traditional matriarchical society, is about a young girl named Sirena who is asked to perform a task by her mother but indulges in her great love of swimming instead. As a result of her mother’s harsh words and her godmother’s blessing, Sirena remarkably transforms into a mermaid. Sailors traditionally report seeing her throughout the world’s oceans. Guam’s folktale, or fictive tale, of the “Three Feats of Strength” tells how a chief is chosen by the people. When Gadao demonstrates his superior skill in the water by killing a shark with one throw of the spear, his companions want him to be chief; but others ask him to demonstrate more outstanding abilities by swimming the island 50 times without stopping, breaking a coconut shell, and flattening a mountain. Gadao performs all of these feats with ease. Although a variety of tales from oral tradition about Pele and Maui are also told throughout Polynesia, the cycle of Pele legends and myths, or stories that explain the origin of lives, or things, are highly developed in Hawaii. These stories essentially dramatize Pele leaving Tahiti, due to a conflict, in a canoe with family members and eventually lands in Hawaii, where she still resides in the volcano Kilauea on the Big Island. Pele stories exhibit determination and great power to influence the world the way she desires as is demonstrated by her ability to cause volcanoes to erupt or not. The god and culture hero Maui, who displays cunning and initiative, is responsible for pushing up the sky so humans and other life forms can have more room, for lengthening the day so his mother and others can accomplish more work, and for discovering fire for humans. Another wonderfully creative and interesting Maui story illustrates how he pulls up islands such as Hawaii out of the sea with a magic hook. The historical hero King Kamehameha I (1795–1819) demonstrated skills of strength, perseverance, and strategy when he conquered all of the other islands and unites them with the help of Western military might while maintaing the ways of traditional Hawaii, thus creating a monarchy for the first time in Hawaiian history. Kamehameha Day is a legal annual holiday in Hawaii held in his honor. King David Kalakaua (1874–1891), during his reign, heroically revived Hawaiian traditions, which had been discouraged by Westerners, especially with the arrival of missionaries in 1820. The Annual Merrie Monarch Festival, the greatest competition of traditional hula dancing in Hawaii, is held in his honor in Hilo. Finally,
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Mary Kawena Puku’i (1895–1986), whose family traces its ancestry back to that of the goddess Pele, heroically lived and recorded Hawaiian traditions through her own writings and through her work with other scholars. The Annual Mary Kawena Puku’i Festival is held in her honor each year with the display and performance of various folk arts at the Bernice Bishop Museum in Honolulu. —Beverly J. Butcher See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Narrative; Religion.
Further Reading Bascom, William. “The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives.” Journal of American Folklore 78 (1965): 3–20. Reprinted in Alan Dundes, ed. Sacred Narrative. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987, 5–29. Beckwith, Martha. Hawaiian Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1977. Dawes, Gavan. The Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1974. Nimmo, H. Arlo. “The Cult of Pele in Traditional Hawaii.” Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 30 (1990): 41–87. Raglan, Lord. “A Hero of Tradition.” In Alan Dundes, ed. The Study of Folklore. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1965. Silva, Noenoe K. “Pele, Hi’iaka, and Haumea: Women and Power in Two Hawaiian Mo’olelo.” Pacific Studies 30 (2007): 159–181.
Web Sites Column, Fino’ Chamorro. Department of Education’s Chamorro Studies and Special Projects Division. Chief Gadao (Guam) “The Three Feats of Strength.” The Guam Web site: Hafa Adai. http://ns.gov.gu/gadaochief.html (accessed August 1, 2010). Merrie Monarch Festival, official Web site. http://www.merriemonarch.com (accessed May 2009). Ramirez, Anthony J. “Sirena: Folktale.” Guampedia: The Encyclopedia of Guam. Shannon Murphy, ed. http://guampedia.com/sirena (accessed August 1, 2010). “Tenth Annual Mary Kawena Pukui Performing Arts Festival.” Bishop Museum Web site. http://www.bishopmuseum.org/special/paf2010.html (accessed May 2010).
Identity Perhaps the best way to begin to understand Pacific Islander (PI) American identity is to acknowledge the tyranny of codes and categories and their reduction of individuals or groups into stereotypes. Having said that, a tangible definition of a Pacific Islander American is that he or she is either a migrant from any of the
Pacific Islander Americans: Literature and Folklore
islands or a descendant of such migrants from the largest body of water on earth— the Pacific Ocean. Yet, this says nothing about the diverse ethnicities, cultures, church affiliations, educational achievements, and socioeconomic statuses to which PI Americans subscribe and/or find themselves. In fact, the 2000 U.S. census data indicated that more Pacific Islanders had multiple identities but were unsure about which ones to report. Like many other groups in America, Pacific Islanders are also curious about what constitutes an American identity versus what being a Pacific Islander is. For the U.S. born, their parents’ traditions and values are often at odds with what is promised by education and peers; consequently, many youngsters find themselves gravitating towards gang and drug activities, for example, and subsequently, prison terms. Since PI numbers are insignificant compared to other groups, it is difficult to influence policy that could work in their favor. Instead, they are often appended to larger groups like Asians and Caucasians who have similar identity issues. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Further Reading Booth, Lila K. “A Profile of Pacific Islanders in Oakland, California.” Report published by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 2007. http://www.policyarchive.org/ handle/10207/5923 (accessed August 23, 2010). Lee, Helen, and Steve Tupai Francis, eds. Migration and Transnationalism: Pacific Perspectives. Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2009. http://epress .anu.edu.au/migration (accessed August 23, 2010). Spickard, Paul, Rondella, Joanne L., and Wright, Debbie Hippolite, eds. Pacific Diaspora: Island Peoples in the United States and Across the Pacific. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002.
Web Site “Asian-American Identity Problems.” Laze.net. http://www.laze.net/papers/ asianamident.php (accessed August 1, 2010).
Literature and Folklore Pacific Islander American literature and folklore are not established canons, at least not yet; however, there has been growing interest at the university level for courses in Pacific literature and folklore, particularly on the West Coast and Hawaii. Prominent modern writers like Samoa’s Albert Wendt and Sia Figiel; Tonga’s Epeli Hau’ofa and Konai H. Thaman; Aotearoa’s Whiti Itimaera, Patricia Grace, and Keri Hulme; Rotuma’s Vilsoni Hereniko; and Hawaii’s Haunani Kay
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Trask and Victoria Kneubuhl are in demand in courses on Pacific literature or as supplements in history, anthropology, and sociology courses. Victoria Kneubuhl is a playwright of Samoan and Hawaiian ancestry. Her uncle John Kneubuhl was a writer for the television series Hawaii Five-O and was a founding member of Kumu Kahua Theatre in Honolulu, which promotes local voices and local theater. These are the pioneers in Pacific literature, and their writings portray the trials and tribulations of the immigration experience of Pacific Islanders in the United States and elsewhere, and the effects of colonialism on indigenous cultures and attitudes both in the home and host countries. The 1990s saw various efforts by Pacific Islanders in America to write about the American experience—poetry anthologies and newspapers have emerged in places like Salt Lake City and Honolulu. Moana and Bamboo Ridge publications respectively promote the publication of local voices through poetry anthologies, storytelling festivals, children’s books, and numerous readings around Honolulu. A most audible literary tradition in Hawaii has been storytelling festivals sponsored by the Department of Parks and Recreation and a storytelling hour on Hawaii Public Radio (HPR). A useful site for information on Pacific Islander American literature and folklore is available from Cornell University. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Festivals and Holidays; Folk Dance.
Further Reading Bacchilega, Cristina. Legendary Hawaii and the Politics of Place: Tradition, Translation, and Tourism. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. Sharrad, Paul. Albert Wendt and Pacific Literature: Circling the Void. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2003.
Names and Name Giving Perhaps more than any other aspect of contemporary life in Oceania, Pacific Islander names and naming practices reflect the myriad political, historical, religious, and cultural crosscurrents converging in the area. Although the vastness of the area makes it impossible for a uniform naming practice to exist throughout, there are some prevalent cultural trends. Because the Pacific Islands are home to approximately 1,000 indigenous languages as well as the foreign languages introduced during colonial times, the variety of names in the region is extraordinary. A common trait throughout the area is the prominence given to the naming process. For many indigenous communities, names are an affirmation of one’s family
Pacific Islander Americans: Names and Name Giving
and culture. Although there are no absolutes, in many cases names may reflect some association with a place or ancestor, a religious affiliation, or colonial influence, or they may simply come from a stock of common names. As with many islands, in Hawaiian culture, a child’s inoa (name) is not simply chosen by parents alone. In many cases, other generations will participate in the naming process, and it is not uncommon for grandparents to have the honor of naming a child. Names may also come from dreams, such as an inoa po. An inoa ‘ulaleo may come from a voice heard just before a child’s birth (Puku’i). Anuta, in the eastern Solomon Islands, offers an example of the layers of naming a Pacific Islander may undergo. An individual is likely to have three names: an ingoa tangata or ingoa pouri, a personal name; an ingoa pakauku tapu, a Christian or baptismal name; and an ingoa pakamaatuaa, a marital or parental name. The ingoa tangata is given at birth by a parent or close relative. Custom dictates that one may not call one’s parents, parents-in-law or other particular relatives by their ingoa tangata. Interestingly, the ingoa tangata (tangata meaning “man”) became the ingoa pouri (pouri meaning “darkness”) with the advent of Christianity. Unlike ingoa pouri and ingoa pakamaatuaa, the ingoa pakauku tapu has few if any restrictions on who may speak it; it is also the name used most frequently for unmarried people (Feinberg). A single island may also contain names derived from different languages, cultures, and religions. Palau, located in Micronesia, is a typical example. Palauan names before the arrival of outside influences could be plain names or names that referred to one’s home, family, or circumstances of birth. After the arrival of Catholicism, names with a Spanish origin became popular. Interestingly, there was also a German presence and a Protestant mission, adding another set of names to the population. However, German names are now less popular among younger generations. The Japanese presence between 1914 and 1944 resulted in many youth being given Japanese names; however, this trend was stemmed at the close of World War II. Finally, the American influence post World War II has also contributed to the pool of names. Currently, indigenous Palauan names are experiencing a resurgence (McCutcheon). Whatever the name, the process surrounding its choice has always been integral to Pacific Islander life. —Joyce Pualani Warren
Further Reading Feinberg, Richard. “Some Observations on a Polynesian Naming System: Personal Names and Naming on Anuta.” Journal of the Polynesian Society 91(4) (1982). McCutcheon, Mary. Personal correspondence. 2009. Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel H. Elbert. Hawaiian Dictionary. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.
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Narrative A variety of oral narrative genres are expressed by Pacific Islander Americans; myths, legends, and folktales are three of the most predominant genres, which have been part of the oral tradition of the home islands for centuries. A myth is a sacred narrative told about the remote past about nonhumans, typically gods, and traditionally believed to be true. The Hawaiian Kumulipo is a myth that tells the origin of the world in the form of a epic poem or traditional chant known as mele oli, another form of narrative expression. (Thus, here we have an overlapping of genres, or two simultaneous oral means of expression of one kind of tale; that is, the sacred story of myth is being told through mele oli.) Similar origin myths are traditionally told amongst the Maori in New Zealand, in Rapa Nui, Tuamotu, Tahiti, and in the Marquessas Islands. A legend is a sacred or secular oral narrative told about the recent past concerning humans, particularly heroes, and is believed to be true. Legends told about the sightings of nightmarchers, or the ghosts of dead warriors who take an onlooker’s life if seen unless the individual has a relative amongst them is one traditional Hawaiian tale of this type. A folktale is an oral narrative told about humans or nonhumans anytime or anywhere and are not believed; they are fiction. The Guamanian tale “The Three Feats of Strength,” about Chief Gadao’s need to prove himself to be promoted to chief when asked to swim the island 50 times without stopping, to crack a coconut shell with his hands, and to flatten a mountain, is one example of a folktale within the Guamanian American tradition. As is the case with most folklore genres, since the arrival of Westerners in the islands in the 19th century, many of the myths, legends, and folktales have been written down; as a result, tales that may have been lost for some American families of Pacific Islander heritage can sometimes be found in published texts, which are then able to begin a new life of being shared orally in the United States. The word “myth” as popularly used by the media as well as the general public differs from the meaning of the word as used by folklorists who are trained to follow the academic definition of the late University of California at Berkeley anthropologisgt William Bascom, as described in his classic 1965 article “The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives.” For folklorists, anthropologists, and other scholars, myth does not mean mistake or misunderstanding as it usually does for the lay person; rather, the word refers to a traditional sacred narrative, typically about gods of the remote past, as indicated above. It also should be noted that there is often a blurring of distinction between the genres of myth, legend, and folktale in many publications. A book may be a compilation entirely of legends and myths of the Pacific Islands, for example, but the author refers to these stories as folktales. In other words, these authors do not follow the scholarly definitions of these three
Pacific Islander Americans: Pidgin
genres as defined above according to the Bascom classification system which is or should be maintained within academic tradition. —Beverly J. Butcher See also: Pacific Island Americans: Heroes and Heroines; Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Bascom, William. “The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives.” Journal of American Folklore 78 (1965): 3–20. Reprinted in Alan Dundes, ed. Sacred Narrative. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987, 5–29. Beckwith, Martha. Hawaiian Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1977. Colum, Padraic. Legends of Hawaii. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1937. Kalakaua, King David. Legends and Myths of Hawaii. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 1989. Kame’eleihiwa, Lilikala K. A Legendary Tradition of Kamapua’a, the Hawaiian Pig God. Honolulu, HI: Bishop Museum, Press, 1996. Pomaika’i McGregor, Davianna. Na Kuaaine: Living Hawaiian Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Caroline Curtis. Hawaii Island Legends: Pikoi, Pele and Others. Honolulu, HI: Kamehameha Schools Press, 1996.
Web Sites Column, Fino’ Chamorro. Department of Education’s Chamorro Studies and Special Projects Division. Chief Gadao (Guam) “The Three Feats of Strength.” The Guam Web site: Hafa Adai. http://ns.gov.gu/gadaochief.html (accessed August 1, 2010). Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. “Our Arts, Our Land: A Young Readers Guide to Selected Folk Artists.” http://www2.hawaii.edu/~hefner/pages/artists.html (accessed March 2009).
Pidgin “Pidgin” is a language invented by people of different language groups thrown together in a particular place and needing to communicate with each other. Perhaps the most well-known pidgin in the United States is that invented by Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and Korean plantation workers of the 19th and 20th centuries in Hawaii and for whom the English language was quite inaccessible. Pidgin is characteristically a derivation of the different languages converging into a certain grammatical structure and sound system. It has evolved into what is known today as Hawaiian Creole English, or HCE, with English as its base. Today, HCE is the unofficial language of locals in Hawaii—English and Hawaiian being the official ones.
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Pidgin has been outlawed as a language of instruction and communication in the schools, although in the last two decades, activists have fought for a place for it in Hawaii’s schools and workplaces. Consequently, poetry and fiction in pidgin have emerged, although they have yet to gain popularity in or be embraced by the mainstream syllabi. Pidgin has also been used as the language of advertisement by various people in Hawaii. New immigrant groups to Hawaii have also added some of their own words into the mix. Pidgin is the most popular language of the locals in Hawaii. It easily identifies who is local and who is not. Pidgin also exists in other areas of the Pacific, such as Melanesia. Known as “Tok Pisin,” Melanesian Americans continue to use it among families and friends. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Further Reading “Eye on Pidgin.” Eye of Hawaii Web site. http://www.eyeofhawaii.com/Pidgin/pidgin.htm (accessed August 1, 2010).
Pigeons There are many different species of pigeons across the Pacific, but the most common among the islands is known as the Pacific Imperial pigeon (Ducula pacifica). It is of the Columbidae family and found in almost all of the islands of the South Pacific. It is known as lupe in American Samoa, Samoa, and Niue, and rupe in the Cook Islands. Their natural habitats are the rain forests, and they can travel distances to forage, but they are more plentiful on smaller islands. They nest high in the trees, lay a single egg that hatches in 27 days, and require both parents for incubation. Lupe are vulnerable to loss of habitat due to overdevelopment and natural disasters such as hurricanes. In prehistoric times, snaring lupe was the sport of the chiefs, which involved whole villages performing certain rituals for as long as the game lasted— sometimes for days and months. Starmounds were built for this purpose and some have been discovered in Samoa and American Samoa. Lupe symbolism prevails in Samoan oratory; when chiefs meet, they are compared to a flock of pigeons, the tools used for snaring, or the regal carriage associated with pigeons either perched or in flight. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz See also: Hawaii: Nature and Animals
Further Reading Seamon, Joshua. “The Pacific Pigeon (Lupe), Samoa’s Royal Bird.” In Peter Craig, ed. Natural History Guide to American Samoa, 2nd ed. Pago Pago: National Park of American Samoa, 2005.
Pacific Islander Americans: Polynesian Cultural Center
Polynesian Cultural Center The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is located in La’ie on the north shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. About an hour from Waikiki by tour bus, it is one of the most visited tourist spots in Hawaii. The PCC is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and was dedicated on October 12, 1963. It is mostly staffed by Pacific Islanders, many of whom are students of the neighboring Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYUH). Many of them are from the home islands, who use this opportunity to obtain a college education. The PCC’s main attractions include a tour of miniature replicas of the ancient villages of Hawaii, Tahiti, Marquesas, Aotearoa, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. Built along a meandering waterway spanning 42 acres of land, the villages portray ancient houses surrounded by local flora. Each village features a most memorable aspect of its particular culture. A special exhibit is the row of replicas of stone statues for which Rapanui or Easter Islands is well known. The PCC also has an IMAX theater, and to round up a day at the center, there is a twilight show called “Horizons: Where the Sea Meets the Sky,” featuring the songs and dances of the different Polynesian islands. The most popular finale for the evening is a fire dance. Every year, the PCC hosts community events such as the Hawaiian Moanikeala Hula festival; the World Fireknife Championship, which attracts contestants from around the world; the Samoa festival; the Te Mahana o Hiro’a o Tahiti festival in conjunction with heiva of Tahiti; and the Manahua Maori cultural competition. In 2007, the PCC introduced their “Christmas in Polynesia” festival. Scholarly discourse of the 1980s and 1990s has been critical of the Polynesian Cultural Center’s role in shaping culture and identity. Native and nonnative scholars have criticized the PCC for alleged misrepresentation of native cultures and exploitation of native lands. Whatever the tone of the day, it is clear that at the ground level, PCC is a most popular tourist spot providing many native students the opportunity to expand their horizons through an education at Brigham Young University, made possible by a work-study program at the center. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Family and Community; Hawaii and Hawaiian; Hawaii: Nature and Animals; Hawaiian Folklore; Hawaiian Folk Music; Polynesians.
Further Reading Oakley, Peter. “The Politics of Paradise: Managing heritage at the Polynesian Cultural Center.” Bournemouth University Web site: http://intranet.bpc.ac.uk/documents/cms/ peteroakley-heritage-pcc_07082801.doc (accessed August 1, 2010).
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Polynesians A Polynesian is a person from the many islands of central and eastern Polynesia. The term “Polynesia” means many islands. It was coined by Dumont d’Urville, a French linguist and botanist in the late 18th century who classified people according to common physical features, language, and culture. The islands lie within the Polynesian triangle, with tips at Rapanui (Easter Island) in the east, Hawaii in the north, and Aotearoa (New Zealand) in the south. A Polynesian is of either Tongan, Samoan, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Rarotongan, Niuean, Tokelauan, Tuvalu, or Maori ancestry, or a combination of any of the above. He or she has copper-colored skin, wavy black hair, and a broad, flat nose. His language and culture are Austronesian based. Austronesians were migrants from the Malayo-Indonesian peninsula who walked into the western islands of the Pacific more than 3,000 years ago. In 1000 BCE, people from a part of Vanuatu called Lapita traveled east and settled in the central western Pacific. These were the islands of Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. Through evolution, certain physical characteristics emerged that would become the DNA for today’s Polynesians. Years later, a group left Samoa and sailed east to the Marquesas. In the first millennium, descendants of the Marquesans spread out to Hawaii, Tahiti, Rarotonga, and Aotearoa (New Zealand). By the time of Western exploration, Polynesian societies had established sophisticated social orders. Chiefly systems with varying degrees of sophistication have prevailed over the years despite the hegemony of outside political structures. However, the category is problematic and nonfunctional for many PI Americans. Most people from western Polynesia (Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Tokelau, Niue,) are different from the Polynesians who are native to places like New Zealand and Hawaii. People from the latter group share a common colonial experience—that is, they continue to be a minority in their own land and are by and large engaged in a struggle for sovereignty. Moreover, distinctions exist between rural and urban Polynesians in terms of their proxemics to and from the native culture. It may be argued that the farther one moves away from the native center, the less one feels obligated to maintain kinship relations. In places like Honolulu, where there is a large concentration of Polynesians, one finds a diverse group of Polynesians. With lots of mixed marriages in this day and age, some of the above distinctions are irrelevant. By and large, a PI American is more likely to identify more with his or her ethnicity than with the ambiguous Polynesian identity. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Identity and Polynesian Cultural Center.
Pacific Islander Americans: Puku’i, Mary Kawena (1895–1986)
Further Reading Lal, Brij V., and Kate Fortune, eds. The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000. Murray-McIntosh, Rosalind P., Brian J. Scrimshaw, Peter J. Hatfield, and David Penny. “Testing Migration Patterns and Estimating Founding Population Size in Polynesia by Using Human mtDNA Sequences.” Evolution/Anthropology 95(15) (July 1998): 9047–9052.
Puku’i, Mary Kawena (1895–1986) Mary Kawena Puku’i was considered to be the leading expert on Hawaiian folk traditions and language during her lifetime and is often credited with being the inspiration for the Hawaiian Renaissance, which took place in the 1960s and 1970s. Puku’i, whose mother was of Hawaiian ancestry while her father was Scottish, was an active bearer—one who perpetuates folk genres by living, demonstrating, and passing them on to others; she also put this cultural knowledge in an accessible format for scholars as well as the general public. Puku’i was herself a scholar, teacher, kuma hula (hula master), writer, geneologist, folklorist, linguist, editor, translator, composer, singer, and chanter. She was employed at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu from 1938 to 1961, primarily as a translator, fieldworker, and demonstrator, often in cooperation with academics such as Samuel H. Elbert, Martha Beckwith, Laura Green, E. S. and Elizabeth Green Handy, Esther T. Mookini, and Margaret Titcomb. As assistant in linguistics there, she became most noted for her coauthorship with the Indiana University–trained folklorist and linguist Elbert of the Hawaiian Dictionary as well as for a work based on her own knowledge and collecting, Olelo No’eau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings. The museum has celebrated the Annual Mary Kawena Puku’i Performing Arts Festival since 2000 and named their Legacy Society after her. Puku’i was named a “Living Treasure of Hawaii” for her continual excellence, achievements, and contributions to society by the Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii in 1977; she was also the recipient of two awards from the Hawaii Book Publishers Association, as well as the 1971 Hawaii Aloha Award, the most important prize in Hawaiian music, for her perpetuation of chants and song lyrics, some of which can be heard on Smithsonian Folkways recordings. A story of the life of Puku’i and two other culture bearers can be seen in Eddie and Myrna Kamae’s one-hour documentary entitled Keepers of the Flame: The Cultural Legacy of Three Hawaiian Women. Mary Abigail Kawena-’ula-ooka-lani-a-Hi’iaka-I-ka-poli-o-Pele-ka-wahine’ai-honua Na-lei-lehua-a-Pele Wiggin is the daughter of Mary Pa’ahana
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Kanaka’ole of Ka’u, island of Hawaii (where Puku’i was born), and Henry Nathanieal Wiggin (a descendant of poet Anne Bradstreet) who moved to Hawaii from Salem, Massacusetts. She was raised in the Hawaiian tradition of hanai by her maternal grandmother, Nali’ipo’aimoku (Po’ai), a midwife of high chief ancestry who had hula danced in Queen Emma’s court and who taught her granddaughter family history, Hawaiian religious beliefs, and customs. With the passing of her grandmother at age six, Puku’i returned to her parents, who each taught her traditions from their respective ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Both parents made certain Puku’i was completely fluent in the Hawaiian language. She graduated from the Seventh-day Adventist Hawaiian Mission Academy high school in 1923. Kawena, as she was often known, and which can be translated as “the flash of light,” married Kalol’i Puku’i in 1913. The Puku’is had three children: Patience and Faith, who were adopted by Puku’i’s parents and given to her and her husband, and Aseneth, who was born to the couple in 1931. —Beverly J. Butcher
Further Reading Pukui, Mary Kawena. ‘Olelo No’eau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings. Special Publication No. 71. Honolulu, HI: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 1983. Pukui, Mary Kawena. “Games of My Hawaiian Childhood.” California Folklore Quarterly 2 (1943): 205–220. Pukui, Mary Kawena. “Songs (Meles) of Old Ka’u, Hawaii.” Journal of American Folklore (1949): 247–258. Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Alfons L. Korn. The Echo of Our Song: Chants and Poems of the Hawaiians. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973. Pukui, Mary Kawena, E. W. Haertig, and Catherine A. Lee. Nana I Ke Kumu (Look to the Source). Vols. 1 and 2. Honolulu, HI: Hui Hanai, 1972.
Web Sites Blair, Chad. “Kawena’s Legacy.” Hana Hou! The Magazine of Hawaiian Airlines. 2007. http://www.hanahou.com/pages/magazine.asp?Action=DrawArticle&ArticleID=609 &Mag (accessed August 1, 2010). “Hawaiian Drum Dance Chants: Sounds of Power in Time.” Smithsonian Folkways Web Site: http://www.folkways.si.edu/TrackDetails.aspx?itemid=41522 (accessed August 1, 2010).
Religion Pacific Islander Americans are Americans from or with ancestors from such Pacific Islands as Hawaii, Guam, or Samoa, all of which were annexed by the United States in 1898, with the former becoming a state in 1959 (after also having
Pacific Islander Americans: Religion
Ahu'ena Heiau, restored under the direction of the Bishop Museum, was a temple where King Kamehameha conducted government meetings in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. (Ted Streshinsky/Corbis)
become a territory in 1900); or as Tonga, which remains a monarchy (as Hawaii was until 1893); or from the numerous other nations of the Pacific, such as those from which the largest population of Americans of Pacific Islander ancestry come: Tahiti, Fiji, and the Marshall Islands. Great variety is the most apt phrase to describe the religious communities of this smallest minority group of Americans of approximately half a million individuals located in Hawaii, California, Utah, and throughout the continental United States, although historically within the land of origin of each group, there is commonality of indigenous belief amongst them. Pacific Islander native religions characteristically share a belief in the omnipresence of gods in nature and of the relationship of them to humankind, both the living and the dead. Traditional believers maintain that certain behaviors can influence the gods to benefit or harm human life. Variety of Pacific Islander belief systems is evidenced in the particular qualities attributed to the gods in myths associated with the different island locations and in the numerous ways of worshiping and pleasing these gods, in addition to other beliefs and practices. However, a shared experience of Pacific Islander Americans from various islands is typically that of their Christianity of one or another denomination of Protestantism, Catholicism, or Mormonism—as well as, often, the presence of some elements of the respective indigenous traditions to
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varying degrees. (A small minority of those of the Baha’i Faith, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist religions can also be found often due to multiethnicity.) In the traditional Hawaiian religion, for example, gods are personified in nature and are believed to influence and interact with humans. These gods are looked upon as ‘ohana, or family, and are traditionally called upon for help through prayer. Therefore, gods are not distant, inaccessible supernatural beings, but an integral part of daily life. Many individuals look to guardian spirits or deified ancestors known as ‘aumakua who manifest in animal form. Mano, the shark, and honu, the turtle, are two of the most common. The four major gods in the Hawaiian pantheon are Lono, who symbolizes fertility, life, peace, harvest; Kane, known as the giver of life and one of the most forgiving and loved gods; Kanaloa known as the god of squid and healing; and, Ku, who can be thought of as many different gods in one class or as one god with many manifestations, such as Ku of the mountain or Ku of the clouds that dot the sky. This latter god is often thought of as protector of trees and plants to whom individuals might pray for permission to pick one of the latter, for instance. Occupational groups such as canoe makers, farmers, or fisherman customarily have many Ku gods. The supreme Ku, the highest of the Ku class, are traditionally called upon during times of war, famine, and disease. The goddess Hina is also conceived in traditional Hawaiian folk belief in the same manner as that of Ku: as being one goddess with many manifestations or many goddesses in one class: there is Hina of the moon and Hina of the ohia growth. In addition, Hina of the fire is the sacred name of the goddess of volcanoes, Pele. Ku and Hina are traditionally worshiped by the people as man and wife. In regard to the material culture of traditional Hawaiian religion are the heiaus or religious centers, which contained at least an altar and images of gods; these heiaus and the men’s shrines were taboo to women (with very few exceptions) as were many kinds of food. This kapu system of prohibitions or taboos, which was believed to preserve mana or supernatural power of the gods and the chiefs who were their earthly descendents, was so significant to this indigenous religion that when Kamehameha II, King Liholiho (1797–1824), abolished this official religion in 1819, he did so by eating with his mother and a powerful wife of his father, Kamehameha the Great. The year 1820 was also significant for Hawaii as the first contingent of Protestant missionaries arrived from New England; by the end of the 19th century, not only were the majority of Hawaiians Christian of one denomination or another, but such was the case throughout the Pacific Islands (with the exception of New Guinea). However, although when Kamehameha II outlawed the native religion, and many of the native images of traditional gods were destroyed, some worshiped in private; therefore, elements of traditional Hawaiian folk belief persisted and persist, especially in regard to the ‘aumakua, for example, concurrent with Christian beliefs.
Pacific Islander Americans: Religion
Although many of the first Protestant missionaries to arrive in the Pacific Islands, such as the conservative New England Congregationalists in Hawaii, generally disapproved of and strongly discouraged native traditions such as the sacred Hawaiian hula dance, Catholicism has traditionally been more open to integrating indigenous traditions into Catholic life, especially since Vatican II of the 1960s, which actively encouraged parishes to do so. While it may be possible to see Tongans wear the taovala during a Free Wesleyan Church service, in the Catholic Church, the hula dance is periodically performed, for example. In addition, whereas the Mormon presence in Hawaii has traditionally tended to discourage integration of Hawaiian traditions into the life of the church, efforts are being made to consciously demonstrate that to be Mormon and to use some aspects of traditional Hawaiian folk tradition as an expression of one’s identity is not a contradiction. In addition, as mentioned above, there are strong indications that various synthetic belief systems do exist: belief in the menehune, the little people of Hawaii who serve or trick humans at whim, for example, while being Catholic is directly parallel to Catholics in Ireland who traditionally experience their little people in the same way. Similarly, Tongans who are Christian may maintain the traditional belief in zelo, or ghosts and/or in masabe, invading spirits who attack individuals while calling them demons. —Beverly J. Butcher See also: Pacific Islander Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit.
Further Reading Colless, Brian, and Peter Donovan. “Religions of the Pacific.” In John R. Hinnels, ed. A New Handbook of Living Religions. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1997, 547–561. Handy, E. S. Craighill, and Mary Kawena Pukui. The Polynesian Family System in Kau, Hawaii. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing, 1998. Luomala, Katherine. “Hawaiian Religion.” In Mircea Eliade, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1987, 215–219. Spickard, Paul. “Pacific Islander American Religious Communities.” In Gary Laderman and Luis Leon, eds. Religion and American Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity and Popular Expressions. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2003, 38–40. Spickard, Paul. “Race, Religion, and Colonialism in the Mormon Pacific.” In Jane Naomi Iwamura and Paul Spickard, eds. Revealing the Sacred In Asian and Pacific America. New York: Routledge, 2003. Spickard, Paul, and Debbie Hippolite Wright. “Pacific Islander Americans ans Asian American Identity.” In Linda Trinh Vo and Rick Bonus, eds. Contemporary Asian American Communities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. Spickard, Paul, and Rowena Fong. “Pacific Islander Americans and Multiethnicity: A Vision of America’s Future?” Social Forces 73 (1995): 1365–1383.
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Pacific Islander Americans: Rites of Passage Wallace, William Kauaiwiulaokalani, III. “Protecting the ‘Sacred IPI’ Connecting the Sacred in Being Hawaiian-Christian in Hawaii—a Personal Journey.” In Jane Naomi Iwamura and Paul Spickard, eds. In Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America. New York: Routledge, 2003, 29–42.
Web Site “Tonga: Religion and Expressive Culture.” http://www.everyculture.com (accessed May 2010).
Rites of Passage Pacific Islander Americans hold a wide variety of rites of passage, or rituals of major significance or transition in the life cycle such as that of birth, marriage, and death. A brief sampling of Tongan traditions and a more detailed traditional Hawaiian life cycle description follows. For Tongan Americans, a special traditional brown-feathered ta’ovala or mat around the waist is worn by the man and woman during the wedding and on the first Sunday to follow the marriage. The union is celebrated with an exchange of painted tapa, or bark cloth (and sometimes quilts), pandanus mats, and feasts, which are provided by the men. The koloa, or ceremonial wealth, is brought by the women and is typically redistributed at the next community event. A darkbrown ta’ovala is worn for Tongan American funerals; the size of the ta’ovala reflects the relationship with the deceased. The extended family gathers for up to five days after the funeral and decides how long the period of mourning should be; however, when a royal family member dies, all wear the black mourning color for a year. Kava, a mildly intoxicating nonalcoholic drink made from the root of the pepper shrub, is ceremonially consumed at both weddings and funerals. All traditional rituals of the life cycle in Hawaii, for example, are performed with the health and well-being of the specific individuals involved, of the ‘ohana, or dispersed community; the kapuna, or ancestors; and ‘aumakua, or ancestral guardian spirits. The life cycle is considered to begin with the life of the hiapo, or first born, and to begin again with the next first child in the following generation. The expectant mother traditionally avoids certain foods with strong flavor such as that of chili pepper, as it is believed to hurt the eyes of the child, and is encouraged to eat greens such as young taro leaves, for his or her health. After birth, the umbilical cord is treated with special care: family members tie a string about two inches from the navel, which is traditionally cut with a bamboo knife. After some of the mother’s milk is rubbed on the navel, soft bark cloth, or tapa, is wrapped over this area. The baby is not bathed until the cord drops off. If it
Pacific Islander Americans: Rites of Passage
comes off too quickly, it is traditionally believed that the child will get hungry quickly. Care must be taken to hide the cord, such as in the hole of a rock where rats cannot eat it and cause the child to be a Pico-pau-’iole (navel consumed by a rat), or common thief. Great care must also be taken with the afterbirth. First, it must be thoroughly washed, or else the child will have sore eyes; then it must be buried, ideally in the trunk of or under a tree, which should not be cut down as long as the individual lives. Within a day after the child is born, the sacramental Aha’aina Mawaewae Feast occurs for the hiapo, but also for all of the succeeding children to be had by the mother who eats sacramental foods at this ritual which cements their relationship with the god Lono of peace, rain and agriculture. This Mawaewae, or path clearing, is dedicated to the ‘aumakua, or ancestral guardians, and helps set the child in the proper spiritual channels. The ‘aha’aina palala, or Feast for Bearers of Gifts to the First-Born, which in the present day is referred to as a baby luau, is a celebration of the birth of the hiapo, when family and friends bring food such as a pig, a lei, or song. Songs and dances are created and performed during the feasts. Eulogistic chants of hiapo of ali’i or chiefs, praising the name or private parts of the child, would traditionally be offered as gifts. A year later, a feast in honor of the child would also be celebrated with chants and dance. The gods Ku and Hina, husband and wife, are traditionally appealed to in nursing rituals which involves the use of a sweet potato vine, and a prayer to each god for the left and right breasts to let milk flow abundantly; in regard to the desire of the mother to wean her child, these gods are also appealed to through ritual by allowing the child to choose or to not choose stones, bananas, or flowers placed in front of him or her. If the child chooses the items and throws them away, he is to cease nursing. One of the most significant traditional rituals for boys is the moving from the woman’s house to that of the men’s, named the Mua, or sanctuary and home, which contains a kuahu, or altar, dedicated to the ‘aumakua, at he age of four or five. The father performs a ritual of prayer and eating dedicating the boy to the god Lono, the Provider, and declares that the kapu, or taboo, of the boy living with and eating the food of women is now broken and he is free. Afterwards, the other men, father, and boy eat vegetables and pork. Another ritual of significance traditionally occurs when a boy is about seven or eight years old, when the cutting of the foreskin is enacted strictly to enhance the efficacy and pleasure of coitus. The hiapo are traditionally ho’opalau—that is, betrothed in distinguished families during childhood or before birth, usually through family members on both sides having dreams about the potential mate of their relative. The second way in which these betrothals customarily take place is through consulting genealogical charts. The betrothal is signified through gift exchange, and to break the ho’opalau is a serious offense. Family and friends help ready the house for the day the couple marries; and, on the day, a kahuna comes and prays that the couple is fruitful and
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pronounces they share all areas of life. Tradtionally, commoners choose their own mates and the male simply goes to live with the woman’s family. Today the appropriate civil or religious wedding ceremony, which is typically associated with flowers and leis, takes place. After death, in pre-Christian times, the body is placed in a hut away from the house while in later times, the body is kept in the house facing toward the door. Traditionally, often a relative chooses to remove the organs and flesh from the decaying corpse to preserve the iwi, or bones, which is where the ‘uhane, spirit is believed to dwell. Because one, such as a kahuna, or ritual priest, or an enemy, could enslave a purloined bone to do good or evil, the bones are wrapped in a bundle and taken to a secret place where the ‘aumakua are believed to live the life of the spirit. During a Death Feast or feast of lamentation, family members lay the corpse in the direction of entering mourners who kumakena, or ritually wail loudly. These wailers are answered by a mournful wail from a close relative of the deceased. The singing of songs loved by the deceased are shared. A year after the death occurs, the Aha’aina Waimaka, or Memorial Feast is held, and attendees traditionally rejoice that the deceased is released from the burdens of life and the living from the obligations of mourning. Rejoicing is important for everyone, but chanting and dancing are traditionally important for the ali’i in particular. Certain rites of passage, and associated traditional beliefs described above, may be extant, to some degree, for certain individuals of Hawaiian ancestry in contemporary life. —Beverly J. Butcher
Further Reading Green, Laura S., and Martha Warren Beckwith. “Hawaiian Customs and Beliefs Relating to Birth and Infancy.” American Anthropologist 26 (1924): 230–246. Green, Laura S., and Martha Warren Beckwith. “Hawaiian Household Customs.” American Anthropologist 30 (1928): 1–17. Handy, E. S. Craighill, and Mary Kawena Pukui. The Polynesian Family Sustem in Ka-’u, Hawaii. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing, 1998. Van Gennep, Arnold. Rites of Passage. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960.
Samoa and Samoans Samoa is a group of islands located between 10 and 15 degrees latitude south of the equator, within what is known as the equatorial belt. The Samoan archipelago consists of about 19 islands, two of which are low-lying atolls (Rose Island and Swains Island); the rest are volcanic, although only 11 of them are inhabited. Rose Island is a bird sanctuary.
Pacific Islander Americans: Samoa and Samoans
Participants in American Samoa's Flag Day celebration row into Utulei Beach in Pago Pago, Monday, April 17, 2000. This United States territory, 2,300 miles south of Hawaii, first raised the American flag on April 17, 1900, after 20 Samoan chiefs ceded the two major islands to the U.S. Navy. (AP Photo/Fili Sagapolutele)
In 1899, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States signed the Berlin Treaty thus dividing the islands into two distinct colonial entities—Western Samoa became a German colony, and Eastern Samoa an American territory. In 1995, Western Samoa dropped the word “western” from its name. The islands of Tutuila and Aunu’u, and the Manu’a group made up of Ta’u, Ofu, and Olosega islands, comprise the territory of American Samoa. On April 17, 1900, the American flag was raised, officially making these islands a territory; though in 1905, Manu’a marked its entrance into the American family with its own flag-raising. The American agreement with the Samoans stipulated the use of the Pago Pago bay for naval and commercial activities; in return, the Samoans were guaranteed protection and most importantly, the preservation of their land and customs. The Navy Administration and later the Department of the Interior (DOI) administered the territory until 1977, when the Samoans elected their first Samoan governor and controlled its local affairs. American Samoans are U.S. nationals, thus they do not require visas to enter the United States. However, once on U.S. soil, they may apply for naturalization after six months of continuous residency. While on American soil, the only right they
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do not have is the right to vote in presidential and local elections. There are more American Samoans in America than there are in the islands. In Hawaii, about a third of the Samoan population comes from American Samoa. The independent country of Samoa lies west of American Samoa and comprises the islands of Upolu, Savai’i, Manono, and Apolima. Samoa was initially a German colony until the outbreak of World War I, at the end of which it became a League of Nations’ mandate under a New Zealand administration; finally, it became an independent nation in 1962. Samoa has a parliamentary form of government, though with a twist. Until 1995, only chiefs or matai could vote and become contestants in the parliamentary elections. Since 1995, universal suffrage has given those age 21 and older the right to vote; however, Samoans have insisted on the inclusion of the Fa’amatai or Chiefly System in modern governance. Thus, one does not have to be a chief to vote, but one must still be such to compete in the elections. Most of the people of Samoa migrate to New Zealand and Australia, though some have opted to move to the United States. The latter Samoans need visas and family sponsorship to migrate to the United States. For this reason, Samoans become naturalized as soon as they can as it allows for ease of travel between the United States and home. A third of the Samoans in America are from Samoa. Another third is U.S. born. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Further Reading Huffer, Elise, and Asofou Soo, eds. Governance in Samoa: Pulega i Samoa. Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 2000. Kramer, Augustin. The Samoan Islands [in English]. Vol. 1, Auckland: Pasifika Press, 1994. Lal, Brij V., and Kate Fortune, eds. The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000. Le Tagaloa, Aiono Fanaafi. “The Samoan Culture and Governmen.” In Ron Crocombe, et al., eds. Culture and Democracy in the South Pacific. Suva: University of the South Pacific, 1992. Meleisea, Malama. Making of Modern Samoa: Traditional Authority and Colonial Administration. Suva: University of the South Pacific, 1987.
Surf and Surfing He’e nalu, the early Hawaiian term for wave sliding or surfing, dates back 2,000 years in the Pacific Islands. Polynesians from Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands brought an early form of this folk tradition of riding the waves, possibly with a plank, or bundle of reeds, or a coconut frond stem in 400 CE, to Hawaii.
Pacific Islander Americans: Surf and Surfing
Traditional Hawaiians perfected the art of surfing, which includes the skill of standing up on boards while riding the waves, largely due to its full integration into the daily life of ali’i, or chiefs, and commoners; nevertheless, the earliest forms of the sport are likely to have been shared by all of the seafaring peoples of the Pacific, with the more highly developed in Polynesia. Due to the kapu system of taboos in the highly stratified Hawaiian society which existed until the early 19th century, those beaches and reefs near which the ali’i could surf and where the commoners were designated to surf were different. If a commoner intruded on the ali’i surfing area, he or she could be put to death. Surfing was so important to traditional Hawaiian culture that the kahuna, or priests, performed rituals and recited prayers for making a surfboard, for predicting the weather, and for creating excellent surfing conditions, for example. Ali’i were very proud of their surfboards, which were typically 25-foot-long olo boards weighing 150 pounds; commoners rode lighter and shorter paipo (prone) and alaia (stand up) boards of 12 feet. Many songs and chants extolling the talents of surfers and competitions amongst the ali’i occurred as early as the 15th century. Surfing was often associated with romance for the chiefs who could demonstrate their superiority through their surfing skills. With the termination of the system of kapu in 1819 by King Liholiho, Kamehameha II, who broke the taboo of men and women eating together by sharing a meal with his mother and other female chieftesses, and due to the conservative, disapproving attitudes of the Calvinist missionaries who arrived in Hawaii in 1820, the culture of surfing diminished greatly until the 20th century when it was revived and popularized by the noted author Jack London, journalist Alexander Hume Ford, and the Irish Hawaiian surfer George Freeth in the early 20th century. Since that time, surfing clubs, competitions, and cultures have evolved in Hawaii, California, Florida, and elsewhere. The Waikiki Surf Club in Hawaii organized the first international surfing championship in 1954. Surfers are a folk group that unites with boards in the ocean and on the beach. Many terms reflect the specific experience of surfers, and therefore, of their worldview. Cooking or cranking indicate that the surfing conditions are good, while drilling refers to the experience of a surfer after falling off the surfboard, for example. Surfer jargon describes the details of specific kinds of waves and the quality of surfers. The surfing culture is expressed through music and captured in film beginning in the mid-20th century. The song “Surfin’ USA,” recorded by the Beach Boys and beach genre films such as director William Asher’s Beach Blanket Bingo with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello were some of the most powerful popular reflections of surf culture of the 1960s. Director Norman Taurog’s 1961 Blue Hawaii with Elvis Presley is another example. —Beverly J. Butcher
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Further Reading Bell, Brian, ed. Insight Guide: Hawaii. Discovery Channel. Singapore: Apa Publications GmbH & Co., 2008. Booth, Douglas. “Ambiguities in Pleasure and Discipline: The Development of Competitive Surfing.” Journal of Sport History 22 (1995): 189–206. Booth, Douglas. “From Bikinis to Boardshorts: ‘Wahinese’ and the Paradoxes of Surfing Culture.” Journal of Sport History 28 (2001): 3–22. Houston, James D., and Ben Finney. Surfing: A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport. Petaluma, CA: Pomegranate Communications, 1996. Warshaw, Matt. The Encyclopedia of Surfing. Boston: Mariner Books, 2005.
Web Site Marcus, Ben. “From Polynesia with Love: The History of Surfing from Captain Cook to the Present.” Surfing for Life Web site: http://www.surfingforlife.com/history.html (accessed May 2010).
Tahiti and Tahitian Tahiti is the largest of the 118 Society Islands, which are a part of the French colony known as French Polynesia. Located in the southern portion of the Polynesian triangle, Tahiti is commonly used to refer to the Society Islands as a whole, just as the island of Hawaii’s name is also used to refer to the entire chain of islands. In addition to Tahiti, other main islands (in regards to size and population) include Mo’orea, Huahine, Raiatea, and Bora Bora. The Society Islands share similar landscape and topography, being formed by the same volcanic activity as other islands in the South Pacific. The slopes of these volcanic isles are incredibly steep, and with cloud or mist always looming at the peaks coupled with the contrast of lagoons lying calm; the sight is daunting beauty. These islands boast a wealth of geological fare, such as mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and idyllic beaches. Polynesian voyagers arrived in the Society Islands somewhere around 300 BCE and took to colonizing their discovery. Aside from being great navigators, the Polynesians were skilled at stone carving and masonry, and they practiced organized and efficient cultivation of the land. Colonized by the French in the latter part of the 19th century, these islanders were eventually dispossessed of their lands and their agricultural economy, but managed to preserve some of their cultural practices such as dance and oral tradition poetry, genealogy, and legends. Outside of the common geological and historical characteristics the Society Islands share, each island also has its own personality. Tahiti, population 170,000, is the capital of French Polynesia and the main center for tourism, and
Pacific Islander Americans: Tahiti and Tahitian
even though it is somewhat overcrowded, it is home to both French expatriates and the indigenous Polynesian people known as Tahitians. Mo’orea is visible from Tahiti and only a boat ride away, with exquisite beaches, and Raiatea is the cultural and spiritual center for the Tahitians. Huahine is a lush island inhabited by mostly Tahitians, and it is renowned for excellent surfing while also managing to stay under the commercial radar. Bora Bora is the quintessential South Pacific island, with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, in addition to being a magnet for Tahitian dancing and training for skilled dancers. Today’s Tahiti is a contrast of old and new, Tahitian and French, dependence and independence. Tourism is the major industry of Tahiti, and its natives seek to balance the economic need for tourism with the crowding and encroaching of new construction. Tahitians tend to be in the lower socioeconomic group, pleasantly keeping what they can of their simple, traditional ways, while the French fulfill the bourgeois role of accumulation and wealth. Of course, decades of intermarriage have yielded an additional population of persons—those who come from both worlds. Politically, there has always been some degree of tension and resistance from Tahitians in regard to France. In addition to France’s use of the waters of Tahiti and other French Polynesian islands to conduct nuclear testing, their usurpation of power and Tahiti’s loss of independence does not sit well with many Tahitians. Noting the patterns of subjugated or colonized people around the world, the movement for independence is a force that the Tahitians, French, and all people of Tahiti may have to weigh in on. Many Pacific Islanders, especially Polynesians, immigrate to other industrialized nations to escape limited domestic economic opportunities; however, there does not seem to be a great diaspora of Tahitians—at least not enough to quantify. The greatest concentration of Tahitians in America tend to be in Hawaii and California, locations that have established Tahitian communities and/or cultural and dance performance opportunities. Tahitian dance is probably more visible and present in America than actual Tahitian persons. —Nicole Kanahele Stutz
Further Reading Connell, John. “Paradise Left? Pacific Island Voyagers in the Modern World.” In Paul Spickard, Joanne L. Rondilla, and Debbie Hippolite Wright, eds. Pacific Diaspora: Island Peoples in the United States and Across the Pacific. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002, 69–86. Dodge, Ernest. Islands and Empires: Western Impact on the Pacific and East Asia. Ontario, Canada: Burns & MacEachern, 1976. Stanley, David, ed. South Pacific. 8th ed. Emeryville, CA: Avalon, 2004. Theroux, Paul. The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific. New York: Putnam, 1992.
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Traditional Medicine and Healing Traditional healing is one of the ways that Pacific islanders in America stay in touch with their indigenous cultures. Under these circumstances, the extended family is often engaged in a variety of ways to help those in distress wherever they reside. Insufficient or lack of medical insurance has pushed some islanders to pool their resources to bring in traditional healers. Pacific Islander Americans tip the national scale in terms of the highest incidence of noncommunicable diseases such as tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, cancer, and heart attacks and stroke among their populations. These are leading causes of death among PIs. For the most part, Pacific Islander Americans trust modern medicine and doctors to treat their illnesses, particularly those for which they have no traditional cure. However, it is not uncommon for PIs to use traditional treatment simultaneously with their modern counterparts, particularly when they feel that the latter no longer work. At the height of colonialism in the islands, the Western healers felt that traditional healing was nothing more than superstition and voodooism. Moreover, missionaries helped to outlaw traditional healing methods and medicine from the villages, hence, traditional healing was banned although not erased; in fact, healers operated underground and were often consulted in the middle of the night to help. In Hawaii, traditional medicine is preferred by native Hawaiians who often distrust hospitals and staff. Today, alternative medicine is in vogue, and in many cases, Asian Pacific healing philosophies and methods have been incorporated into mainstream diagnosis and treatment. Alternative healing has become an American practice, although it has much of its roots in Asia and the Pacific. Pacific herbs like the noni have gained a significant market in the West, as has kava; recently, there has been talk of the tree mamala from Samoa as having great potential for the manufacture of a cure for HIV-AIDS. The noni, in its various stages and forms has been used for burns, cholesterol, and migranes, to name a few; kava is useful for numbing arthritic pains, and the niu or green coconut has multiple uses and health benefits. The use of the ti leaves to draw out the heat in one’s body is ubiquitous across the Pacific. In the islands, family houses are surrounded by flora that provides food, medicine, costumes, and decoration. Relatives in America often consult the homeland for certain herbs to be sent up for treatment. They even pay to bring up healers who would stay for a period of time, depending on the kind of relief they provide. Healers are normally middle-aged women who may no longer have household or cultural responsibilities to the extent that absence from home may be detrimental. Their powers and practices are inherited from their ancestors. Often, healers
Pacific Islander Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
are a class unto themselves; they pretty much set their own schedules around which the sick and the able-bodied revolve. Pacific Islanders compensate traditional healers in kind and/or monetarily. Healers almost always set a time limit for themselves. In many cases, healers determine the number of sessions and are very clear that consultation ends at that number regardless of whether the sick is cured. In other cases, the family ends the treatment when they feel it is not helping. Whatever the outcome, a healer is given a decent sendoff comprising money, clothes, and food. —Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz
Further Reading Kaholokula, Joseph Keawe’aimoku, Erin Saito, Marjorie K. Maua Renee Latimer, and Todd B. Seto. “Pacific Islanders’ Perspectives on Heart Failure Management.” Patient Educ Couns. 70(2) (2008): 281–291.
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Pakistani Americans History, People, and Culture Pakistani Americans refer to citizens of the United States of Pakistani heritage. Pakistani American communities or individuals migrated from what is modernday Pakistan to work, study, or settle in the United States. Early Pakistani immigrants to the United States were predominantly working-class laborers, while later immigrants were composed of students seeking higher education as well as many working professionals. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 210,000 U.S. citizens of Pakistani descent are living in the United States, including permanent residents. It is important to note that many noncitizens of Pakistani descent who have been residing in the United States for a long period of time also identify as Pakistani American.
Origins and Demographic Immigrants from the region that is modern-day Pakistan first came to the United States as early as the 18th century to work as agricultural laborers on the West Coast. The beginnings of a distinct “Pakistani” community in America, however, did not occur until the mid-20th century, when young students came to the United States to attend American universities and afterwards chose to settle in the country. After the signing of the INS Act of 1965, which eliminated certain immigrant quotas and promoted the immigration of professionals, the number of Pakistani immigrants to the United States increased significantly. According to one of the most recent focused studies on this population, there are about 500,000 Pakistanis in America, with the largest concentration in New York and New Jersey. Other large communities of Pakistani Americans can be found in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Detroit.
Classification Pakistani Americans are classified as “Asian Americans” or “Other Americans” by the U.S. Census Bureau. In response to the broadness of the category “Asian American,” many Pakistani Americans would classify themselves as “South
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Asian” or “South Asian American” instead. In 2000, a new racial category “Middle Eastern” was introduced into the U.S. census, and people of Pakistani descent have been included in this category. However, the majority of Pakistanis and Pakistani Americans would not identify as Middle Eastern despite sharing a similar religious affiliation. Pakistani Americans identify much more with other South Asians in terms of culture, history, and practices. It is also important to note that while Pakistanis and Pakistani Americans share much with Indians in terms of cultural practices, there remains a strong tendency, particularly among the older generation, to define one’s Pakistani identity against the notion or idea of being Indian. This is due to a history of antagonism between the two nations in the postcolonial Subcontinent. Second- and third-generation Pakistani Americans are less likely to formulate their identity in this way, instead finding a bond with many South Asians in the United States under the rubric of being “desi” or “American desi.” This latter category, which includes any person of South Asian heritage and the process of mixing in diaspora, involves the creation of a “fusion” culture. American desi culture combines South Asian cuisine, fashion, music, and language with Western culture. American desis also unite politically over coping with similar issues of disempowerment as a racial minority or person of color in the United States.
Religion, Language, and Culture The majority of Pakistani Americans identify as Muslim or followers of Islam and are Sunni, although there is a significant representation of Shias, Ismailis, and other minority sects. In addition, there are also Christians, Hindus, and Zoroastrians within the community. Religion plays an important role in the lives of many Pakistani Americans. At a young age, Pakistani American children are taught the Quran and prayers, both of which are generally recited in Arabic. Although many of them may not understand Arabic very well, emphasis is put on memorization and learning ritualistic verses. However, more recently, the importance of translating and gaining an understanding of the meaning of what is said in the Quran has been emphasized. Pakistani Americans worship at mosques and play a large part in educating the country about the ideals of Islam and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Linguistically, Pakistani Americans generally speak a combination of Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, English and some Pakistani regional dialect. Fifty percent of Pakistani Americans originate from the Punjab province of Pakistan and therefore also speak Punjabi. Other dialects/languages include Sindhi, Pashto, Kashmiri, Balochi, or Seraiki. Many first-generation Pakistani Americans are concerned that Urdu is being forgotten as more and more younger Pakistani Americans only know how to speak English.
Pakistani Americans: History, People, and Culture
The term “Pakistani American” encapsulates a variety of values, lifestyles, and perspectives. Culturally, Pakistani Americans practice a combination of South Asian, Islamic, and American rituals. Often the older generation holds on to an imagined “Pakistani culture,” which is a mixture of South Asian cultural and religious norms and includes speaking Urdu at home, eating Pakistani food, dressing in traditional garb, listening to Pakistani and Indian music, and passing on a variety of behavioral and religious norms to their children. An interesting phenomenon to note is that as the younger generation of Pakistani Americans reach adulthood, many of them follow one of two trajectories in terms of religio-cultural adaptation. For those who opt for a strong religious identity, many feel that their parents’ understanding of Islam is “polluted” with South Asian (specifically Indian/Hindu) cultural rituals that should be separated from the religion. This search for “religious purity” leads them to identify much more with Islam and much less with being Pakistani. On the other hand, there are some young Pakistani Americans who opt for a more secular path, shedding religious obligations in exchange for a more “Americanized” lifestyle. This is not to say that there are not many Pakistani Americans who are trying to find a balance between religion, culture, and adapting to the culture of the country they now call home. Many are raised watching American television, having a multicultural group of friends, listening to global music, and being inculcated with a wide range of values. While it is not easy to articulate what being “American” really means, adapting to “American culture” can sometimes be seen as losing one’s “Pakistani heritage.” This, of course, is something that all Asian Americans face as a new generation comes of age and new understandings of identity are articulated.
Economics and Politics Compared to other heritage groups in the United States, Pakistani Americans tend to be better educated, with 60 percent holding a bachelor’s degree or higher professional degrees. Many Pakistani Americans can be classified as middle or upper middle class. Newer immigrants, particularly those who are less educated, tend to be less affluent. Living in big cities and taking manual or unskilled jobs, this latter population can be found driving taxicabs or working at warehouses, gas stations, or convenience stores. More professionally oriented individuals are often doctors or engineers and move to more affluent neighborhoods as their prosperity increases. Wealthy family members will often help those who are less well off, and frequently send remittances to family in Pakistan. Giving their children a good education and owning a home are two of the greatest ambitions for Pakistani American parents. While early Pakistani immigrants struggled for visas and citizenship, they were generally not politically involved. Over time, and as the Pakistani American
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community has grown and gained wealth, voting and financially contributing to American political candidates has increased. With increased efforts by community leaders to encourage political involvement and voter registration, some Pakistani Americans have also been motivated to run for state senate and other local political offices. In the past, Pakistani Americans tended to vote Republican due to a shared sense of conservatism and the perceived notion that Republican presidents and leaders are more pro-Pakistani than Democrats. However, because President George W. Bush ultimately alienated Muslims at home and abroad due to the implementation of certain policies and actions, many Pakistani Americans have turned their support in favor of a Democratic administration. The election of President Barack Obama has further persuaded young Pakistani Americans to run for political office, as race is perceived as less of a barrier in being elected for influential positions of power in the United States.
Relations with Pakistan and Integration into American Society Sending financial support back to family members in the motherland and visiting their homeland often, most Pakistani Americans maintain a strong emotional and material bond with Pakistan. In recent times, particularly after 9/11, Pakistan’s political instability has caused some Pakistani Americans, particularly those of the younger generation, to disassociate themselves with the perceived extremism that has permeated the country. However, many Pakistani Americans still believe that the majority of the population in Pakistan remains relatively tolerant, diverse, and anti-extremist in their practice and understanding of Islam. Second- and third-generation Pakistani Americans tend to visit Pakistan much less than their parents, although they maintain cultural ties in terms of food, rituals, racial identity, and access to Pakistani culture through television and the Internet. In addition, the establishment of many Pakistani restaurants and stores in the United States has allowed them to maintain a symbolic and material tie with their heritage. Most Pakistani Americans find it relatively easy to integrate into American society due to upward mobility and their ability to adapt well in terms of language and profession. Whether opting for a more religious or secular path, young Pakistani Americans are well versed in pop culture, music, television, and vernacular. Prior to 9/11, Pakistani Americans did not face much discrimination. If they did, it was usually because they were conflated with Indians and thus dealt with specific racial slurs regarding Indian identity. After 9/11, there have been incidents of Pakistani Americans being targets of hate crimes and undergoing more security checks due to their Muslim background. According to certain reports, upwards of 45,000 Pakistanis living in New York were deported or left voluntarily after the September 11 attacks.
Pakistani Americans: History, People, and Culture
Pakistani American Organizations and Notable Pakistani Americans Pakistani Americans have set up a number of notable organizations and institutions in the United States, including the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America (APPNA), the Council of Pakistan American Affairs (COPAA), the Pakistan American Congress (PAC), the Pakistani American Cultural Studies Institute (PACSI) and the Pakistan American Democratic Forum (PADF), to name a few. In addition, they play a large part in many national Islamic organizations such as the Islamic Society of North American (ISNA). Young Pakistani Americans are also very active on college campuses through the Pakistani Student Association and Muslim Student Associations. Well-known Pakistani Americans have built reputations in the realms of politics, business and finance, academia, and entertainment in the United States.
Pakistani American Folklore Pakistani Americans bring over and inherit a rich body of expressive culture, ranging from narrative folklore and literature to music, dance, legends, and popular beliefs. Pakistani society, whether urban or rural, conservative or liberal, embraces an eclectic array of folk traditions and practices that combine cultural, regional, religious, and Western influences. As with all traditions, most have evolved over time, being reinvented or lost as new generations forge a novel sense of self and identity. Pakistani Americans are known for their ability to easily assimilate but also to maintain a strong sense of ethnic community. While this balance can sometimes be a struggle, upholding a strong Pakistani identity is done by celebrating the food, dress, and music of Pakistan, particularly in the private sphere. Often, the fusion of Western and Pakistani heritage allows Pakistani Americans to comfortably situate themselves in a diasporic context. In some cases, certain Pakistani traditions are selectively weeded out as, for example, individuals choose to highlight their Islamic as opposed to South Asian identity. In other cases, as people become more comfortable in the American context, specific patriarchal or inegalitarian beliefs from the motherland are abandoned. Pakistani Americans are also using new means, such as the Internet or other forms of Western expressive platforms, to educate both the younger generation and others about the complex folkloric traditions that color their cultural heritage. —Rabia Kamal
Further Reading Afzal, Ahmed. “Transnational Religious and Citizenship Practices and the Pakistani Immigrant Experience in Houston, Texas.” PhD thesis, Yale University, 2005.
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Pakistani Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Najam, Adil. Portrait of a Giving Community: Philanthropy by the Pakistani-American Diaspora. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006. Rajan, Gita, and Shailja Sharma, eds. New Cosmopolitanisms: South Asians in the U.S. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006. Zia, Helen. Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2000.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Beings or events that defy the laws of nature or are difficult to explain are, in many cultures, attributed to the realm of the supernatural. This is definitely the case in Pakistan, where superstitions are widespread and where ghosts and spirits are often sited and figured in narrative folklore. While ancestor worship is practiced neither in Pakistan nor in Pakistani American communities, belief in ghosts and spirits has become a controversial issue in relation to more orthodox interpretations of Islam in the country and within the diaspora. Ancestor worship, which is a prevalent practice amongst Hindu and Sikh South Asian communities, is generally looked down upon as un-Islamic in Pakistani America. However, belief in spirits and ghosts is a common aspect of Pakistani culture and has been brought over to the United States by immigrants from the region. Pakistani Americans, particularly those of the first generation, often believe that souls of the restless dead do return to haunt the living. Many attribute their belief in ghosts and spirits to the Quran, which confirms the existence of jinn. In Islamic and pre-Islamic folklore, jinn are supernatural creatures that possess free will and can be either good or evil. According to the Quran, jinn are made by God and generally exist in a world separate from humans, although they may often harass or possess humans due to infatuation, revenge, or through the practice of black magic. Muslims are expected to believe in jinn and their ability to “cross over” into the human realm, but not necessarily to worship them as they would God. Alternatively, followers of certain Islamic Sufi traditions both in Pakistan and in Pakistani American communities engage in worship of spiritual ancestors. While the existence of jinn is passed down as a religious belief from generation to generation, many young Pakistani Americans may dismiss such beliefs as tantamount to believing in ghosts, which is seen as mere mythology. More conservatively religious Pakistanis and Pakistani Americans therefore dislike translating the notion of jinn to “spirits” or “ghosts” because belief in the latter is seen as unscientific, superstitious, and fantastical in the modern world. Followers of a more orthodox interpretation of Islam would argue that jinn do exist, and belief in them is parallel to believing in such entities as God, the devil, and angels. Furthermore, in an attempt to separate Islam from “cultural traditions” of the
Pakistani Americans: Arts and Crafts
homeland, Pakistani Americans would attribute “folkloric” or “backwards” belief or worship in spirits and ghosts (as distinct from jinn) as inherited from Indian or Hindu traditions. This distinction, more blurry in Pakistan, is a deliberate attempt by Pakistani Americans to define a specific niche for themselves in the United States, as opposed to being lumped into the larger South Asian category, which is often seen as essentially Indian and non-Muslim. As mentioned earlier, while Pakistani Americans do not generally engage in ancestor worship, they do take pride in identifying and tracing back their ancestral lineage. Again, those Pakistani Americans who wish to affiliate more with Islam and less with their South Asian heritage try and retrace their ancestral lineage further back to Persia, Turkey, and the Middle East as opposed to the more immediate connection with India. Others, particularly those whose families migrated across the border as muhajirs, recognize the deep influences of the Indian subcontinent in their cultural and spiritual heritage. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Religion; Superstition and Taboo.
Further Reading El-Zein, Amira. Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2009. Glasse´, Cyrus. The New Encyclopedia of Islam. 3rd ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008. Pinault, David. Notes from the Fortune-Telling Parrot: Islam and the Struggle for Religious Pluralism in Pakistan. London: Equinox Publishing, 2008. Zarabozo, Sh. Jamaal. The World of Jinn and Devils. Denver, CO: Al-Basheer Publications & Translations, 1998.
Arts and Crafts Arts and crafts are an important and vibrant part of Pakistani cultural heritage, and each province of the country has unique forms of material artistic expression. While many Pakistani Americans proudly display traditional arts and handicraft in their home, with a few exceptions, the tradition of craftsmanship has essentially been lost in the diaspora. Regional arts and crafts in Pakistan are diverse and employ a wide array of material and skill. For example, hand-etched copper and brass decorations and housewares boasting elaborate floral and arabesque patterns are unique to the city of Peshawar, while the city of Multan is known for its hand-crafted glazed
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terracotta tiles. The province of Baluchistan produces handwoven rugs, while in the region of Kashmir, chain-stitched embroidered fabrics and handwoven shawls are widely made. In the Punjab, the art of making hand-knotted carpets can be traced back to the Mughal period, and both wool and silk carpets made in urban centers are a major export for the country. Crafts in other parts of the nation are made of silver and marble, and much of the country is known for a variety of embroidery and textile-related workmanship. Pakistani arts and crafts embody a combination of Islamic and non-Islamic influences from the subcontinent. This aspect of an eclectic cultural heritage reflects the nuances of Pakistani American identity. In addition to balancing the Islamic and non-Islamic elements that reflect Pakistani culture, Pakistani Americans also seek to incorporate “Americanness” into the cultural mix. Thus, the kind of arts and crafts they display in their homes reflect the unique way in which they balance the various aspects of their identity. Many Pakistani Americans adorn their homes with traditional woven rugs, cushion covers, and other decorations from Pakistan. A recent rise in the appreciation of calligraphy is also reflected in the displaying of calligraphic paintings made in Pakistan. This surge resonates with some Pakistani Americans’ desire to bring the more “Islamic” aspects of their cultural and artistic heritage to the forefront. Finally, one of the most prevalent ways in which Pakistani craftsmanship is exhibited in the diasporic context is through clothing. Traditional embroidery, patterns, and artistic style involved in making clothes is celebrated in Pakistani America both through the replication of handiwork and in the wearing of Pakistani dress. Certain communities in America have tried to revive Pakistani arts and craftsmanship in their local contexts by teaching their children about their heritage and encouraging learning of some art form. They have also revived the appreciation of Pakistani arts and crafts by mixing them with Western art forms through fusion and collaboration (this phenomenon is also occurring in the realm of music and literature). However, most Pakistani Americans will admit that Pakistani art and handicrafts as a form of heritage is dwindling in the American context. This, along with the loss of language, is a source of major concern for the Pakistani American elders who firmly believe that one’s cultural heritage should not be lost as the younger generation comes of age. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Literature and Folklore; Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner.
Further Reading Malik, Iftikhar H. Culture and Customs of Pakistan. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006.
Pakistani Americans: Children’s Folk Song Maskiell, Michelle. “Embroidering the Past: Phulkari Textiles and Gendered Work as ‘Tradition’ and ‘Heritage’ in Colonial and Contemporary Punjab.” Journal of Asian Studies 58 (1999): 361–388.
Children’s Folk Song Pakistan has a rich tradition of folk music and song expressing aspects of everyday life as well as narrating folk legends, distinguishing this genre from traditional or classical music, which deals with more emotive and existential topics. In Pakistan, each province has its own variation of popular folk music and thus is often sung in a variety of local languages and dialects. Whereas folk song is often passed down from generation to generation in rural and remote regions of the country, much of this aspect of Pakistani cultural heritage is lost in the Pakistani diaspora. While folk music is not as popular in the Pakistani American community, a renaissance in the appreciation and perpetuation of traditional, classical, and modern forms of music is definitely underway. Pakistani music is seen as a powerful way to bring generations of the diaspora together in enjoying the rich fusion of South Asian, Persian, Arabic, Turkish and modern American sounds that make Pakistani music what it is today. The older generation in particular values the pure sound of such types of music as the ghazal or qawwali. The ghazal is a poetic form originating in 10th-century Persian verse, traditionally expressing themes of lost love, separation, and loneliness. Spread throughout South Asia by Sufi mystics, more contemporary ghazals are witty lyrical expressions of political dissent and bawdy innuendos as well as lessons of life. The qawwali, or devotional music of a sect of Sufis, is a vibrant musical tradition that has gained mainstream popularity through such legendary performers as Abida Perveen and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Khan, in particular, has collaborated with the likes of Madonna and Eddie Vedder to create a form of qawwali fusion that is immensely popular in the Pakistani American community. The widespread appreciation of Sufi fusion music in the diaspora can be seen with the hosting of concerts and forums inviting performers from Pakistan such as Salman Ahmad from the popular band Junoon and the disciples of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. In recent time, there has been some interest in the study and revival of Pakistani folk music, although this is primarily by academics in the United States. For example, with the increased domestic as well as international awareness of the northern areas of Pakistan, research on the extensive oral history of regions such as Gilgit and Chitral reveals rich traditions of folk music that have managed to stay alive for centuries. With histories that date back several thousands of years, folk traditions such as Shina and Khowar music have remained relatively pure and widely used in these more isolated regions of the country.
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Pakistani music in the 21st century has revitalized itself to become a global presence, with a rich blend of classical and folk music with Western sounds. Themes in modern Pakistani music range from timeless issues such as love and loneliness, to more contemporary issues of transnational identity and breaking free of traditional norms or creating a fusion of values. Many young people in Pakistan as well as in Pakistani America take pride in listening to this new sound that stems from their cultural heritage, alongside mainstream western music. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Heroes and Heroines.
Further Reading Abbas, S. B. The Female Voice in Sufi Ritual: Devotional Practices of Pakistan and India. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. LeVine, Mark. Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2008. Qureshi, Regula. Sufi Music of India and Pakistan: Sound, Context, and Meaning in Qawwali. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Clothes and Jewelry Buying and making traditional clothing and jewelry is a pastime and interest for many Pakistani American women. This is an almost exclusive concern of women in the Pakistani American community, although it is interesting to note that in Pakistan, it is men who mostly sell cloth, tailor clothing, and make jewelry, especially in major urban centers. In the United States, Pakistani men and children tend to wear Westernized clothing much more than traditional garb. Women, particularly of the elder generation, often continue to wear the national dress of Pakistan, called the shalwaar kameez. While over time, fewer and fewer Pakistani Americans don shalwaar kameez as everyday wear, traditional clothing is still worn at weddings and holidays. A traditional Pakistani outfit consists of loose-fitting pantaloons and a long, airy shirt for both men and women, although there is some regional variety. Women also add an extra scarf that can be used to loosely cover the head or drape across the chest, and their clothes are generally more vibrant in color and design. In more recent times, both in Pakistan and in Pakistani American communities, there has been an increased tendency for women to cover their heads with an additional headscarf. Shalwaar kameez for women has evolved over time with the
Pakistani Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
incorporation of new fabrics, forms of embroidery, and designs. “Modern” or “Westernized” forms can be more form-fitting, incorporate a fusion of designs, and generally be more revealing. Ironically, the modernized style of shalwaar kameez is worn more often in urban cities in Pakistan than in Pakistani American communities, where more traditional forms are preferred in an attempt to preserve a sense of cultural heritage. Other forms of Pakistani clothing for women include saaris and lenghas, which are often worn at more formal occasions. The older generation of Pakistani American women will often have traditional Pakistani clothing ordered from Pakistan. More recently, Pakistani clothing stores and boutiques have opened locally in the United States. The fact that shalwaar kameez is comfortable and appropriately covers the figure is part of its continuing popularity among Pakistani American women. In addition, hand-stitching and detailed embroidery and design give traditional Pakistani clothing an edge and uniqueness as compared to Western clothing. Wearing shalwaar kameez is also a way for Pakistani Americans to maintain a sense of tradition and to express a cultural identity. Alongside clothes, intricately made silver and gold jewelry—including bangles, nose rings, necklaces, earrings, and anklets—are popular among women. Pakistani and Pakistani American men tend not to wear much jewelry, and are particularly prohibited from wearing gold as an Islamic tradition. Young Pakistani Americans tend to avoid wearing traditional Pakistani dress to school or in public for fear of sticking out or seeming “un-American.” They are more comfortable in jeans and T-shirts, although Pakistani American girls have the additional concern of balancing Western clothing with a certain sense of propriety that requires not revealing too much skin. It is only during holidays or weddings that everyone in the Pakistani American community wears traditional clothing. On such occasions, shalwaar kameez is often more formal and, for women and girls, can be very bright and covered with gold embroidery, meticulous beadwork, and sparkling sequins. Bridal wear is traditionally red and consists of a long top and skirt (lengha) accompanied by a vibrant head covering. A large amount of jewelry is passed down or gifted to the bride from her mother and mother-in-law, and become part of her wedding trousseau as an aspect of cultural and religious tradition. —Rabia Kamal
Further Reading Bhachu, Parminder. Dangerous Designs: Asian Women Fashion the Diaspora Economies. New York: Routledge, 2004. Ludwig, Tiffany, and Renee Piechocki. Trappings: Stories of Women, Power and Clothing. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007.
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Dying and Death Rituals In Pakistani America, rituals surrounding death are predominantly based on Islamic prescriptions and are similar to practices in Pakistan. For Pakistani Americans and Muslims in general, the entirety of life constitutes a trial that ultimately leads to death and the life hereafter. Therefore, while losing a loved one is an emotionally painful time, death is also considered a time of hope and mercy when the deceased return to their Lord. When an individual in the community is seriously or fatally ill, it is custom for members of the extended family and of the community to visit them and try to provide comfort through the remembrance of God. Prayers are offered, and ultimately there remains a firm belief that the invalid’s fate is in the hands of God. When a person passes away, readings of the Quran are part of each stage of the funeral. While funerals in Islam follow fairly specific rites, they are subject to regional interpretation and variation. Washing the corpse is a religious custom for Pakistani Americans, and such tradition is promoted by the example of the prophets of God. Also a part of the Abrahamic tradition of Islam is the shrouding of the corpse in sheets of cloth after it is cleansed. Prior to the burial, members of the community gather for what is called salat al-janazah or the funeral prayer, and is performed in congregation to seek pardon for the deceased. It is during the funeral procession that Pakistani Americans have moved away from traditional norms in Pakistan. In Pakistan, women are discouraged from participating in the funeral procession because it is believed that they tend to display their emotional grief much more openly, and this is undesirable at the graveyard. However, in the United States, more and more women are seen joining in the funeral procession and accompanying men to the graveyard to the lay the body to rest. At the graveyard, bodies are either directly laid into the ground or may be put in a casket. The men of the family lay the body to rest and symbolically pour three handfuls of soil into the grave while reciting the following verse from the Quran: “We created you from it, and return you into it, and from it we will raise you a second time” (20:55). According to tradition, loved ones and relatives of the deceased are to observe a three-day mourning period in the Pakistani American community, characterized by increased devotion, avoiding decorative clothing and jewelry, and receiving visitors and condolences. Widows observe an extended mourning period. The observance of very specific rituals surrounding dying and death in Pakistani America is considered incredibly important to maintaining cultural and Islamic edicts within the community. Only minor aspects of the tradition are altered, particularly with respect to certain gender roles in the funeral process. Otherwise, the sanctity of the tradition is upheld because Pakistani Americans
Pakistani Americans: Family and Community
see death as the most powerful reminder of their religious heritage and their existential reason for being in this world. —Rabia Kamal
Further Reading Chambers, Catherine. End-of-life Rituals. London: Evans Publishing Group, 2006. Gatrad, R. A. “Muslim Customs Surrounding Death, Bereavement, Postmortem Examinations, and Organ Transplants.” British Medical Journal 309 (1994): 521–523. Joseph, Suad, ed. Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, Body, Sexuality and Health. Vol. 3. Boston: Brill, 2006.
Family and Community Pakistani social structure has traditionally been based on the existence of a strong extended or joint family system. In extended families, several generations live under the same roof, and the network of relatives serves as a close-knit community providing financial, social, and moral support. In recent decades, as a result of urbanization and migration, this traditional family system has become less the norm, particularly in large urban centers where living quarters are small and resources are limited. In the context of Pakistani America, most communities are made of nuclear families. Pakistanis who immigrate to the United States will usually choose to live in a nuclear family setting, but often move to a community where other Pakistanis live. Thus, the larger community replaces the extended family system in terms of social support and belonging. Financially, most Pakistani American nuclear families remain independent from other families in the neighborhood, although remittances are sent back to the extended family in Pakistan. This is one way in which Pakistani Americans maintain strong ties with their homeland. Exceptions to the nuclear family in Pakistani America occurs when other family members in Pakistan are sponsored to come and live in the United States. Often, they will come to America with little money or resources and thus expect to live in the household of a family member already settled in the country. There are also situations in which wellestablished Pakistani Americans may ask their elderly parents to come and live with them. In such instances, some semblance of an extended family system comes into place where resources are shared and elders care for and become role models for the younger generation. As Pakistani Americans become more assimilated into American culture, a sense of community is provided less from family and more from friends and other social networks such as the mosque or community center. In most
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instances, the average Pakistani American nuclear family includes a father, who is the main breadwinner, a mother who is in charge of the home and raising children, and two to four children. Traditional values and behavioral norms are established and maintained in social settings such as community dinners, religious gatherings, cultural events, and holidays. Some of the alleged disadvantages of living in an extended family household are thus overcome in the Pakistani American context. These include the additional financial burden associated with an increased number of dependents living in one household, the lack of privacy, and the fact that many personal decisions are dictated by family elders. However, some of the advantages of a joint family system that are lost in the American context are financial security in times of crisis as well as less family stability as divorce becomes less of a social taboo. The shift to a nuclear family setup also has specific effects on Pakistani American youth. Particularly in households where both parents work, the importance of family ties and the passing down of traditional values and ideals that is present in a joint family is lacking. In addition, most young Pakistani Americans become more independent and often leave home for college, which is not the case in extended family households. To make up for some of the cultural education that is lost, many Pakistani American parents insist on intense socializing with other Pakistani families, visit relatives that may live in other parts of the United States, and try to take annual trips to Pakistan so that their children do not lose touch with extended family members and their cultural heritage. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Identity.
Further Reading Aitchison, Cara, Peter Hopkins, and Mei-po Kwan, eds. Geographies of Muslim Identities: Diaspora, Gender and Belonging. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007. Qadeer, Mohammad Abdul. Pakistan: Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation. Oxford: Routledge, 2009. Wardak, Ali. Social Control and Deviance: A South Asian Community in Scotland. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000.
Festivals and Holidays Festivals and holidays play an important role in the celebration and expression of Pakistani culture, and in passing down a sense of community and identity from one generation to the next. While in Pakistan, a plethora of cultural, religious,
Pakistani Americans: Festivals and Holidays
Pakistani Americans in Brooklyn, New York, gather to celebrate Pakistan Independence Day, 2009. (David M. Grossman/The Image Works)
seasonal, and local festivals and holidays are celebrated throughout the year, the Pakistani American community actively celebrates a smaller number of such traditions. Observed festivals and holidays in the Pakistani American community are predominantly a combination of traditional Pakistani religious holidays (sometimes mixed with local or cultural variations) and the adoption of American holidays and festivals. Pakistani American communities across the United States celebrate two major Islamic holidays, Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, or the holy month of fasting for Muslims. The holiday is a three-day celebration during which family and friends get together to celebrate the successful end of Ramadan. Because the first day of Eid-ul-Fitr is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon, Pakistani American Muslim communities on the East Coast may celebrate Eid on a different day than those on the West Coast. The morning of the first day involves the Eid prayer, where men, women, and children congregate to offer an early morning prayer before the festivities. Usually dressed in traditional Pakistani dress, families then visit each other’s homes and celebrate by eating special sweet dishes and meals. Eid-ul-Adha, the other major religious holiday widely celebrated in the Pakistani American community, is known as the “Festival of Sacrifice” and commemorates the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of
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obedience to God. Men, women, and children are expected to dress in their finest clothes to attend morning prayers. The most significant part of this particular Eid is that Muslims who can afford to so are expected to sacrifice an animal (usually goats, but also camels, sheep, and goats) as a symbol of Ibrahim’s sacrifice. The meat from the sacrifice is distributed to the poor. During Eid-ul-Adha, which also marks the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, young children receive gifts or money. Cultural holidays and festivals celebrated in the Pakistani American community include both the Pakistani and American days of independence. In areas where there are large Pakistani American communities, such as Chicago, Pakistan Independence Day is marked by parades, dancing, music and the distribution of traditional sweets by Pakistani shopowners. Young people walk the streets waving the Pakistani flag and wearing traditional clothing. The Fourth of July is also celebrated by having barbecues, attending parades, and watching fireworks. One other Pakistani cultural festival called Basant is sometimes celebrated in the American context. Basant, which has its roots in both Hindu and local Punjabi folk tradition, is a kite-flying festival that marks the coming of spring and is predominantly celebrated in the province of Punjab in Pakistan. Basant is sometimes celebrated by Pakistani communities in the United States whereby young people gather and fly kites. Many Pakistani Americans also celebrate Thanksgiving in a traditional manner, with families getting together over a traditional Thanksgiving meal to give thanks. Young Pakistani Americans also join in the festivities of Halloween and dress up in costumes to go trick-or-treating. Pakistani American Christians, and on occasion Muslims, also celebrate Christmas. By celebrating an amalgamation of Pakistani and American holidays, Pakistani American communities find a balanced way to embrace their hyphenated identities. Through Islamic and Pakistani cultural holidays, the older generation is able to pass down rituals, tales, and legends associated with Eid, Basant, and the independence of Pakistan. American holidays are observed with equal rigor as a way of partaking in the larger American landscape and appreciating what it means to belong to and celebrate American culture. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Family and Community.
Further Reading Geijbels, M. Muslim Festivals and Ceremonies in Pakistan. Rawalpindi, Pakistan: Christian Study Centre, 1989. Malik, Iftikhar H. Culture and Customs of Pakistan. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.
Pakistani Americans: Folk Dance
Folk Dance In Pakistan, folk and tribal dances are performed for every possible occasion, to celebrate the arrival of seasons, the birth of a child, a wedding, and festivals. Traditional Pakistani folk dance varies from region to region in terms of style, expression, and performance. Some of the more popular ones include the luddi, khatak and bhangra. These forms of dance, as well as more generic styles, have been brought over to the United States by Pakistani immigrants. However, the practice of folk dancing, which is so prevalent in Pakistan, is limited in the Pakistani American community and occurs predominantly on the occasion of weddings. In preparing for Pakistani American weddings, young girls and boys practice choreographed folk dances that will be performed at the mehndi or first day of the wedding. These dances vary in their complexity, some involving many different coordinated hand gestures and footwork, while others are more simple. Boys and girls perform some dances together, while in other cases certain dances are gender specific. Pakistani folk dance involves the subtle and sometimes intricate movements of hands and feet, as well as hips and torso in the case of female performers. Wedding folk dance performances in the American context are accompanied by electronic music as opposed to or in addition to drums and vocals, and more recently such dances are also performed to remixes, Bollywood theme songs, and Western music. Perhaps the most popular folk dance form in Pakistani America is the bhangra (the term also refers to a specific genre of music), which has experienced a resurgence in popularity both in urban Pakistan as well as amongst youth in the diaspora. Originally performed during the harvest season in the Pakistani and Indian provinces of Punjab, this dance form involves explosive and exuberant bursts of movement to upbeat drum tempo. In the diaspora, many South Asian disc jockeys have mixed bhangra music with house, reggae, and hip-hop. This fusion appeals to Pakistani American and other immigrant youth because it is seen as a tool for strategic identity politics, raising awareness surrounding racism and colonization and providing a new sense of Asian identity. Feeding off mainstream black dance genres, bhangra music and dance defies essentialism by mixing seemingly incommensurable sounds and culture in new and provocative ways. Aside from weddings, the one other context in which traditional folk dances are celebrated and performed in the United States are on college campuses, where South Asian dance teams and clubs try to revive their cultural heritage through performance. While these groups are dominated by students of Indian descent, some Pakistani American youth bring their versions of folk dance to the stage. Finally, in major urban centers like New York and Chicago, certain nightclubs
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have bhangra nights where specifically South Asian music and remixes are danced to by people of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Connell, John. Soundtracks: Popular Music, Identity and Place. London: Routledge, 2002. Maira, Sunaina. Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in NYC. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. Nair, Ajay. Desi Rap: South Asian Americans in Hip Hop. Plymouth, MA: Lexington Books, 2008.
Folk Music The Pakistani American population is indeterminate, but falls somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000 individuals. Most of the population resides in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, Texas, and Washington, DC. About half of the population possesses ancestral ties to the Punjab province of Pakistan. The other half is composed of individuals from other ethnic groups within Pakistan. As with most of the Asian American populations, many individuals are highly influenced by urbanization. The urbanization ultimately shapes creative, cultural elements. This is especially true for Pakistani American music. Of all the music traditions from Pakistan, the most widely known type of music is qawwali. Qawwali music is steeped in Islamic religious traditions as a form of intensive, vocal singing and poetry with minimal instrumentation. The importance of qawwali stems as a musical vehicle to convey the message of Allah. The most common instruments in Pakistani folk music are dholak (drum), harmonium, sarangi, and tabla. Pakistani folk music and qawwali may be performed at religious events, academic institutions, community cultural centers, and other localized venues in America. The most popular Pakistani folk musicians never had American citizenship, but they had worldwide album releases or touring visits over the years. The most common purveyor of qawwali folk music was Nusrat Fateh Al Khan. Others include Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Group, The Sabri Brothers, and Bakhshi Javed Salamat Ali. Unfortunately, Pakistani American folk music ensembles are virtually nonexistent and not well known. Pakistani American musical activity primarily draws upon the contemporary music of mainstream America. The most common musical genres created by Pakistani Americans are dance, trance, pop, hip-hop, and rap. Probably the most
Pakistani Americans: Foods and Foodways
pop-oriented Pakistani American singer today is Libyan-born Nadia Ali. Formerly of the dance band iiO (pronounced “Eye-O”), Nadia performed dance chart hits in the early 2000s. Residing in Queens, New York, Nadia recently produced an album of pop and dance music in 2009 titled Embers. The founding member of the Pakistani rock band Junoon now resides in New York. Mr. Capone-E and Bohemia are from California and primarily perform gangster rap and hip-hoptype music. Kamran Rasheed Khan is another rap/hip-hop artist from Detroit, Michigan. Kamran, also known as MC Lazarus, was a rapper and medical student in the early 2000s. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Pakistani Americans: Folk Dance.
Further Reading Ahmad, Salman. http://www.junoon.com (accessed February 24, 2010). Ali, Nadia. Embers. Smile in Bed. SIB-006. “MC Lazarus, Rapper and Docter.” htt://www.pakhiphop.com/2009/06/mc-lazarus -rapper-and-docter.html (accessed February 24, 2010). Mr. Capone-E Web site. Available from http://mrcapone-e.net/main.html (accessed February 23, 2010).
Foods and Foodways Food and foodways are integral to Pakistani American culture, identity, and way of life. Pakistani Americans take great pride in their cuisine, and eating is often a communal and social practice. Cultural authenticity of recipes and dishes are valued and maintained over time as they are passed down from generation to generation. Pakistani cuisine—a fusion of Central Asian, Middle Eastern, Persian, and Indian traditions—is known for being spicy and for its aromatic and flavorful richness. Regional variety is reflected in Pakistani American dishes depending on which part of Pakistan families have immigrated from, although there are basic staples that run across regional differences. The arrival of Islam to the Indian subcontinent and the Mughal Empire both greatly influenced the development of a specific Pakistani cuisine, which later was brought to America through the diaspora. While it is often compared to north Indian cuisine, Pakistani food generally includes much more meat and a few distinct spices, and it is devoid of alcohol or pork, which is forbidden in Islam. Cooking techniques influenced by Mughal culture include the use of herbs, spices, and nuts in main dishes, which are often curried or barbecued.
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Home-cooked Pakistani cuisine in a Pakistani American family located in Redwood City, California: chicken biryani (rice dish), nihari (spiced lamb stew), roasted chicken with herbs and spices, stewed okara, mango juice, and a Pakistani soda called Pakola. (Rabia Kamal)
Pakistani Americans usually consume three meals, with dinner being considered the main meal of the day as the entire family usually eats together. While in Pakistan, breakfast is a heavy meal and can consist of fried savory and sweet dishes, since coming to the United States, many Pakistani Americans have adjusted to skipping or eating a quick breakfast before heading off to work or school. Tea is usually consumed three to four times a day and can serve as a replacement for a more traditional breakfast. For lunch and dinner, main courses are often served with a light salad, consisting of cucumbers and onions, and wheat bread or rice. Dessert is usually an assortment of fresh fruit or traditional sweets served with tea. Pakistani dishes are known for their hot and spicy flavors, and spices used include cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, cumin seeds, bay leaves, coriander and garam masala (a combination of hot spices). Main dishes included beef, chicken, fish, lentils, and vegetables and are served in a curry or sauce. Many Pakistani Americans will only consume halal meat, or meat which is slaughtered in a particular manner according to Islamic requirements. Variations of lentils, rice, and kebabs (spicy lamb or chicken marinated in a mixture of yogurt, lemon juice, and spices) are also popular. Pakistani American dishes tend to maintain their spiciness, although some Pakistani Americans choose to reduce spices and the use of oil, either because over time their palate cannot handle so much spice or because they are more cognizant of health concerns related to eating heavy, spicy food.
Pakistani Americans: Heroes and Heroines
Social and family gatherings around meals are an important way in which Pakistani Americans build a sense of community and maintain a Pakistani identity. While meals during the weekday are usually eaten with the nuclear family, weekends and holiday meals are occasions for community building, social bonding, and discussing cultural and political concerns both in the United States and back in Pakistan. Many Pakistani American restaurants have cropped up all over the United States, and the blending of Pakistani and Western or other international recipes is more common. In addition, many ready-made spices and frozen Pakistani foods are now available at ethnic grocery stores across American urban centers. —Rabia Kamal
Further Reading Mills, Margaret A. “Foodways in a Karakorum Community: Notes toward a Handbook of Pakistani Cuisine and Food Customs.” In William Hanaway, ed. Studies in the Popular Culture of Pakistan. Islamabad: Lok Virsa, 1996. Siddiqui, Huma. Jasmine in Hair. Madison, WI: White Jasmine Press, Inc., 2004.
Heroes and Heroines Pakistani American heroes and heroines range from political figures to musicians and sportsmen, both from Pakistan as well as the United States and other parts of the world. Often, who is considered a hero or heroine differs from one generation to the next, although there are certain figures who are held in high regard by all Pakistani Americans regardless of age or affiliation. Perhaps one of the most popular heroes in contemporary times for both older and younger Pakistani Americans is Imran Khan. The former cricketer led the Pakistani cricket team to its most memorable victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Known for his dashing good looks and articulate manner, Khan has since retired from cricket and become involved in politics, activism, and fund-raising for a renowned cancer hospital he founded in Lahore. Khan has traveled around the world in fundraising campaigns for this latter endeavor, and has been hosted and celebrated by many Pakistani American communities for this cause. While other Pakistani cricket players and athletes are also celebrated in the Pakistani American community, none reached such heights of fame and heroism as Imran Khan. Other Pakistani heroes and heroines include Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a 20thcentury politician and statesman known to be the founder of Pakistan. Another Pakistani hero is Sir Muhammad Iqbal, more commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal. Iqbal, a poet, philosopher, and politician, is said to have written some of the greatest Persian and Urdu poetry of the modern era. It is Allama Iqbal’s vision
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of an independent state for the Muslims in colonial India that is said to have inspired the creative of Pakistan. In the world of entertainment, two of the most popular Pakistani singers that have held great repute in Pakistani America are Noor Jehan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Noor Jehan, a singer and actress in Pakistan, is known as one of the greatest singers of her time in South Asia. Holding an incredible 10,000 songs to her singing credits in various languages of Pakistan, she is also considered to be the first female Pakistani film director. Noor Jehan’s music is particularly appreciated by the older generation of Pakistani Americans, who see her music as symbolic of an older time when the production of music and film in Pakistan was authentic and celebrated across South Asia. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was a legendary Punjabi musician who was known for his qawwalis, or the devotional music of the Sufi sect of Islam. He was featured in Time’s 2006 list of “Asian Heroes.” Aside from his incredible skill and haunting voice, Fateh Ali Khan’s appeal to the younger generation of Pakistani Americans stems from his many collaborations with famous Western artists such as Peter Gabriel, Eddie Vedder, and Alanis Morissette. In addition to the resurgence of Sufi traditions and music in the West, which has fostered an appreciation and fascination with Fateh Ali Khan’s work, his ability to bring together the East and the West in his music has provided both a sense of familiarity and pride for young Pakistani Americans. Shifting to the American context, many young Pakistani Americans in particular have found heroes in the realm of sports, entertainment, and politics. Figures such as Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are particularly appealing because of their affiliation with Islam, and that through their claim to fame, these heroes addressed issues of race and marginalization in the United States that resonate with Pakistani Americans. Other heroes for the Pakistani American community include, more recently, President Barack Obama, who has given all people of color hope through his election as the first black president of the United States. Finally, in the more religiously observant parts of Pakistani America, individuals such as Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, a convert and Islamic scholar, has gained popularity. This is because Sheikh Yusuf is able to be a role model for young Pakistani Americans who are trying to balance their religious with their American identity without feeling the need to compromise one for the other. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani America: Identity.
Further Reading Corrigan, Peter. “Imran Khan: The Road from Cricket to Politics.” In David L. Andrews and Steven J. Jackson, eds. Sport Stars: The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrity. London: Routledge, 2001, 231–242.
Pakistani Americans: Home Decoration Jaffrelot, Christopher. A History of Pakistan and Its Origins. London: Anthem Press, 2000. Kanda, K. C. Allama Iqbal: Selected Poetry. New Delhi: New Dawn Press, 2006. Rajan, Gita, and Shailja Sharma, eds. New Cosmopolitanisms: South Asians in the U.S. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006. Ruby, Ahmed A. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: A Living Legend. Saratoga, NY: Words of Wisdom, 1992.
Home Decoration Pakistani American home decoration varies according to taste and income, although most homes are adorned with an amalgamation of Western, Pakistani, Persian, and Islamic art, ornaments, and furniture. Middle and upper middle class families in the Pakistani American community usually have well-sized homes with plenty of room for decoration. The family, dining, and guest rooms are usually the focal point of attention. Women generally spend much time decorating these spaces, and regard the presentation of a well-decorated home as a status symbol. Large, comfortable couches are accented with one of the most common elements of Pakistani home decor—elegant Persian or Afghan carpets. Persian carpets, an essential part of Persian art and culture, are appreciated for their luxurious material, intricate weaving, and colorful motifs. Pakistani Americans, particularly those with wealth, will often buy multiple Persian rugs for rooms in their home. Other cultural art and adornments from Pakistan include handicrafts, embroidered silk-cushion covers, hand-carved wooden furniture, pottery, silver, and marble pieces. In addition to crystal and porcelain vases, many Pakistani American homes also display artwork on walls. One of the most popular genres of paintings found Mahogany wooden serving tray with in many homes is Mughal paintings. Mughal-era miniature painting in Redwood Often done in watercolor by Pakistani City, California. (Rabia Kamal)
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and Persian artists, these paintings capture the glory of the Mughal Empire through depicting the Mughal dynasty, their lifestyle, art and architecture. In tandem with other trajectories that signal the evolution of Pakistani American culture that distinguishes it from Pakistani culture, more Pakistani Americans use Islamic art and motifs as opposed to Mughal- or Indian-inspired art to decorate their homes. This does not necessarily mean that such individuals are very religiously observant, but such trends demonstrate a shift in identity that affiliates more with the Middle East, Iran, and Muslim South Asia as opposed to India. A rise in appreciating and displaying Arabic calligraphy can be seen in Pakistani American home decor. Calligraphic design is prevalent in Islamic art, and is usually expressed in a mix of Quranic verses and historical proclamations. Calligraphy has arguably become the most venerated forms of Islamic art because it provides a link between Islamic languages and art form with Islam. Thus, this form of art allows Pakistani Americans to combine their appreciation of their artistic heritage with their respect for the Quran. In addition, for very conservative or orthodox Muslims, hanging or displaying pictures or artwork with human figures or animals is considered un-Islamic and a form of idolatry. While such belief is not common in most Pakistani American families, for those who strictly adhere to these limitations, calligraphic art becomes an appealing alternative. Through the ways in which they decorate their homes, Pakistani Americans are able to creatively express the various aspects and cultures that make up their identity. Most families proudly display Pakistani handiwork, Persian carpets, Western furniture, antique Chinese vases, Mughal paintings, and calligraphic art in a seamless and unique way embrace tradition, religion, and culture—both that of the East and that of the West. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Arts and Crafts.
Further Reading Beach, Milo C. Mughal and Rajput Painting. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Khatibi, A, and Mohammed Sijelmassi. The Splendour of Islamic Calligraphy. London: Thames & Hudson, 2001. McBrewster, John, Frederic P. Miller, and Agnes F. Vandome, eds. Islamic Art. Beau Bassin, Mauritius: Alphascript Publishing, 2009.
Identity Pakistani American identity is a complex and evolving sense of diasporic self and community that can effectively be divided into several categories or trajectories. General trends in the first generation of immigrants can be compared to significant
Pakistani Americans: Identity
changes in identity amongst second- and third-generation Pakistani Americans. Many issues related to identity are common amongst all ethnic and immigrant communities in the United States. However, what makes Pakistani American identity politics particularly unique is a combination of Pakistan’s cultural heritage and geographic location, as well as contemporary global politics. For the older generation of Pakistani Americans, there remains a clear sense of affiliation with Pakistan as well as a romanticized sense of the homeland. While many older Pakistani Americans dream of returning home to settle, often times they come to realize that the country they left many years ago has changed significantly and that they have become used to living in American culture. Thus, they begin to recognize just how “American” they really are, but hope to keep Pakistani traditions alive. This is usually done through dressing in Pakistani clothes at home, predominantly speaking Urdu with their children, and eating Pakistani food. Some become more religious as a way to fill a sense of cultural void. It is with the second- and third-generation of Pakistani Americans that one sees a greater struggle with identity and confusion regarding “where they fit.” Having been born in or raised at a young age in the United States, their predominant exposure to Pakistan is through their parents’ memories and cultural expectations. Many young Pakistani Americans feel a deep divide between their home life and their school life, and find the antithetical pressures on both ends to be incredibly stressful. Their subjective experiences of race, ethnicity, and social class is multiply marginalizing because they do not fit into any ascribed category. They are not entirely Pakistani, so they are often seen as “American” in Pakistan. In the United States, while their educational, linguistic, class and career trajectories are indistinguishable from those of their white peers, their racial status places their experiences outside mainstream white America. In terms of “ethnic” categories, Pakistani Americans do not fit into the broad “Asian” category, which colloquially refers to people from Far East Asia, nor are they typical of being “South Asian,” which even in academia most often refers to India. Pakistan is sometimes categorized as a “Middle Eastern” country, but Pakistani culture is distinctly different from Middle Eastern cultures despite sharing Islamic beliefs. Negotiating this complex terrain of identity politics often leads Pakistani American youth in one of three directions. Some Pakistani American youth completely abandon or deny their Pakistani cultural and religious heritage and prefer a secular, nonethnic affiliation. Because Pakistanis can often look racially ambiguous, ranging from dark to light skin, eye, and hair color, some are able to remain ethnically unidentifiable. Another general trajectory for young Pakistani Americans is an attempt to culturally navigate predominantly affiliating with American culture but also attempting to embrace their Pakistani heritage. These youth often attempt to affiliate with a general “desi” diasporic consciousness that celebrates being South Asian more broadly, and are thus able to associate with their Indian, Bangladeshi, and
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Sri Lankan counterparts. Finally, a third direction in which some Pakistani Americans go is embracing a strong Islamic sense of self that ultimately marginalizes cultural traditions, which are seen as tainting the purity of Islamic tradition and thought. Because many young Pakistani Americans feel completely out of place when they visit Pakistan, abandoning one’s cultural heritage in favor of a global Islamic consciousness can be empowering. However, after the events of 9/11, upholding a strong Islamic identity while also identifying as American has become difficult due to the general public perception that Islam is an enemy of the United States and the new front of the War on Terror in Pakistan. Young Pakistani Americans now face a new reality vis-a`-vis their cultural identity and contemporary geopolitics. Many now hope to bring awareness about Pakistan and Islam that challenges stereotypes promoted in Western media through their own life experiences. This is being achieved through the revival and fusion of Pakistani music, art, folklore, film, and performance as means to provide alternative and novel perspectives on the richness and diversity of Islamic and Pakistani heritage and values. —Rabia Kamal
Further Reading Dasgupta, Shamita D., ed. A Patchwork Shawl: Chronicles of South Asian Women in America. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998. Maira, Sunaina M. Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in New York City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. Purkayastha, Bandana. Negotiating Ethnicity: Second-Generation Asians Traverse a Transnational World. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005. Shankar, Shalini. Desi Land: Teen Culture, Class, and Success in Silicon Valley. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008.
Literature and Folklore As a result of increasingly vocal and expressive diasporic communities in the West, as well as new discourse in Western academia, the rise of South Asian English literature over the last several decades has gained global prominence and recognition. Embedded within this larger category of literature are contributions from a small but growing number of Pakistani American writers. Written mostly in English, Pakistani American literature as a genre mixes and blends with other South Asian and American Muslim categories of authorship as part of the larger postcolonial literary sphere. While there is Pakistani American literature published in Urdu and Punjabi, much of this work circulates predominantly in Pakistani and South Asian circles outside the United States.
Pakistani Americans: Literature and Folklore
Pakistani American literature has flourished out of the experiences of immigrants with professional and academic backgrounds who left the subcontinent post 1947. While many of the more popular writers of the Pakistani diaspora settled in the United Kingdom, Pakistani American authors tackle similar issues of diaspora, identity, marginalization, and transnationalism in the American context. Well-known Pakistani-American literature includes the writing of Bapsi Sidhwa, Sara Suleri, Maniza Naqvi, Zulfiqar Ghose, and Javaid Qazi. Reflecting the complex transnational nature of the Pakistani American experience, Ghose’s large breadth of literary work is set in locations ranging from Pakistan, England, and India to Texas, Spain, and South America. While his early work is mostly Pakistani-born American author Bapsi Sidhwa concerned with the political history of describes herself as a Punjabi-Parsi-IndianIndia and Pakistan, as well as immigrant Pakistani-American. (Reuben Singh/The India Today Group/Getty Images) issues of alienation and exile, his later work explores imaginary utopias that color a sense of self and home for many immigrants as well as aspects of a postcolonial world rife with the struggles of nationalism and identity. Bapsi Sidhwa, perhaps one of the most well-known Pakistani American writers, and also initially informed by her life growing up in South Asia, wrote her first several novels about the partition of India and Pakistan. Her novel, The Bride, looks more specifically at the conflict and strain between traditional and modern influences in Pakistani society on women. This clash of values and expectations surrounding gender roles, particularly for women, is something that many Pakistani American women face as the diasporic community grapples with cultural transition. Sidhwa’s most recent novel An American Brat, explores the kinds of adjustments and compromises young Pakistanis face while living in the United States. Another noted writer, Sara Suleri, who is currently a professor of English at Yale University, is best known for her novel Meatless Days. Meatless Days is an intricately woven memoir that explores the violent history of Pakistan’s independence and the personal history of the Suleri family’s women. Exploring the complicated cultural and gendered norms surrounding women and the
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female body in Pakistan, Suleri highlights the role of women in colonization and nationalistic movements. In doing so, the politicization of religion, the challenging of folk traditions, and immigrant family relationships as part of the Pakistani and Pakistani American experience are narrated in this rich literary account. Reflections of a cosmopolitan perspective are found in the work of a few up and coming Pakistani American writers of the younger generation. In particular, the work of Mohsin Hamid represents a new generation of modern writers who have moved beyond the old diasporic, utopic vision of a homeland to expose the gritty reality of third-world nations and lives in a neoliberal age. Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist challenges assumptions and stereotypes about young Pakistanis in America, particularly in the post-9/11 context. Almost all Pakistani American literature is informed by a cross-cultural consciousness that borrows from and contends with Pakistani traditions and folklore, whether it be in the form of gender roles, literature, oral history, language, or identity. In doing so, it reflects and speaks to the lived experiences of Pakistani Americans who attempt to uniquely balance the cultural heritage of both Pakistan and the United States. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Identity.
Further Reading Purkayastha, Bandana. Negotiating Ethnicity: Second-Generation South Asian Americans Traverse a Transnational World. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005. Rustomji-Kerns, Roshni. Living in America: Poetry and Fiction by South Asian American Writers. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995. Shamsie, Muneeza. And the World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women. New York: Feminist Press at CUNY, 2008. Srikanth, Rajini. The World Next Door: South Asian American Literature and the Idea of America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006.
Names and Name Giving As is tradition in Pakistan, most Pakistani Americans choose to give their children Islamic or Muslim names. The majority of Pakistani names are derived from Persian, Urdu, Arabic, or Turkish origins. While in Pakistan, tribal and family names—often derived from pre-Islamic caste names—are widely used, this aspect of naming is changing in the American context. In Pakistani American communities, the naming of a newborn child is an important and meaningful ritual. Elder members of the family are often consulted when choosing names, although younger Pakistani American couples are now taking the initiative to select their children’s names themselves. Whereas in Pakistan,
Pakistani Americans: Narrative Folktale
longer names can be popular, in the United States, many parents choose shorter names that are easier to pronounce. The meaning of the name is always a crucial aspect of the process, and families take time to make sure they choose names with beautiful or deep Islamic meanings. Naming male babies after prophets and female babies after important women who figure in the Quran is popular in Pakistani America. After the arrival and naming of the newborn, the azan or call to prayer is whispered in the baby’s ear by the father. The naming of the baby is also accompanied by several Islamic rituals, including the tradition of aqiqah, a highly encouraged custom practiced by the Prophet Muhammad. Several days after birth, the baby’s hair is shaved or cut and an animal (referred to as the aqiqah) is slaughtered to give thanks for being blessed with a child. The giving of surnames in Pakistan is divided into three possible conventions or categories: Arab-influenced naming conventions, tribal names, and ancestral names. In Pakistani American communities, one of two iterations is common. Either children’s surnames are the same as their father’s first names (a common practice in Pakistan), or families adopt a more Westernized form whereby everyone in the family has the same last name as the figurehead. Short nicknames for both children and elders are often used to connote familiarity or endearment. The naming of a child is an important custom that reflects the importance of Islamic and cultural identification in the Pakistani American community. The Westernization of names, such as taking on an American nickname, is generally frowned upon because it is considered a way of hiding one’s origins and identity. In Pakistani American communities specifically, it is less important to give one’s child a Pakistani name and more important that the name be Islamic regardless of its cultural origin. This practice reflects yet another way in which a custom is evolving to become more unique to Pakistani American identity vis-a`-vis an explicit identification with Islam at the expense of an affiliation with the cultural traditions of Pakistan. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Identity.
Further Reading Zia, Helen. Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.
Narrative Folktale Folktales, or the telling of traditional narratives, is a common practice in Pakistan and is a way in which the elder generation communicates with and passes down history, lessons, and morals to the youth. Amidst the Pakistani American diaspora,
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elders are often known to tell stories of the “old” country or motherland as a way of reminding young Pakistani Americans of their heritage and roots. Many older Pakistani Americans fear that their children will abandon their cultural heritage and values as they grow up in American society and identify more as American and less as Pakistani. Thus, the use of narrative folktale in the diasporic context can be seen as a concerted attempt by the older generation to pass on knowledge and a strong sense of ethnic identity to their children at a young age. Pakistani narrative folktale has been told and retold by successive generations, sung and celebrated by folk poets and singers, and reenacted in the film and entertainment industry. Traditional Pakistani folktales include a diverse array of characters and forms featuring ghosts, demons, fairies, and dragons as well as tales of romance. In the olden days, popular stories were passed along by travelers and caravans traversing the old Silk Road, which stretched from Iran and Afghanistan to Central Asia and China. There still exists a place in the city of Peshawar called the Qisa Khawani Bazaar, or “the market of storytelling.” The most popular folktales are of two kinds—tales of love, and anthropomorphic tales. The former, such as the story of Heer or of Sohni and Mahiwal, tell of forbidden love similar to Romeo and Juliet. Animal tales, whereby animals assume human personalities, warn against such characteristics as greed, stubbornness, and naı¨vete´, which ultimately lead to the shortcoming and demise of one creature or another. In more modern times, many young Pakistani children are also exposed to popular English fairytales such as Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, and Beauty and the Beast. Also popular are Islamic stories of the prophets, which are related in the Quran and teach issues of morality and ethics. In recent times, there has also been a revival in Sufi stories and poetry, which celebrate the spirit of purification of the inner soul and peace through narrating the teachings and personal behavior of saints and mystics. In the Pakistani American context, the kinds of traditional narrative folktales that have survived are stories of the prophets as well as certain stories about the creation of Pakistan. Both kinds are popular precisely because in addition to passing down moral lessons, these types of folktales do so through specifically cultural and religious means of expression. Older Pakistani Americans hope that by using prophets as examples and role models, their children will learn to embrace their religious identity in a largely Judeo-Christian society. Stories about the partition of the subcontinent and the creation of Pakistan also encourage a sense of pride in one’s cultural roots and the creation of a national identity. In the American context, where young Pakistani American children are predominantly exposed to Western heritage and pop culture through music, media, school, technology, and social interaction, Pakistani culture is often dismissed or seen as unfamiliar and alien. Some efforts are being made to digitize and revive Pakistani folktales through such endeavors as the Folktales project by the nonprofit International
Pakistani Americans: Proverbs and Maxims
Education and Resource Network (iEARN). This project is an online social forum that lets children in both Pakistan and many other parts of the world post and share lore and fables from their own cultural background to create a global market of storytelling in the cotemporary world. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Mahmud, S. F. There Was Once a King: Folk-Tales of Pakistan. Islamabad: Lok Virsa Publishing House, 1981. Nadwi, Syed Abdul H. A. Stories of the Prophets. London: UK Islamic Academy, 1990. Siddiqui, Ashraf, and Marilyn Lerch. Pakistani Folktales: Toontoony Pie and Other Stories. 2nd ed. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1998.
Proverbs and Maxims A common conduit of Pakistani culture and folklore is the proverb or ancient “words of wisdom.” Proverbs are often used by elders to educate or pass opinion to young people. Because the younger generation is seen as not having the time or patience to sit down and listen to long stories or folklore anymore, proverbs are often a quick way for elders in the community to pass on a message of morality or cultural lesson. Proverbs used by the Pakistani American community are usually a combination of Pakistani sayings and American maxims. Sometimes messages from the Quran or well-known Sufi leaders are circulated in the form of conventional sayings. First-generation Pakistani immigrants are fond of using proverbs as a way of communicating with their children. They often pick up well-known American sayings at work or through watching television, and like to cite those related particularly to issues such as hard work and ethics or how to be successful. Some examples include: “It is better to be safe than sorry,” “Practice makes perfect,” and “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Other popularly used proverbs in the Pakistani American community are ones that originated in other parts of the world and have traveled to the West. These include such sayings as the Chinese maxim, “Give a man a fish; feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; feed him for a lifetime.” Common Pakistani proverbs include “When you look at the melon, the melon turns color,” which essentially means that a person can be defined by the company they keep, and “The sieve says to the needles: You have a hole in your tail.” Pakistanis also have the equivalent of the following sayings: “The grass
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is greener on the other side,” “Birds of a feather flock together,” and “Killing two birds with one stone.” Many traditional Pakistani proverbs involve the use of metaphor and references to animals such as buffalo, monkeys, and llamas. Aside from religious maxims from the Qur’an, perhaps some of the most popular Pakistani and Pakistani American proverbs come from Sufi poets and writers such as the Persian poet Rumi and the Pakistani poet Iqbal. Rumi’s work, like that of many mystic and Sufi poets, is appreciated and quoted for its concept of tawhid— union with one’s beloved, which in this case refers to God. Much of Rumi’s poetry, which has transnational reach and significance, traces the Sufi path of one who journeys to seek the truth, grows through love, abandons the ego, finds truth, and arrives at perfection or union with God. Examples of lines quoted from Sufi poetry include: “Reason is powerless in the expression of Love,” “Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged,” and “Conventional opinion is the ruin of our souls.” Pakistani Americans cite lines of Rumi’s and Iqbal’s poetry not only to educate children about the meaning of life but also as a way to teach them about language, literature, and the cultural heritage of the broader South Asian region. —Rabia Kamal
Further Reading Irfani, Khawaja Abdul Hamid. The Sayings of Rumi and Iqbal. New Delhi: Adam Publishers & Distributors, 2006. Obiakor, Festus E. 100 Multicultural Proverbs: Inspirational Affirmations for Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008. Star, Jonathan. Rumi: In the Arms of the Beloved. New York: Tarcher, 2000.
Religion Religion plays an integral role in shaping Pakistani and Pakistani American identity, cultural etiquette, and social norms. The majority of Pakistanis practice Islam and are of the Sunni sect, although there is a significant representation of Pakistani Shi’ites. Islam is an especially potent aspect of Pakistani national ideology and sense of self because Pakistan was founded specifically as a nation for the majority Muslim populations in the eastern and western regions of British India (eastern Pakistan was later to become the independent nation of Bangladesh). The particular form that Islam takes in the context of Pakistan is deeply intertwined with elements of non-Muslim South Asian culture and rituals as well as feudalism and
Pakistani Americans: Religion
Pakistani American Muslims pray during Friday prayers in Brooklyn, New York, September 21, 2001. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
patriarchy. Hinduism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism are also practiced by a small minority of the Pakistani population. Most Pakistani immigrants who came to the United States in the 1970s and 1980s brought with them a strong sense of culture and religion, establishing makeshift mosques when they first settled in the country. Over time, as Pakistanis climbed up the socioeconomic ladder, large Islamic centers and mosques were built to cater to this fast-growing community. While in wealthy suburbs and larger cities, mosques tend to be ethnically specific, in smaller towns across the nation, Pakistani Americans attend mosques that are more multicultural, mixing with other South Asian, Arab, East Asian and African American Muslims. Mosques as institutions have served as a space for religious edification as well as socialization and community building. Most Pakistani parents deem it important to send their children to the Islamic equivalent of Sunday school, where youth are taught to read the Quran, learn the five pillars of Islam, and follow the teachings of Muhammad as ethical and moral guidelines. Like the other Abrahamic faiths, Islam’s emphasis on monotheism, prayer, and charity are considered central to religious edict. In terms of religiously informed cultural etiquette, many Pakistani families encourage modesty in dress for women and limited gender interaction,
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although most Pakistani women do not wear the hijab or Muslim veil, which is more culturally enforced in the Middle East. Other important aspects of Islamic observance include celebrating the Eid holidays, observing Ramadan as the month of fasting, eating halal meat (which is butchered in a particular manner decreed by Islamic law), and avoiding pork and alcohol. Although most first-generation Pakistani immigrants held on to a deeply culturalized form of Islam that mixed South Asian rituals with more orthodox religious practice, they also focused on assimilating to secular American norms in the public sphere and kept religion strictly confined to the home or the mosque. However, as second- and third-generation Pakistani Americans come of age, they have generally tended to ascribe to one of two diverging paths in terms of their religious identity. Many young Pakistani Americans have tended towards complete secularization whereby the label “Muslim” is similar to that of “Jewish” in its connotation of being less a religious marker and more of an ethnic identity. Such Pakistani Americans generally consider themselves “nonpracticing” Muslims who will celebrate religious holidays and obey some religio-cultural norms in terms of marriage, but generally do not observe Islamic practices. On the other hand, there is a growing number of young Pakistani Americans who identify strongly with Islam and have in fact starting a trend towards establishing a specifically American form of Islam. This population has made it a point to disassociate religion from the South Asian cultural influences of their parents’ generation, forming Muslim Student Associations on university campuses, proudly donning outward symbols of religion such as the hijab and growing a beard, attending national Islamic conferences, and finding new role models in the form of African American and other convert scholars and sheikhs. Particularly after the events of 9/11, many young observant Pakistani Americans feel adamant in defending the fact that their Islamic and American identities are in congruence with each other and that Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, can become part of the American fabric. This generation of Pakistani Muslims has engaged in activism and cultural production as a way of establishing themselves in the American context, all the while furthering their knowledge of Islam. Many young Pakistani American women will mix wearing jeans and fashionable Western tops with the hijab, and there has been a rise in Muslim American comedians, artists, filmmakers, and musicians of Pakistani descent. This transformation in young Pakistani American Muslim identity has not only increased interaction between American Muslims across ethnic and racial boundaries, but has also fostered interfaith collaboration and dialogue. Another interesting stream in Pakistani America is the rise of Islamic Sufi practices. A reaction to the worldliness and materialism that infected mainstream Islam, Sufism is a distinct sect known for the exploration and development of the inner, mystical self. Sufis believe it is possible to draw close to God in his Divine Presence in this life through meditation, self-discipline, and pilgrimage. This form
Pakistani Americans: Rites of Passage
of “mystical” Islam has slowly spread to the West and is practiced by some Pakistani Americans who find it less political and more spiritual than orthodox Islam. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Festivals and Holidays; Rites of Passage; Social Etiquette and Customs.
Further Reading Cohen, Stephen C. The Idea of Pakistan. Washington DC: The Brookings Institution, 2004. Haddad, Yvonne Y. Muslims in America: From Sojourners to Citizens. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Mohammad-Arif, Aminah. Salaam America: South Asian Muslims in New York. London: Anthem Press, 2002. Williams, Raymond B. Religion of Immigrants from India and Pakistan. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Rites of Passage Pakistani American rites of passage play an important role in bringing the community together and in providing a space in which Pakistani traditions can be passed down, celebrated, and sometimes altered to suit contemporary contexts. The most important rites of passage in the community include birth ceremonies, expectations around the time of puberty, graduation, marriage, the performance of hajj, and funerals. These rituals combine Pakistani, Islamic, and American understandings of the life cycle. Most Pakistani American rites of passage are associated with rituals in the Islamic faith. At birth, the first call to prayer whispered in the newborn’s ear is symbolically meant to bring the baby into awareness of God from the first moment of life. The naming ceremony, whereby the baby is given an Islamic name, is another important rite of passage at birth. Muslim male babies are also circumcised, a practice that is regularly followed in Pakistani America. Adolescence, or coming of age, is not marked by any specific ceremony or rite in the Pakistani American community, although this time period is often characterized by tension between youth and adults. During this period, young Pakistani Americans begin to formulate their own unique identity, which involves negotiating aspects of “mainstream” or American culture with expectations at home. From an Islamic perspective, when children reach the age of puberty, they are encouraged to pray five times a day and fast during the month of Ramadan. Certain
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customary gender roles are inculcated, although this becomes an area of generational conflict. While Pakistani American families do not typically expect adolescents to follow traditional gender roles that strictly relegate girls and boys along different trajectories, certain cultural aspects of sexuality and courtship are enforced. In the Pakistani American context, female sexuality is still guarded, and sex before marriage for both male and female adolescents is taboo. College graduation is seen as an important rite of passage in the Pakistani American community and often marks the beginning of young adulthood and financial independence from one’s parents. Perhaps one of the most significant cultural rites of passage for Pakistani Americans is marriage. Most Pakistani American parents spend a lot of time fretting over whether and to whom their children will get married. Pakistani Americans believe that a happy marriage is the secret to a happy life, and often parents hope that their children will marry within the community to maintain a certain sense of identity and uphold tradition. However, more and more young Pakistani Americans are embracing intercultural and interethnic marriage in the United States. In either case, the marriage ceremony is usually done in a traditional manner, spanning over three days and involving much cultural pomp and circumstance. According to Islamic law, marriage establishes rights and responsibilities between husband and wife as well as between families. Thus, marriage in the Pakistani American community is still about creating bonds and networks beyond just the lives of the bride and groom. An important Islamic rite of passage that is not necessarily linked to any particular stage in life is the performance of the hajj at least once in their lifetime. This religious pilgrimage to Mecca, believed to be the fifth pillar of Islam, marks one of the most intimate experiences of submission to God as well as fellowship with a global Muslim community. Pakistani Americans, particularly the older generation, believe that performing the hajj is an important life ritual that should be experienced if one has the means to do so. Finally, ritualistic traditions associated with dying and death are considered incredibly important in the Pakistani American community. Most Pakistani American communities follow Islamic customs surrounding death, which not only see death as the return to one’s Creator, but also see that life on earth should reflect one’s eventual journey into the afterlife. Ceremonies associated with death and burial involve cleaning and shrouding the body as well as prayers and a procession to the graveyard. All of the above rites of passage involve ritualized ceremonies that signal times of transition in the lives of individuals, friends, and families, and in the Pakistani American community are usually ways to reinforce (and reevaluate) religious and cultural values. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Dying and Death Rituals.
Pakistani Americans: Social Etiquette and Customs
Further Reading Cooke, Miriam, and Bruce B. Lawrence, eds. Muslim Networks from Hajj to Hip Hop. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Peters, F. E. The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. Stern, Gail F. Something Old, Something New: Ethnic Weddings in America. Philadelphia: Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, 1987.
Social Etiquette and Customs Pakistani social etiquette and customs stem from a combination of Islamic, South Asian, and British norms and are generally hierarchical and patriarchal in nature. However, in Pakistani America, many social norms and customs have been altered or abandoned altogether as social structures and organization have changed in the context of diaspora. In Pakistan, customary laws surrounding kinship, the ownership of property, marriage, gender interaction, and social hierarchy vary from urban to rural regions and have evolved over time with the growth of an urban middle class. Many traditional forms of social etiquette and custom are upheld by feudal and patriarchal social structures, but as these structures are lost in urban and immigrant settings, so are associated norms and customs. Appropriate social etiquette in the Pakistani American community often depends on the context of interaction. In the private sphere, certain Pakistani cultural norms prevail. For example, when one is invited to a Pakistani American household, it is common to bring the hostess a small gift. When greeting guests, men shake hands and may also hug if they are close friends or family. Women generally hug and kiss one another and ask about each other’s health, family, etc. Men and women do not usually shake hands, although this may vary depending on how conservative a family or community may be. It is customary to greet each other with the phrase “As-Salamu-Alaykum” which means “Peace be upon you.” English salutations are also acceptable, although the former is preferred particularly when greeting one’s elder as a sign of respect. Amongst the elder generation, Pakistani American men are often addressed by their last name accompanied by the term “sahib,” Urdu for “sir.” In this day and age, this custom is not so much an expression of formality as it is tradition. When visiting a Pakistani American home, it is appropriate to wear conservative clothing, or at least clothing that does not reveal too much skin. Customs around suitable topics of conversation as well as gender interaction definitely varies from context to context. For more religiously conservative Pakistani Americans, certain aspects of the custom of purdah, or segregation of the sexes, is observed. Even in the most liberal
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of settings, public displays of affection are generally frowned upon. When leaving a gathering, it is customary to say “Khuda hafiz,” a Persian phrase meaning “May God be your guardian.” Customary law has also transformed in the Pakistani American context. Because most communities consist of nuclear family settings instead of the extended family system in Pakistan, people rely less on patriarchal hierarchy and usually rely on either Islamic or American traditions. When it comes to property ownership and legal disputes, most Pakistani Americans will follow American norms. However, terms of inheritance are usually drawn out according to Islamic law. An interesting example of where the lines between Islamic, cultural, and American or Western norms are constantly being negotiated in the Pakistani American community involves customs around marriage. While weddings usually follow a combination of Islamic and cultural rituals, choosing a spouse and social etiquette surrounding courtship blend American and cultural traditions. While some communities and families still follow the Pakistani custom of arranged marriage, many young Pakistani Americans now choose their own spouse and may choose to date as well. In many instances, asking elders for advice or opinions, as opposed to having them lay down a particular law, has become the norm. Respect for one’s elders still remains a strong component of the Pakistani American community, but how this respect plays out in terms of social and personal decisions has transformed over time, along with social etiquette and customs. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Family and Community.
Further Reading Malik, Iftikhar H. Culture and Customs of Pakistan. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005. Mohiuddin, Yasmeen. Pakistan: A Global Studies Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2006.
Superstition and Taboo Pakistani culture is full of superstitions and taboos that permeate everyday existence, including urban myths, old wives’ tales, occult practices, legends, and folklore. Often superstitions are considered to be the preoccupation of women in Pakistan, although men, women, and children all tend to adhere to superstitious belief. While some longstanding and prevalent superstitions and taboos have traveled along with immigrants to the United States, many have also been left behind.
Pakistani Americans: Superstition and Taboo
While superstition is usually categorized in the West as irrational belief or practices, in other cultures, superstition is integrated with customs and beliefs as a way to strategically navigate social realities. Many Pakistani Americans, educated and living in the West, have come to look down upon traditional superstitious beliefs. However, certain superstitions remain an integral part of Pakistani American existence and inform culturally relative ways of contending with negative social pressures. A particularly prevalent and popular superstition both in Pakistan and in Pakistani America revolves around the notion of nazar, or the evil eye. Many people believe that one needs to be cautious about flaunting one’s wealth, success, appeal, or beauty, lest the jealousy or bad wishes of another reverse their fortunes. It is important to note that often, a person who gives the evil eye, through envy or praise, is not necessarily considered evil or intentionally malefic. This belief has some roots in Islam, whereby authentic practices of warding off the evil eye include such prescriptions as rather than directly praising someone’s beauty or wealth, for example, it is customary to say “mashallah,” invoking God’s blessings upon the object or person being admired. Not only is belief in nazar a crosscultural phenomenon, but in the Pakistani American context, it is a way to be cautious and grateful about, and not too consumed with, material wealth or beauty. Another superstition that is associated with nazar but entails a more malevolent and dark side is the belief in black magic or voodoo. In certain Pakistani communities in the United States, individuals explain misfortune or terrible events as being caused by black magic performed by jealous or vengeful women who hope to harm others. Black magic is seen as a combination of magic or sorcery derived from the power of the mind combined with certain ritualistic practices. Over time, superstitious belief is slowly losing its appeal amongst the younger generation of Pakistani Americans, who tend to look down on such beliefs as backward and irrational. The existence of taboos or social prohibitions in any society allows people to avoid dealing with issues that are uncomfortable to confront and that detract from idealized notions of purity or morality. For example, the one taboo that can be said to be universal is incest. While many superstitions have been abandoned in the Pakistani American community, certain social taboos are still strictly upheld in the American context, especially amongst the older generation. Public displays of affection are considered highly inappropriate in the Pakistani American community. This social taboo reflects a general sexual conservatism that pervades Pakistani American communities, and talking about or engaging in premarital sex is deeply frowned upon. People’s unwillingness to openly communicate about sex leads to the inability to address such important realities as birth control, AIDS prevention, and how to cope with the trauma of rape or sexual abuse. Furthermore, homosexuality, which is prevalent in Pakistan as well as in Pakistani America, is also considered culturally taboo. Other kinds of prohibitions include dietary
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restrictions, such as the consumption of alcohol and pork, as well as conservatism in dress, which makes it taboo to reveal or expose certain parts of the body. Certain social taboos are losing their stringency over time, such as a general cultural apprehension surrounding mental disorders, alcoholism, depression, and divorce. Younger Pakistani Americans play an important role in challenging and questioning such taboos, often influenced by the norms of mainstream American culture. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit; Traditional Healing and Medicine.
Further Reading Bukahri, S. S., et al. “Superstitions Regarding Health Problems in Different Ethnic Groups in Karachi.” Journal of Pakistan Medical Association 52 (2002): 383–387. Pakistan Superstitions and Folklore: A Profile of the Folklore, Legends, Proverbs, and Superstitions of Pakistan. Petaluma, CA: World Trade Press, 2007. Saeed, Fouzia. Taboo! The Hidden Culture of a Red Light Area. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Traditional Medicine and Healing Traditional forms of healing and medicine are prevalent in rural and remote regions of Pakistan as well as amongst the urban poor. Even the educated urban middle class and elites of the country will often seek traditional healing in addition to using Western forms of medication. The power of traditional forms of healing is part and parcel of a society in which superstitious belief and black magic is widespread, and where such practices and beliefs cannot be appropriately addressed by the science of modern medicine. Cultural beliefs often lead to home remedies or consultation with traditional healers, who are an important source of health care because of their proximity, affordability, and strong social support. Some forms of traditional healing have survived in the Pakistani diaspora, although most Pakistani Americans adhere to a combination of Western medicine and prayer to cope with illness and disease. In response to physical, behavioral, and psychiatric illnesses, people in Pakistan will often seek multiple traditional healing methods, including homeopathy, sorcery, and faith healing. Hakims, or traditional physicians, are a unique category of traditional healers in Pakistan that offer herbal medicines and cures inherited from classical Greek and Indian prescriptions. Often they are known to treat and offer special potions for sexual and psychological diseases, and their form of
Pakistani Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
healing reflects a rich tradition in Pakistan of the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of various ailments. Another form of traditional medicine comes from the practice of homeopathy, a system of medicine based on the use of highly diluted medicinal substances, which trigger the body’s natural system of healing. Finally, many people in Pakistan turn to faith healing as a cure. Faith healing can involve either visiting a divine healer who uses a combination of ritualistic and herbal remedies, or visiting the tomb of a saint to pray for the cure of everything from barrenness to the possession of spirits. In the context of the United States, Pakistani Americans on the whole turn to Western medicine to cure physical illnesses. Many Pakistani Americans go into the medical profession, so modern medicine is in fact highly respected and embraced. However, when it comes to psychological disorders, many in the Pakistani American community are unable to accept or adequately address such illnesses due to a longstanding taboo that makes it shameful to talk about certain problems. While psychological disorders are often dismissed as spirit possession or blatantly ignored, this attitude is slowly changing over time. As more and more Pakistani Americans are realizing the importance and benefit of psychiatric and behavioral therapy, American psychiatrists themselves have turned to crosscultural treatment as a way to address mental disorders in immigrant communities. Examining whether psychiatric classifications of disorders are relevant in different ethnic groups, cross-cultural psychiatry considers how psychiatric illnesses may represent social constructs as well as genuine medical conditions, and as such have social uses unique to certain cultures. Such an approach highlights the powerful ways in which biological and cultural diversity can affect psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. Finally, a recent and growing trend in the United States is bringing back the practice of herbal medicine and the idea of holistic healing to the West. Thus homeopathy and the practice of Sufi healing, both popular in Pakistan, are now being revived in the Pakistani American context. —Rabia Kamal See also: Pakistani Americans: Identity; Superstition and Taboo.
Further Reading Chisti, H. G., et al. The Book of Sufi Healing. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions & Bear Company, 1985. Georgiopoulos, Anna M., and Jerrold F. Rosenbaum. Perspectives in Cross-Cultural Psychiatry. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005. Moodley, Roy, and William West, eds. Integrating Traditional Healing Practices into Counseling and Psychotherapy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. 2005. Saeed, K. et al. “The Prevalence, Classification and Treatment of Mental Disorders among Attenders of Native Faith Healers in Rural Pakistan.” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 35 (2000): 480–485.
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Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Pakistani American vernacular is usually a combination of three different languages and can vary depending on which generation the speaker belongs to as well as context. For the older generation, Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, is predominantly spoken at home. This is usually accompanied by a regional language, such as Punjabi, Sindhi, or Pashto, as well as some English. The younger generation of Pakistani Americans is typically most comfortable speaking in English, although they are able to communicate in Urdu or the provincial language of their parents. The preservation and passing down of their mother tongue is considered important for Pakistani Americans, although they usually do not want this to interfere with their children’s ability to learn English. In most Pakistani American homes, parents and elders speak Urdu. Developed in South Asia during the time of Muslim rule in India, Urdu’s Indic vocabulary further developed with the influence of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and English words. It was established as the national language of Pakistan in the hope of uniting the various ethnic groups of the new nation. Thus, the preservation of Urdu significantly symbolizes the preservation of a strong Pakistani identity for Pakistani Americans. In addition to the national language, many Pakistani American families communicate in a regional language depending on what province they come from. It is common for adults to speak to their children in Urdu, only to get a response in English. In addition, a popular way in which young Pakistani Americans mimic or mock the elder generation is by making fun of their accented English. A South Asian or “desi” English accent can be identified, for example, when an individual switches the phonological sound for the letter “v” with the letter “w.” When speaking to their parents, young Pakistani American kids will even sometimes unconsciously pronounce a word in English with an accent even if they themselves do not speak English with a South Asian accent. In general, Urdu as a language is very formal and polite, and there are many ways to show deference to elders, such as the use of certain pronouns that denote respect. However, in the Pakistani American context, these aspects of speech are lost in translation from one generation to the next, as the use of American English erases much linguistic formality. Regional languages like Punjabi tend to be less formal and more rambunctious in terms of both speech and manner, and sometimes new Pakistani immigrants from the Punjab transfer such mannerisms when they first learn to speak English. Thus, they may sometimes come off as rude or loud, and their hand gestures may seem confusing to a native English speaker. For the younger generation, picking up English comes easily as children transition from home to school and also through such cultural uptake as watching television and listening to American music. Pakistani Americans of the elder
Pakistani Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
generation also try to speak English outside of the private sphere, and the longer they reside in the United States, the more English is spoken even in households. Often, when second- and third-generation Pakistani Americans go to college, they experience a desire to relearn or improve their Urdu. Thus, they will often take Urdu language courses offered on many university campuses in an attempt reconnect with the “Pakistani” part of their hyphenated identity. —Rabia Kamal
Further Reading Rahman, Tariq. Language and Politics in Pakistan. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1997. Rahman, Tariq. “Pakistani English: The Linguistic Description of a Non-Native Variety of English.” World Englishes 15 (2007): 405–408.
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Punjabi Americans History, People, and Culture Punjab: History, Economy, and Cuisine Punjab, literally “the land of the five rivers,” is a remarkably fertile and agriculturally productive region that includes the site of the ancient Indus Valley civilization. Historical Punjab is currently divided between northwest India and Pakistan, with Pakistan enclosing the majority of the region where Punjabi has historically been spoken, and almost three-fourths of the world’s nearly 120 million Punjabi speakers. Both nations contain a truncated Punjab state, with India sharply reducing the size of its Punjab state by apportioning Punjabi-speaking areas to the states of Haryana and Himichal Pradesh. The region sits at the entrance to South Asia from the mountain passes to the north, making Punjab the site of numerous invasions and battles since ancient times. With this history of conflict, Punjabis have historically been widely recognized for their fighting skill and valor. They were particular favorites of the British, who viewed them as one of the “martial races” of the subcontinent. The numerous invasions over the centuries have also created social heterogeneity within Punjab, as different peoples and cultures have intersected and amalgamated at this cultural crossroads. Punjabis are composed of many clan subgroupings and communities, and the area’s religious diversity is tremendous. Punjabi farmers help feed the entire Indian subcontinent with a wide variety of crops, including wheat, rice, cotton, sugar cane, and numerous fruits and vegetables. Due to its agricultural productivity, Indian Punjab, “The Bread Basket of India,” is the wealthiest Indian state. Pakistani Punjab has historically accounted for over half of that nation’s GDP. The bounty of the region’s farms supplies the world-famous cuisine of the Punjab. Punjabi restaurants predominate worldwide among “Indian” restaurants, exposing the cuisine far beyond the borders of the region. Known for its tremendous diversity of dishes, the Punjabi food served in restaurants varies decidedly from home cooking. The latter features specialized, regionally influenced mixtures 999
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of onions, ginger, garlic, and various spices, in lieu of the butter and cream that dominate most restaurant food. The diversity of the cuisine is reflected in the manner in which certain regions of Punjab are known for certain dishes, as well as particular culinary proclivities.
Punjabi and Sikhs The Punjabi language belongs to the Indo-Aryan family and dates back to at least the 11th century. The language has numerous dialects, which can vary considerably by region, and may be written in different scripts. Punjabi is also a tonal language, unusual among modern Indo-Aryan languages. Sikhs, adherents of the world’s fifth-largest religion, have a particular affinity towards Punjab and Punjabi and are widely associated with both. This is due both to Punjab being the birthplace of their faith, and because their religious scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib, are written in Punjabi, in the gurmukhi script. In addition, most Sikhs are from, and reside in, Indian Punjab—where they represent a slight majority of the state’s population. In addition, large diasporic Sikh and Punjabi communities exist throughout the world.
Leaving Punjab: Forming the Punjabi American Diaspora By the late 1800s, economic conditions in Punjab deteriorated to the point where migration became a very promising choice for many young men. This was particularly true for the younger sons in families. Their departure gave the extended family fewer mouths to feed, provided it with a regular remittance, and prevented the division of family land—which was split among all sons equally. Furthermore, the exorbitant prices of land in Punjab, inflated partially because of the foreign remittances of departed Punjabi men, combined with changes in the land tenure system instituted by the British to leave small landowners in a financially vulnerable position. These grim economic realities of Punjab in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were aggravated by a population explosion, followed by devastating droughts, starvation, and epidemics. After considering the other options of enlisting in the army or moving to an arid and unpopulated area of Punjab, many men decided to go overseas. During this time, Punjabis began to view North America as a place where they could make their fortune. They were drawn not only by the promise of higher wages, but by the fact that they would work as a free laborers, not contract workers. The migrants rarely had the money to pay for expensive passage to North America, with the possible exception of army veterans. Consequently, most had to borrow, sell precious goods, or most commonly, mortgage their share of the family land. Thus, the constant looming threat of losing a portion of the treasured family land undergirded the migration experience for up to 80 percent of these early migrants.
Punjabi Americans: History, People, and Culture
Most of the early Punjabi migrants came from the Doaba region of Punjab, north of the Sutlej River and east of the Beas River. Groups of four to five men from a village would plan the trip together, sometimes bringing along relatives from other areas. These village and kinship ties were the glue that melded these pioneer migrant communities together in the difficult times they would face in North America. The migrants were mostly younger sons from peasant backgrounds, in their 20s, with little education. Some were married and left their wives and children to live with their parents. Almost all of those who left Punjab at this time intended eventually to return home wealthy and prosperous.
Arrival and Reception in North America Sikhs in the army played an important role in the early migration to North America. As the economic strife in Punjab deepened, enlistments in the army rose, and Sikh soldiers were sent to places like Singapore and Hong Kong. Some stayed to settle after their enlistments ended. Hong Kong was a particularly important site for many early Punjabi migrants because of its gurdwara (Sikh temple). In keeping with Sikh tradition, travelers, regardless of religious belief, could stay in the gurdwara until their ship departed for North America, as well as receive free food. Through their close-knit networks, Sikh veterans convinced others to migrate as well. In 1897, Sikh soldiers visited Canada on their return to Hong Kong from Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in London. They saw the possibilities of working in North America and shared that knowledge with others. In addition, a significant number of Sikhs became alienated from the British Army, particularly over the lack of respect accorded Indian officers by the white officers. Many resigned in protest. These officers, along with others who migrated after their enlistment period ended, were among the first South Asians to settle in Canada. The voyage itself was long and difficult, with crowded, unsanitary living conditions as well as food that was unfamiliar and inedible to the Punjabis. The journey for most went from Punjab to Calcutta, then to Hong Kong, and finally to North America. Punjabis began to enter Canada and the United States in noticeable numbers in the early 1900s, through the ports of Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, and Astoria, Oregon. Approximately 85 percent of these Punjabi American pioneers identified themselves as Sikhs, 13 percent as Muslim, and the rest as Hindu. For those who went to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, the conditions of detention there—while the state ascertained if it determined them fit to enter—were equally wretched and depressing. Angel Island was a site from which many thousands of would-be migrants from South Asia were denied entry, after the rise of racist, exclusionary pressures from white workers, media, and politicians. First for cultural and economic reasons, and later because of racist and gendered U.S. laws restricting the migration of women from Asia, the overwhelming
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majority of migrants from South Asia at this time were men. This racialized legal restriction was in sharp contrast to laws applying to European migrants, who were allowed to bring their wives into the United States on a non-quota basis. The results of these legal barriers were especially effective upon immigrants from South Asia, as women comprised far less than 1 percent of California’s South Asian immigrant population in 1914. This curtailed the ability of the community to regenerate itself in the United States, as many South Asian men either stayed single or married women of Mexican descent. While U.S. capitalism desperately needed their labor, the nation did not want to bear the social costs of these racially and economically exploited workers having normal family and social lives. It was not until 1952 that the reunification of some long-separated South Asian families occurred. In the absence of women in their community, Punjabis formed small groups in which they worked, lived, ate, traveled, and socialized. These democratic groupings—consisting of members who shared a common language, values, heritage, and sense of purpose—served as surrogate families for the lonely Punjabi men far from home, security, and loved ones. The leader of each group was often the one with the best command of English, and he served as a mediator and agent for the others in employment.
Punjabi Migration to the United States Punjabi migration to the United States can be divided into six periods: (1) 1898– 1907, a time of open migration; (2) 1908–1924, during which legal barriers were put in place to prevent the migration of South Asians and other Asian groups, including numerous racialized laws; (3) 1924–1945, the exclusion era, when migration was illegal due to race and national origin, but approximately 3,000 Punjabis migrated nonetheless; (4) 1946–1964, when Asian American immigrants were finally allowed to naturalize, ending a racist legal prohibition dating to 1790, and reunification of pioneer migrants’ families begins; (5) 1965–1980, during which racial restrictions were removed from U.S. immigration policy, leading to a large influx of professionals as stipulated in the preferences contained within the 1965 Immigration Act; and (6) 1980–present, as Punjabi migrants, while still containing a significant number of professionals, increasingly consist of less educated and less affluent family members of previous migrants. This final migration includes a significant number of migrants who sought the protection of U.S. asylum law as they fled massive human rights violations by the Indian state against its Sikh and Muslim minorities. The time of unrestricted migration was short, and only about 6,000 migrants came in the first decade of the 20th century. Even including the undocumented migrants who came through Mexico or Canada, the number of South Asians who came to the United States in the first half of the 20th century was likely less than
Punjabi Americans: History, People, and Culture
10,000, so the community was much smaller than that of Chinese or Japanese Americans. Many South Asians returned voluntarily, including about 3,000 between 1920 and 1940. Others were deported, ensuring that the numbers for the community remained very small until the 1970s. Because of exclusionary pressures, nearly 3,500 South Asians were denied entry into the United States between 1908 and 1920. The most common pretext for denial by immigration officials was likelihood to become a “public charge.”
Entering the Labor Economy and the Rise of Racial Tensions The wages men received in Punjab, around 5 to 15 cents a day, paled in comparison to reports in Indian journals that claimed that a man could earn as much as two dollars a day in America. The dire need of U.S. farmers for cheap field labor for the rapidly expanding California agricultural economy was another significant factor that drew Punjabis to the United States. The Western Pacific Railway also attracted a number of South Asian laborers. By 1907, there were as many as 2,000 South Asians at work on the railroad, completing a large number of bridges, tunnels, and section work in northern California between 1907 and 1909. However, the end of railroad construction necessitated finding other means of employment. The lumber industry provided jobs for several hundred Punjabi migrants. Owners of the lumber mills in Oregon, Washington, and as far south as Chico, California, cared less about the race and religion of the immigrants than their ability to deliver consistent labor. The arrival of the Punjabis worsened an already tense situation between workers and employers, producing a lethal mixture of economic insecurity and white supremacy. From their arrival, Punjabis were clearly distinct from the majority of the United States because of their race, religion, culture, and, of course, their distinctive turbans. These visible markers made them easy targets of racist sentiment from white workers. Not only did they suffer discrimination in everything from housing to employment and political rights, but they were described by nativists as unassimilable and undesirable. Like other migrants from Asia, Punjabis were manipulated by employers to prevent all workers from demanding better wages. Forced to work for lower wages than whites—despite being viewed as better workers by employers—Punjabi Americans endured because they had so much at stake in an alien, hostile land, with family at home waiting for remittances. As they became highly proficient in their work, white capitalists began to replace white workers with Punjabis, sometimes asking the South Asians to work double shifts. The loss of white jobs led to an angry reaction against the hard-working Punjabi Americans instead of the mill owners, who pitted the workers against each other to depress the wages of all. Augmenting the racist sentiment among whites, local and national media publications produced alarmist articles that raised the specter of a “Hindoo Invasion,” or
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a “Tide of Turbans” supposedly inundating the country. In town after town—from California, to Washington, to Alaska—South Asians were driven from the mills by frenzied mobs of white workers. The workers were often themselves immigrants from Europe, but nonetheless considered themselves defenders of the national tradition of white supremacy. The worst of these racial expulsions occurred in September 1907 in Bellingham, Washington, when a mob of around 500 white men stormed the area of town where the Punjabi Americans lived. Battering down doors, the mob threw the belongings of the homes into the street, pocketing any valuables such as jewelry and money. They dragged terrified South Asians from their beds, forcing them to flee. Some were injured when they jumped from buildings to escape the rampaging mob. Those who could not escape in time were beaten and threatened with their lives if they did not leave town. Faced with such outrage, the mill owners, who had been profiting handsomely from paying lower wages for better work to the Punjabis, turned against their Asian employees, openly calling them undesirable, and discharged them all, fearing damage to their property. The South Asian migrants quickly left town. Along with those workers who had been driven from the lumber mills, many of the workers who had worked on the railroad joined their brethren already working in agriculture. The majority of the Punjabi immigrants had come from farming backgrounds, and naturally gravitated towards agriculture. But perhaps more importantly, working in rural areas allowed the immigrants to distance themselves from the anti-Asian sentiment so prevalent in highly populated urban regions. Working in the fields allowed the Punjabis to work where there was little competition for jobs from whites. They could thus find some relief from the ever-present threat of racial violence. Furthermore, agricultural expansion in California created competition for labor in the state. This raised wages and made it more profitable, not to mention safer, to work on farms than lumber mills. Punjabis fit into California’s regional economies at many levels. They helped initiate rice cultivation in northern California, grew grapes and other crops in central California, and moved to the southern Imperial Valley to help establish cotton growing. Punjabis began to move up the agricultural ladder despite legal discrimination and prejudice based on white supremacist discrimination and stereotyping, such as that which led to passage of the Alien Land Laws, which prevented immigrant nonwhites from owning land. Working initially as laborers, several South Asian immigrants were able to amass enough capital to eventually lease or even purchase their own land, usually in partnership with friends or relatives. By pooling together the resources of two or more men, and cleverly evading the state Alien Land Law by putting land in the name of their U.S.-born children or an agent, South Asians were able to acquire over 88,000 acres of land in California by the 1920s. Some became spectacularly successful, including Jawala Singh, who earned the moniker “the Potato King” for his efforts. An activist at heart, he helped found
Punjabi Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
the Ghadar Party and the Stockton gurdwara, and was eventually arrested and imprisoned by the British for attempting to foment revolution in India.
Revolutionary Political Activity Also arriving at this time was a group of political refugees from British India. They sought a place where they could freely organize to liberate their homeland from British imperialism. The nationalist movement these exiles created took the name Ghadar (revolution), and it found tremendous support from the ranks of the Punjabi migrants. The Ghadar Party assumed the formidable task of trying to set India free from the colonial rule of the British Empire, while operating on the other side of the globe. It disseminated its revolutionary ideas through a weekly newspaper, and actually engaged in an attempt to militarily dislodge the English. The pervasive racism faced by the early Punjabi Americans made them more reliant on their countrymen and co-religionists, creating powerful community bonds. It also made them more open to support a radical organization like the Ghadar Party. Much of the group’s activity emanated from the first gurdwara built in the United States, founded in 1912 in Stockton, California. Serving not only the spiritual needs of the community—Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike—the Stockton gurdwara also served as a social and political center for the entire Pacific Coast Punjabi community. Political discussions, including those on the liberation of India, were often held there, making it a gathering point for the entire community. Consequently, it is widely considered as the most important organization formed by early South Asian American immigrants. —Jaideep Singh
Further Reading Grewal, J. S. The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Jensen, Joan. Passage from India. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988. LaBrack, Bruce. The Sikhs of Northern California: 1904–1975. New York: AMS Press, 1988. Leonard, Karen Isaksen. The South Asian Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration Arts and crafts in Punjabi America are part and parcel the arts and crafts of Indian Americans. The main forms of arts and crafts in Punjabi America include body art, wood crafts, embroidery (phulkari) fabrics, carpet weaving (parandis), and earthenware. Punjabi Americans import many arts and crafts from the Punjab region of India to decorate their homes. This includes beautiful furniture made
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of wood, with inlay ivory, and ornamentation motifs drawn from Punjabi folk beliefs and folklore. It also includes many natural elements, such as leaves of trees ( patta), flower buds (dodi), bushes ( jhari), flowers, animals, birds, and landscapes. One arts-and-crafts item that both Punjabi American men and women share a fondness for is jootis, a colorful shoe/slipper. Jootis come in rich colors of gold and silver, with multicolored threads and complex designs. Punjabi Americans will purchase handwoven carpets from the Punjab to decorate their homes, known as durries. Durries are woven in various sizes with geometric patterns. Typically, they are designed with animals, birds, flowers, leaves, and landscapes, and employ multiple colors. Punjabi American girls may collect dolls of the Punjab, especially the Punjabi bride and the bhangra doll (folk dancer). These Punjabi dolls are colorful, and well crafted. Beside dolls, folk toys are also a collector’s item in Punjabi American households. Punjabi folk toys usually depict animals, equestrian figures, and wheeled vehicles. They can either be used to play with by children, or used for decoration by adults. Besides their ornamental quality, Punjabi folk toys have sentimental value and emotional appeal. Punjabi American women may enjoy phulkari, embroidery and knitting folk art. In the Punjab and in Punjabi America, it is customary for parents and kinfolks to give hand-embroidered clothes to girls as part of a dowry. In phulkari folk art, the whole cloth is covered with close embroidery, and roughly no space is left exposed. The piece of artful embroidered is called bag, which means “a garden.” Punjabi body art is popular in mainstream American society as anything India is considered hip and stylish. Hence, it is common to see Indian/Punjabi designs and patterns on clothes and accessories for young teens. Mehendi or the henna is body art for women with multiple designs. Traditionally, mehendi is drawn on a Punjabi/Punjabi American bride’s hands and arm. Mehendi represents good fortune, good luck, and harmony for the newly married couple. The names of the bride and groom are typically hidden in the mehendi design, which typically includes peacocks, lotus flowers, and elephants, all of which are symbols of good luck and prosperity. The wedding cannot commence until the groom is able to locate his name in the bride’s mehendi design. Today, there are mass-produced, though still colorful, images of the Sikh Gurus, in particular Guru Nanak that are popular home decorations in Sikh Punjabi American homes. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and K. N. Sethi See also: Punjabi Americans: Foods and Foodways; Sikh Gurus.
Further Reading Bhatia, Sunil. American Karma: Race, Culture, and Identity in the Indian Diaspora. New York: New York University Press, 2007.
Punjabi Americans: Children’s Folklore
Children’s Folklore The majority of Punjabi folklore that has made its way to America for children is focused on the stories about the Sikh Gurus and other heroic Sikhs. Storybooks, comics, and interactive Internet sites have recently come to embody these stories for new generations. Publishers such as Hemkunt, Madhubun, and ACK Media each have series of children’s books dedicated to presenting the lives of the Gurus and Sikh heroes. Often this material is now available in English, making it more accessible to Sikh youth in the United States. If there was a specific focus of Punjabi children’s literature in America, it would be to convey the basic tenets and traditional ways of being a Sikh. Stories about the Gurus and other Sikhs set out patterns of behavior to be emulated by the young audience. The tenets of charity, service, and devotion to God are made clear through the life examples of these Sikhs. Guru Nanak is the exemplar par excellence, as he set the moral pattern by which all Sikhs are to live. His message is made clear through the anecdotes drawn from the Janam-sakhi literature. Guru Nanak’s travel stories provide a setting for the development of Sikh belief, which a young reader can easily follow. Two other Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708) and Ranjit Singh (1780–1839), garner much of the focus of this literature as well. These men both rose to prominence by bringing Sikhs together in difficult times. Guru Gobind Singh’s establishment of the Khalsa in 1699 set out a clear expression of and guidelines for Sikhism, which is the focus of much of the children’s literature today. A lot of books tell young children how to dress like a Khalsa Sikh, giving instructions on wearing the turban. Ranjit Singh established independent Sikh rule in the Punjab, declaring himself maharaja (great king) in 1801. He was an ordinary boy who, through devoted action, grew into a role of leadership and eventually threw off Muslim rule. The moral of Ranjit Singh’s story provides a parallel to the American story that any child can grow up to be president. Stories about Sikhs who fought to protect others are also prominent in this literature. These tales range from the tragic killing of Guru Gobind Singh’s two youngest sons, Fateh and Zorawar (aged 6 and 9) at Sirhind in 1705, to the fantastic story of Baba Deep Singh (1682–1757) who still came to the defense of the Golden Temple (Harimandir Sahib) reportedly after his head was cut off in battle with invading Afghans. Bhai Mani Singh (1670–1737), is another who receives a great deal of attention. His refusal to pay the Muslim tax on non-Muslims (jizya) led to his execution when he was given the choice to convert, pay, or die. These tales of Sikhs standing up for ethical action continue to motivate Punjabi American youth. —Toby Braden Johnson See also: Punjabi Americans: Heroes and Heroines; Identity; Literature and Folklore.
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Further Reading Anand, Tejinder Kaur. The Essence of Sikhism. 8 vols. New Delhi: Madhubun Educational Books, 2008. McLeod, W. H. “The Hagiography of the Sikhs.” In W. H. McLeod, Essays in Sikh History, Tradition, and Society. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2007, 35–53.
Web Site Sidhu, G. S., “G. S. Sivia and Kirpal Singh Rai. Guru Nanak (for Children).” Sikh Missionary Society U.K. (Regd.) Web site. http://www.gurmat.info/sms/smspublications/ gurunanakforchildren (accessed August 3, 2010).
Dying and Death Rituals Death is inevitable. It can be frightening because it is something unknown. However, there are sundry rituals that can provide comfort and solace for both the dying person and the living. Punjabis, whether Sikhs, Hindus, or Muslims, adhere to some basic religious tenets that concern the process of death and dying, which is a fundamental human experience. In the United States, immigrants from India continue to practice rituals associated with death and dying that are derived from their place of origin. The Punjabi Hindus follow the ritual as prescribed in Hindu dharmic texts. The Hindu religious philosophy believes rebirth follows death, in a process known as samsara. The soul, atman is immortal, and it takes a new body after death. The material body is destroyed only, but the soul goes on moving to different bodies until it reaches moksha (liberation out of samsara, akin to salvation). According to the Hindi creation myth of Purusha, or Cosmic Man, moksha is achieved when an individual soul re-emerges with the cosmic soul of Pursha, from which it originated. Here, the individual soul will stay for eternity. The funeral rites for the Punjabi Hindu Americans begin with sprinkling of Ganga Jal (water of the holy Ganga River at Kashi) or tulsi (basil) water. A paste of turmeric is applied over the body amidst chanting of slokas (hymns) from sacred scriptures. The presence of the pundit, or priest, is mandatory to supervise and perform the death rituals. The funeral procession consists of relatives and friends. At the funeral ground, there occurs again some rituals such as cooking rice and cereals to be given to the ancestors as panda (rice balls). The eldest son has many responsibilities during the funeral rituals, including the lighting of the mukhagni (funeral pyre). The cremation restores the body to wholeness, through Angi, the God of Fire, for the other realm. The ashes are thus thrown into the Ganga, where it flows upstream back to heaven, where the river descends from.
Punjabi Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
In the United States, it has become common practice to take the dead body to a crematorium; whereas in India, it is done outside, using a wood pyre. The ashes are collected to be taken to be immersed in the Ganga River. This ritual can be symbolic, as all bodies of water are understood to be connected to the Ganga River. Hence, Punjabi Hindus in America do not need physically to return to India, though that is ideal; rather, they can go to a nearby body of water, lake, river, pond, or ocean, and sprinkle ashes in there. A period of mourning consisting of 10 to 13 days is generally observed. The eldest son is prohibited from taking non-vegetarian food and has to sleep on the ground, observing strict penance. However, because of the demands of modern life, the time frame and restrictions have been modified and adjusted. The dying and death rituals among the Punjabi Sikhs of the United States are both similar to and different from their Hindu American counterparts. Both believe in moksha and understand that death is a step toward union of God. Cremation is practiced by Sikhs as well, both in India and America. After death, the body is washed, and the five symbols of Sikhism, also known as the 5-Ks—Kirpan, Kaccha, Kanga, Kara, and Kesh—must be present. The Sikh granthi, or a relater or narrator, recite hymns from the Gurbani, Sikh sacred texts. The rituals of death are undertaken in two parts: first, saskar, or cremation, and then antim ardas, the last rite in the Sikh funeral. Like Hindus and Hindu Americans, the Sikh eldest son plays a central role in Sikh death rituals and is expected to lit the fire for the funeral pyre, if it is in India, or to press the button for the cremation, if it is in America. Unlike the Hindus, Sikh women also accompany the dead body to cremation. In many places of the United States, the funeral home crematorium is the only option. The antim ardas consists of rituals after returning from the place where the funeral is held. People who visit the funeral home or cemetery must take a bath upon returning home. The recitation of the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib continues for 10 days either in the gurdwara (Sikh temple) or at the family’s home. The mourners are given karah Prasad, a sweet, flour-based, oily vegetarian food that is offered to all visitors of the gurdwara. The ashes of the dead body are taken by the family members to be immersed in a river. The Sutlej River in the Punjab is a destination for many Sikhs living in the United States. The Punjabi Sikhs generally do not erect samadhi or monument at the cremation ground. Punjabi Americans understand death as an essential part of life, which is inevitable and unavoidable. After the mourning period ends, amidst an atmosphere of grief, life goes on in a normal way for the Punjabi immigrants of the United States. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Patit Paban Mishra
Further Reading McLeod, W. H. The A to Z of Sikhism. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2009.
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Punjabi Americans: Family and Community Myrvold, Kristina. “Sikhism and Death.” In Kathleen Graces-Foley, ed. Death and Religion in a Changing World. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2006. Prasoon, Shrikant. 16 Hindu Samskars: From Before the Birth Till Death and Even after Death: With Rituals and Pujan Vidhi. New Delhi: Hindoology Books, 2009.
Family and Community Among Punjabi Americans, family and community are central to their value system and way of life. Although family and community patterns undergo transformation in the process of immigration; impact of pre-migration cultural norms plays an important role in the resettlement of Punjabi American lives, families, and communities. The successive generations of Punjabi immigrants to the United States blend together old and new value systems—American and Punjabi—to create a novel kind of family and community life that express both. The Punjabi American family and community structures have been adapted socially, economically, and culturally. In the United States, the majority of Punjabi families are “nuclear.” It has been found that the bond of family members is very strong for Punjabi Hindus as well as Punjabi Sikhs. Sikhism and Hinduism idealize the importance to family life. The nuclear family of followers of both religious traditions consists of a father, a mother, and children. In India, the traditional family structure is extended, where multiple generations live in one household. Status and duties within the Punjabi American family has also changed, when compared to the homeland. In America, Punjabi American women are gaining more social and economic status because they work outside the home to support the family. However, they are also required to form the traditional domestic duties, which results in double duties for them that is stressful and may lead to divorce. As with other traditional cultural practices, Punjabi American men are expected to be the so le breadwinner. Since this is no longer the norm, the status of Punjabi American men has been declining, as the status of Punjabi American women rise. Put another way, one may conclude the Punjabi American women are being empowered in ways that they were not able to be in their homeland. In the early 1900s, Indian immigrants, mostly from the Punjab region, arrived in America as cheap labor. One a small fraction of them were Hindus. One-third of the early Indian population were Muslims, and the rest were Sikhs. At that time, the Punjabi immigrants were politically racialized as “Asian” and therefore not “white,” which made them targets of discriminatory policies that did not allow them to purchase or rent land, become a naturalized citizen, or marry white people. The laws forbidding interracial marriage between a Punjabi and a white person (usually white women) are antimiscegenation laws. There are tales of some
Punjabi Americans: Family and Community
Punjabi men subverting the law by going out to sea to marry, in which case they were able to “legally” marry a white women. By the 1930s, Punjabi men in the American Southwest had already begun marrying Mexican and Native American women with notable frequency. These interracial families fused Mexican and Punjabi cultural traditions together. The fusion was creatively expressed in the foods they ate, as tortillas replaced rotis or naan, and jalapen˜os were used in curries instead of Punjabi chili peppers. Punjabi–Mexican American children grew up speaking multiple languages: Punjabi or Hindi, Mexican Spanish, and English. Sikhs and Hindus practice arranged marriages, and this has caused some intergenerational conflicts within the Punjabi Sikh and Punjabi Hindu communities. Hence, a Punjabi American daughter dating a non-Punjabi is frowned upon as not having izzat, or social honor and respect. That is not to say that Punjabi Americans are not given the opportunity to select their husbands/wives, and that they do not marry non-Punjabis. Still, some Punjabi American parents, especially first-generation immigrants, are so concerned about their children’s marriage choices (especially with their sons), that they insist on arranging a marriage with a respectful and moral Punjabi women from India. Punjabi Americans are taking advantage of the family reunification clause of U.S. immigration law to sponsor their relatives from India over to the United States. The United States is still considered a land of great opportunities. The American Dream is within reach of any immigrant who comes. Punjabi American families treat their guests with a high degree of hospitality. Likewise, there is a very strong sense of community that is expressed at Punjabi American community festivals, toward all people who attend. In the Sikh tradition, anyone who visits a Sikh temple is given food, which is an expression of hospitality. In fact, in the Punjabi Sikh and Hindu traditions, anytime there is a celebration, all in the community and friends of friends are invited. The Sikh American community has become more united as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Because Sikh Americans wear turbans as a sign of their faith and devotion to God, they were racialized as “Muslims” and became targets of violence and discrimination. As a result, many Sikh organizations in the United States launched a nationwide campaign to educate the public about Sikhism, as well as to assert their Americanness. Some of the important Punjabi Sikh American associations are Chardi Kalaa Sikh Community Center, Punjabi-American Heritage Society, Yuba city Punjabi Association, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Center of Orange County, Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago, Atlanta Sikh Study Circle , Phoenix Sikh Missionary Center, Sikh Student’s Association, and the Sacramento State University’s Sikh Student’s Association. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Patit Paban Mishra See also: Punjabi Americans: Festival and Holidays.
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Further Reading La Brack, Bruce. The Sikhs of Northern California, 1904–1975. New York: AMS Press, 1988. Leonard, Karen I. Making Ethnic Choices: California’s Punjabi Mexican Americans. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992. Mann, Gurinder, Paul Numrich, and Raymond Williams. Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs in America: A Short History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Williams, Raymond B. Religions of Immigrants from India and Pakistan: New Threads in the American Tapestry. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Festivals and Holidays The fun-loving Punjabis know how to enjoy their leisure. The holidays and festivals are big occasions for them. The Punjabi community in diaspora could be divided into Hindu Punjabis and Sikhs. Some of the festivals are common, others are distinct, but there is no clear demarcation line, and festivals are celebrated with participation by both. Also, it is not uncommon to find participation by other immigrant ethnic groups and Americans in the festivals. The Punjabis living in various parts of the United States organize festivals that draw a large number of people from different communities. Various Punjabi associations take a leading part in organizing the festivals. There is a significant population of Punjabi Americans at Yuba City in the Central Valley of California. Sikhism is the second-most practiced religion of the city. The 15th Punjabi American Festival was organized at Sutter Fairgrounds on May 24, 2009. It featured various musical concerts and dance programs for the months of October and NovemSikh American women follow a float ber 2009 in its agenda. Punjabi Americontaining the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy cans are also concentrated in places book of Sikhism, at the 22nd Annual Sikh like the San Francisco Bay Area, Parade in Yuba City, California, November Stockton, and San Jose, California; 4, 2001. (Max Whittaker/Getty Images)
Punjabi Americans: Festivals and Holidays
New York; Boston; Chicago; Seattle; Detroit; and New Orleans among other places. They take leading part in organizing various Hindu and Sikh festivals in their respective communities. Punjabis enjoy American holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, and the Fourth of July. Punjabi festivals are not holidays in the United States, so it is celebrated on weekends when there is time to get together with family and friends. In secular festivals like Independence Day (August 15) and Republic Day (January 26) of India, the Punjabis join the celebration organized by Indian embassy, consulates, and different Indian organizations in America. Punjabi Americans will frequent popular Indian festivals such as Dewali (festival of lights), Holi (color festival), Durga Puja, Sarasvati Puja, and Ganesh Chaturthi, which marks them as not only Punjabi Americans, but also Indian Americans. For the Punjabi Sikhs, a visit to a gurdwara is mandatory in any Sikh festival. In festivals like Hola Mohalla, Vaisakhi, Parkash Divas, Guru Nanak, Jayanthi, Guru Gobind Singh Jayanthi and others, Punjabi Sikhs in the United States gather in their gurdwara and listen to Gurubani or teaching of the Sikh Gurus. All share meals in the langar or community kitchen. Participation by other communities’ members is always welcome. The Guru Nanak Jayanti, or birthday of the first Guru, is celebrated on November 24. The Punjabi Sikhs also observe martyrdom of Gurus like Tegh Bahadur, 40 followers of Guru Gobind Singh, and Arjan Dev. The fifth Guru Arjan Dev had compiled the Sikh scripture, the Granth Sahib and its installation is observed on September 1. Some of the Punjabi Americans celebrate the harvest festival of Lohri on January 13. The Hola Mohalla festival began in Sikh history during the time of the 10th Guru Govind Singh. Generally it comes in the month of March and sometimes coincides with the Sikh New Year. The main attraction of the festival is performance of martial arts by the Punjabis. The Vaisakhi is celebrated on April 13 by the Punjabi immigrants to mark the birth of Khalsa or Sikh order. After offering prayers in the gurdwara, the Punjabis gather in large numbers in an open courtyard with their co-ethnics, family, and friends, all the while enjoying the delicacies prepared by the langar. The festivals and holidays are respite from busy life undertaken by the Punjabi community in the United States. It not only establishes a separate cultural identity, but also contributes to the multi-cultural ethos of the United States. —Patit Paban Mishra See also: Indian Americans: Festivals and Holidays; Punjabi Americans: Gurbani Kirtan; Sikh Gurus; Sikhism.
Further Reading Fenton, John Y. Transplanting Religious Traditions: Asian Indians in America. New York: Praeger, 1988.
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Punjabi Americans: Foods and Foodways Mann, Gurinder S., et al. Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs in America: A Short History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Ranjan, Gita, and Shailja Sharma. New Cosmopolitanisms: South Asians in the U.S. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006. Sikh Missionary Center. Sikh Religion. Phoenix: Sikh Missionary Center, 1999.
Foods and Foodways The delicious Punjabi American cuisine is appreciated by the people of the United States. It has a specialty of its own, whether prepared in home, restaurants, dhabas (roadside eateries on highways), and langars (community kitchen). The Punjabi Americans have almost completely retained the flavor of cooking evolved in the original homeland of the Punjab in Indian subcontinent. Wheat, maize, milk, and milk products like malai (cream) and paneer (cottage cheese) are main ingredients in cooking for the migrant Punjabi community of the United States. Makhan (white butter) and mustard oil are also important cooking mediums. Black pepper, coriander, red chili powder, cumin, clove, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and other ingredients are included in preparing Punjabi food. A Punjabi menu consists of tandoori roti (white bread) as well as tandoori chicken prepared in a tandoor (a clay or electric oven), makke di roti (bread made of maize flour), kulcha (baked bread made of refined flour), rogan josh (lamb curry), sarson ka saag (mustard leaves), rajma ( red kidney beans), and kadhi (curd curry). Punjabi Americans sometimes include fried rice. The lassi (a beverage made of churned yogurt), either with sugar or salt, is a favorite drink of Punjabi Americans. Punjabi Hindus are permitted to take alcohol on special occasions, such as birthday celebrations or weddings. But alcoholic drinks are prohibited for the Sikh Americans as per the tenets of Sikhism. The Panthic Sikh Rehat Maryada (the Sikh booklet of Code of Conduct) had called upon the Sikhs not to take any intoxicating drink or tobacco in any form. The Sikh Gurus as well as the Guru Granth Sahib had reiterated that sharab (alcohol) should not be consumed as it was harmful physically as well as mentally. The third Guru of the Sikhs, Amar Daas (1479–1574), clearly stated that drinking liquor or alcohol was a kurehat (prohibition) for the Sikh community. Whereas the Hindu Punjabis smoke, it is difficult to find a Sikh smoker anywhere. The Sikh American as well as the Hindu Punjabi American takes nonvegetarian food. But, the Sikh Gurus had banned meat for the Sikhs. In the langars of gurdwaras, food is strictly vegetarian. The langar system was started by the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nank Dev (1469–1539). In the langars during the Sikh festivals, thousands of people attend to take simple and hygienically prepared vegetarian meals.
Punjabi Americans: Gurbani Kirtan
Punjabi cuisine is offered on the menu of most South Asian Indian restaurants in the United States. There is a proliferation of Punjabi restaurants in major U.S. cities, and they have become lucrative enough to entice business investors. These restaurants range from small mom-and-pop restaurants serving home-cooked meals, to larger establishments marketing to new cosmopolitan populations in search of new culinary experiences. These upmarket restaurants carter to vegetarians who are fond of Indian (i.e., Punjabi) foods because there are many nonmeat dishes. New dishes are also created to accommodate the American diet, such as tandoori tofu. The foods and foodways of a culture are important aspects of family traditions. In the United States, Punjabi foods and foodways are preserved and adaptive to reflect the Punjabi American taste, experience, and way of life. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Patit Paban Mishra
Further Reading Gupta, Visvaprakas, and Mohini Gupta. An Encyclopedia of Punjabi Culture and History. Delhi: Ambe Books, 1999. Narula, S. S. Aspects of Punjabi Culture. Patiala: Punjabi University, 1995.
Gurbani Kirtan Gurbani kirtan is the musical and oral performance of the most sacred Sikh Scripture, called the Guru Granth Sahib (which can be translated as “Venerable Book that is Guru”) or Adi Granth (the “first” or “primary Book”). The term Gurbani means “the Word of the Gurus,” i.e., the words of the teachers or spiritual masters of the Sikh tradition. The term kirtan refers to the singing of devotional songs to God. Performance of the devotional hymns of the Adi Granth may also be referred to as Shabad kirtan: singing of the Divine and Eternal Word. The text of the Adi Granth itself is a compilation of devotional hymns, with musical instructions given for the performance of each. Gurbani kirtan has been central to Sikh worship since the beginning of Sikhism. For instance, Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, spent much of his life traveling and preaching, accompanied by a Muslim rebab (a stringed instrument) player named Mardana, and revealed his teachings by singing inspired hymns that were later incorporated into the Guru Granth Sahib. The importance of performing kirtan for Sikhs is attested by the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan, who proclaimed that “the cycle of birth and death is ended . . . singing the kirtan of the Lord’s Praises” (Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Granth Sahib 1360). Sikhs have seen the act of performing Gurbani kirtan or hearing it performed as a form of entering into the Divine presence and a way of remembering God in everyday life.
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For Sikhs in the United States, performing or listening to Gurbani kirtan is a primary activity when visiting a gurdwara, or Sikh temple. Gurbani kirtan is usually performed by ragis (“those who perform ragas” or hymns) or granthis (“keepers of the Sacred Book”), but anyone in attendance is encouraged to sing along, or to listen and focus on the meaning and/or the sound of the hymns. Having the proper attitude and intent when performing kirtan is considered more important than technical ability. Sikhs describe the blissful feelings and positive transformative effects on their consciousness that arise from listening to Gurbani kirtan. In addition to the gurdwara setting, Sikhs in the United States also often listen to kirtan at home on CDs, or via live internet radio broadcasts from the “Golden Temple” (the most sacred Sikh site, in Northern India). Many also watch activities at the “Golden Temple” live via satellite TV. It is also very common for Sikhs to perform kirtan themselves in their homes, or for them to invite ragis/granthis into their home to do so. Sikhs very often choose to mark life events and special occasions, such as births, weddings, and funerals, with an akhand path, which is an unbroken recitation of the entire 1,430 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib, taking about 48 hours to complete. Gurdwara communities also host special events revolving around kirtan, which bring expert performers from around the world and generate much excitement within the communities. For Sikhs in the United States, the performance of Gurbani kirtan is an activity central to Sikh identity and provides a sense of connection to Sikh and Punjabi homeland and culture. Within Sikh homes and gurdwara communities in the United States, much effort is made to teach children (and adults) how to recite Gurbani and play kirtan, both as a form of spritual practice and means of learning about Sikh identity. —Charles M. Townsend See also: Pan Asian Americans: Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions; Punjabi Americans: Gurdwara; Identity; Religion; Sikh Gurus; Sikhism.
Further Reading Mansukhani, G. S. Indian Classical Music and Sikh Kirtan. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., 1982. Singh, Gurnam. Sikh Musicology: Sri Guru Granth Sahib and Hymns of the Human Spirit. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, 2001. Singh, Pashaura. “Sikhism and Music.” In Guy L. Beck, ed. Sacred Sound: Experiencing Music in World Religions. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2006, 141–168. Singh, Pashaura. The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon Meaning and Authority. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Web Site Searchable Online Guru Granth Sahib: http://www.srigranth.org.
Punjabi Americans: Gurdwara
Gurdwara Gurdwara, literally meaning the “door to God” in Punjabi, is the name given to Sikh houses of worship. In South Asia, these sacred sites serve as the spiritual centers for local Sikh life. All are welcome in a gurdwara regardless of religious or any other earthly affiliation, as long as they cover their heads, remove their shoes, wash their hands, and are not inebriated. The gurdwara has also historically served as a place where Sikh or non-Sikh travelers would be welcomed and offered food and temporary accommodations. Early diasporic Sikh temples also aided pioneer Sikh migrants in their passage to North America in the early 1900s. The gurdwara in Hong Kong, for example, offered a place for migrants to the United States and Canada to stay until they could board the ship to their destination. All visitors to a gurdwara are fed in the Guru ka Langar, or free kitchen—a Sikh institution found in every gurdwara that is operated through the charitable giving of the congregation, and also open to everyone. In India, the gurdwara often serves the local community by feeding many of the poor and destitute in a region. Within a gurdwara, during Sikh religious activities, all congregants are seated on the floor, usually with their legs crossed. When a Sikh enters the main hall of
Sikh American worshipers sit on the floor as a sign of humility and equality while eating lunch at the new National Gurdwara and Sikh Cultural Center in Washington, DC., February 19, 2006. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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a gurdwara, she or he first bows before the Sikh holy scriptures, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, in acknowledgement of the wisdom contained within its pages. The worshipper then joins the congregation by taking a seat on the floor. In the diaspora, the gurdwara has taken on entirely different significance than in South Asia, because it is often the only Sikh-operated institution available to serve the needs of the local Sikh community. As such, in the diaspora, the gurdwara has become a de facto center not only of Sikh religious life, but also for the social, political, and economic needs of a small migrant community, which experiences societal discrimination both as a result of its racialization and its non-Christian belief system. The first gurdwara in North America was built in Stockton, California, in 1912, and was the site of tremendous social and political activity for the pioneer generation of South Asians to North America. From this gurdwara, Sikh Americans worked together with Muslim and Hindu migrants to challenge the white supremacist attitudes and laws that permeated the United States at the time, as well as to struggle for independence for their homeland from Britain. In a fervent attempt to cling to the most salient aspects of their religio-historical identity, Sikhs have built a gurdwara wherever they have migrated. Contemporarily, in many parts of the United States, this has become a source of conflict, as Sikh Americans—and other non-Christian congregations of color—have experienced vociferous community opposition to the construction of their sacred sites. Despite this often bigotry-laden opposition, Sikh American communities throughout the nation continue to construct temples to serve the needs of the rapidly growing Sikh communities in the United States. —Jaideep Singh
Further Reading Jensen, Joan. Passage from India. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988. LaBrack, Bruce. The Sikhs of Northern California: 1904–1975. New York: AMS Press, 1988. Singh, Jaideep. “The Racialization of Minoritized Religious Identity: Constructing Sacred Sites at the Intersection of White and Christian Supremacy.” In Jane Naomi Iwamura and Paul Spickard, eds. Revealing the Sacred in Asian and Pacific America. New York: Routledge, 2003, 87–106.
Heroes and Heroines The first heroes of Sikhism are, obviously, the Gurus, who set an example of devotion and service to which all Sikhs aspire. Later Sikh heroes and martyrs also embodied this ideal. The memories of these heroes are instrumental to conceptions of Sikhism and identity.
Punjabi Americans: Heroes and Heroines
While all 10 Gurus are remembered favorably, five stand out in the literature as specifically heroic in the pursuit of their work. Guru Nanak’s conviction in spreading his new message to unfriendly audiences serves as inspiration to his successors and his Sikhs. The fifth master, Guru Arjan (1563–1606), died at the hands of the Timurid (Mughal) rulers of India for his charity to a Timurid prince who did not succeed as emperor. Guru Hargobind (1595–1644), son of Arjan and the sixth Guru, then formed a bodyguard and adopted the practice of wearing two swords in an effort to defend his Sikhs from further persecution. Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675) was put to death for standing up against the Timurid Emperor Aurangzeb’s unjust policies towards local Hindu chieftains. The 10th Guru, Gobind Singh (1666–1708), is most revered for his stand against the Timurids and defense of the community by his establishment of the Khalsa (pure). The Guru had asked for five volunteers to give their lives for the community. Those who stepped forward, the Panj Piare (Five Cherished Ones), were baptized by the Guru as the first members of this new order devoted to protecting those unable to do so themselves. Khalsa Sikhs are known today by their adherence to the panj kakke (Five Ks), five distinct outward signs of inward devotion: unshorn hair (Kes), a comb worn in the hair (Kangha), a steel bangle on the right wrist (Kara), special undergarments (Kachha), and a short sword (Kirpan). The Khalsa ideal set a pattern for Sikh life that continues today and is best remembered through the example of Guru Gobind Singh. Not only did the Gurus give their lives for the Sikh cause, but so did numerous Sikhs. The example of these martyrs is also remembered. It is a history of common tragedy and persecution. Stories range from those about the four children (Sahibzade) of Guru Gobind Singh who were all killed in conflict with the Timurids, to the martyrdom of Bhai Mani Singh (d. 1737) and Baba Deep Singh (1682–1757) by invading Afghans. In 1984, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s advocacy for an independent Sikh homeland, Khalistan, brought him into direct conflict with the Indian government. He and his closest supporters were caught in Harimandir Sahib (Golden Temple) by the Indian army. Bhindranwale died during the siege, but his legacy lives on amongst Sikhs still dedicated to the cause of Khalistan. The memories of Bhindranwale and Operation Blue Star, as it was called by the Indian army, are instrumental in North American Sikhs’ continued promotion of the Khalistan cause. —Toby Braden Johnson See also: Punjabi Americans: Identity; Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Fenech, Louis. Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition: Playing the “Game of Love.” Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2000.
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Punjabi Americans: Home Decoration McLeod, W. H. Sikhs of the Khalsa: A History of the Khalsa Rahit. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2003. Singh, Kushwant. A History of the Sikhs 1, 1469–1839. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986. Singh, Pashaura. Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Home Decoration The Punjab region of India is one of the earliest cradles of civilization—the Indus Valley civilization, some 4,000 years ago. The Punjab region has historically been a cultural crossroads into the greater Indian subcontinent. The Persian king, Darius (r. 522–486), swept across the Punjab and made it a protectorate of the Persian Empire. For the Buddhists, the Punjab was the path to the north, to the valleys of Afghanistan and road to China. Thus, the Punjab is home to centuries-old artisan traditions. Among the most known is the craftsmanship of Punjabi wood carvings (e.g., tables, chairs, chest, and frames). Punjabi-style furnishings and decorations are thus an important dimension of the Punjabi American home. Punjabi American home decorations reflect their homeland, their religious traditions, their American way of life, and their sense of aesthetics. The pre-migration material culture remains inherent in the new setting. There is a blending together of old and new styles to make their home beautiful and comfortable. The home and its decoration have transformed considerably from the earlier days when Punjabi immigrants first arrived in the early 19th century. The dwellings of farm laborers were nothing but shacks. Most of the time was devoted to agriculture, and the early Punjabi immigrants did not think about home decoration except for putting the pictures of the Sikh Gurus or Hindu deities brought from India. Some could manage to put the copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, or Sikh scriptures in a remote corner of the house. Today, among Punjabi Sikhs, a special room is reserved to keep the Guru Granth Sahib. Keeping in tune with their Indian heritage, embroidered rugs adorn home decoration. Indian wood carvings and furniture with popular Hindu or Sikh symbols, such as the lotus, are displayed in their home. One popular item is the Punjab treasure chest, known for centuries for its workmanship and artistic value. The Punjab treasure chest was a highly prized item to the British during the period of British rule in India. Some typical items found in Punjabi American homes are wall hangings made of colorful fabrics, religious crafts, framed mirrors with imperial designs, Indian vases and pots, colorful Indian-design throw pillows,
Punjabi Americans: Identity
images of the Taj Mahal, and sculptures of elephants. In fact, the popular “Elephants of Akbar” are common in Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim Punjabi homes. Akbar was a tolerant and respected Mughal emperor of 16th-century India. He became emperor at the tender age of 13. Akbar ruled with the message of love, harmony, and tolerance. Although he was Muslim by birth, he married a Hindu woman, whom he never tried to convert to Islam. The “Elephants of Akar” are thus a tribute to Akbar’s benevolence, and the ideals that he represents. The Punjabi American home decorations help maintain, among all generations a connection to Indian arts, crafts, and rich heritage. In an indirect way, it reinforces the notion of being a Punjabi, or by extension an Indian American. These mundane and religious material objects are powerful markers of individual and collective identities: Indian, Punjabi, and American. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Patit Paban Mishra
Further Reading Leonard, Karen I. Making Ethnic Choices: California’s Punjabi Mexican Americans. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992. Ranjan, Gita, and Shailja Sharma. New Cosmopolitanisms: South Asians in the U.S. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006.
Identity Because of nationalism and self-definition along religious lines, the people of Punjab interact differently in America than they would back in their homeland. Punjab is a cultural region that was split between two nations in 1947, and most Punjabis today are Pakistani Muslims, and Indian Sikhs and Hindus. There are small populations of Punjabi Christians as well. Components of the region’s culture include remnants of premodern feudalism, pride in fertile lands, an agrarian ethic, and an ethos of coexistence between members of the various religions. Nationalistic and religious identities of the people of the region dominate Punjabi American culture. For example, Punjabi Americans from Pakistan are more likely to publicly self-identify as Pakistani Americans or Muslim Americans than to identify with the cultural region of the Punjab (just as a wide range of Americans can identify with the cultural region of “the South”). However, in private, many of these people will speak Punjabi and participate in other aspects of Punjabi culture alongside their religious and nationalistic participations. The India-Pakistan border has erected an insurmountable barrier preventing regular interaction. Therefore, and ironically, informal interaction between Indian Punjabis and Pakistani Punjabis is more prevalent in emigre communities than in the
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homelands. Punjabi Americans from either side of the border often find the other’s vernacular Punjabi speech fascinating and beautiful for its difference from their own. Punjabis in North America have built strong networks, mostly along religious lines. Religion has become the conduit for heritage preservation. Dealing with difference or integrating the old country’s values with new American life, Punjabi Americans have had to be reflective about the gap and overlaps between religion and culture. Sikh Americans have been more forthcoming in their self-identification with the Punjab homeland than Muslim and Hindu Punjabi Americans, who have more eagerly affiliated themselves with Pakistani and Indian identity, respectively. Sikhs were the first Punjabis (and among the first Asians) to migrate to North America, which they began to do in the late 19th century. They arrived on the west coast of the continent, and many settled, building the first Punjabi American communities. Nostalgia informs much of the Punjabi American manner. Travel to pardes (the world abroad) and return to vattan (homeland) have been part of the Punjabi psyche for centuries. “Back home” is a frequent topic of conversation, and the Punjabi American nostalgia for vattan is a leitmotif of Punjab American literature (which is mostly poetry). Therefore, Punjabi Americans have reinvested heavily in India and Pakistan—economically as well as culturally. Returning to the homeland, Punjabi Americans receive warm welcomes and special treatment. This is reciprocated when newcomers arrive to America from the Punjab regions. Such exchanges shape and color religion and politics back home with the experience of the diaspora. Some Punjabi American youth choose to explore their cultural roots by returning to Punjab to study its language and culture. This is particularly true for the Indian Punjab, where programs from the University of California and Department of State offer guided travel opportunities for heritage seekers. —Rahuldeep Singh Gill
Further Reading Mann, Gurinder Singh. “Sikhs Come to America.” In Gurinder Singh Mann, Paul David Numrich, and Raymond Brady Williams, eds. Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, 128–138. Mann, Gurinder Singh, Gurdit Singh, Ami P. Shah, Gibb Schreffler, and Anne Murphy. An Introduction to Punjabi: Grammar, Conversation, and Literature. Santa Barbara, CA: Center for Sikh and Punjab Studies (UCSB), Forthcoming.
Web Site Punjabi American Heritage Society Web site: http://www.punjabiheritage.org (accessed December 2009).
Punjabi Americans: Literature and Folklore
Literature and Folklore Punjabi folk literature is part of a larger Indian tradition of writings including the Vedas, the Epics—Mahabharata and Ramayana—and the witty tales of Emperor Akbar’s Hindu advisor, Birbal. There is also the kissa tradition of epic storytelling, exemplified by the tragic romances, Mirza Sahiba, Laila Majnun and Heer Ranjha. These romances are the Indian equivalent of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and are just as popular. Yet, the folk literature that is most evident today in the United States is primarily derived from three types of Sikh writings: stories about the first master, Guru Nanak; stories about the nine successive Gurus; and stories about Sikh heroes and martyrs. Historically, writings about Guru Nanak, collectively known as the Janamsakhis (birth narratives), date to the late 16th century. These texts coalesced from an earlier oral tradition into a relatively standardized chronology of the Guru’s life and presented Nanak’s missionary travels throughout the Punjab, India, and possibly farther. The early janam-sakhi literature reflects the various ways Sikhs sought to remember and commemorate Guru Nanak’s life and message. This has then provided a foundation for the collective memory of the first master to extend
Illustration of Guru Nanak at Panja Sahib. (Art Directors.co.uk/Ark Religion.com/ StockphotoPro)
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well beyond those who met him. The Guru’s personality is conveyed through anecdotes in which he confronts challenges from Muslims and Hindus alike, but his ethical teachings win out over them all. His spiritual superiority affirms the value of his teachings for readers. Following in line with the janam-sakhis, stories about the other Gurus were collected and continue to be circulated. Anecdotes from the lives of the successor Gurus have been collected into works known as Gurbilas. These biographies work much like the janam-sakhi literature in depicting the moral life of the Gurus. Stories of Guru Gobind Singh are the most popular today. His establishment of the Khalsa in 1699 set a new pattern for the expression of Sikh faith that is visible today. Guru Gobind Singh’s untimely death in defense of the community is proudly commemorated. Along with Sikh heroes of the 18th and 19th centuries, Punjabis involved in the Indian struggle for independence in the early 20th century have also found a place in Punjabi American literature. Bhagat Singh (1907–1931) and Udham Singh (1899–1940) both resorted to violence in their opposition to British colonial policies in India and were put to death for their crimes. Their stories have been incorporated into the larger narrative of Indian freedom fighters, and each has been venerated by Sikhs for standing against unjust colonial rule. All these stories are presented today in various forms in the United States today. Besides being able to simply find a book about them, you can find them referenced in homilies at gurdwaras, depicted in calendar art, on the internet and even in popular cinema. —Toby Braden Johnson See also: Punjabi Americans: Heroes and Heroines; Identity.
Further Reading McLeod, W. H. Early Sikh Tradition: A Study of the Janam-Sakhis. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1980. McLeod, W. H. ed. Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1984. Singh, Kirpal. Janamsakhi Tradition: An Analytical Study. Amritsar, India: Singh Brothers, 2004. Singh, Kushwant. A History of the Sikhs 1, 1469–1839. Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Names and Name Giving There are many ceremonies and traditions associated with Punjabi American names and naming practices. The namkaran, or naming ceremony, takes place both in India and in Punjabi American communities. This is an important ritual
Punjabi Americans: Names and Name Giving
for the family. It takes place in a gurdwara, or Sikh temple, amidst the presence of family members and close friends. After the ardas, or prayer invoking the Sikh Gurus to bless the baby and ensure his/her health, the first letter of the first word of the hukam, or sacred word, become his or her name. Hukam is a Punjabi word derived from the Arabic hukm, meaning “order” or “command.” The granthi, or priest, opens the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikh sacred scripture, at random to choose the child’s name. It is announced to the sangat, or Sikh congregation, after the distribution of the karah Prasad, or sacred pudding. The general custom is to add Singh, meaning “lion,” after a boy’s name, and kaur, meaning “princess,” after a girl’s name. The Sikh names end generally with a suffix like “inder” (Parminder, Rajinder), “pal” (Kirnpal, Rajpal), “deep” (Kirndeep, Mandeep), and “preet” (Harpreet, Jaspreet). Of course, there are exceptions, like Kushvant, Navjeet, Naveen, Prabhjot, and Simran. Before 1699, the names of the Sikhs were impossible to differentiate from those of the Hindu neighbors. Even after 1699, the baptized Sikhs typically added the second name “Singh” to their first name. To this day, the first names of Sikhs and Hindus are considerably similar. The Punjabi Sikh names, whether in the United States or any other nation, are unisex in nature unlike their Hindu counterparts. A Ravinder or Ranjit may be either be a male or female; therefore, it becomes difficult to tell the gender of a person from name. For Punjabi American families, surnames or caste names are seldom used. For the early Punjabi settlers in the United States, it was not unusual for the father to give a Punjabi name and the mother, a Spanish name. The PunjabiMexican families gave names such as Maria Jesusita Singh, Jose Akbar Khan, Armando Chand, and others. For some Punjabi Americans, it has become fashionable to adopt American names before the title “Singh.” Thus, a Balvinder Singh becomes a Bobby Singh, or a Jatinder Singh becomes John Singh. They want to assimilate themselves in the American mainstream in this way. The Punjabi Americans have taken special care to choose the names as it remains for lifelong or even after death. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Patit Paban Mishra See also: Indian Americans: Names and Name Giving.
Further Reading Chilana, Rajwant S., and Parmit K. Chilana. Dictionary of Sikh Names. New Delhi: UBS Publishers, 2001. Dimpy, Mandeep K. Sikh Baby Names: 1200 Selected and Meaningful Names for Boys and Girls. New Delhi: Star Publications, 1992. Dogra, R. C., and Urmaila Dogra. The Sikh World: An Encyclopaedic Survey of Sikh Religion and Culture. Delhi: UBS Publishers, 2003.
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Punjabi Americans: Proverbs and Maxims Singh, Gurudev. An Anthology of Spiritual and Historical Sikh Names. Lewiston, ME: Mellen, 1995. Singh, Harbans. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Patiala: Punjabi University, 1998.
Proverbs and Maxims In Indian culture, wisdom is not measured by degrees or years of formal education. Rather, wisdom is measured by one’s ability to employ proverbs and maxims to make sense of events, conflicts, and world affairs. Punjabi proverbs and maxims occupy a special place in Punjabi American social life and relationships. In daily talks, the proverbs enthrall the conversations. The proverbs and maxims revolve round varied themes, such as proper social respect, religious myths, love, ethics, and day-to-day events. The travails of a married life are put in a comical Punjabi proverb: “The quarrel between a husband and wife lasts till they eat and go to bed.” It means disagreements between people in love are easily forgotten easily because, as another proverb expresses, “Compatible couples are few, but the incompatible ones are many.” A person blaming others and ignoring his or her own fault is expressed in the Punjabi, saying, “She rocks back and forth when kneading flour.” The person who finds fault with a woman moving her body while making chapattis, or bread, is finding fault in something completely natural and normal. Similarly, another proverb beseeches, “The bride herself doesn’t go to her in-laws and yet she counsels everyone else.” This is equivalent to the western saying “Practice what you preach,” otherwise it is hypocrisy. A Punjabi American finding that perseverance and industrious endeavor pay no result, expresses himself in Punjabi saying; “Even though the tamarind is dead, the sourness is not dead.” This means that even though it is difficult, and success is not near, one still has one’s pride, just as the sour taste of tamarind remains. Or others may invoke the proverb “Even a stone gets rounded by constant rubbing,” expressing that hard work will eventually pay off. In the face of failure, one might hear, “What is the use of crying when the birds ate the whole farm?” which means there is no use crying over something that has already taken place. Lastly, one may hear, “When you can’t get up, you curse your knees,” which enjoins the person to move on, and get up. Proverbs that reveal social respectability and etiquette are expressed with the saying, “The elder brother’s habits are for all in the family.” This proverb expresses the importance of moral and ethical conduct in public and at home. One that highlights the importance of the community and peace is “One person’s
Punjabi Americans: Proverbs and Maxims
silence can ensure the peace of a hundred,” which suggest that it is better to not speak than it is to speak and cause conflict and division. Hence, social harmony is valued, as expressed in the proverb, “Share your food and you eat sweet things, eat separately and you get bones to chew.” There are also proverbs that express issues of class and caste. For example, “The camel has a small adornment around his neck,” which is used when a cheap gift is given to a wealthy person. Or, “In the house of the wealthy, even morons are considered intelligent.” This shows that even a wealthy person, who is a moron, is treated well and as if he or she were intelligent. Some proverbs warn against materialism, such as “When a rich man’s dog died, everyone commiserated. When a poor man lost his mother, no one noticed.” Or, “he does not have even a morsel of grain in the house, yet he is calling the crows to come feed.” And, “She does not even have a dime, but still keeps on wanting to go to fair.” The latter two proverbs are about someone who lives beyond their means. Some of the proverbs and maxims pertain to religious themes and a spiritual life. The gurubani says, “Comb your hair twice a day and tie your turban carefully, turn by turn.” The turbans play an important aspect in Punjabi American life because it is a symbol of spirituality and holiness in Sikhism. It should not be removed, as a proverb says that women began to cry, when they saw a Sikh coming home after bath without the turban, because one only removes turban as sign of mourning. The Sikh Gurus are important as well, as the maxim “There is no salvation with Guru” declares. Some proverbs reveal old gendered stereotypes, such as, “The women emerged from the pond, like a flame shooting out of an opium pipe.” Here the Punjabi woman is compared to the flames of an opium pipe, which sways and dances and is temperamental; so, too, is the woman temperamental. Punjabi Americans may hear “An amla may taste bitter initially and so does the advice of elders, but they benefit later on.” This acknowledges the wisdom and life experiences of Punjabi American elders. To be Punjabi American is to know Punjabi proverbs and maxims, and by extension, to see and navigate the world with them. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Patit Paban Mishra
Further Reading Gupta, Visvaprakas, and Mohini Gupta. An Encyclopedia of Punjabi Culture and History. Delhi: Ambe Books, 1999. Hares, Walter P. A Collection of Punjabi Proverbs and Idiomatic Sentences in RomanPunjabi. Lahore: Maktaba Mayar, 1965. Sawhney, Clifford. The Book of Common and Uncommon Proverbs. Delhi: Pustak Mahal, 2003.
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Web Site Singh, Chacha Gurjant. “Grand List of Punjabi Proverbs.” http://www.jattworld.com/ portal/modules/mysections/article.php?lid=52 (accessed April 1, 2010).
Religion The Punjab is a religiously diverse region. As the historic crossroads between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, many faiths have made their presence known in the Punjab. In the Punjab (which today spans both India and Pakistan), you can find Hindus devoted to various gods and Gurus—Krishna, Shiva, and human teachers; the followers of Sants, like Ravi Das (Raidas); Muslims—Sunni, Shi’a, and Sufis; Sikhs; Namdharis (an offshoot of Sikhism that still follows an incarnate human Guru); Radhasoamis; Jains; and even Christians.
The granthi tends to the Guru Granth Sahib at the front of the El Sobrante Gurdwara Sahib in El Sobrante, California. The Guru is seated on a bedded throne-like platform called a manji sahib. (Charles M. Townsend)
Punjabi Americans: Religion
In the United States today, it is possible to find Punjabis from many, if not most, of these religious traditions. Sizeable populations of Punjabi Hindus, Jains, Muslims, and Sikhs can be found throughout North America. They can be found at temples and mosques in large cities, suburbs, and even small towns. Punjabis participate at Hindu and Jain temples as well as in mosques. There, they are Punjabis worshiping with others of the faith. But, it is in Sikh gurdwaras that Punjabi heritage is presented most visibly, maintains the historic connection, and is at the heart of Punjabi American communities. The first Sikhs moved to the United States in the late 19th century. Most were single men who settled in the western states and found work in agriculture. The first gurdwara in America was established in Stockton, California, in September 1912. U.S. immigration policy restricted Indian immigration until the late 1960s. Since then, a sizeable Sikh population has become more and more a part of American culture while still holding onto their Sikh heritage. Sikhism is rooted in the teachings of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), and its special connection to the Punjab is undeniable. Guru Nanak is said to have traveled throughout India, and possibly further, before he ultimately returned to the Punjab and settled at Kartarpur (which is now in Pakistan). Some of Guru Nanak’s Sikhs (literally translated as learners) also moved to Kartarpur to worship with the Guru and put his message of a socially engaged charitable faith into practice. The nine Gurus who succeeded Nanak also lived in the Punjab, and many founded other villages as the Sikh community grew in both number and influence. The basic tenets of Sikhism, in the Punjab and abroad, focus on the principles of nam, dan, and ishnan, or devotion to the name of God, charity, and purity. Guru Nanak taught that all paths led to God, and often the varied practices of religion were a hindrance to the goal of union with God. Tradition holds that Nanak declared, “There is no Hindu. There is no Muslim,” which has been viewed as the Sikhs’ rejection of such doctrinal differences between the two traditions and an embrace of their common goal, devotion to God. All action that should be done should be focused on God. One need not withdraw from the world as an ascetic, nor do they need to go through the motions of pointless ritual. Devotion is cultivated by remembering God in one’s heart, and it can be done at any time. Such inner devotion is reflected outwardly through acts of charity and service to others. The Gurus advocated purity in the sense of keeping the mind focused on God and service, so as not to be distracted by those things that separate humanity from God. Many of the Gurus wrote hymns to help instruct and cultivate this attitude in their followers. The Punjabi language is central to Sikh practice and teachings. Guru Nanak developed a new script (Gurmukhi—meaning “from the mouth of the Guru”) from business shorthand to more properly record his hymns. This script was then formalized by his successor, Guru Angad, and is still used today throughout Punjabi-speaking communities around the world.
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The important place of Punjabi in Sikh life is affirmed daily through the reading of their scripture, the Adi Granth (First Book), also known as Guru Granth Sahib. The Adi Granth was compiled by the fifth Sikh master, Guru Arjan, in 1604. The text is organized by musical styles, known as ragas, and is meant to be sung aloud (kirtan). Obviously, the meter and verse would not match if translated into another language, so both communal and personal daily prayers are in Punjabi. Thus, it is common in many American gurdwaras to hold Punjabi language courses to help later generations be able to read scripture and participate in its singing. There are even live feeds broadcast over satellite television allowing Sikhs in America to hear the hymns directly from gurdwaras in the Punjab. Reading the words of the Gurus and singing, or even just hearing, their hymns continues to bind Sikhs to their Gurus’ teachings. The principles of nam, dan, and ishnan are instilled, and practiced, as Sikhs move to new areas, just as their Gurus had done. They bring a bit of the Punjab with them by continuing to practice their faith’s teachings and hymns. It is this that sets the Sikhs apart from other religious groups as being specifically Punjabi, even as they live elsewhere. —Toby Braden Johnson See also: Punjabi Americans: Gurdwara; Heroes and Heroines; Identity; Literature and Folklore; Sikh Gurus; Sikhism; and Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner.
Further Reading Cole, W. Owen. Understanding Sikhism. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press, 2004. Dusenberry, Verne A. Sikhs at Large: Religion, Culture, and Politics in Global Perspective. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2008. Mann, Gurinder Singh. Sikhism. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004. McLeod, W. H. Who is a Sikh? The Problem of Sikh Identity. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989. Nesbitt, Eleanor. Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2005. O’Connell, Joseph T., et al., Sikh History and Religion in the Twentieth Century. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1988.
Rites of Passage Rites of passage mark various benchmarks and achievements in one’s life. For Punjabi Americans, traditional rites of passage are inherently religious. Most Punjabi Americans living in the United States are practitioners of Sikhism. The other large community of Punjabi Americans are followers of Hinduism. Still, there are sizable communities of Muslims and Christians as well.
Punjabi Americans: Rites of Passage
Punjabi Hindu American Rites of Passage The oldest religion of humankind, Hinduism has prescribed norms for rites of passage. Punjabi Hindu Americans try to follow as best they can. The Hindu rites of passage revolve around the social ordering of life as expressed in the varnashramadharma (four stages of life) and purushartha (four goals of life). The ideal stages of life pass through four phases: bramacharya (celibacy), grihasthya (household life), vanaprastha (hermit) and sanyasa (ascetic). The Hindu samskaras, consisting of 16 rites, begin even before conception. For Hindus, the four common rites pertain to birth, initiation, marriage, and death. The Jatakarma, or birth ceremony, is performed after the birth of the child. The main objective of these rituals is to inculcate some values in the child as early as possible. In this ceremony, the child is made to lick ghee and honey. The word “Om”/“Aum” is written on the baby’s tongue; its main purpose is that whatever sound he or she utters after is believed to lead him or her on a spiritual path. The father of the child whispers in his/her ears “Vedosi,” which means you are a “knowledgeable person.” This birth ceremony occurs amidst an atmosphere of fun and frolic. Kinfolks and friends partake a sumptuous feast. It is the beginning of many ceremonies to be followed as the baby grows. They are: Namakarana (naming the child after 11 to 21 days), Niskramana (child coming out of house after 3 to 4 months), Annaprashana (first feeding of rice and cereal after 6 to 12 months), Chudakarma (shaving of head after a year), Karnavedha (piercing the ears in the third year), and Vidyarambhana (going to school after 3 to 4 years). According to the Hindu dharma sastras, the three prescribed functions of marriages are prajaa (progeny for family), dharma (meeting religious goals), and rati (sensual and emotional pleasure). The sexual union between married couples for the purpose of procreation is the ideal norm. A balanced life of an individual is possible by channeling sexual energy within the system of marriage. Among the different samskaras, or Hindu rites, vivah or marriage is an important one with elaborate rules and restrictions. In Hinduism, it is a sacrament of two souls and not a contract between two human beings. In the Rig Veda, Hindu sacred scripture, it has been mentioned that the husband pledges to wife, a lifetime partnership of good fortune with blessings of gods (Rig Veda X. 85.36). It is a gala event for the Punjabi Hindus, with diverse rites. Amidst the recital of hymns, or slokas, by the priests, there are exchanges of flower garlands, applying vermillion on the bride’s hair parting and forehead, tying the mangalsutram (sacred thread) on the bride’s neck, and panigrahanam (clasping of hands). The last rite is that of taking saptapadi (seven steps) by the couple before the sacred fire, which spiritually legitimates, and legalizes, the marriage. Henceforth, the husband and wife are in a lifelong matrimonial bond. There are also instances of couples going for
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registered marriage in a civil court. This generally happens when they marry against the wishes of parents.
Punjabi Sikh American Rites of Passage For the Punjabi Sikh Americans, important rites of passage are Namkaran (naming), Amrit Sanskar (initiation into the Khalsa, the Sikh community), Anand Karaj (wedding), and Antam Sanskar (rites during a funeral). At the core of Punjabi Sikh rites of passage are the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib, or Sikh sacred scripture. The naming ceremony ceremony generally takes place in a gurdwara, or Sikh temple, attended by family members and close friends. There is Ardas or prayer invoking the Gurus to make the child hearty and healthy. It is followed by the Hukamnama, and the first letter of the first word of the Hukam is used to give the child’s name. The surname Singh (lion) is used for boys and Kaur (princess) for girls. The coming-of-age ceremony called Dastaar Bandi (wearing of the first turban) occurs for a boy between the ages of 14 and 16. The boy is initiated into the Sikh community and he has to observe the Five Ks—Kesha (uncut hair), Kanga (comb), Kirpan (sheathed sword), Karha (steel bracelet), and putting on Kaccha (inner garment). Either the granthi (“the keeper and the reader of the Sikh scripture”) or an elderly relative ties the turban on the boy’s head. The turban has become an important symbol of the Sikh Punjabis in the United States. The Anand Karaj is the Sikh wedding ceremony, and it means literally, “Blissful union.” Like their Hindu counterparts, the Sikhs take marriage beyond physical and legal contract. It is understood to be the union of two souls. Guru Amar Das (1479–1574), the third Guru, said in the Guru Granth Sahib that the couple possess two bodies, but one soul. Guru Ramdas (1534–1581), the fourth Guru, had composed the Lavan or wedding song to mark the holy union between the souls with God. It takes place in the gurdwara in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib. The wedding ceremonies with many rituals are conducted in the Punjabi language within the prescribed norms of Sikhism. These wedding events are boisterous affairs, with sundry events attended by relatives, friends, coworkers, and their guests. There are dances, delicious Punjabi dishes, and loud music. The bride puts on a red shalwar (Indian dress) with her head covered in an embroidered chhuni, or head scarf. The groom wears a pink turban along with a sherwani (Indian-style menswear). Amidst the lavan songs, the couple encircles the Guru Granth Sahib linked by a pink scarf. Each circuit has a symbolic meaning: The Ardas or prayer is recited after the end of the ceremony and karah prashad, or sacred pudding served to all visitors of the Sikh temple, are distributed to the guests. In the Sikh wedding, singing by dancing girls, drinking of alcohol, and burning of sacred fires are prohibited. Traditionally, Punjabi parents arrange the marriage of their children. This, however, is not common in the
Punjabi Americans: Sikh Gurus
United States. Sometimes, Punjabi American youth will marry someone without their parents’ consent. This is also occurring in India as well. It happens in a love marriage or marriage outside one’s caste or religion. In the United States, marriage between a Sikh and white American is not uncommon. There are also many instances of California’s Punjabi Mexican Americans taking Mexican wives in the early 19th century due to antimiscegenation that forbade marriage of an Asian man to a white women. Antimiscegenation laws in America were enforced from the late 17th century until 1967. Punjabi Hindu and Punjabi Sikh rites of passage are still practiced in America by Punjabi Americans. These rites establish a connection between Punjabi American elders and the younger generation Punjabi Americans. It also puts the Punjabi in Punjabi American. Thus, the continued practice of Punjabi rites of passages, even if adapted and changed to meet the demands and needs of American life, bespeak a unique Punjabi way of life in America. —Jonathan H. X. Lee and Patit Paban Mishra See also: Punjabi Americans: Dying and Death Rituals.
Further Reading Dave, Anil M. Creation to Cremation: Hindu Sanskaras, Rites of Passage to Nurture Excellence. Bhopal: New Era Publications, 2006. Dogra, R. C., and Urmila Dogra. Hindu and Sikh Wedding Ceremonies: With Salient Features of Hindu and Sikh Rituals. New Delhi: Star Publications, 2000. Mukundcharandas, Sadhu, and Jnaneshwar Das. Hindu Rites ad Rituals: Sentiments, Sacraments and Symbols. Amdavad: Swaminarayan Aksharpith, 2007. Singh, Dalip I. Customs and Conventions in Sikhism. Sikh Review, 43(4) (April 1995): 34–38. Singh, Mina, and Raghu Rai. Ceremony of the Sikh Wedding. New Delhi: Rupa, 2005. Singh, Mohinder, and Sondeep Shankar. The Sikh Wedding. New Delhi: UBS Publishers, 2004.
Sikh Gurus The term Guru is used in South Asian languages to denote a (usually spritual) teacher, but there are four specific ways in which the term “Guru” is used within Sikhism. Throughout the most sacred Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, God is frequently referred to as “Guru,” and modern-day Sikhs refer to God as Waheguru, which may be translated as “The Great Teacher.” Both of these instances point to the Sikh understanding of God as the greatest of teachers; in the sense that all wisdom and liberating knowledge are from God. Guru is also the title given
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Sikh Americans celebrate the birth of Guru Nanak inside an elementary school in Rockville, Maryland. (Jerry Berndt)
to each of the 10 spiritual masters, or divinely inspired teachers of the Sikh tradition (see below). The third usage of the term Guru refers to the Guru Granth Sahib (which can be translated as “Venerable Book that is Guru”). Finally, the term Guru in Sikhism is used to refer to Guru panth: the worldwide Sikh community as Guru. Since there is no Pope, priesthood, or official hierarchy within Sikhism, theological decisions are to be made democratically or by individual Sikhs through consulting the Sikh Scriptures.
The 10 Human Gurus of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev (1469–1539) was the first of the 10 human Gurus of Sikhism and lived during a time of religious interaction—and sometimes overt conflict— between the Muslim Mughal Empire (descendents of the Mongols who ruled much of South Asia from the mid-15th to the mid-19th centuries) and the majority Hindu population under their rule. At about age 30, he went to pray and bathe in a river, but disappeared for three days. Upon his miraculous return, he declared: There is neither Hindu nor Muslim, so whose path shall I choose? I shall follow God’s path. God is neither Hindu nor Muslim and the path which I follow is God’s (Janam Sakhi tradition).
Punjabi Americans: Sikh Gurus
After this revelation, Guru Nanak traveled and preached for the rest of his life. His teachings, which emphasize devotion to One Universal God, were revealed in the form of poetic hymns set to musical accompaniment, 974 of which appear in the Guru Granth Sahib. The second Guru, Guru Angad Dev (1504–1552), formalized the gurmukhi (“from the mouth of the Gurus”) script that the Guru Granth Sahib would come to be written in, and composed 62 poetic couplets, which are included in the Guru Granth Sahib. The third Guru, Guru Amar Das (1479–1574), composed 907 of the hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib, and institutionalized the langar meal, the community-sponsored meal which is still today served to all people who visit a gurdwara (Sikh place of worship), without respect to race, caste, or social status. Guru Ram Das (1534–1581), the fourth Guru, composed 679 hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib, including the Laava (the Sikh wedding hymn), and established the town that is today known as Amritsar, the most sacred city for Sikhs. The fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev (1563–1606), composed 2,218 hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib, and compiled these and the hymns of the first four Gurus into a written canon. He also constructed the Harimandir Sahib (known as the “Golden Temple”), the most sacred site for Sikhs, in the city of Amritsar. In 1606, Guru Arjan Dev was martyred by the Mughal emperor Jahangir (becoming the first martyr of Sikhism), an event that would have an indelible impact on Sikh history. Guru Hargobind (1595–1644), the sixth Guru and the son of Guru Arjan, introduced the concepts of miri (worldly authority) and piri (spiritual authority) to the Guruship. At this point in history, the Guruship assumed more political authority as subsequent Gurus oversaw the Sikhs defending themselves against the Mughal Empire. The seventh Guru, Guru Har Rai (1630–1661), was Guru during a time of relative stability, and oversaw a period in which the number of Sikhs was rapidly expanding. Guru Har Krishan (1656–1664), the son of Guru Har Rai, became the eighth Guru at five years old. He is popularly revered for his great compassion: while caring for victims of smallpox, he succumbed himself at only seven years of age. The ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675), contributed 115 hymns to the Guru Granth Sahib. He was martyred by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (who sought to convert his entire empire to Islam) while defending the religious rights of Hindus. The 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), was the son of Guru Teg Bahadur, and became Guru during a time in which Sikhs were particularly under attack by the Mughal empire. Guru Gobind Singh instituted the Khalsa (“the pure”), an initiated group of Sikhs who would wear ”Five Ks,” or five symbols of their faith. Although he did not add hymns to the Guru Granth Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh composed the 1,428-page Dasam Granth (the “Book of the Tenth Guru”), the second-most revered Sikh Scripture. Finally, Guru Gobind Singh ended the succession of human Gurus, transferring the Guruship to Guru Granth and Guru Panth.
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Sikh Gurus Today Among Sikh Americans, as among Sikhs worldwide, the Gurus are revered as divinely inspired moral exemplars. Stories from the lives of the Gurus are used to teach ideal moral behavior to both children and adults. Patterns of venerating the Sikh Gurus in the United States also mirror those found worldwide. Images of the Gurus, such as the one pictured in Figure 1, are commonly hung in Sikh homes and businesses, but are not used for devotional purposes within gurdwaras. The Guru Granth Sahib is revered as the eternal living Guru of Sikhs, and is treated as the embodiment of the 10 human Gurus and the continuing presence of the Divine inspiration carried by each of them. Sikhs view visiting a gurdwara as coming into the presence of the living Guru, and bow deeply in front of the Scripture as a sign of respect. Throughout services, the Guru Granth Sahib is placed on a manji sahib, a bedded throne-like platform, covered by a canopy, thus signaling the respectful treatment of the Scripture as the living Guru. —Charles M. Townsend See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore; Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions; Punjabi Americans: Family and Community; Gurbani Kirtan; Gurdwara; Identity; Proverbs and Maxims; Religion; Sikhism.
Further Reading Cole, W. Owen. Understanding Sikhism. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press, 2004. McLeod, Hew. Sikhism. London and New York: Penguin Books, 1997. Singh, Pashaura. Life and Work of Guru Arjan. Oxford, New York, and New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Web Site Sri Granth (searchable online Guru Granth Sahib): http://www.srigranth.org.
Sikhism Sikhism is one of the largest religions in the world (by number of adherents). The word Sikh means “learner,” “student,” “seeker,” or “disciple,” and Sikhs are the students or disciples of the Gurus of Sikhism. There are approximately 23 million Sikhs in the world, the majority of whom live in India (making up about 2 percent of India’s one billion people). In the United States, there are over half a million Sikhs and 600 gurdwara (Sikh places of worship) communities.
Punjabi Americans: Sikhism
Sikh History and Basic Beliefs Sikhism began in the 15th century CE in the fertile Punjab (“five rivers”) region of modern-day northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. The lives of the 10 Sikh Gurus (the Divinely inspired teachers of Sikhism) coincided with the rise of the Muslim Mughal Empire (descendents of the Mongols) in South Asia. During the period of Mughal rule (1526–1857), the minority Muslim ruling class ruled a religiously diverse, predominantly Hindu population, a situation that spawned religious interaction, but also often overt conflict. Within this social environment, the Sikh Gurus, beginning with Guru Nanak, began to teach a new religious path, centered on devotion to One Universal God for all of humanity (Akal Purakh, the “Timeless Being”). They rejected the caste hierarchy and mistreatment and subordination of women common to their time, instead promoting equality of peoples, castes, and genders, and religious freedom. They also rejected the religious efficacy of asceticism and what they regarded as idolatry and hollow ritualism, emphasizing instead the sacred value of a dedicated work ethic and duty in society and simple worship of God, without forms or images. In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th and final human Guru, inaugurated the Khalsa (“the pure”) an initiated core group of Sikhs who were sworn to defend the weak and oppose religious persecution. Though not all Sikhs today are initiated into the Khalsa, all Sikhs take the middle or last names given to the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh: Singh (“lion”) for men, and Kaur (“princess”) for women. In addition, the five symbols (known as the “Five Ks”), which Khalsa-initiated Sikhs are required to wear, are commonly worn by most Sikhs. Especially among Sikh men outside of India (because of their beards and turban-covered hair), the Five Ks make for highly visible markers of Sikh identity. The Five Ks, known this way because of the first letters of each item, are as follows: 1. Kesh: Natural, uncut hair (for men, usually tied in a turban and accompanied by a beard) 2. Kanga: A comb to keep the appearance of one’s uncut hair tidy 3. Kara: A steel bracelet worn to remind Sikhs that they are bound in relationship to God 4. Kacha: A simple undergarment worn to remind Sikhs to maintain purity 5. Kirpan: A small sword worn to symbolize protecting the weak and oppressed, and defending religious freedom In 1708, Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed the Guru Granth Sahib (the most Sacred Sikh Scripture) his successor as Guru, thus ending the line of human Gurus. The Guru Granth Sahib is revered and treated by Sikhs as the Eternal
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Living Guru. It contains the inspired devotional hymns of six of the human Gurus, as well as hymns by 15 Bhagats, Hindu and Muslim devotional poets whose teachings are considered to be in line with and equal in sanctity to those of the Gurus. Sikh worship consists primarily of musical and oral recitation of the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib, either in private homes or in congregational settings. Upon entering a gurdwara (a Sikh place of worship, or anywhere that a Guru Granth Sahib is housed) Sikhs bow before the Scripture as a sign of respect. After hearing and participating in Gurbani kirtan (musical performance of the Guru Granth Sahib) in a gurdwara, Sikhs join other congregants for langar, a free community-sponsored meal, offered to anyone who visits a gurdwara, regardless of their caste, social status, or religion. Performing seva, or selfless service to the community—in the form of cleaning, cooking, etc.—is also a primary Sikh practice in gurdwara communities. In similarity with other Indian religions, Sikhism views humans as bound by karma (the effects of one’s thoughts and actions) and samsara (the cycle of continuing rebirth), but the Sikh belief is that Hukam (the “Divine Will” or “Divine Order”), and kripa (the grace of God) can take precedence over one’s karma, freeing one from samsara. Sikhs strive to achieve egolessness through meditation, hard work, and service (seva), leading lives guided by Hukam, and not by haumai, the self-centered ego, which is the cause of wrong actions and distance from God. Three concepts—Naam, Daan, and Ishnan—are used to describe the ideals of Sikhism. Naam is literally “The Name” and is used to encompass and signify the attributes and titles of God. This also points to the Sikh concept of Naam simaran, which is “remembering The Name” (God); done by reciting God’s Name and praises, and remembering God within one’s daily activities. Daan is literally “giving,” and this encompasses the idea that Sikhs should work hard to earn an honest living, and then give some of their wealth and service (seva) to those in need. Ishnan is purity, in the sense of performing pure actions and purifying the mind, as well as maintaining chastity. Thus Naam, daan, and ishnan can be seen as emblematic for Sikh relations with God, society, and the self, respectively.
Sikhism in the United States The first Sikhs in the United States were former soldiers in the British Army and farmers who arrived beginning in the 1890s. Anti-Asian immigration laws between the 1910s and 1960s kept Sikh communities in the United States small, but the U.S. Congress’s 1965 relaxing of laws barring immigrants from Asia resulted in a still-continuing influx of immigrants to the United States from India, a large percentage of whom have been Sikhs. Most of those allowed to immigrate have been highly educated and highly skilled individuals, and Sikhs in all sectors have thrived and been integral contributors in American life. Sikh Americans
Punjabi Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
became subject to a wave of misguided retaliatory violence after the attacks on September 11, 2001. Balbir Singh Sodhi was a Sikh man who was the first American killed in an attempted “revenge” for the attacks, when he was mistaken for a Muslim extremist because of his turban. A positive outcome of such events is that they have led to support from Sikhs and non-Sikhs toward educating the general public and increasing awareness of Sikh identity and distinctness in the United States. —Charles M. Townsend See also: Pan Asian Americans: Asian American Religious Studies and Folklore; Reincarnation in Dharmic Religions; Punjabi Americans: Family and Community; Gurbani Kirtan; Gurdwara; Identity; Proverbs and Maxims; Religion; Sikh Gurus.
Further Reading Cole, W. Owen. Understanding Sikhism. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press, 2004. Dusenbery, Verne A. Sikhs At Large: Religion, Culture, and Politics in Global Perspective. Oxford, New York, and New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2008. Mann, Gurinder Singh. “Sikhism in the United States of America” in Harold Coward, John R. Hinells, and Raymond Brady Williams, eds. The South Asian Religious Diaspora in Britain, Canada, and the United States. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000. McLeod, Hew. Sikhism. London and New York: Penguin Books, 1997. Nesbitt, Eleanor. Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Singh, Pashaura. “Sikh Dharam.” In Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby, eds. Religions of South Asia: An Introduction. London and New York: Routledge, 2006.
Web Site Harvard University Pluralism Project. Online resources. http://www.pluralism.org/ resources/tradition/index.php?trad=14 (accessed August 3, 2010).
Traditional Medicine and Healing Punjabi Americans take recourse sometimes to alternative medicine. It is particularly true for newly arrived immigrants, who can not afford the cost of health insurance coverage for the general health care system prevalent in the United States. Traditional healing and medicine also have caught the fancy of different communities, including Punjabi Americans. The alternative modalities of treatment of diseases, like Ayurveda, homeopathy, unani, acupuncture, and others, are becoming popular.
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The Indian system of alternative medicine Ayurveda (knowledge of longevity) was propounded by Charaka belonging to the 1st century CE. His Charaka Samhita, one of the earliest texts on Ayurveda, had mentioned about 600 drugs prepared from plants, minerals, and animal products. In the United States, the science of Ayurveda is taught in about 100 colleges. California, with a sizable number of Punjabi Americans, has a College of Ayurveda in Grass Valley. The Punjabi Americans use Ayurvedic medicine for treatment of cold, cough, fever, Parkinson’s disease, and arthritis. The Yoga asanas (postures) also have caught the fancy of Punjabi Americans. It has a tremendous effect on various ailments like asthma, attention disorders, cancer, depression, insomnia, and mental problems. Sat Bir Khalsa, a Punjabi American and a neuroscientist in Harvard University, had done considerable research on the effect of yoga on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Yoga has a curative effect on children with attention problems. The system of homeopathy, developed in the beginning of the 19th century by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann, is being used by the migrant community also. The cost of homeopathy medicine as compared to allopath ones are very low. It has also no side effects and does not harm the body in any way. Punjabi Americans also take recourse to Unani, which is similar to Ayurveda. Unani practitioners believe that balance of key elements—fire, water, earth, and air—in the human body leads to good health, thus imbalance leads to illness. Punjabi Americans also rely on East Asian forms of acupuncture. The main reason for widespread use of alternative medicine is that it is cost effective, safe for the body, and very useful in prevention as well as cure of an ailment. Punjabi Americans go for alternative medicine also as a last recourse, when chronic diseases are not cured by the allopath system. The alternative medicine, unlike the allopathy, gives solace to mental and spiritual needs of a patient. However, in cases of accidents, major orthopedic problems, and severe burn cases, alternative medicine is not used by a majority of Punjabi Americans. Within the family, disagreement may arise in terms of whether or not to use traditional healing ways, which reflects a divide between the younger Americanized and American-born generation and their Indian-born elders. —Patit Paban Mishra See also: Indian Americans: Ayurveda; Traditional Medicine and Healing; Pakistani Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing; Tibetan Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing.
Further Reading Eisenberg, David M., et al. “Trends in Alternative Medicine Use in the United States, 1990– 1997.” Journal of the American Medical Association 280 (November 11, 1998): 1569–1575. Gupta, Visvaprakas, and Mohini Gupta. An Encyclopedia of Punjabi Culture and History. Delhi: Ambe Books, 1999.
Punjabi Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Narula, S. S. Aspects of Punjabi Culture. Patiala: Punjabi University, 1995. Valiathan, M. S. The Legacy of Caraka. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2003.
Web Sites Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations. “California: Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.” April 21, 2004. http://www.aapcho.org (accessed November 1, 2009). http://www.healthcareworkforce.org/healthcareworkforce/content/PunjabiforHealth CareWorkers.pdf (accessed November 2, 2009).
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Punjab’s geographic diversity is essential to understanding the varieties of expressions of Punjabi American culture, from subregional vernaculars, to folk customs, to pop culture. In ancient times (from around 2500 BCE), the region was home to the Indus Valley civilization, and later (perhaps beginning around 1500 BCE) was a pivotal region in early Vedic culture. Later, in the classical period of South Asian civilization, the region was seen from the central Indian perspective as a cultural backwater, but an important agricultural area and transit zone (to Central Asia) nonetheless. Today, the region straddles the greater Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia, and the two countries of Pakistan and India, each of which can boast a province named Punjab. The term “Punjab,” a Persian conjunct connoting a “land of five rivers,” was first used in the 1500s to refer to the administrative territory (under Mughal imperial rule) around what is today Lahore, in Pakistan. The cultural zone that became known as the larger Punjab stretched from the Indus River in the north and west to the area around Delhi in south and east. The several subregions that comprise Punjab are separated by the rivers flowing through the region, and each subregion is home to a distinct vernacular. These are the areas around the city of Multan in the west (Lahinda Punjab), the central area around Amritsar and Lahore (Majha), and the areas around Jalandhar city (Doaba) to Ambala in the east (Malwa, or Charhda Punjab). These cities connect by roads to smaller towns, as well as to the agricultural villages for which Punjab is known. When South Asia was partitioned at the end of the colonial period in 1947, Punjabis experienced a cultural cleaving. Most Muslim Punjabis moved to Pakistan, and most Hindus and Sikhs moved to India. Despite the national rupture, a series of common, overriding characteristics color the region, making up the cultural region of modern Punjab which has carried over into American culture. One particularly strong characteristic is izzat, which translates as “honor,” or perhaps “face.” “Saving face” and maintaining honorable status in society are
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key for a family’s social position, and are embodied in marriage and kinship ties. Weddings and seasonal festivals (typically related to the agrarian calendar) give life to the celebratory nature of Punjabi ethos. Rich traditions of folk songs, proverbs, dances, musical forms, and arts are also unique to the area. Punjabi folk culture celebrates romantic and spiritual love, separation, bravery, and generosity. Another strong characteristic is pop culture, which provides distinctively Punjabi flavor to American life. Emerging out of the Punjabi-British experience in the second half of the 20th century, the “Bhangra” music and dance scene is now influential in North America, as well as the in Punjabi homeland. New artists continue to emerge in major metropolitan areas like New York City, and the longest-running dance party in the highly competitive Manhattan music scene is a club Bhangra event called “Basement.” Along with music, films are an exported cultural commodity that Punjabi Americans consume. The Punjabi movie industry out of Lahore (“Lollywood”) has trailed off in comparison with today’s Indianbased Punjabi movie industry. These industries have provided vernacular alternatives to the Hindi-English dominance of Bollywood films. —Rahuldeep Singh Gill See also: Indian Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner.
Further Reading Gill, R. S., and Nahar Singh. “Punjabi Folk Songs.” Journal of Punjab Studies 11(2) (2004). http://www.global.ucsb./punjab/journal. Rammah, Safir. “Academy of the Punjab in North America.” APNA Web site: http://www .apnaorg.com (accessed December 2009). Sekhon, Sant Singh, and Kartar Singh Duggal. A History of Punjabi Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1992.
Sri Lankan Americans History, People, and Culture The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) is a tropical island located approximately 20 miles off the southeastern coast of India. Sri Lanka has a land area of approximately 25,332 square miles—about the size of West Virgina. An uninterrupted expanse of ocean extends southwards form the island to Antarctica. A unique feature of the country is its range of temperature, extending from a daily average of 27°C in the coastal regions and lowlands, to a daily average of 15°C in the hill country where the climate can be described as temperate. The rapid changes in altitude from sea level to heights of over 2,000 meters accounts for this wide range of temperature, and the climate and the topography combine to create a rich variety of scenic vistas and a wide range of ecosystems. Lying astride the main sea routes between the east and the west in the Indian Ocean that pass immediately southward of the island, Sri Lanka was an important port of call for ancient Indian, Chinese, Greek, and Arab merchants. The Arabs called it “Serendipity,” which means “making happy discoveries by chance.” Perhaps it was the country’s natural scenic beauty—her most prized possession—as much as the spices and gems, and the friendliness of the people she was famous for, that evoked the imagination of those traders. Rated as one of the world’s most beautiful islands, the immense affection the country has evoked among travelers through the centuries are revealed in other names by which it is known—the “Resplendent Isle,” the “Pearl of the Orient,” and the “Tear Drop of India.” Sri Lanka’s proximity to India, however, does not mean Sri Lanka was ever under Indian political dominion. While there had been invasions by South Indian Chola kings in ancient times, Sri Lanka maintained its political independence until it fell under the colonial regimes of the Portuguese (1505–1658), the Dutch (1658–1796), and the British (1796–1948). But culturally, Sri Lanka acquired many important elements from India, and many historians believe that the numerical majority of the country, the Sinhala people (anglicized as Sinhalese), are descendants of migrants
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from north India who settled in the island around the 6th century BCE and displaced the indigenous Vedda people. The language of the Sinhala people, also called Sinhala, is derived from the ancient North Indian languages of Sanskrit and Pali as well. The Vedda are a very small minority in the country today. Among the sociocultural influences Sri Lanka acquired from India, the most important has been the Buddhist religion. Buddhism was transmitted by India’s Emperor Ashoka in 3rd century BCE and Sri Lanka’s then-king, Devanampiyatissa, declared it the state religion. The teachings provided the country with an advanced civilization and the foundation for the mainstream culture, and Sri Lanka in turn disseminated the teachings to Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. It is generally believed that Sri Lanka retains the purest form of Theravada Buddhism, and Sinhala Buddhists often refer to the country as “Dharmadveepa,” the “Land of the Buddha’s Dharma,” Dharma being the Buddha’s teachings. Buddhism and a sophisticated system of irrigation for rice cultivation became the pillars of classical Sinhala civilization. According to the census figures of year 2000, the estimated total population of Sri Lanka was 19.2 million, of which 74 percent were Sinhala. Sri Lanka is divided into 25 administrative districts, but due to the civil war between the state and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), a rebel group who fought for a separate homeland from 1983 to 2009, most of the 2000 census figures reflect numbers for only 18 districts. In those 18 districts, of Sri Lanka’s other minority groups, the Sri Lankan Tamils, migrants from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, comprise about 4.3 percent of the population. They are known to have lived in the northern peninsula for centuries, and remain the majority population there. Tamils are largely Hindu, although particularly the members of the Vellala caste converted to Catholicism during colonial times. The Indian Tamils, constituting 5.1 percent of the population, are descended from poor low-caste Tamils the British (the only group to conquer the whole island) brought into the country after failing to convert the Sinhala people into serfdom for work in the tea plantations the colonizers established in the hill country. Indian Tamils also adhere to Hindu and Christian traditions. Both the Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils speak Tamil, a Dravidian language. Of Sri Lanka’s Muslim communities, the Moors trace their roots to the ancient traders from Arab countries, and the Malays to Java and the Malayan Peninsula. Though both groups are followers of Islam, they differ physically and in their linguistic roots. The language of the Moors is Arabic, while that of the Malays is a mixture of Malay and the local dialects. Today, however, Muslims are largely Tamil speakers, although those living in the south also speak Sinhala. Sri Lankan Moors make up 7.9 percent of the population, while the Malays make up 0.3 percent. The country’s Burger people, made up of 0.2 percent of the population, represent the unions between the Sinhala people and Europeans. They are
Sri Lankan Americans: History, People, and Culture
predominantly Christians and most tend to be English speakers. The country’s smallest minorities, classified as “Other” in the census, include the Vedda, Chinese communities who trace their lineage to ancient traders who settled in the island, Parsis, and others, who make up 0.2 percent of the population. The country’s colonial period began in 1505 when the Portuguese, attracted to the island known for cinnamon, clovers, and other spices, came as traders and ended up seizing the coastal areas. But neither the Portuguese nor the Dutch conquered the whole island. The British managed it only because a traitor betrayed the king. The major goal of all three colonial groups was to reap as much economic benefits as possible, and they cleared large tracts of land for the monocrop plantations of coffee, cocoa, rubber, coconut, and tea. Tea, rubber, and coconut remain important exports, although the fisheries, tourist, and garment industries also grew in importance in recent years. But the garment industry suffered great losses in the global financial crisis of 2008. A second goal of the colonizers was to convert the people to Christianity and Catholicism. The converts became the privileged group who were eligible to attend schools operated by the colonizers that paved the way to government and professional jobs. But by and large, the Sinhala people remained Buddhist, and according to the 2001 census data, 76.7 percent of the Sinhalese are Buddhist. During British rule, English had been the official language, and applying the classic colonial policy of “divide and rule,” the British actively favored the members of the Vellala caste among Tamils in terms of educational and job privileges while oppressing the Sinhala Buddhists. When the country gained independence in 1948, Vellala Tamils were disproportionately represented in the professional sectors as well as in the higher state services. Attempts to redress this imbalance by the nationalist government in the 1950s by making Sinhala the official language displaced the Vellala people and ultimately led to one of Asia’s longest-running civil wars between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. The Tamil Tigers, as the LTTE cadre were also known, were declared by the FBI as one of the most lethal terrorist groups. The rebels were ultimately defeated by the state in May 2009.
Sri Lankan Americans The earliest Sri Lankans who came to the United States were classified as “other Asians,” but it is not known how many Sri Lankans were among the 1,910 “other Asians” admitted to the United States between 1881 and 1890. It is reasonable to surmise that very few were, because as a British colony, for a long time, most people looked toward England as the place to obtain higher education, the reason why most Sri Lankans left the homeland before the civil war. In 1975, when the United States classified Sri Lankans as a separate category for the first time, figures show 432 Sri Lankans immigrated to the United States.
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According to the 1990 U.S. census, there were 14,448 Americans with Sri Lankan ancestry. By the 2000 census, the number had increased to 20,145, of which 10,441 were males and 9,704 were females, with a median age of 35 years. In addition, 15,767 of the people were foreign born, and 13,412 were listed as speaking a language other than English (Sinhala or Tamil) at home. In the United States, many Sri Lankans settle in large cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Newark, and Miami, already hosts to large Sri Lankan and Indian communities. Sri Lankans value education so highly that one of the rituals Sinhala parents perform is that of akuru kiyaweema, or introducing letters to the child by a respected learned elder. And in postindependent Sri Lanka, education was state-funded from kindergarten through college for all people, regardless of ethnic and religious backgrounds. Coming from such a cultural background, according to the U.S. census of the year 2000, of the 13,416 Sri Lankans who are 25 years or older, 11, 612 are “high school graduates or higher” and 6,849 hold a “Bachelor’s degree of higher” degrees. With most immigrants coming from urban backgrounds, most already have a working knowledge of English when they arrive in America and move into professional jobs. Immigrant parents generally take it for granted that their children growing up in America will obtain a college education. A considerable number also migrate to earn advanced degrees. But the hundreds of immigrants who came as a result of winning the diversity lottery conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act are generally not professionals and may not be as proficient in English. But they want their children to acquire college degrees just like their more educated counterparts. With the outbreak of hostilities between the Sri Lankan government and the secessionist Tamil militants, post-1983 Tamil migration and resettlement patterns to the United States and other Western countries changed from the normal migrants seeking higher education or better economic opportunities to “political migrants.” The war created a refugee flow, and many Tamil expatriates also became permanent settlers and sponsored other relatives. Across Europe and North America, thousands of Tamil students and guest workers lodged asylum claims as well. In 2000, the United States granted asylum to some 40,000 asylum seekers. Whatever their backgrounds, Sri Lankan immigrants are seen to assimilate to the U.S. culture relatively easily at work and when interacting with other Americans in the public spheres. In the privacy of their homes, most adults speak Sinhala or Tamil, although the majority of their offspring know only English. While adult women wear Western clothing to work and at home, they wear the traditional sari for weddings and other important functions. Some people also continue to turn to the indigenous Auyrvedic treatment system for some sicknesses, although they also take Western medical treatment when needed.
Sri Lankan Americans: History, People, and Culture
The Buddhist and Tamil migrant families also retain their religious and cultural values and keenly organize and/or participate in their respective religious and cultural festivals, usually held in their temples or in public parks. Muslim and Christian Sri Lankans may also participate in cultural festivals. Like Sri Lankan American Christians, the other Sri Lankan groups also celebrate American/ Christian holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, though Christmas is a cultural and not a religious event for them. In most cities with large numbers of Sri Lankan immigrants, people have established cultural organizations that frequently sponsor popular artists from Sri Lanka, or they stage performances by Sri Lankan artists in the United States. There are also classes teaching traditional dance forms—Kandyan dancing and Indian dance forms such as Bharata Natayam. But most Sri Lankan parties generally end with “baila” music brought by the Portuguese. The family is the most important social unit in Sri Lanka, and nuclear family households is the norm. Parents traditionally prefer to arrange marriages for their children, the idea being that partners should ideally be ethnically, socially, and economically compatible. But the final word rests with the children. In the United States, although young adults often find their future mates by themselves and some may marry Caucasians or other non–Sri Lankans, most parents still prefer to arrange their children’s marriages, either to people back home or to members of their respective ethnic groups living in the United States. Hospitality is highly valued by Sri Lankans of all ethnic backgrounds, and most cook the traditional foods—rice and several hot, spicy curries—when entertaining family and friends. This is mostly the normal fare for the family as well. Since there are hardly any Sri Lankan grocery stores in the United States, many willingly travel long distances periodically to purchase the necessary spices and other familiar foods from other Asian-owned grocery stores. Many large Indian grocery store owners in big cities with substantial Sri Lankan populations now stock numerous raw ingredients as well as frozen or canned cooked foods imported from Sri Lanka and do brisk business with Sri Lanka customers. Of course, with the Internet, people also purchase cooking ingredients online, and many communities have their own small-scale Sri Lankan caterers. —Usha Welaratna
Further Reading Central Cultural Foundation. Our Cultural Heritage. Vols. 1 and 2. Colombo: Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, 1995. Miller, Olivia. “Sri Lankan Americans.” In Gale Encyclopedia of Multi Cultural America. Vol. 3. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2000. Wijesekere, N. D. The People of Ceylon. Colombo: M. D. Gunasena & Co., 1987.
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Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration Sri Lankan homes in North America are furnished mostly with North American products and decorations. However, many homes display arts and crafts from Sri Lanka in addition to the standard Western home decorations. Most Sinhalese homes would display brightly painted devil masks at the entrance or in the hall to nullify the evil eye while Hindu homes would have pictures of a Hindu god or goddess. Some homes display clay pots with flowers floating on water at the entrance as a sign of welcome. In rare cases, sofa sets or bookcases made of bamboo would be kept in the hall. Many homes, especially those of recent immigrants, would have batik wall hangings in the hall or bedrooms. The common motifs found in all Sri Lankan arts and crafts are stylized peacocks, deer, the Kandyan dancer or drummer, the Buddhist temple, the Perahara (elephant parade where the tooth relic of the Buddha is carried by the chief elephant), the moon at night between two coconut trees by the sea, the Sigiriya fresco ladies, and the bullock cart. Floor rugs and baskets made of bamboo may also be found. Tamil homes sometimes display palmyra leaf objects such as a winnower in the kitchen, a wall hanging in the hall, a colorful purse, or table mats. However, these items become fragile within a year because they do not withstand the drier conditions in the United States. Photographs of the owners’ parents and children would be found everywhere. Nearly all homes at one time or another would have brass and silver objects, the chief of them being a brass oil lamp with layers of five or six burners crowned by a cockerel. Though in Sri Lanka, brass lamps used in the homes are smaller, in North America, they are as much as five feet tall. Coconut oil is burned in them using cotton wicks. Hindu homes have incense burners and fragrant sticks in brass, a silver perfume-sprayer placed in front of the statues of their gods, and a small pottu holder (for the red forehead-dot that married women wear) on the dressing table. Some homes would have large brass pots, hanging or hand bells and wall plates showing the art of India and Sri Lanka, such as lotus or swan motifs common in Buddhist and Hindu art. Hindu homes would have stone or brass statues or drawings of women as in the big temples of India. For modern propriety, their breasts could be covered with cloth. Stone kitchen utensils such as a mortar and pestle are often found either as decorations or for actual use. Buddhist homes have a plaster or small brass statue of the Buddha seated in meditation or their temple. Fresh flowers are often placed in front of them. Cotton curtains and bedsheets from Sri Lanka, especially colorful and often striped, are also favorites. Cushion covers with bright thread work, and sometimes embellished with sequins or mirrors with traditional motifs, are common in all
Sri Lankan Americans: Caste
homes. Some Hindu homes have mango leaf or gold-trimmed red velvet valance, with danglers and gold images of gods or goddesses on the front door post. A special shrine room or closet would have a multiplicity of lamps, incense burners, photographs of departed ancestors, and statues of favorite gods and goddesses. Sai Baba devotees have his almost life-size portraits prominently displayed in the hall, among other places. Dolls made of cotton or wood are often found, bride dolls and Kandyan dancers being the most common. These would be placed in the halls with other pottery, brass, clay, and stone items mentioned above. Christians have brass, cast iron, plaster of Paris or wooden, marble ornaments or rugs or pictures with universally common Christian themes like verses or prayers. Roman Catholic and some Anglican homes would also have the statues of saints. Though these could be made anywhere, woodcraft of Tamil Nadu is especially cherished. Muslims have secular pictures, photographs, and occasionally wall hangings with verses from the Qur’an in all rooms. With time, acculturation, and wealth, many of these decorations give way to more modest, smaller, less colorful, more expensive Western de´cor, retaining one or two religious symbols. —E. Elilini Hoole and Dushyanthi Hoole
Further Reading Tilakasiri, J. A Bibliography of the Handicrafts of Sri Lanka. Colombo: National Crafts Council, Ministry of Rural Industrial Development, 1988.
Caste Caste, a fundamental pillar of Hinduism, permeates all life in South Asia, even among Buddhists who in breaking off from Hinduism rejected caste, and among Christians and Muslims who preach a brotherhood among believers. Caste is so pervasive that Manu’s Dharmasastra (Science of Righteousness or Laws), prescribing the rules of caste purity, continues to determine everyday life. Christians and Muslims who have never read Manu or heard of him practice many of his dictates, which come to them through the traditions they inherit, such as not wearing used clothes, the younger sibling waiting for the elder to marry first, always eating with the right hand, and marrying within the caste. While being egalitarian in theology, they would defend caste endogamy saying if the child married below their caste, their children would have difficulties in finding a spouse. Manu’s rules supersede religious rules, and timely marriage for the daughter, properly adorned with gifts, is a central duty to her father and her brothers. This duty often overrides many other principles in life, and as an unmarried daughter gets older, otherwise
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less desirable persons within the caste (such as divorcees, widowers, drunkards, persons outside the religion, etc.) would be contemplated. A situation peculiar to Sri Lankans is that because of Manu’s prohibition on moving out on the good caste (whereas “a Sudra, distressed for subsistence may dwell anywhere”), Sri Lanka has only the Sudras and outcastes. The agricultural landowners (Vellala in Tamil and Goigama in Sinhalese) at the pinnacle of the Sudras therefore go as “high caste” and in a greater peculiarity, the few Brahmins in Sri Lanka work for the Vellalas and are controlled by them, making Tamil Vellalas shudder at the suggestion that they are Sudra. Having now moved to North America, the key determinant to whether caste survives is whether arranged marriages survive. Most marriages within the Sri Lankan American community are arranged, perhaps with the difference that they are arranged without calling them “arranged,” by getting the couple to meet and telling them to take it from there. Even where marriages are arranged as in the old days, the sensibilities of the young are accommodated by letting them be able to say that they decided and not the parents. As at home, sometimes people fall in love and marry on their own. But again, they tend to fall in love with those who are acceptable to the parents. All caste institutions survive with greater strength. Hindu temples in Toronto, for example, serve the purpose of ensuring continuity. Even though many in North America do not know another’s caste and modern sensibilities do not permit asking for it, temples and even Christian priests do the dirty work for them, using phrases like “from a good family.” Parents go to temple authorities telling them their own caste, their village, and their people, besides the date and time of birth, and the authorities do the investigations and come up with suggestions. The problem comes when the young fall in love with people outside the norm—outside the religion, outside the caste, or outside their social station. Parents have less control over their children in North America, so they accommodate their child, even the most recalcitrant parent making up once the first grandchild is born. But these are still in the minority. Greater crossover is among the lower castes who, now educated, cannot find a spouse within the caste. So cross-caste marriages and marriages to EuroCaucasians among the lower castes are increasingly common, although their families do not like it because it means loss of a son after investing in him. The power of wealth and education has also enabled Sri Lankans in North America to rewrite history. Books and Web sites claim that Vellalas are of an elite caste. The deceased Tamil Tiger leader of the fisher caste is given a history of descent from ancient Tamil warrior kings. Among the Sinhalese, just as wealthy low-caste Sinhalese had established their own clerical order, the Amarapura Nikaya, in opposition to the agricultural Siam Nikaya, the wealthier lower castes in North America are now able to establish their own temples. Tamils with wealth have their own temples where they celebrate their own festivals; whereas in Sri Lanka, despite having gained the right to worship in all temples by the 1970s, they
Sri Lankan Americans: Christians
were still not allowed certain rites. North America has strengthened caste even as it has empowered the lower castes. —S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole See also: Sri Lankan Americans: Family and Community.
Further Reading Buhler, G. “The Laws of Manu.” In F. Max Muller, ed. Sacred Books of the East Translated by Various Oriental Scholars. Vol. 25 Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1886.
Christians Once William Wilberforce’s evangelicals in 1813 forced religious neutrality on British authorities, the Sri Lankan mission field grew. At independence in 1948, about 10 percent were Christian; but now with state patronage, many Sinhalese have reverted to Buddhism, and Christians are about 7 percent. They are mainly Roman Catholic and the rest from other mainline churches—the Anglican Church of Ceylon, American Congregationalists who after uniting with South Indian Anglicans are in the Church of South India (and are also in the Anglican Communion but maintain a separate identity because they are all Tamil), and Methodists. The Lutheran, Baptist, and Dutch Reformed churches have around 2,000 members each. The Anglicans (Church of Ceylon with Church of South India) predominate among non–Roman Catholics and do not permit divorcee remarriage. The stricter Church of South India employs excommunication even for parents who arrange such remarriage. They accept the historic episcopate with the threefold order of bishops, priests, and deacons. Generally, all Christians in Sri Lanka are of pious faith and attend church regularly. As Sri Lankan Christians migrate to the United States, the Roman Catholics fit well under the conservative leadership from Rome and settle into local parishes where they add vibrancy to parish life. Liberals at the parish level do not bother them because they see Rome as an anchor. Roman Catholic bishops have recruited Tamil priests from Sri Lanka to be incumbents of local parishes. In Canada, a Tamil mass is added to the list of services. They are quite integrated into church life. Non–Roman Catholic Christian Sri Lankans in the United States are much more than their numbers in Sri Lanka suggest because of patterns of immigration favoring the educated. The denial of what they consider the basic tenets of their faith in mainstream Protestant churches is difficult for them. The acceptance of active homosexuality upsets them, and they perceive divorcee remarriage as violating the sacrament of marriage. Anglicans are without direction since the Anglican
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Consultative Council overseeing relations among the 77 million Anglicans worldwide, in 2005, suspended the two main Anglican churches (the Anglican Church of Canada and the U.S. Episcopal Church) for their encouragement of active homosexuals as bishops and priests, and their authorizing same-sex marriage liturgies. Many Sri Lankan Anglicans, not having been issued guidelines on the validity of the sacraments from these churches during suspension, have sought out other churches with greater vigor since then. From even before the suspension, free Sri Lankan American churches have been proliferating because of the theological and social divergences. Where Sri Lankans are in sufficient numbers as are the Tamils in Toronto, they have formed free churches where they recruit a mainline priest from India or Sri Lanka to conduct Tamil services. However, they function in organization just like a Hindu temple—where usually agricultural caste laymen manage the parish, recruit the priest, set his salary, and tell him what to do. Despite drawing their membership mainly from Anglican roots, they do not adhere to the threefold ministry, where the priest (under a bishop’s supervision) is in charge of the parish and all liturgy. Even their Sri Lankan clergy seem insouciant and return at contract’s end to the threefold orders back home. That the church in Sri Lanka does not see a problem in priests alternating in and out of the threefold ministry raises questions about these churches being ceremonial organizations as the evangelical churches charge. Many Sri Lankans have increasingly joined local evangelical churches. Sri Lanka’s Pentecostal churches in America are also attracting many mainline Sri Lankans and lately others, especially from Africa. Thus American, and especially Canadian, Sri Lankan Christians have their independent social organizations, generally marry among themselves and make occasional forays into other Sri Lankan organizations, keeping out of separatist forums. Christmas is a time of active social and religious life. Carol services occasion invited Sri Lankan preachers. Watch-night services celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Christmas visitors are served the Sri Lankan Christmas cake. Christmas, being such a celebratory time among Sri Lankan Christians in Toronto, is an opportunity for community building. Despite the weather, many U.S. Christians make that season a time for annual visits to friends and relatives in Canada, and for finding Christian spouses for their children. —S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole See also: Sri Lankan Americans: Muslims; Religion.
Further Reading Somaratna, P. V. Chronology of Christianity in Sri Lanka. Nugegoda, Sri Lanka: Margaya Fellowship of Sri Lanka, 1998.
Sri Lankan Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
Clothes and Jewelry A community usually employs a diverse range of fashions. Middle-aged and younger Sri Lankan Americans wear standard American clothing routinely with some Sri Lankan jewelry. For Sri Lankan cultural and religious functions, women wear traditional Sri Lankan clothing, though men do not. Western-style clothes have been adopted by men in Sri Lanka since the British. Traditional clothes for women include saris and, of late, Indian style tunics (called kurta or salwar). The cloth and jacket of the low-country Sinhalese is uncommon as more and more women wear the uppercaste Kandyan attire, which is similar to that worn in Kerala (South India). While Tamil girls don half saris, blouse, and shawl (Thavani), Sinhalese girls wear cloth around the waist and a little blouse for religious functions. For secular functions, Sri Lankans increasingly wear glittery North Indian clothing and accessories, which are quite alien to the traditional Sri Lankan Sinhalese-Buddhist style. Thus, their identity is compromised. This may be due to the influence of Hindi movies or the unavailability of Sri Lanka clothing in the United States. Older women, however, wear Sri Lankan clothing, but some exceptions are seen in the winter, when they would wear pants or North Indian tunic. The few wearing a sari in winter will use a cashmere shawl for protection, since when a coat is taken off, the careful draping of the sari is disturbed. Sri Lankan Tamil grooms now rarely wear the traditional silk tunic and verti (waistcloth down to the ankles) and salvai (shawl), but have switched to the North Indian Maharajah style with silk pants, tunic, shawl, and the pleated, prefolded, rented silk headdress as in North Indian movies. It is common to switch to Western suits after the religious ceremony. For weddings and other functions, sarongs (stitched long waist cloth) for Sinhalese men are not as readily visible in Sri Lankan America, except when colorfully made by Colombo’s fashion houses. Occasionally, the kurta, traditionally white but now dyed in bright colors, is used with trousers to give a look straddling the West and North India. The pant-suit style is more common. Yet men prefer their women to wear traditional clothing, while the women comply less as they are married longer but try, not always successfully, to have their daughters look traditional at public functions. Western-style clothing may also be considered inappropriate for women to wear in public due to modest traditions that arose to accommodate Victorian sensibilities and the number of sexual offenders on Sri Lanka’s streets. However, the more lax and liberated atmosphere of America has certainly enabled women to explore the various fashion trends available to Americans. Thus, second- and thirdgeneration Sri Lankan Americans seem to have assimilated American influences to a greater degree. Braided hair or the knot of long, black wavy hair is no longer
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Sri Lankan Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
the fashion standard. Short hair dyed brown is not uncommon. Black eyes are taken care of by coloring contact lenses. Generally, permanently worn handcrafted gold jewelry of the Tamils and silver jewelry of the Kandyan Sinhalese in traditional designs bearing gems of every kind are being replaced by cheaper jewelry to gain the advantage of the variety of ornament as well as color. The exception is when a girl is dressed as a bride or at her coming-of-age ceremony, when the Greek traveler Megasthenes’s 2,300-year-old observation still rings true: “Indians love finery and ornament. Their robes are worked in gold and ornamented with precious stones, and they also wear flowered garments made of the finest muslin.” —E. Elilini Hoole and Dushyanthi Hoole
Further Reading Wickramasinghe, Nira. Dressing the Colonised Body: Politics, Clothing, and Identity in Sri Lanka. Hyderabad: Orient Longmans, 2003.
Dying and Death Rituals Life is a cyclical process in Buddhism and Hinduism. When a person is dying, like in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan American Buddhists invite a monk to chant pirith (blessings chanted by the Buddha), to help the dying person purify his or her mind with good thoughts because the final thought is believed to influence the next birth, along with a person’s karma (volitional actions). After death, bodies are usually cremated after monks perform the Pansukula ceremony, and funeral attendees are invited to a meal in the home. Survivors may take the ashes back to Sri Lanka. Seven days, three months, and a year after the death, alms (food and other items) are offered to monks in the memory of the deceased. Relatives and friends are also invited. Alms may be offered to monks or other needy people in the memory of the deceased annually thereafter. The “merits” (good thoughts) such activities generate are then transferred to the deceased by articulating that thought. It is believed that if the deceased is in a woeful state, these “merits” will help him or her release themselves and take birth in a better place. Sri Lankan Hindus believe that one’s birth and death is ultimately determined by God. Particularly for the devout, the goal at death is for his or her soul to reunite with him, and when a person is dying, tapes of devotional songs may be played. Hindus believe cremation helps the soul of the dead person relieve itself from the body. In Sri Lankan Tamil families, the oldest son sets fire to the father’s funeral pyre, and the youngest son sets fire to the mother’s, and the giving of alms in their memories are also done accordingly by the two sons. On the third day after
Sri Lankan Americans: Family and Community
the cremation, food the deceased person liked to eat is cooked, and his or her soul is invited to the home to partake of it. The process is continued every month with the day determined by temple priests according to astrological calculations. Thirty-one days and a year after the death, the giving of alms is more elaborate, and relatives and members of a particular caste are invited to the occasion. Survivors may continue food offerings in the memory of their deceased loved ones on death anniversaries. Sri Lankan American Christians and Catholics, like their counterparts in the United States and other countries, view the present life as the only existence on this earth. When a person is dying, it is customary to invite a priest to give the last rites. After death, the corpse is brought to church and blessed by a priest, and eulogies given by close relatives and friends. While burial used to be the norm, nowadays some may choose cremation, and survivors may carry the ashes back to Sri Lanka. Sinhala Catholics give a meal in the memory of their loved ones to the poor one week, one month, and a year after the death, and annually thereafter. In the United States, food may be donated to a homeless shelter. This charitable act helps the soul of the dead person while in purgatory. Like all Muslims, Sri Lankan Muslims also believe that the present life is a trial in preparation for the next realm of existence in the presence of God. When a person dies, the corpse is washed and wrapped in a clean, white cloth, usually by a family member. Burial is the norm, and it is done following a special prayer, preferably on the same day the person died. Muslims consider this the final service survivors can do for the deceased relatives. This ritual is seen as an opportunity for survivors to reflect on their own existence on this earth. —Usha Welaratna
Further Reading Coward, Harold. Life after Death in World Religions. New York: Orbis Books, 1997. Kramer, Kenneth. The Sacred Art of Dying: How World Religions Understand Death. New York: Paulist Press, 1988.
Family and Community Most Sri Lankan families in the United States immigrated as a trickle up to the 1983 attacks on Tamils in Sri Lanka. Very large numbers moved into North America from then onwards, reaching a torrent in the 1990s, especially of Tamils into Canada. Liberal western policies towards Sri Lankan asylum seekers also meant that Sinhalese would come in citing problems from the JVP insurrection and at least one Burgher citing homophobia in Sri Lanka. Up to then, the migration
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Donors form a line to help pass along food and clothing outside the Buddhist Vihara Temple in Queens, New York, to aid Sri Lankan tsunami victims, January 1, 2005. (Anthony Correia/ Getty Images)
had been mainly of professionals and their families. Thereafter, anyone who made it to the borders was successful in gaining asylum, if not right away, at least after a series of appeals. The term “Sri Lankan American family,” as applicable to North America, typifies Tamils in Canada, who predominate. Of the more than 200,000 Tamils in the Toronto area, the majority, perhaps as many as 150,000, came as asylum seekers or their dependents. Forming about 10 percent in Toronto, they are the second-largest minority after persons of Chinese origin. Unlike the earlier professional immigrants to the United States and Canada, recent immigrants through asylum and the U.S. lottery system are less qualified and feel more strongly about the atrocities they faced in Sri Lanka. Sinhalese and Tamils in this category therefore take an unbending stand one way or the other on separatism and have an immediate antipathy toward each other. Tamils especially are politically well organized, have penetrated national political parties, and are cultivated by the mainstream because of the vote bank they represent. Having arrived with nothing, they are motivated to work very hard. Given their social station, there is no shame in initially renting a room where they share their bed on a shift basis as they work round the clock and find the money to pay an agent to bring in a wife or sibling, which they ultimately do. Their nature of work is such that they do not declare all income, but what they do makes the
Sri Lankan Americans: Family and Community
government very happy with them as productive citizens who contribute to society. Therefore, the asylum door is kept open to Sri Lankans who make it to the border. When the wife joins her husband, life is begun renting another Sri Lankan’s basement with minimal expenses, and the wife also earns to bring in more relatives. The family is highly integrated and soon is part of the middle class. The professionals, however, have a compartmentalized, nuclear social life, meeting with their majority Tamil and Sinhalese friends and office friends separately. Their station requires a good house, good schools for their children, and the respectability that goes with these. They therefore often save far less than the asylum seeker working shift jobs with few expenses. Such professionals are perplexed by those who took the asylum path and cannot understand their success as they move into paying jobs as shopkeepers, repairmen, etc., which they cannot bring themselves to do. Many professionals, unable to find jobs in their field, stick to low-paying white-collar jobs or government assistance. In this milieu, the asylum-path Tamils in Toronto and Montreal have a vibrant cultural life. They organize religious festivals and marry among each other. The Christians have their own churches with Tamil priests. Generally, most children study hard and many go to university, oftentimes outdoing the children of professionals. A small Canadian segment, now in their late teens and early 20s, presumably because their parents were busy earning to survive, have formed Tamil gangs, making the Toronto police form a Sri Lankan gang squad. Such gangs are often based on separatist politics, caste, village of origin, or extended family. They have been known to commit murder of fellow Tamils and threaten fellow Tamil girls in class into dating them. The other immigrants, Tamil professionals and the Sinhalese, mainly in the United States, have a richer but isolated life. Naturally a larger proportion of their children marry into the Euro-Caucasian community. Some parents see that as a sign of acceptance and success. Others, the majority, are resigned to it and make the best of what they see as a bad situation. Yet others have successfully broken such dalliances by sending the child on vacation to another country. Divorces, still rare, are more common than in Sri Lanka. Women have been known to flee cruel husbands to shelters. Overall, the relationships within families are sound, and freer of the tensions and anxieties they would have faced in Sri Lanka. —E. Elilini Hoole and Mariyahl M. Hoole
Further Reading Jacobsen, Knut A., and P. Pratap Kumar, eds. South Asians in Diaspora: Histories and Religious Traditions. Leiden: Brill Corporate, 2004. Leonard, Karen I. The South Asian Americans (The New Americans). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
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Festivals and Holidays Sri Lanka’s 23 holidays (except May Day and Independence Day) stem from its diverse religious traditions. Most, such as the monthly Poya or Full Moon, are Buddhist, while Hindus, Christians, and Muslims are given two holidays each. These are all celebrated at least privately in America in varying forms. In addition, many Sri Lankan Americans also celebrate American festivals like Thanksgiving as a means of acculturating. Sri Lankan American Hindus participate in countless temple-related festivals, there being temples in every state to house their numerous gods. There are Buddhist temples, not exclusively Sri Lankan, in 30 U.S. states and 12 Canadian provinces/territories. These temples coordinate or conduct festivals. All serve as cultural, religious, and community centers. Hindu and Buddhist Sri Lankans celebrate New Year on April 13 and 14. This celebration is essentially a harvest festival in spring dedicated to the sun. The New Year begins with boiling milk at the auspicious time. Milk boiling over towards the sun is considered to augur prosperity in the New Year. While many of the detailed traditions that accompany this act have been abandoned, the simple boiling over of the milk is often practiced by many Sri Lankan Americans, both on their traditional New Year and January 1. After the milk is boiled, rice is added to the pot. Hindus make only the rich Amman Pongal in North America (of red milk rice, cane molasses, nuts, raisins, ghee, bananas, cardamom, cinnamon, and some nutmeg and honey) for the goddess, while Buddhists use white rice to make the white Sivan Pongal or kiribath (milk rice). In addition to this symbolic event, Sri Lankans also partake in cultural activities like singing and traditional dances. Buddhist festivities also include Avurudu Kumari (New Year Princess) beauty pageants as done in Sri Lanka and devil dances with masks. Wesak is the most important Buddhist holiday. It falls on full moon day in May. Colorful candle-lit lanterns of bamboo frames pasted over with transparent paper are hung in many Buddhist homes. If there is no Sri Lankan incumbent at their temple, monks from Sri Lanka are often invited to bless and conduct sermons, meditations, and speeches. Children sing devotional songs dressed in white traditional dress much like at Carol Services. Lesser Buddhist festivals are rarely celebrated. Deepavali and Navarathir are significant Hindu festivals. Sri Lankan Hindus participate in most festivals at their local or favorite temples, even ones for gods not found in Sri Lanka or not allowed for them by their caste status or gender. It is devotional to make and offer garlands of up to 108 lentil donuts or betel leaves and other food items. (In Sri Lanka, a half-coconut with flowers is offered). A much attended heterodox festival is the birthday in November of Sai Baba, considered by his devotees as Guru-Messiah. Bhajan (hymn) singing and sermons
Sri Lankan Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
with musical recitals and Indian clothing sales are conducted. As no formal training is needed to be a Sai Baba priest, these festivals are more prevalent than those for the traditional Hindu gods. Buddhists still carrying a significant vestige of Hinduism often attend Hindu and Sai Baba festivals. Sri Lankan Christians, who share religion with mainstream America, celebrate Easter and Christmas with those in their religious communities. On January 1, however, they miss the special watch-night service that is not on U.S. church calendars, though a few parishes may make special arrangements. Sri Lankan Muslims join others in their faith in celebrating Ramazan, Hadji, Eid, etc. Some celebrations have become increasingly controversial, especially in the face of war and nationalism. The Hindu agricultural Pongal in mid-January, for example, has often been promoted as a pan-Tamil symbol. For nonagricultural Hindus, acceptance brings status. Tamil Christians and Tamil-speaking Muslims, however, often shun this ceremony as it has explicit connotations of sun worship and auspicious times. Similarly, Independence Day festivities at the embassies are often avoided by minorities. Festivals, cultural events and religious holidays play an important role in the marriage traditions of all Sri Lankan Americans. These celebrations provide an opportunity for community building, especially for a society that arranged its marriages through kinship networks and strongly collective social structures. Marriages are thus proposed at these festivals and girls of marriageable age participate, colorfully and expensively dressed. —Dushyanthi Hoole and Mariyahl M. Hoole
Further Reading Wanasundera, Nanda P. Cultures of the World: Sri Lanka. Singapore: Times Books, 2002.
Folk Dance and Performance Hindus attribute the science of dance to Brahma (the Creator). It is the fifth Veda for the edification and enjoyment of commoners to whom the four Vedas were prohibited. The dancers (who were temple courtesans) and musicians were caste bound. Dance’s religious significance was compromised in colonial times as dancers performed in the residences of princes and rich landlords. During the 1940s, South Indian dancing evolved into a refined and respectable form because of E. Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale. As no females from respectable families were willing to dance, Iyer learned and performed it wearing female costumes. On society’s margins, through a theosophist faith and marriage
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to an Englishman, Arundale, the founder of the renowned Kalakshetra dance school, learned dance despite public opposition and restored it to its former glory. Bharatanatyam is avidly learned by Hindu girls at school and in private. Many Sinhalese also have learned Bharatanatyam in India and have returned to Lanka to teach it. Few Christians and no Muslims in North America participate in Bharatanatyam because of its thematic prayers to the gods. There are over 100 Sri Lankan Bharatanatyam teachers in America. Unlike in India, Sri Lankans switch from performing to teaching after marriage. Demand has led to Sri Lankan–founded fine arts institutions like Tamil Isai Kalamanram and Sruti Laya Fine Arts Academy. They invite artistes from around the world to perform and train. Certification by approved teachers leads to college credit, giving dance a fillip. The ministry-inspected Ontario International Institute, in collaboration with Shanta Ponnudurai, has developed a curriculum in accordance with the Ontario ministry expectations and offers Bharathanatyam as an elective six-credit course which helps with university admission. Among Sinhalese, Kandyan dance is the highest form. The clothing, noted similarities to Malabari Margamkali dance, and its notice in annals only from colonial times, point to close affinity to South Indian forms. If Bharatanatyam needed Arundale on society’s margins to break from the past, it took Maurice Dias (Chitrasena) who, also in the 1940s, learned Indian forms in Travancore and Bengal to fuse classical Indian movements, music, and costumes into Sinhalese dance and to popularize it with the elite. Government’s adapting Kandyan dance as a national symbol and introducing it into the school curriculum, have increased participation. Sinhalese teachers continue to adapt. The clothing of the dancers is increasingly daring as white costumes have given way to spectacular colors. Disproportionate allocation of television time by the state has made Sinhalese dance grow into even newer and attractive forms since the 1980s, integrating even Western forms; whereas Bharatanatyam is set because it is considered sacred. Like in many lay South Asian histories, unsupported prehistoric origins are attributed to Kandyan dance; as are to Bharatanatyam. Although there are some one-teacher American Sinhalese dance schools, they do not have enough students to give teachers a full-time living. With state patronage, Sri Lankan artistes appear at international functions as Sri Lanka’s cultural troupe. The Buddhist/Hindu New Year often sees Sinhalese dances organized by university students and consulates. After a long day’s work, people have always spontaneously danced the Koothu, popular in villages. It is presumably the oldest Indian dance form. As it is performed by peasants, it is looked down upon. Professor Vidyananthan has revived and popularized Koothu. Today, Eastern University of Sri Lanka, at the initiation of Vidyananthan’s student Maunaguru, has Koothu as a university subject for the first time anywhere. Maunaguru trains students internationally
Sri Lankan Americans: Foods and Foodways
>through workshops. His production Ravanesan popularises Koothu in the United States through CDs. Kaathavarayan Koothu, a story narrated to music and movement, originally in temples, is performed in public since 1984, thanks to Jaffna University’s Eliyathamby Balasundaram, who got students trained under Nelliady Kanapithippilai. Two of them, Arunthavanathan and Poonkodi, actively teach the art in Canada, getting top billing at the “Festival of Stars” in Toronto. Devil dancing, perhaps the most ancient of dance forms for chasing off devils causing various ailments, is unheard of in the United States although still practiced in Sri Lanka, particularly among the Sinhalese. All the dance styles listed have Indian antecedents, Sri Lankan Americans, and especially Tamils in Canada, have contributed to their international popularization. —Shanta Ponnudurai and S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole
Further Reading A Board of Scholars. The Natya Sastra of Bharatamuni. New Delhi: Srisatguru, 1981. Fonseka, Carlo. “Eulogising Chitrasena.” The Island, January 26, 2003.
Foods and Foodways Food taste being acquired, there is little difference in the food habits of Sri Lankans in North America and Sri Lanka, especially among the first-generation immigrants, which most are, and their children. Thus, much of the main food is prepared at home, making do with Indian and Chinese groceries except in Canada, where cooked Sri Lankan takeout places and grocers are ubiquitous. The curry leaf and coconut are considered essential condiments, with the Sinhalese adding Maldive- or dry-fish and dried prawns to the list. Food and beverages consumed by the Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims are basically the same. They sometimes differ in the method of preparation and the type of sweets. Burghers (descendants of Western rulers of Sri Lanka) too eat the same foods, except they eat as much bread as rice compared to the other groups. Specialty foods however are as follows: for Sinhalese, konde kavun, a fried rice batter sweet with a knob on the top, coconut bread, and devilled fish; for Tamils, rice cooked with cane molasses, milk, plantains, and sometimes nuts, Thosai (rice and lentil pancakes), lentil donuts, and sago pudding; for Muslims, biriyani (rice cooked with meat), vattil appam (a coconut milk-based custard pudding similar to that made by native Americans except that it is spiced and sweetened with kitul molasses instead of maple syrup); for Burghers, cakes, Dutch breudhurs, Poffridges, bolo-fiodo
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(white pumpkin pie), etc.; and for Malay Muslims, achcharu (pickled vegetables) and mango chutney. Once common only in the cities of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan pancakes rolled with coconut in butterscotch, bread rolls stuffed with sweetened and spiced fried onion or meat or fish curry, and the moist French toast called Bombay toast are here eaten by all. Love-cake (of semolina, cashew, and honey) and the Sri Lankan Christmas cake are very popular items at all weddings in North America. A typical Sri Lankan midday meal, commonly postponed to dinner in America, consists of cooked polished white rice (unpolished parboiled rice is the norm in Sri Lanka) and 3–5 curries of vegetables such as beans, eggplant, gourds, greens, and either seafood and meat or, if vegetarians, lentils including soy-based meat substitutes. Accompaniments would be coconut ground with spices, pickles, fried lentil fritters, and chilies. The curries are richer because people are wealthier, and coconut milk is freely available in cans without the need to scrape coconut and squeeze out the milk. Vegetarians daily eat curds. Breakfast and dinner consist of bread or rice preparations such as rice cooked in coconut milk, puttu (steamed rice flour with coconut looking like kus kus), string hoppers (narrow hand-squeezed noodles) or hoppers (rice batter in the shape of bowls with coconut milk or eggs in the middle) when time permits these elaborate preparations. Dried fish or prawns and Maldive fish are particularly used by Sinhalese and some Tamils in curries to add taste. Green leaves of various kinds are cooked with or without grated coconut. Though chili peppers were introduced by the Portuguese to decrease pepper usage, these are more prevalently used than pepper. Eggs are either fried plain or as omelets. Ginger is not used if manioc is eaten at a meal. Otherwise, spices or their combination as curry powders of various kinds (spicy, nonspicy, for pregnancy and lactation etc.) are used in a coconut milk base. Though Hindus commonly did not eat beef in Sri Lanka and could be vegetarian at least on Fridays and at weddings, these norms are rarely kept in North America, especially among their children. When Tamil girls attain puberty, raw eggs, sesame oil, eggplant, and sesame sweets are given in abundance, with little water allowed. The Sri Lankan native medicinal system categorizes food into hot, cold, and phlegm foods. This is also overlooked. Liquors such as arrack (distilled coconut juice) and palm toddy if available are also used. Many more women partake of liquor in North America than in Sri Lanka. —E. Elilini Hoole and Dushyanthi Hoole See also: Indian Americans: Foods and Foodways.
Further Reading Deutrom, Hilda. Ceylon Daily News Cookery Book. 5th ed. Colombo: Lake House Investments, 1968.
Sri Lankan Americans: Heroes and Heroines
Heroes and Heroines Sri Lanka is famous for its hero stories that are taught from school. Heroes from before the civil war include Don Stephen Senanayake (the first prime minister) and Ponnambalam Ramanathan for leading the country to independence. Sri Lanka thus has had a longstanding history of admiring those who play an important role in a nationalist way. As everywhere, these heroes are admired by the establishment that writes history. As the country emerged from colonialism, heroes and heroines were chosen by the state. But a hero common to all Sri Lankans evades us. Duttu Gemunu, who killed the just Hindu king, is a hero to the Sinhalese, while to Tamils, he is a villain. Keppetipola, who was beheaded for rebelling against the British, is a hero to the Sinhalese—the others do not care. Indeed, some of the ruling Sinhalese families are identified with spying for the British and in annals for putting down rebellions with such cruel vigor that they were an embarrassment to the British. While these heroes were actively constructed to build a Sri Lankan identity, these efforts rarely succeeded. Tamils remember Senanayake for instituting the colonization schemes that took away their cultural security by settling Sinhalese on traditional Tamil lands. Ramanathan is despised by the Muslims for siding against them in the 1915 riots. N. I. L. A. Azeez is the Muslims’ hero for upholding their distinct identity against Ramanathan’s claim they are Tamil converts. Scholars remind us that Ramanathan and his brother Arunachalam left Madras University in connection with unspecified examination offences and Ramanathan wanted depressed-caste Tamils to be denied their franchise and seated on the ground at school outside the classroom. People widely admired by Tamils are yet to be considered national heroes, since ethnic divisions prevent them from being recognized by the majority. In the American diaspora today, political leaders are held in highest esteem since they appear to many to be the key to ending the civil war, which has cost this group its homes and homeland. For those who favored the eradication of the Tamil Tigers who fought for a separate Tamil state, President Mahinda Rajapakse and his general Sarath Fonseka are heroes and credited with winning the protracted war that had defied resolution under earlier regimes. Rajapakse’s victory has led to his apotheosis in the minds of many Sinhalese. However, Tamils who favor an independent Tamil state accuse them of genocide over circumstances surrounding the final battle that routed the Tigers. Likewise, support for the Tigers and other political leaders can also swing both ways. Many Tamils revere Prabhakaran (the late founder and leader of the Tigers), some to the extent that they have a sample of soil from his compound in their shrine rooms to worship him. Even seemingly innocuous heroes who did not enter the communal fray do not stand up to scrutiny. For example, Anagarika Dharmapala, who is exalted by some
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for successfully ridding Sinhalese society of slavish Western mores, is ridiculed by others for his writings, which claim that a good Buddhist uses toilet paper and eats with cutlery. Similarly, the Hindu hero Arumuka Navalar is remembered by Christians for propagating caste and for wild claims on his behalf of accomplishments (like translating the Tamil Bible) that really are owed to the Christian missions. Often highly moral and religious Sri Lankans fall under the category of heroes. In an atmosphere where conflict and violence have caused great social upheaval, religious leaders who provide strong spiritual guidance become important cultural symbols. Those who have the courage to take a stand against authoritarian regimes for values such as peace, democracy, and human rights are also greatly admired by some Sri Lankans. Those who have nationalist inclinations vilify these activists, however, and consider them traitors rather than heroes. The less controversial and equally less visceral heroes and heroines common to all Sri Lankan communities are sportsmen and film stars. Cricketers such as Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuria are worshipped by fans across the ethnic and religious spectrum, while Indian film stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai are adored throughout Sri Lanka and its diaspora. —E. Elilini Hoole and Mariyahl M. Hoole
Further Reading Chakravarthy, Sumita S. National Identity in Indian Popular Cinema, 1947–1987. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993. Jayawardene, Kumari. Nobodies to Somebodies—The Rise of the Colonial Bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka. London: Zed Books, 2003.
Identity Sri Lankan Americans are in various stages of identity transformation as with most other Americans. A small group of Sri Lankan Americans are quick to assimilate to the cultural beliefs and practices of the West. Their identity gradually transforms to being American, which they bolster through symbols such as Western accents, clothing, sports, and the U.S. or Canadian flag. Many in this category deliberately cultivate a circle of friends outside the Sri Lankan set and begin participating in American events such as going to church, though they may also selectively retain some of their own cultural practices. This is most prominent among the second generation, who, having grown up in the West, consider this the most prominent influence on their identity. The larger group, with many falling in between, sees immigration to North America (including Canada) as something necessitated by the deteriorating
Sri Lankan Americans: Identity
Ama Wickmanayake, age 2, from Sri Lanka peers over the Stars and Stripes as she watches her grandmother being sworn in as an American citizen in a ceremony at Rockefeller Center in New York City. (Mike Albans/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
political freedoms and economic prospects in Sri Lanka. Those in this group retain their identities and get together with fellow others for regular parties and dinners at each other’s home on the smallest excuse. They pay for cable channels showing cricket and Indian movies. A small subsection of this group, usually intellectual and left-leaning in Sri Lanka, hates the United States but is fully acculturated. When they naturalize, it is kept quiet as it seems so embarrassing. Persons in this subgroup used to be on their green card forever without going for naturalization as a token of their nonassimilation; but even they have now given up, as traveling on a Sri Lankan passport is more and more difficult and expensive because of visas. Most Sri Lankan Americans live within 100 miles of places like New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto, where Sri Lankan (mainly Sinhalese) and Tamil associations are active and give several excuses for communal get-togethers. The majority of Tamils, as they get their relations out of Sri Lanka, have a Sri Lankan identity that is weakened—even dead—because of the Sri Lankan majority using its monopoly to impose questionable histories claiming the land for the Sinhalese and the subsequent war. Tamils in the United States generally refuse to attend Sri Lankan functions and their Sri Lankan identity is replaced by a Tamil identity— which remains Sri Lankan only insofar as their Tamil associations exclude Tamils from other nations; this exclusion happens naturally and not by explicit
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Sri Lankan Americans: Literature and Folklore
prohibition on other Tamils joining. With few known exceptions, these associations have become proxies for the Tamil Tigers, which is fighting for a Tamil separate state and is prohibited as a terrorist organization in the United States, Canada, and many other countries. According to the U.S. Justice Department, charities like the Tamil Refugee Organization that were supported by these Tamil associations have diverted funds to the Tamil Tigers. After the ban on the Tamil Tigers, and more so after its seeming demise on the battlefield in May 2009, many Sri Lankan Tamil associations continue to obfuscate the legitimate cause of the Tamils from that of the Tigers and, in November 2009, commemorated the birthday of the slain Tiger leader. For all, as the children get older, the annual trips home must give way because of the expense of traveling with larger families and the children preferring Disney World and other fashionable destinations like London and Paris when money is available. The links get weaker as the children get their own circle of friends from school and work, and some marry non–Sri Lankans. The choices of the second generation result in a mingling of cultures as they retain traditions that are symbolic to them as individuals, while also embracing appealing practices of their new Western communities. —Mariyahl M. Hoole and S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole
Further Reading Hoole, S. Ratnajeevan H. The Exile Returned: A Self-Portrait of the Tamil Vellahlahs of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Dehiwela: Aruvi Publishers, 1997. Roberts, M., ed. Collective Identities, Nationalisms and Protest in Modern Sri Lanka. Colombo: Marga Publications, 1979.
Literature and Folklore Like other stories of the Asian diaspora, Sri Lankan American literature and folklore often explore issues of identity, home, and cultural interactions. The literary works of the diaspora also speak of the lives of expatriates struggling to maintain their cultural identity in a globalized world where cultures blend, old habits are forgotten, and new ones are learned. Traditional stories, such as the Jataka Tales or the Ramayana, are often carried overseas and retold to new generations. Famous events in Sri Lanka’s history are also retained as part of Sri Lankan American folklore, though older generations may attach more meaning to these tales than the younger generation. Nationalistic segments of the Sri Lankan diaspora can be found to employ these stories more widely, using them to define cultural identity and maintain ethnic boundaries.
Sri Lankan Americans: Literature and Folklore
Literary works of the Sri Lankan diaspora can span a range of topics. Prominent Sri Lankan American authors such as Michael Ondaatje and Shyam Selvadurai have often used their writing to explore the diaspora relationship with Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is often written about as a real or imagined homeland where characters must navigate the blending of tradition and modern desires as they formulate their identity. These works hold rich portrayals of Sri Lanka’s physical beauty, its multicultural heritage, and the wide family networks that characterize Sri Lankan society. Political themes, such as the country’s turbulent history, communist insurgencies, and ethnic civil war, are also explored through these literary works. Some of these literary works are also valuable anthropological explorations in the form of fiction, presenting queries into the cultural practices of Sri Lankans both at home and abroad. These texts have also been used by Sri Lankan universities to study the English written by Sri Lankans in the United States. More recently, Sri Lankan American authors have begun to include themes that would usually be considered taboo in their homeland. Issues of sexuality, which are traditionally barred from public discussion, have become key aspects of some Sri Lankan American literature. Writers such as Mary Ann Mohanraj explore both the subject of sexuality and the changes in sexuality discourse, which occur among first- and second-generation migrants. Also appearing in the forefront of Sri Lankan American literature are works that examine the lives of those in the LGBTQ community, and the struggles that accompany their growth amidst traditional expectations. As technology expands horizons, connecting Sri Lankan Americans with those in Sri Lanka, the Internet has taken on a new place in spreading Sri Lankan American folklore. Blogs, chat rooms, discussion boards, and other sites of online congregation enable Sri Lankan migrants around the world freely to exchange ideas through the written word. Stories both fictional and nonfictional, philosophies, and ideologies are thus quickly spread among readers, creating a robust online community. The intensity of interactions through the Internet has allowed this community to recreate the homeland online, allowing an environment that breeds a literature linked to both the past and the modern era. —Mariyahl M. Hoole and E. Elilini Hoole See also: Indian Americans: Literature and Folklore.
Further Reading Ganeshananthan, V. V. Love Marriage. New York: Random House, 2008. Hoole, S. Ratnajeevan H. The Exile Returned: A Self-Portrait of the Tamil Vellahlahs of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Dehiwela, Aruvi Publishers, 1997. Ondaatje, Michael Running in the Family. Toronto: Emblem Editions, 2001.
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Sri Lankan Americans: Muslims
Muslims The Muslims of Sri Lanka are the second-largest minority after the Tamils and, by demographic trends due to the ethnic conflict, may soon form the largest minority. The male ancestors of the Muslim community are believed to have entered Sri Lanka about 1,000 years ago through seafaring Arab traders who married local non-Muslim women, Tamil as well as Sinhalese, and settled principally in the port cities. Slowly as itinerant traders, Muslim villages were established in the interior, too. Affinity with large Muslim settlements in South India meant that they would marry Tamil women more and adopt Tamil as their home language. However, communal rivalries and Muslim elite politics resulted in Muslims explicitly declaring themselves a community distinct from the Tamils. As the Tamil revolt against the Sri Lankan state gathered momentum from 1983, Muslim masses were caught in the middle over whether Muslims were agreeable to being incorporated in a Tamil geographical unit, while the Muslim political establishment centered in Colombo offered explicit support and cooperation to the Sinhalese-dominated government against the Tamil quest for justice. The reasons behind the Muslim elites’ support are complex and difficult to understand. However, scholarly studies suggest that the Muslim political establishment supported the Sinhalese polity against the Tamil cause to win positions in Sri Lanka’s polity to maximize their trade interests. Muslims’ trade interests have integrated them heavily with other communities. Sri Lankan Muslims in America understand this logic and thus progressively mix with other Muslims rather than with their Sri Lankan counterparts. Their energetic participation in community-building activities in America, such as establishing mosques and Islamic education centers, significantly suggest their commitments to wider Islamic goals and their social and political endeavors with other Muslims in the United States. Their social life is increasingly adoptive of the mores of the worldwide Muslim community. In some ways this is a continuation of the ongoing processes in Sri Lanka, facilitated by new wealth and accelerated by separation from the community—change away from the sari to North Indian Muslim clothes, and more recently among younger girls to jeans and shirt together with a shawl to hide the contours of the figure. Though the caste system is one of the key traits of identity formation among South Indian Muslims, it plays no significant role among the Muslims of Sri Lanka, though they too share intrinsically complicated social practices such as dowry with other South Indians. Generally speaking, Sri Lankan Muslims desist from the practice of dowry. It is important to mention that Islam permits Mahr, a gift in Arabic, which it mandates that a groom give the bride at marriage. Islam strictly prohibits Muslims marrying non-Muslims unless the non-Muslim
Sri Lankan Americans: Names and Name Giving
adopts Islam. As a result, Sri Lankan American Muslims seek partners within their own community, usually from Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan American Muslims maintain loosely maintained organizations such as the Association of Sri Lankan Muslims in North America. Sri Lankan Muslims have less interest in organizations run by Sri Lankan non-Muslims because of their disinterest in connecting with those who do not share their faith. Sri Lankan American Muslims, deeply concerned about global post–Cold War developments that panic Muslims around the world, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, are harshly critical about the U.S.-led war on terrorism that they see as targeting Muslims. They see a hostile milieu for Muslims in America, including Sri Lankan Muslims. Their attitudes and choices pertaining to their social and community life, such as their food, clothing, and thinking patterns, have changed dramatically as a symbolic attachment to their religion. The recent conversion of a Sri Lankan Muslim teenager to Christianity and her running away, while the U.S. courts prevented her from being restored to her parents alleging that the father would kill her, increased the sense of siege as the episode seemed to caricature and stereotype Muslims of Sri Lankan origin. —A. R. M. Imtiyaz and S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole See also: Indian Americans: Muslim Mosques; Religion; Indonesian Americans: Religion; Sri Lankan Americans: Christians; Religion.
Further Reading Imtiyaz, A. R. M. “Eastern Muslims of Sri Lanka: Special Problems and Solutions.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 44(4) (August 2009): 404–427. Ismail, Q. “Unmooring Identity: The Antinomies of Elite Muslim Self-Representation in Modern Sri Lanka.” In Q. Ismail and P. Jeganathan, eds. Unmaking the Nation: The Politics of Identity and History in Modern Sri Lanka. Colombo: SSA, 1997, 55–105.
Names and Name Giving Names identify a person. The Laws of Manu states “Let the first part of a Brahmana’s name denote something auspicious, a Kshatriya’s be connected with power, and a Vaisya’s with wealth, but a Sudra’s express something contemptible.” In Sri Lanka’s Sudra society, where so much is invested on status, naming is very important in climbing up the social ladder. Sanskritization, a method of climbing up in caste, involves adopting the rituals, practices, and faith systems of the superior castes.
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Although to the 1970s it was not uncommon to see older low-caste people from the tea estates of Sri Lanka having names like Madaiyan (“Idiot”) and Karuppan (“Darkie”), Manu’s rules are no longer enforceable, and contemptible names are rare. However, because of Manu’s prohibition on marrying a maiden “named after a constellation, a tree, or a river, nor one bearing the name of a low-caste or of a mountain, nor one named after a bird, a snake or a slave,” we do not have girls named after the beautiful birds and trees around us. An exception is the name Vasuki, popular among Tamils who assert the past while being unaware of caste rules and know only that Vasuki was the wife of the famous Tamil poet Valluvar but ignorant that Vasuki means snake. Valluvar is said to have been of the Paraiya caste, whose presumably fellow-caste wife was named in obeisance to Manu. Indeed, it is no accident that Valluvar’s Kural reproduces large sections of Manu’s rules. By 1900, many Jaffna Tamils had caught on to one’s name pointing to one’s caste. So those going to India added the higher-caste suffix “pillai.” We therefore have Charles Winslow Kingsbury, the Christian giant of Tamil literature, becoming the Hindu Cirupiddy Wyravanathar Thamotharampillai in India. His father Vayiravi, who had become Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, in rewritten history is made into an anglicized high-caste Wyravanathar and his mother Mary Dayton (Periyai prior to her baptism) is changed into Perunthevi. A member of the Tamil Christian Hensman family was known as Hensmar because short names ending in “n” suggested a low caste. Likewise, the Saiva revivalist Arumukam became Arumugavar. The “k” becoming “g” was because the Sanskrit “g” sound, nonexistent in Tamil, is rendered “k” when Sanskrit words are adopted—so the natural “k” of Aumukam was turned into a “g” to suggest an imagined Sanskrit origin to his very Tamil name. Today in North America, exposed to much greater Indian and therefore Sanskritic influence, names are changing even for the gods, uplifting caste. The low-caste Valli is the Brahmin Srivalli. The traditional gods Pillayar and Muruhan (usually Murugan to Sanskritize him, too) had already been renamed Ganesha and Subrahmaniam. Now they are displaced by completely new gods like Hanuman, Vishnu, and, in many cases, Sai Baba. With the new gods come new Sanskrit names with alien sounds like “ksh” and “psh,” violating the Tamil rule that two consonants must be interspersed by a vowel and introducing the alien sound “sh.” Even normal Tamil names are distorted to unrecognizable form as letters are dropped to accommodate the new faith in numerology. Increasing social intercourse with Indians at Sai Baba bajans, with their sermons, Sunday schools and after-meeting parties, ensures greater absorption of Vedic and even Western forms. The need to move up socially also has a natural corollary in wanting names acceptable to the dominant English culture. So some children are given an English
Sri Lankan Americans: Religion
name for school and a Sri Lankan name for home. The more enterprising parents give one name with dual pronunciations—Kavin, which is pronunced like Kevin; Shan, like Sean; and Jananthani, rendered Jan. Sinhalese even in Sri Lanka had already absorbed European surnames and first names, some like the Iberian honorific title Don, which is now a common first name. However, with state power in Sri Lanka and the pride that comes with it, the general trend is to switch increasingly to Sanskrit names from European ones. Surnames like de Silva are often retained as “de S,” preceding the adopted Sanskrit surname in an effort to hide it. North American Sinhalese, as South Asians, are also victim to Sanskritization. With Sinhalese having its roots in Sanskrit through Pali, many Sanskrit names are freely adopted from esoteric and obscure words of ancient books. However, a Sinhalese would need to be told what these names mean, since much of the common Sinhalese vocabulary draws from Tamil (and the segment of Sanskrit that is also adopted by Tamil). Sri Lanka is often rendered in North America as Shri Lanka and President Rajapaksa as Rajapaksha, somehow giving these names a feeling of higher status, even though the president has not been known to spell his name any differently. —Dushyanthi Hoole and S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole See also: Indian Americans: Names and Name Giving; Sri Lankan Americans: Caste.
Further Reading Buhler, G. “The Laws of Manu.” In F. Max Muller, ed. Sacred Books of the East Translated by various Oriental Scholars. Vol. 25. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1886. Hoole, S. R. H. C. W. Thamotharampillai, Tamil Revivalist: The Man behind the Legend of Tamil Nationalism. Colombo: ICES, 1997. Srinivas, M. N. The Cohesive Role of Sanskritization and Other Essays. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Religion Sri Lanka is a multiethnic and multireligious country. The numerical majority of the country, the Sinhala people, are predominantly Buddhist. Of the country’s minority groups, Tamils are largely Hindus. But in both Sinhala and Tamil communities, there are small enclaves of Christians and Catholics. Sri Lanka is also home to adherents of Islam. While all the groups are covered here, the primary focus is on Sri Lankan American Buddhists and Hindus because they are the largest groups in the United States, and because they brought to America thinking and
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Sri Lankan Americans: Religion
Sri Lankan Americans pray in a Buddhist temple in Queens, New York, January 1, 2005. They gathered to remember those killed during the devastating Southeast Asian tsunami of December 26, 2004. (Anthony Correia/Getty Images)
traditions that are not part of the Judeo-Christian belief system that generally defined the American religious landscape, particularly before the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act. There are two main Buddhist sects, Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada is the older sect of the two, where the teachings of the Buddha in the original form are better preserved. Sri Lanka is a Theravada Buddhist country. In American cities with significant numbers of Sri Lankan Buddhist immigrants, there is at least one Sri Lankan Buddhist temple sustained by voluntary community donations. The resident monks are usually Sri Lankan and are sponsored by the communities they serve. But non–Sri Lankan monks ordained in the Theravada tradition reside in some temples such as the Bhavana (Meditation) Center in West Virginia. Buddhist temples are built according to traditional architectural design, but in the United States, some are located in homes or former churches. Still, they all attempt to organize the use of space to reflect those back in the homeland. Most Buddhist immigrants also have small shrines in their homes—a traditional practice. Among the most important features of every Buddhist temple are one or more statues of the Lord Buddha, and when establishing temples in the United States, the communities usually bring the major statue from Sri Lanka. The statues are installed above a surface on which devotees can place their puja items—offerings
Sri Lankan Americans: Religion
of flowers, incense, and other items. The offerings symbolize the “noble qualities” of the Buddha such as kindness, compassion, wisdom, and generosity that devotees should try to cultivate. The focus of Buddhist teachings is mental development by getting rid of “defiling thoughts” such as anger, hatred, and jealousy, and cultivating “wholesome thoughts” mentioned above. Buddhism is based on a theory of samsara, or rebirth, and proper mental cultivation will ensure that both the present and future existences are positive ones because Buddhism does not subscribe to a creationist theory. The Buddha (who was a human being) taught that that the existence, sustenance, and destruction of the universe result from natural processes and that individuals are their own “refuge.” They shape their future lives, based on the consequences of their volitional actions. The most important religious event for Sri Lankan Buddhists is Vesak, the fullmoon day in May. It was on Vesak days the Buddha’s birth, Enlightenment, and passing away occurred. On this and other important Buddhist holy days, monks organize religious activities for adults and children. Most temples in America also offer regular meditation classes as well as Buddhism and Sinhala-language classes, and organize other community events such as the traditional New Year celebrations in April. Sri Lankan Buddhist temples do not charge for puja or other events, and all services offered by the monks are free of charge. The relationship between monks and the lay community is reciprocal: the community provides the monks with food and other necessities, and monks teach them the Dhamma (Buddha’s teachings), fulfill people’s religious needs, and perform other social services. People also invite monks to their homes for the giving of alms, or at times of illness or other need to chant pirith (blessings). Therefore in America, people often give monetary donations to monks for incidental expenses such as travel. Hindus believe in a supreme god who is formless and unknowable and who created, sustains, and will ultimately destroy the universe in a cyclical process. But most people seek to know him and someday to find liberation from the cycle of rebirth by reunifying with him. So ancient sages gave the formless god hundreds of forms, and from early times, Hindu beliefs and concepts were communicated through iconographic symbols. The most powerful in the Hindu pantheon of deities are the male gods Siva and Vishnu, and the goddess, who, like the gods, is known by multiple names. Each deity represents aspects of the supreme God in the form of Shakti or Energy. Most Hindus worship both Siva and Vishnu, but are more strongly allied to one or the other. The majority of Sri Lankan Tamils are Sivites. In Hindu philosophy, two important components are family life and spiritual life, and to instill family values in people, Siva, for instance, is represented as a family unit. He and his wife, Parvati, have two sons, Ganesh and Muruga. Among Sri Lankan Tamils, Muruga is the most beloved among all the gods, and the Murugan Temple in Maryland maintained by Sri Lankan American Hindus is
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dedicated to him. The temple celebrates religious and cultural festivals, conducts religion and language classes, and offers both religious and life-cycle rituals. In Hinduism, puja means the ritual worship of images of the deities. Devotees express their love and devotion, and draws near to the Divine, through puja. The various deities represent various powers, and people do puja before important undertakings and to commemorate different life-cycle events. Lord Ganesh, for example, is the Remover of Obstacles, and Hindus generally start the New Year with a Ganesh Puja. Some rituals, such as Abhisheka and Navaratri, are quite elaborate and sponsorships vary accordingly. In the Abhisekha ritual, the image of the deity is honored by bathing with various ingredients, including rosewater, milk, yogurt, honey, and sandalwood water. During the Navaratri festivities, three goddesses—Parvathi for strength, Lakshmi for wealth, and Saraswathi for knowledge—are worshipped for three nights each, on nine consecutive nights. Both men and women can sponsor puja in the temples, and they may be done by individuals at domestic shrines. Virtually all Sri Lankan Muslims adhere to the Islamic faith, though the majority follows the Sunni tradition. But whether they belong to the Sunni or the Shia sects, like for all other Muslims, their cultural identities are strongly tied to their religion. So Sri Lankan American Muslims attend neighborhood mosques operated by Muslim peoples of other ethnicities. The Christian and Catholic Sri Lankan Americans also attend neighborhood churches of other American communities and participate in social service acts such as feeding the homeless. They share the same biblical teachings and celebrate Easter, Christmas, and other important religious events in the Christian calendars. —Usha Welaratna See also: Sri Lankan Americans: Christians; Muslims.
Further Reading Fuller, C. J. The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992. Leonard, Karen Isalksen. The South Asian Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Walpola, Rahula. What the Buddha Taught. London: The Gordon Fraser Gallery Ltd., 1978.
Rites of Passage Sinhalese and Tamils have many common rites of passage, observing auspicious times. Tamils use more color; Sinhalese, white. Babies are fed a grain or two of rice in their third month. When they cut teeth, dumplings containing gram are
Sri Lankan Americans: Rites of Passage
fed. Ear piercing and sometimes head shaving are done at temples on vacations home. The puberty ceremony is a mini-wedding, especially in Canada. The auspicious time for bathing is calculated from the time of spotting. Tamil girls are fed eggplant, sesame oil, and raw eggs. A pooja for virginity is done for Hindus or, if missed, just before marriage. The maternal uncle plays a big role in these ceremonies but no longer marries her. For dowry, in place of maternal ancestral property, a house in America or a down payment for one is given. The green card counts as dowry when the groom is from Sri Lanka. A matchmaker in Sri Lanka may coordinate between the American groom and bride. The families exchange betel leaves and sweets in brass trays to signify agreement. The wedding ceremony for Hindus lasts three hours, but temples advertise shorter versions at different rates, providing even for the presence of a cow. The father gives away the bride in a chamber decorated with flowers. The little fingers of the couple’s hands are tied together. Tamil grooms tie a gold tali, and the Sinhalese a chain. Hindu couples go around a fire thrice; but Sinhalese turn around without the fire. The Hindu groom places the right foot of the bride upon a grinding stone and requests faithfulness from her. He then puts on toe rings for her and shows her the eastern star. With unfamiliar American skies, the groom points vaguely upwards. He gives the going away sari, which is red for Tamils and white for Buddhists. The bride appears in that sari with the groom dressed in a Western suit. They light the oil lamp and feed each other some sweet food. The wedding meal is in hotels or reception halls. Tamils tend less commonly to serve vegetarian. Wedding cake is served by all communities, even at vegetarian meals. A professional is employed to video and photograph everyone in attendance with the couple. Christian weddings are for the most part similar to the Christian weddings in North America, except for the tali and sari for the bride. Muslims have a private wedding and a grand reception. Funerals are conducted in parlors, unlike in Sri Lanka where they take place at home. The eldest son in the case of the father, or the youngest in case of the mother, helps start the fire for cremation. Food is brought by all those who attend and is shared at the house of the bereaved, where no food ought to be cooked. Visitors also eat, though they are not supposed to in a polluted home and on returning do not always bathe and change. Hindus offer food at 7 days, 30 days, and one year in front of the deceased’s picture. Muslims bury within a day, but the women observe seclusion if they are at home. Christians follow mainstream North American rituals. Hindu widows sometimes wear white for a period, but not all their lives. It is customary for many people to attend funerals with traditional foods to show concern for the bereaved. Funerals being inauspicious, pictures, and musical instruments are covered at home. Divorcee women and young widows and are known to remarry; at least their families make marriage proposals.
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In the United States, Vedic rites are adopted in Sanskritization. There are also restrictions on traditional practices. The purification bath of the mother on the seventh day is not observed because American hospitals force a shower on the very day. The bathing of the corpse is by undertakers and not the household women. Nor can fire be brought for the gas incinerator. Brahmins and Muslims observe coming of age for boys. Muslims, however, do not carry knives in North America upon coming of age. First Holy Communion and baptism are celebrated by Christians. Nonattendance at important rites serving to unite scattered families is considered offensive. —Dushyanthi Hoole and E. Elilini Hoole
Further Reading Baker, Victoria. A Sinhalese Village in Sri Lanka: Coping with Uncertainty. Fort Worth, TX: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1997.
Tamil Folktales and Proverbs Sri Lankan Tamils bring a dual background to folktales and proverbs. They bring traditions from both the vernacular and Western backgrounds. The Western background comes to them from the English education established in the country during the British rule from 1796 to 1948. The bilingual community shares many of the folktales and proverbs from the English tradition even after independence from Britain. After migration to North America, many of the bilingual middleclass families share these folktales and proverbs in their conversations. Having a vibrant oral tradition and taking pleasure in conversation, the Tamil community has always had a place for folktales and proverbs in its community life. However, some of the members of the younger generation are losing touch with the vernacular tradition of folktales and proverbs. Their limited proficiency in Tamil prevents them from appreciating the vernacular tradition. This fact also prevents crossgenerational sharing of folktales and proverbs. Though some grandparents may occasionally utter a folktale or proverb to drive home a moral to their grandchildren, these conversational forms are more frequent among the elderly. Apart from the lack of proficiency in Tamil, the younger generation is also turning to electronic media and Western popular culture that separates them from folk traditions. Folktales from the vernacular tradition largely come from Panchatantra. Many of the fables from the original Sanskrit text exist in translation form in Tamil. Such stories as the “Hermit and Weasel” are popular in the community. It deals with a hermit who leaves his child with a weasel friend of his, and upon returning and finding blood on the weasel’s mouth, he kills it. He later finds out that the weasel
Sri Lankan Americans: Tamil Folktales and Proverbs
actually defended his son, and killed a snake that attempted to kill the boy. The moral of the story is that one must never rush in making judgments. The Western tradition comes in the form of the Aesop stories and the Grimm fairy tales. Many children find these stories presented in children’s story books or school textbooks. Sometimes they appear in translated form in Tamil story books and textbooks. Many stories included in Aesop’s Fables, such as “The Fox and the Grapes” (from which the idiom “sour grapes” was derived), “The Tortoise and the Hare,” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” are popular among both bilingual and Tamildominant community members. From Grimm, fairy tales such as Snow White and Hansel and Gretel are widely popular among children. In fact, some tales cross cultural boundaries. They appear to be of universal relevance. It is said that the “Ass in Panther’s Skin” has remarkable similarities in both Panchatantra and Aesop’s Fables. In proverbs, again, the elderly in the community draw from both the vernacular and Western traditions. Proverbs in Tamil, such as taan puTicca muyalukku moonRu kaatu (i.e., “Insisting that the rabbit one caught has three ears”) and kaakkaikkum tan kuncu pon kuncu (i.e., “Even for a crow, its offspring is golden”) are peppered in conversations. English proverbs such as “A stitch in time saves nine,” “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” and “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” are always popular. Proverbial expressions such as “forgive and forget,” “nothing ventured, nothing gained,” “when the cat is away, the mice will play,” and “once bitten, twice shy” also add spice to conversations. As in the examples above, the rhyme and parallelism in these proverbs give further appreciation and pleasure for the oral community. One can detect the rhyme and parallelism in the Tamil proverbs, too. Proverbs are highly valued for their morals, and it is not unusual to find students memorizing collections of such proverbs from textbooks. To know them by heart and to be able to explain their moral is a popular pedagogical exercise at homes and schools. —Suresh Canagarajah
Further Reading Canagarajah, A. Suresh. “Constructing a Diaspora Identity in English: The Case of Sri Lankan Tamils.” In Janina Brutt-Griffler and Catherine E. Davies, eds. English and Ethnicity. New York: Palgrave. 2006, 191–216. Sivatamby, K. “Towards an Understanding of the Culture and Ideology of the Tamils of Sri Lanka.” In Commemmorative Souvenir: Jaffna Public Library. Jaffna: Catholic Press, 1984, 49–56. Sivatamby, K. “The Ideology of Saiva-Tamil Integrality: Its Sociohistorical Significance in the Study of Yalppanam Tamil Society.” Lanka 5 (1990): 176–182. Suseendirarajah, S. “Religion and Language in Jaffna Society.” Anthropological Linguistics 22 (1980): 345–362.
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Sri Lankan Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
Traditional Medicine and Healing Traditional medicine in Sri Lanka, having its origins in India and hospitals established by Asokan monks in South India and Sri Lanka, had its theoretical foundations based on devils or poothams of various names residing in specific parts of the body and being associated with the ailments there. Treatment focused on chasing them away. These notions were challenged by Sri Lanka’s (and Asia’s) first modern university, Batticotta Seminary, founded by American Congregationalists in 1823. The arrival there of Samuel Fisk Green from Columbia University and his establishing his medical school in 1848 marked perhaps the first time that native medicine was studied formally and critically, and lifted out of the esoteric palm-leaf archives of physician-families. Today state universities try to separate the medical from the religious and sympathetically bring to bear the modern methods of statistics and sampling to pronounce on the efficacy of native medicine, even as they expose the deleterious effects of quick fixes mixed into native concoctions such as prednisolone for fevers and gold dust for skin rashes. The native doctor has some social standing in the Sinhalese village, especially after a coalition of native physicians, vernacular teachers, and village elders swept the polls in 1956. Among Tamils, however, the physician is diminished by Manu’s teaching that “The food of a physician is as vile as pus” and, until the village was scattered by the war, had his house in the low-caste quarters of a village. By and large, today, many educated Sri Lankans have faith in native medicine for fevers, fractures and dislocations, and skin diseases. However, for diseases requiring immediate attention—like heart attacks and strokes—almost everyone chooses allopathy. Thus in Sri Lankan America, where health plans provide for Western medicine, for simpler ailments native medicine is dispensed at home. Headaches are treated with coriander water—coriander seeds are boiled for 20–30 minutes with sliced or crushed ginger till deep brown in color, and the liquid strained and sweetened with sugar makes the concoction. Connoisseurs of tea, which Sri Lankans are, boil it with this to make ginger and coriander tea. Often in a family, having one parent who advocates and dispenses it to the children, the other, even when skeptical, gives in because no harm is seen in a hot, tea-like drink. The debate over the superiority or otherwise of Ayurveda is divisive because it is so defining of who we are. As adherents claim Ayurvedic cures for snake bite, for example, others argue that most snakes are not venomous, and only some bites from venomous snakes successfully inject the venom so that in 95 percent of bites, there is no chance of death. Peyawa is a Sinhalese Ayurvedic powder consisting of coriander and other ingredients sold in pouches at many Sri Lankan American stores as a panacea
Sri Lankan Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing
for fever, headache and all manner of body aches. (Kudu is a Tamil version, but it is not conveniently ground and packeted like Peyawa). It is boiled for about 20–30 minutes and drunk hot with sugar 3–4 times a day for flu. Balms having their origins in 13th-century Hindu mystics called Sitthar are commonly used for headaches, as are Chinese Tiger balms. Gripe water, actually from Britain but going as native, is another medicine served to babies with colic and crying for no obvious reason. However, the U.S. government after recognizing that it is of no medicinal value had at one stage ordered it off grocery shelves, but people continue to get it on their trips to Sri Lanka or off the Internet. At a more serious level, when chronic illnesses are not successfully treated in America, there are people who go home for native treatment and claim to have been cured—for example, of their diabetes, eczema, glaucoma, etc. These claims remain to be scientifically tested. There are now Ayurvedic spas, hospitals and health resorts servicing this rich Western clientele, including Euro-Caucasians who add to the prestige of Sri Lankan patrons. Their aromatherapies and massages with special creams and leaves are a special attraction. —Dushyanthi Hoole and Sarath P. Kankanamge See also: Indian Americans: Ayurveda; Traditional Medicine and Healing.
Further Reading Ramamurthi Iyer, T. G. The Handbook of Indian Medicine: The Gems of Siddha System. New Delhi: Chaukhambha Sanskrit Pratishsthan, 1933 (Reprint, 2005). Uragoda, C. G. A History of Medicine in Sri Lanka from the Earliest Times to 1948. Colombo: Sri Lanka Medical Association, 1987.
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Thai Americans History, People, and Culture The earliest and clearest evidence of Thai immigrants to the United States was of conjoined siblings known as the “Siamese twins,” Eng and Chang (1811–1874). They arrived in Boston in 1829, married American women, and stayed in the United States until the end of their lives. After that period, there is no certain trace of Thai immigrants who came to the United States. Before the early 20th century, there is some evidence of Thai people who arrived in America to study. These students were from noble families, and most returned home after finishing their education. Prince Mahidol (1892–1929) and some other Thai students, for example, enrolled at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1916 and stayed for a few years to finish their degrees before returning home. They were mostly undergraduate and graduate students, and the number of such students increased during the first half of the 20th century. Not only of noble families, these students also came from rich families along with some who received scholarships. During the Thai government plan of development from the 1940s to the 1960s, Thailand provided more scholarships for students to come to study in the United States. After World War II, Thailand and the United States had a close relationship in terms of politics and economy, and more students studied at American schools. Among these students, only a few gained employments and settled down in the United States. Those did spread out across the country according to their professions. It was hard for those Thais to get together to form a community, unlike the Chinese, who often lived close together in areas known as Chinatowns, especially in the big cities (e.g., San Francisco and New York). As solid communities, the first settlements of Thai immigrants did not appear until the late 1960s. Whereas other immigrants who came to the United States as refugees from the countries of mainland Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, Thai immigrants typically did not arrive as refugees. Instead, they have immigrated to the United States for many different reasons. Shortage of nurses in American hospitals was the main cause that first drew large numbers of Thai immigrants into the country. In the late 1960s, the U.S. government began to give a
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warm welcome to Thai nurses by offering green cards to them right when they landed on American soil. By the early 1970s, large numbers of Thai immigrants had already settled down in the United States. The communities began to form mainly because of the Thai nurses in large cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, DC., New York City, and Chicago. Most of the nurses were female, some single, and some of them married when they arrived. These who were single ended up with husbands in the New World. Although marriage to Americans was possible, most Thai nurses chose Thai men, who mostly came to the United States as students, to be their husbands. Among these Thai students married to Thai nurses, there were legal opportunities for them in the United States. Those without any legal employment after finishing their degrees in the country needed to return home. Thai nurses, who had already married when they arrived in the United States, brought their husbands and children to live with them. These immigrants still keep their culture alive and try to pass it down to their children, who are mostly American born. They speak Thai in their families and communities, cook Thai food, practice Thai Buddhism, and maintain their Thai identities. By the 1980s, although nurses were still in high demand in the United States, the numbers of Thai nurses decreased due to political conditions and the changing relationship between the two countries. During the 1960s and 1970s, coming to the United States as an American GI’s wife was another common way that the numbers of Thai immigrants increased. During the Vietnam War (1959–1975), Thailand was an important location for American military bases. Large numbers of American soldiers appeared in Thailand, which opened opportunities for relationships between Thai women and American soldiers. Many couples ended up getting married. By the end of the wars, many soldiers brought their Thai wives back home with them to America. These GIs’ wives followed their American husbands to resettle broadly throughout the United States. The wives of American veterans start assimilating to American culture before coming to the United States, and hence are more mainstream than other Thai immigrants. Learning Thai language and culture is not a priority for their children, who are mixed-race Thai Americans. This may be the result of also living in isolated communities where there are no Thais. Today, after their children have grown up and the Thai communities have expanded, some of these GI’s wives have joined in the Thai communities nearby, practicing their culture with other Thai Americans. Many other Thai immigrants arrived in the United States in many different situations. Some Thai students decided not to return home after finishing their study. They operate small businesses such as Asian groceries, restaurants, and laundry shops, while others are taxi drivers, car mechanics, insurance salesmen, and even mail carriers. Many Thai female students ended up marrying white American men and staying in the country with their husbands. On the other hand, some American men travel to Thailand for various reasons and fall in love with Thai women. After getting married, they bring their wives to live with them in the United States.
Thai Americans: History, People, and Culture
Since around 1990, Thai restaurants have become popular in the United States. In the 1980s, there were only two Thai restaurants in Boston; in 2010, more than 20 Thai restaurants were found in the area. About 200 Thai restaurants were in New York City from among approximately 3,000 Thai restaurants nationwide. The restaurant business provides a new trend that has brought more Thai immigrants to the United States. Among the new Thai American communities that have been settled for a little over a decade, they basically comprise restaurant workers and owners rather than nurses as in the 1970s and 1980s. For example, in Boston, the majority of people in Thai communities are those who work in the restaurant business. During the 2000s, another popular opportunity allowing many Thai young women to come to America emerged through the business program called Cultural Care Au Pair in America. The program admits Thai women ranging from 18 to 26 years of age to travel to the United States in a kind of cultural exchange program, and they help care for children of certain families. In return, these young Thai women have a chance to travel and learn American culture. Certainly among those who work in a city where a Thai community exists, they will sometimes join in activities with that community. Although there is no record of how many of these young Thai women stay in the country permanently, some small percentage must, at least those who marry American men. Because the majority of Thais in Thailand, the United States, and within the Thai diaspora are mainly Buddhist, Buddhist rituals and beliefs are key to be Thai in America. In Buddhist custom, people can come to a temple every day to offer food to the monk(s), as a part of religious practice called thumbun, literally meaning making merit. This activity is done in early morning for breakfast and around 11:00 a.m. for lunch. According to the practice, monks are not supposed to eat beyond noon until the next morning. In Buddhist practice, a meal beyond noontime is not necessary. In the United States, usually, in this regular thumbun, offering food to the monks on a regular basis, mostly only those who are available (especially ones who live close by) appear at the temple regularly. As a result, not everybody shows up at the temple every day. Members who live far away prefer to come to the temple only on important occasions. Within the circle of the year, three important occasions are recognized. First, there are Buddhist festivals and ceremonies consist of seven or eight important occasions, such as New Year’s Day, Lord Buddha’s birthday, and Buddhist Lent. Second, holidays involved with the mother nation mainly include the queen’s and king’s birthdays, which Thai immigrants like to celebrate. Finally, there are local parties among the members of the local community. These can be weddings, different kinds of Thai association parties, or schoolchildren’s activities in temple school. The first two are the most important occasions that draw the most people to the temple. Overall, the temple always holds some activities every month. Some the most important activities are intended for schoolchildren. Most large Thai communities especially in Los Angeles, Washington, DC., New York City,
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and Chicago organize the temple schools for the Thai American children to learn Thai culture in the communities. The primary subjects offered to students are Thai language, Thai music, and Thai dance. The schools basically offer year-round classes taught by volunteer teachers invited from Thailand. Some teachers volunteer for a one-year program while others might stay only for a short period during the summer. The latter is a more intensive program, since the students do not need to attend their regular American schools during summer. While during the regular school year, students need to attend temple schools on the weekend or in the late afternoon and evening after finishing their regular American school classes. More importantly, the temple schools are maintained not only for the children in the communities, but are open to all who are interested in the programs. In short, Thai immigrants are probably one of the newest ethnic communities in the United States, mostly established from just the early 1970s. Among other careers, nursing is the primary path that draws Thai people to the new world. The boom in Thai restaurants has drawn a large new set of Thai immigrants to the country as restaurant workers and owners. Buddhism is the primary cultural core of Thai immigrants in the United States. The temples are the major communal centers where Thai Americans get together to conduct, express, and transform their cultural identity. The temple schools are the places where Thai American children have opportunities to learn Thai language, music, and dance. The parents hope that their children will benefit from this aid of program and carry their Thai culture into future. —Priwan Nanongkham
Further Reading Bao, Jiemin. “Merit-Making Capitalism: Re-territorializing Thai Buddhism in Silicon Valley, California.” Journal of Asian American Studies 8(2) (June 2005): 115–142. Barker, Chris, and Phongpaichit, Pasuk. A History of Thailand. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Chiwanantha. “Phra Phu Seang” quoted in the 33rd General Annual Meeting of the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the U.S.A. at Mongkontepmunee Temple, Bensalem, PA, June 11–12, 2009. Bangkok: Sahadhammik Press, 2009. Hossell, Karen P. Thai Americans: We Are America. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Library, 2004. Mulder, Niels. Inside Thai Society: Interpretations of Everyday Life. 5th ed. Amsterdam: Pepin Press, 1996.
Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit Ancestors, ghosts, and spirits play a prominent role in the lives of Thai Americans as they are believed to offer protection and guidance. In many Thai American homes, family members will set up an altar or shrine to pay respect to the
Thai Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
deceased. Commonly, these altars or shrines include photographs of the ancestors and their ashes that were brought home after the cremation. It is believed that by bringing the ashes home, the family is allowing the spirit to enter the home. The altar or shrine will usually be placed next to the family’s statute of Buddha along with candles and incenses. Family members may choose to provide offerings to the ancestors on a daily basis, which includes water and some form of food. Being heavily influenced by the Buddhist religion and the notion of reincarnation, it is believed that the spirits still need nourishment during the next life, and these daily offerings ensure the family’s ancestors receive enough food and water. In addition to the daily offerings, family members will plan a large ceremony (tam boon) on the anniversary of the ancestor’s death. The family will either hold this ceremony at the temple or the family’s house. During the merit ceremony, family members offer a meal to the Buddhist monks in hopes that the food will reach their ancestors through the monk’s prayers and chanting. To ensure the ancestor’s receive the offerings, the monks will recite the names of the deceased in the prayers. —Worapron Tina Worawongs See also: Thai Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Guelden, Marlane. Thailand: Spirits among Us. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2007.
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration In Thai American homes, the selected interior decorations are a mixture of Western and Thai influences. Although many Thai Americans have chosen to decorate their homes in a more Westernized manner, there is still a strong display of Thai culture in furniture and decorations. Generally, Thai Americans purchase these home decorations in Thailand, but they can now be found in Thai stores located throughout the United States. However, it is more common for individuals to purchase Thai home decorations during their trips to Thailand. Many Thai Americans practice Buddhism, and their religious beliefs are reflected in their interior decorations. The most common type of decoration in Thai American homes is a Buddhist altar. These religious altars usually include Buddha statues, candles, and incenses used during praying sessions. Additionally, it is also common to see religious offerings placed on these altars. Religious offerings consist of fresh fruits, small helpings of food, and glasses of water. Many
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households may also create an altar specifically dedicated to their ancestors, which will display pictures of all deceased family members. It is also very common to find portraits of the king of Thailand adorning the walls of Thai American homes as a form of respect for the beloved royal figure. Another form of Thai decoration commonly found in the household is Thai silk. This type of fabric, with a variety of colors and patterns, is used to make pillowcases, comforters, and tablecloths. Thai porcelain (benjarong) is also very popular in Thai American households and can be used Buddhist altar in a Thai American home. as dishware for daily meals or placed (Worapron Tina Worawongs) on display. The name benjarong when translated means five colors. Commonly, these hand-painted pieces will include three, five, or eight colors, and the intricate designs are carefully outlined using gold paint. Elephant-themed decorations are also prominent in the homes of Thai Americans. Perceived as a symbol of luck, Thai Americans may have elephant shaped statues in the living room and elephant design pillowcases placed on their couches. —Worapron Tina Worawongs
Further Reading Jotisalikorn, Chami, Luca Invernizzi Tettoni, Phuthorn Bhumidon, and Virginia McKeen Di Crocco. Classic Thai: Design Interiors Architecture. Tokyo: Periplus, 2007.
Children’s Folklore In Thai America, parents use folklore not only to entertain their children when they are young, but to teach and instill values that have been passed down for generations. Many of these folklore tales emphasize values specifically important within the Thai culture, including honesty and responsibility. A popular folktale retold in Thai America is the story of the Baby Chicken Stars (Dao Rook Gai). In this story, an old couple raised a mother hen and six chicks. The couple adored the family of chickens and brought them food and nurtured
Thai Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
the chickens. One day, a Buddhist monk passed by the old couple’s house and was planning on resting near the house. The old couple was concerned the monk would not have anything to eat and realized that they would have to kill the hen for food. The hen overheard the conversation and was concerned for her children, but also remembered the old couple’s kindness for her family. The hen went to inform her children that they would soon have to be separated. The next day, the old lady killed the hen and placed her in a burning fire. Unexpectedly, the little chicks jumped into the flames to be with their mother. The Buddha became aware of the chicks’ actions and changed them into stars where they would remain with their mother in the sky. This story emphasizes the importance of remaining loyal to people who have helped throughout your life and the need for building good karma. Another well-known folktale is the Man that Chops Wood (Khon That Fuen). In this story, a poor man received an ax from his father. One day, he went to the woods and dropped the ax in a well. Suddenly, an angel disguised as a human appeared and asked why he looked distraught. The angel told him that he would retrieve the ax for the man. He returned with a gold ax and a silver ax and asked the man if these belonged to him. The man responded that they did not, and the angel returned to the well to retrieve his ax. Finally, the angel came back with a gold ax, a silver ax, and a wooden ax. When the man saw the wooden ax, he informed the angel that it belonged to him. In response, the angel presented him with all three axes because the man did not lie and demonstrated that he was not selfish. The man returned home, sold the gold and silver axes, and received a large amount of money. The man had a brother who was completely opposite from him. The brother, wanting to become rich, stole the wooden ax and pretended to lose it in the well. The angel reappeared and went to retrieve the lost ax. However, when the angel presented the golden ax to the brother, he immediately snatched it from the angel’s hands and ran home. When he arrived home, the gold ax turned into wood. This story teaches children that desires and selfishness only brings sorrow and sadness. —Worapron Tina Worawongs
Further Reading Vathanaprida, Supaporn, and Margaret Read MacDonald. Thai Tales: Folktales of Thailand. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994.
Clothes and Jewelry In Thai America, individuals are usually seen wearing Thai attire during special occasions and religious events, such as attending the temple. For these special occasions, a popular traditional outfit worn by Thai women consists of a Thai
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design blouse and a tube skirt. The blouse, made out of Thai silk, comes either long-sleeved or quarter-sleeved and buttons up in the front or back. The tube skirt (pha sin), a very important component of Thai traditional outfits, is made of two or three pieces of fabric sewn together. There are also two pleated folds in the front of the skirt, known as na nang. Pha sins will have a combination of solid colors and contrasting patterns above the hem of the skirt. Although the outfit includes the same basic components, the pattern on the skirts is a reflection of the women’s geographical region (i.e., northern and southern). To accessorize the blouse and pha sin, women may also wear a gold or silver belt. The traditional outfit for men consists of long trousers along with a high-collar silk shirt (suea phra ratchathan). For a casual event, the men will wear a shortsleeved version and long sleeves for formal occasions. This type of garment was introduced by King Bhumibol Adulyadej as an alternative outfit to wearing the business suit in humid weather conditions. For Thai Americans, gold and sterling jewelry remain very popular. Thai American women commonly wear jewelry that have unique ornament designs consisting of various colors, including red, blue, and green. However, for Thais, the most common piece of jewelry is the Thai amulet pendant. Influenced by the Buddhist religion, these pendants are believed to offer protection from evil and danger while also bringing good luck. These amulets may be images of the Buddha, well-known Thai monks (rong pa), and other religious gods. Most amulets are made of wood, ivory, or powder shaped into the image and enclosed in gold or silver cases. —Worapron Tina Worawongs
Further Reading Kislenko, Arne. Culture and Customs of Thailand. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.
Community The wat, or a Buddhist temple, is the center of a Thai community where people come and do some things together. About 95 percent of the Thai population in Thailand is Theravada Buddhist. The religion is the main core of Thai culture. People participate in religious activities both as individuals and as groups. The Thai way of living associated with rites of passage and other spiritualities is mostly tied to Buddhism. When they came to the United States, Thai immigrants brought Buddhism with them. Among the early Thai immigrants who settled down in Los Angeles, Washington, DC., New York City, and Chicago, before
Thai Americans: Community
Thai American youth gather to play the Asian kick-volleyball sport of sepak takraw, at the Thai temple in Homestead, Florida, February 24, 2008. Temples are important gathering places for the Thai American community. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
establishing their own Buddhist temples, they shared religious activities at temples that belonged to Chinese and Japanese Americans. In the late 1960s, conducting religious activities was not convenient, and some Thai immigrants agreed that everything was good in America, except that there was no Thai monk or Buddhist temple. A community could hardly take form without a temple. Before the establishment of the Thai temples, Thai immigrant communities formed around associations such as the association of Thai students, Thai journalists overseas, Thai nurses, and Thai physicians. These associations, however, formed among special memberships and did not include all Thais. The Buddhist temple is the first place that holds all Thai immigrants together. No matter what their careers or professions, they are all Thai Buddhists. Basically, Thai communities might not exist without the temples, the communal center for people to get together regularly for both sacred and secular activities. The size of the temple often implies the size of the community. The larger the temple, the greater the surrounding population density. The consequent growth in numbers of Thai temples often represents the old and the new Thai communities in the United States. Within a given area, the younger the established temple, the newer the community
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is implied. The more temples established in the country, the more dense the Thai immigrant population has become. The first Thai Buddhist temple in America was established in Los Angeles, California, in 1971. Wat Thai of Los Angeles, located in North Hollywood, is the oldest Thai Buddhist temple in America. After that, Thai people in many other cities that have large communities began to establish their own temples (e.g., Wat Thai in Washington, DC.). Today, the Thai communities in America are increasing in numbers. Within about four decades, 86 temples and Thai American communities have been established throughout the country, in 31 states. Today Wat Thai of Los Angeles, the oldest temple, has 22 monks. It is considered the largest Thai Buddhist temple in America. More than 500 monks reside at the temples throughout the United States. The monks basically serve not only Thai immigrants, but also some other ethnic immigrants such as Laotians and Cambodians. These people indeed share similarity in terms of Buddhism with Thai people. Other activities at the temples are aimed more at adults, especially all kinds of community parties. Most children in Thai American communities like to participate in music and dance programs, taught by Thai volunteer teachers who are experts in the field from the homeland. Although Thai folk music and dance are sometimes offered, most of the teachers are trained in classical rather than folk music, due to the system of music education in Thailand. Studying music and dance is, of course, involved with Thai cultural identity that reinforces the children’s recognition and appreciation for their home culture. Every year, the temple schools organize concerts so that the students may have a chance to perform on stage. The concert is the most important activity to help the children feel of value in the community. The parents, of course, strongly support their children’s musical temple activity. —Priwan Nanongkham See also: Thai Americans: Festivals and Holidays; Religion.
Further Reading Bao, Jiemin. Marital Acts: Gender, Sexuality, and Identity among the Chinese Thai Diaspora. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004. Hossell, Karen P. Thai Americans: We Are America. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Library, 2004. Rules, Policies, and the Lists of Temples and Monks (in the U.S.) The Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the U.S.A., 2009. The 33rd General Annual Meeting of the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the U.S.A. at Mongkontepmunee Temple, Bensalem, PA, June 11–12, 2009. Bangkok: Sahadhammik Press, 2009.
Thai Americans: Domestic Religious Practices
Domestic Religious Practices With Buddhism being the dominant religion in Thailand, many Thai Americans continue to practice numerous Buddhist rituals in the United States along with teaching the new generation these ceremonies and beliefs. A very common domestic religious practice in the Thai American culture is planning a merit ceremony (tam boon). Individuals perform this ceremony with the intention of building good karma not only for themselves, but also for their family members and ancestors. Commonly, Thai Americans will plan this ceremony to celebrate birthdays, the anniversary of the death of a family member, and the blessing of a new home. This merit ceremony can take place either at the temple or the person’s home and involves offering food to the monks. In addition to preparing an entire meal for the monks, individuals will also provide monetary offerings, which can be used to purchase daily essentials. During the merit ceremony, the monks will sit beside the Buddha statute with a bowl filled with water, which will later be blessed during the ceremony. The monks will recite short passages, which must be repeated by the individuals taking part in the ceremony, which is then followed by only the monks chanting. During this part of the ceremony, the guests pray along while their hands are positioned in the traditional position of palms touching each other (wai) and their heads are bowed down. After the completion of the chanting, the guests offer the foods to the monks to be blessed, which must be done prior to 11:00 a.m., providing the monks sufficient time to consume the prepared food. Once the Buddhist monks have finished eating the food, they complete the ceremony by chanting while individuals slowly pour water (gruat nam) onto their finger from a small golden vessel, asking for forgiveness or sending good karma to family members who have passed away. In addition to the merit ceremony, Thai Americans will also participate in a ceremony to help raise money for the temple (taukateen). This ceremony takes place after the Buddhist monks have taken sanctuary in the temple for approximately three months. The purpose of this ceremony is to help raise money to either build or add to the current infrastructure of the Thai temple. It is believed that if you participate in this ceremony, you will receive good karma and happiness for your next life. Many domestic religious practices involve trying to build good karma for the current or next life. Oftentimes, Thai Americans may believe they are experiencing bad luck due to bad past karma. Consequently, another common religious practice that is prevalent in the Thai American community is eliminating bad karma (sadohkrow). To remove the bad luck from an individual’s life, the Buddhist monk will recite a specific prayer, and in some cases, individuals will release a living
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animal (e.g., birds and fishes), representing the act of saving a life and building good karma. —Worapron Tina Worawongs See also: Thai Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Kislenko, Arne. Culture and Customs of Thailand. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Dying and Death Rituals The dying rituals in Thai America draw from many elements of the Buddhist religion along with the current practices in Thailand. When an individual is close to dying, family members will bring Buddhist monks to the hospital or the home to pray for the dying individual. The presence of the Buddhist monks and their prayers help provide comfort to the dying and the family members. When an individual passes away, the body of the deceased is prepared for the
Photos and ashes of relatives of a Thai American Buddhist community are displayed as they celebrate Thai New Year, a holiday to remember dead relatives and to wash away the past year's sins. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
Thai Americans: Ethnic Media
funeral and takes part in a bathing ceremony (lot nam). During the bathing ceremony, relatives and close friends pour water and jasmine flowers on the hand of the deceased and ask forgiveness for any forms of wrongdoing that may have been committed in the past. After the bathing ceremony, the body is placed in a coffin, and Buddhist monks are brought to the temple to pray before the actual cremation (suet sop). Generally, for funeral ceremonies, four monks will be called in to conduct the prayer service. Depending on the family, the praying can last from one to three days. Having the monks chant in front of the coffin helps the deceased become aware that they have passed away and must prepare to move on to the next life. Furthermore, it is believed that the prayers will help ensure the deceased reaches heaven after the cremation ceremony. The actual cremation takes places after the final day of the suet sop. Prior to the cremation, family members and relatives will be given one last chance to view the body and place a flower made out of wood (dokmaijan) in the coffin. The placing of the wooden flower next to the deceased is another form of asking for forgiveness. It is also believed that when placing the flower in the coffin, friends and relatives must make sure that their tears do not touch the body, or else the deceased will not be able to rest in peace and will have to swim through a river of tears before reaching heaven. After the cremation, family members are given the ashes of the deceased. In many cases, family members place the ashes on the altar in their home or spread the ashes of the deceased in the ocean. —Worapron Tina Worawongs
Further Reading Moore, Frank John, and Clark D. Neher. Thailand—Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. New Haven, CT: HRAF Press. 1974.
Ethnic Media In the United States, Los Angeles not only has been transformed into the center of the Thai community, but is also the official location for the production of numerous Thai ethnic media, including Thai magazines and newspapers. Through the use of Thai-language media, the Thai community has access to the news in Thailand, the United States, and the local community. There are many Thai-language newspapers distributed in Thai Town. These newspapers (Inter Thai LAX News, Sereechai, Khao Sod USA, Siam Media, Mahachon Thai, Thai LA News, Mati Seree Thai, Thai Times USA, and New Choomchon News) are printed on a weekly basis. The papers include news stories
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involving Thailand, national stories, and local events. The stories are primarily written in Thai, but several newspapers are beginning to include stories written in English. This decision to incorporate English in the newspaper illustrates the increasing demand from later generations. A majority of the publications are published in Los Angeles. The newspapers are distributed in Thai businesses located in Thai Town, such as the restaurant, bookstores, and supermarkets. Besides newspapers, two Thai-language magazines are published in Los Angeles, and numerous Thai magazines are sold in bookstores and video stores. The two Thai-language magazines, Mai Thai and TV Parade, distributed by the Thai community offer information regarding Thai entertainment and the Thai society in Los Angeles. A majority of the content of Mai Thai and TV Parade are composed of advertisements and Thai businesses. These ads provide an information guide for the Thai community. An important part of the Thai media system includes prerecorded videocassette tapes. These videotapes include Thai soap operas, talk shows, news, and game shows. There are many rental outlets in Los Angeles, such as BKT entertainment and Siam video. Recently, the movie industry in Thailand has produced dozens of Thai films. Popular genres include teen romance, horror, comedy, and historical events. To reach the Thai audience living in the United States, the Thai VCDs are imported from Thailand and sold in the bookstores and entertainment stories. The VCD format is popular in many Asian countries and has replaced videocassettes. The increasing demand in the Thai community for Thai dramas and movies has contributed to the popularity of satellite television. Many viewers in the Thai community are installing satellite TV, enabling them to receive direct broadcast of Thai programs. Thai TV Global Networks, the first and largest satellite TV center in Thailand, broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to 158 countries. In the United States, TGN provides California and New York with Thai programs. These two states contain the highest Thai population. TGN condensed the main Thai TV stations into one channel, creating a wide range of programs, including Thai dramas, game shows, and news. Numerous improvements in the satellite system enhance the quality of the programs and increase the amount of programs. The Thai media in Los Angeles provides the Thai community with a channel for cultural transmission and information regarding their homeland. —Worapron Tina Worawongs
Further Reading Cunningham, Stuart, and John Sinclair, eds. Floating Lives: The Media and Asian Diasporas. Oxford, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001.
Thai Americans: Family and Community
Family and Community The first noted Thai Americans in the United States were Chang and Eng Bunker in the 19th century. Originally from Siam (the former name of Thailand), the siblings made history as the first recorded Siamese twins (conjoined twins). Because of their medical condition, the United States—and, not long after, the rest of the world—would know about Thailand. It was not until after World War II, however, that Thais truly began to have a demographical presence in the United States. There were two major migratory waves in Thai American history, which paved access for Thais to come to the United States. The first wave was during the mid1960s, when Congress amended the Immigration and Naturalization Act, and the demographics of the Asian population, not just Thais alone, saw a steady growth. The second wave occurred during the 1980s, when Thailand faced a major economical slump. Both waves brought different groups of Thais, whose reasons for immigrating generally included the seeking of higher education, better socioeconomic status, and/or joining other family members who were already living in the United States. Thais in the United States have been and continue to be composed of a fairly large student population, who upon completion of study customarily return to Thailand. Thais with the intentions of remaining in the United States essentially become Thai Americans; however, this societal construct is fairly new when compared to other Asian groups such as the Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans, all of whom have had a longer history and a larger demographical footprint than Thais. “Thai American” is the umbrella term for those of Thai descent living in the United States, and their offspring, who are born in the United States. The term “Thai American” is not only utilized for those who garnered U.S. citizenship at birth. The Thai American family does not always adopt the steadfast concept of the “Nuclear Family,” with a husband, wife and 2.5 children. Most Thai American families, rather, consist of the intermediate family members and more often, extended family members (i.e., grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins). Thais carry a great sense of adulation towards the family setting. They are renowned for being close-knit people, and this tradition has carried on to those living in the United States as well. Cultural traditions, language, and food are all essential parts of the Thai American family. Like all other immigrants, Thai American families will make Thai food in the home and teach the Thai language to their children. Some Thai Americans families, however, feel that speaking the native language and practicing traditional habits may confus their children, who learn the English language and the American norms in the American school setting. Thus, these families opt not to promote such an integration as it may be a setback in the advancement of
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the following generation. Those who chose to teach the native language and practice cultural traditions will likely have well-rounded children. Thai Americans are currently scattered throughout the United States and are heavily concentrated in such major cities as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Dallas. The largest concentrations of Thai people in the United States live in Los Angeles, with over 80,000 Thais calling it home. Los Angeles, which since 1999 has been loosely considered to be the 77th province of Thailand, has a Thai town (a half-mile strip along Hollywood Boulevard between Western and Normandie avenues) consisting of a throng of Thai restaurants, Thai massage/spas, and Thai clothing (i.e., silk) and craft stores. Another community center for most Thai American communities throughout the United States is the Thai Buddhist temples. Nearly 95 percent of Thais in Thailand are Buddhist, and those living in the United States often view Thai temples as a center for communal gatherings. The temple acts as not just a place of religious practice, but more often an institution for younger Thai generations to learn the Thai language, Thai classical music, and Thai classical dance. During major Thai holidays as Songkran (Thai New Year) and Loy Krathong, Thais will come to the temple to make merit and celebrate traditional practices associated with these holidays. As the Thai American community grows, so do newly founded Thai American family traditions. The United States and its hodgepodge of communities will continue to paint a diverse demographical mural, and it is without a doubt that the Thai American presence in the United States will continue to grow in the future. —Candy Krajangsri See also: Thai Americans: Community.
Further Reading Desbarats, Jacqueline. “Thai Migration to Los Angeles.” Geographical Review 69(3) (July 1979): 302–318.
Festivals and Holidays In the American cultural context, Thai festivals and holidays have become slightly different from those back home. Essentially, Thai immigrants have to follow American festivals and holidays since they live and work in this country. Thai festivals and holidays in America basically are cultural symbols that Thai people practice to express their cultural identity. In the United States, Thai people often organize their Thai festivals and holidays on regular closest weekends, often on
Thai Americans: Festivals and Holidays
Sunday of the actual day when people back home celebrate. In other words, Thai Americans, similar to other ethnic groups in America, do not have an extra “day off” beyond what they already have from regular American festivals and holidays around the year. Thai immigrants try to keep their festivals and holidays as if they were in their homeland. Thai festivals and holidays are associated with Buddhism, the Thai nation, agricultural patterns, and local customs. Thais in the United States, however, celebrate only the main festivals and holidays that present Thai life and the traditions most associated with Buddhism and the Thai nation. Buddhism, especially, is the most dominant force among Thai people both in Thailand and in America. Thai communities throughout the United States basically celebrate similar festivals and holidays around the year. At least, they go to temples to offer food to the monks, called thumbun, “making merit” while the monks chant, accept charity, and teach the people about Buddhism. In general within a circling year, there are about 7–8 thumbun great offerings. These are New Year’s Celebration (January 1), Makha Puja Day or “Sangha Day” (February), Songkran Day or “traditional New Year’s Day” (April), Visakha Puja Day or “the Lord Buddha’s days of birth, enlightenment, and passing away” (May), Buddhist Lent (July), and Kathina or “Robe Offering Ceremony” (October). There is also the Thet Mahachat festival or “Jataka recital”; in Thailand, this festival often comes during March and April, while in the United States, the organized date varies. The immigrants adjust the process, the occasion, and the lengths of the celebrations and ceremonies to fit their lifestyles. Most events are shortened, and some can be done within a few hours whereas they might take two to three days back home. The two holidays associated with the Thai nation are the Queens’s Birthday (August) and the King’s Birthday (December). These are, in fact, the birthdays of the recent queen and king of Thailand, which are regarded as the Mother’s Day and Father’s Day of the nation. The celebration suggests that the royal institution is still important for Thai people even when they are in the new world. Although they have some days off from work, Thai Americans do not really become involved in many American festivals and holidays, particularly those that are involved with Christianity (except Thai immigrants who are Christians, a minority). However, they enjoy some parties such as on the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving among friends and families in their homes instead of going out to the temples. —Priwan Nanongkham
Further Reading Gedney, William J., trans. and ed. Life and Ritual in Old Siam: Three Studies of Thai Life and Customs. New Haven, CT: HRAF Press, 1961.
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Thai Americans: Folk Dance and Performance Hossell, Karen P. Thai Americans: We Are America. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Library, 2004. Wells, Kenneth E. Thai Buddhism, Its Rites and Activities. Bangkok: Bangkok Times Press, 1939.
Folk Dance and Performance Classical music and dance traditionally existed mostly in courts and noble families; today, the music appears in an elite society among professional performers. Folk music and dance is the art of common people; it is associated directly with the immigrants in America. On the other hand, among Thai communities, interestingly, classical music and dance are the priorities due to the fact that the teachers who teach Thai American children are specialists in classical rather than folk music and dance. According to the curriculum and preservation, classical music and dance has formed the priority programs in Thailand for many decades, although today folk music has become available as a course of study. As a result, Thai people have used mostly classical music and dance to represent their musical culture both in Thailand and in the United States. Thai Americans have invited Thai volunteer teachers of music and dance to teach the children in their communities since the late 1980s. Every year, a new set of volunteer teachers, who mostly have just earned their degrees in music and dance, to stay in the community in a one-year program. Classical music was the priority for the first few years in most Thai American communities before they also began to bring classical dance into the program. The musical activities among Thai communities are mostly instrumental music, “playing musical instruments.” Thai American children study all kinds of Thai classical instruments, of which the most popular are ranat, a xylophone; khawng wong, a gong circle; saw, a vertical bowed lute, and jakay, a three-string floored zither. Every year, after many months of studying, the students have a chance to perform on stage, a kind of an annual concert. Due to the large numbers of student musicians who all need to be on stage, it is not convenient for the teachers to organize a traditional ensemble that requires only few musicians. Thus, Wong maha duriyang, literally meaning “large ensemble,” often appears in Thai American children’s concerts. Although this type of ensemble is not traditional, the children often perform traditional classical pieces for the audience in a large ensemble. Dance seems to be of greater interest to the audience. In the Thai tradition, most girls participate in dance while boys prefer to play musical instruments. Thai classical dance appears in two types. One involves “telling a story” called
Thai Americans: Folk Music
lakon or lakon ram “dance drama” and khon or “mask dance” while the other has no story and is called rabum, ram, and fon. The former is a little bit similar to a Western ballet, except within a Thai-style story, dance movement (emphasizing on hand gestures), music, and costume. The latter appears in the form of a dance set, which consists of various numbers of dancers—usually from two to eight. The name of the dance set often begins with rabum, ram, and fon as a prefix, such as rabum dawk bua (“lotus dance”), rabum phat (“fan dance”), ram srinuan (“Srinuan dance”; Srinuan refers to young beautiful girls), and fon thien (“candle dance”). The rabum, ram, and fon are the most common forms among Thai American children as they are simpler than the lakon and khon. Children can spend a shorter time to learn and practice and still be able to perform on stage. A type of folk dance, in fact, sometimes appears among Thai American children’s dances. Thai folk dance refers to regional dance of the people who live in the four regions of the country, including north, south, central, and northeast. Folk dance from the northeast region, known as Isan, is the most popular both in Thailand and America because unlike classical dance, folk dance does not need to be in a perfect form on stage. Among other regions in Thailand, Isan dance is fast in movement and accompanied by happy sounding of Isan music. —Priwan Nanongkham See also: Thai Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Eighth Annual Vajira Concert. By Volunteer Teachers. Mount Vernon, NY: Vajiradhammapadia Temple, 2007. Rutnin, Mattani Mojdara. Dance, Drama, and Theatre in Thailand: The Process of Development and Modernization. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1996. Tenth Anniversary Vajira Concert. By Volunteer Teachers. Mount Vernon, NY: Vajiradhammapadia Temple, 2009.
Folk Music Most Thai Americans came from northeast Thailand after 1960. The largest population of Thai Americans resides in Los Angeles, with nearly 100,000 individuals comprising nearly half of the entire Thai American population. Other communities with large populations include Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco, and Dallas–Fort Worth. Consequently, Thai American cultural arts and folk music are not as widespread or popular as other Asian American groups.
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The classical approach to Thai American music includes theatrical performances of music and dance called khon. Khon is Thailand’s highest dramatic art form and it surrounds India’s Ramayana epic referred to as Ramakian in Thai history. The story is a tale between good and evil. San Francisco’s Thai Cultural Center is a leader in Thai American performances of classical and instrumental music and dance from Thailand. Folk ensembles frequently incorporate the kaen (pan flute), wode (vertical flute), phin (lute), pong lang (xylophone), jakae (three-stringed zither), krachappi (lute), klong kantrum (drum), and pi salai (oboe). The primary form popular Thai music is luk thung. Luk thung developed out of rural living conditions in Thailand. Essentially, the music is true folk or country music. Some of the biggest purveyors of the musical genre include Ponsri Woranut and Suraphon Sombatjalern. Importantly, luk thung also included musical elements from South America, Indonesia, Japan, and American film and country music. A revival of the 1960s Wong Shadow or “Shadow Music” is the music of the Thai guitar pop/surf movement. It is largely composed of “lost” recordings by a handful of musicians and groups from Thailand, including Pocket Music, P.M. 7, Jupiter, and Johnny Guitar. The relevance of shadow music for Thai Americans and other listeners is how the music is produced and accepted today. Shadow music has never been performed in the United States, and it has since ceased in Thailand. However, a Seattle-based label, Sublime Frequencies, recently produced a compilation of shadow music on a now out-of-print LP and available CD featuring the aforementioned shadow bands. Additional compilations on CD include Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan Vols. 1 and 2, Thai Pop Spectacular (1960s–1980s), and Radio Thailand: Transmission from the Tropical Kingdom. In addition, there are a few DVDs on Thai music traditions such as Phi Ta Khon: Ghosts of Isan and Isan: Folk and Pop Music of Northeast Thailand. Unfortunately, a small number of popular Thai American musicians are found today. A notable duo of Matt and Shannon Heaton perform Irish and Thai folk music, even though they are not of Thai descent. Todd Tongdee Lavelle and Krissada Terrence are the only popular Thai American musicians today. Krissada formed the pop band Pru in 2001 with his brother and guitarist Kamol Sukosol. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Thai Americans: Folk Dance and Performance.
Further Reading Morton, David. 1976. The Traditional Music of Thailand. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976. Various Artists. Shadow Music of Thailand. Sublime Frequencies. LP. SF042.
Thai Americans: Foods and Foodways
Web Sites Chatikol, Virada. Thai Cultural Center Performs Thai Masked Dance Theater. http://www .actaonline.org/content/thai-cultural-center-performs-thai-masked-dance-theater (accessed February 19, 2010). Thai Folk Musical Instruments. http://www.culture.go.th/research/musical/html/ en_northeast.html (accessed February 19, 2010).
Foods and Foodways Food plays an important role in the Thai American family and religion. Sharing meals is a time for bonding. Typically rice, the main staple, is served first to those seated around the table; subsequently, individuals help themselves with one’s own utensils or a common serving spoon for small portions of side dishes (kap khaao) that are placed in the center. Thai American food is eaten with a spoon and fork. The fork is used for pushing food on to the spoon. Chopsticks and a soup spoon are used for noodle dishes. Families often offer food to monks at the temple or those who visit their homes, not only to provide them with nutritional intake, but as a devotional gesture to the Buddha and his teachings. Thai American food is a blend of native culinary traditions and ingredients that have been influenced by India, China, neighboring Southeast Asian cultures, and sometimes American food. The result is a diverse and multiflavored cuisine of spicy, sweet, sour, salty, and sometimes bitter dishes. Basic ingredients are chili peppers, cane or palm sugar, lime or tamarind juice, fish sauce, and shrimp paste. Some Thai restaurants may cater to the American palate by decreasing the intensity of flavors or substituting with similar Thai ingredients. The best place to experience authentic Thai dishes is probably in Thai American homes or at local Thai American temples. Preparing dishes is not rigid, as cooks rely upon their experience with smell and taste to produce the desired flavor. Preparation of dishes is usually quick and commonly includes boiling, steaming, grilling, stir-frying, and frying. A mortar and pestle are used to pound ingredients together to make salads, pastes, relishes, or sauces. Rice, whether white rice (khaao jao) or sticky (khaao niao), is essential for meals. Although rice can be a singular dish such as fried rice (khaao pat), side dishes (kap khaao) are the accompaniment. This may consist of curries, soups, stir-fries, salads, and meat or seafood dishes prepared by different cooking techniques such as frying or grilling. There are many types of curries (kaeng phet), which contain such basic ingredients as dried or fresh chilies, onions, garlic, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime peel, salt, and shrimp paste, which are all mashed into a paste. Soups include varieties of kaeng jeut, a simple broth with few seasonings, and tom yam, a soup with a spicy and sour base. Like kaeng phet, coconut milk or other ingredients are added
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Thai Americans: Heroes and Heroines
to create a variety of soups. Spicy and sour salads (yam) have a sauce typically containing lime juice, fresh chilies, fish sauce, and sugar. Yams can be made with green papaya, green mango, glass noodles, winged beans, pomelo, and seafood. Stir-fry dishes are multitudinous and range from stir-fried meats, vegetables, or a mixture. Chili paste (nam prik) is a relish made by mashing shrimp paste, chili peppers, and garlic and seasoning it with lime juice and palm sugar. There are many variations of this, which can be eaten with vegetables that are raw, boiled, grilled, fried, or pickled, or accompanied with fried or steamed fish. Noodles are prepared in a variety of ways, such as a single dish of noodles in a soup broth (kuaitiao nam), or without a soup broth but briefly dipped into hot water (kuaitiao haeng). Noodles may be doused in gravy (kuaitiao rat naa), used in a salad, baked, or stir-fried like pat thai. Noodle forms include rice noodles (kuai tiao) which come in different widths, yellow or wheat-based egg noodles (ba mii), glass noodles (wun seen), and khanom jiin, another form of rice noodles commonly eaten with curries. Desserts (khoong waan) are also numerous. The fundamental ingredients of desserts are rice flour, sugar, coconut and coconut milk. Additions include sticky rice, fruits, tapioca, pumpkin, corn, or egg yolks. A samrap, or set meal with several kap khaao dishes, is shared between more than one person. In a samrap, there must be a variety of color for attractiveness and a balance of tastes and textures for the dishes to complement each other. For example, a tangy tom yam would go well with an omelet, or a kaeng jeut would be paired with a spicy stir-fry dish. —Heather Emi Nakasone
Further Reading Cummings, Joe. World Food: Thailand. Footscray, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications Ltd, 2000. Thompson, David. Thai Food. London: Pavilion Books Limited, 2002.
Web Site Sukphisit, Suthon. Auspicious Thai Food. Newsroom, Tourism Authority of Thailand Web Site: http://www.tatnews.org/emagazine/2505.asp (accessed April 2009).
Heroes and Heroines Although there are many Thai American heroes and heroines, only a few religious and royal figures are well known and recognized by a majority of the Thai American population. From a religious perspective, the most well-known hero is
Thai Americans: Identity
the Buddha. As a former prince that renounced all materialistic goods, the Buddha became an important religious figure and a symbol of the Buddhist religion. Through his spiritual search for the truth, the Buddha attained enlightenment and discovered what is known as the Middle Way (the delicate balance between selfindulgence and self-mortification). After reaching enlightenment, he dedicated the rest of his life to teaching people ways to liberate oneself from the cycle of suffering to achieve the end goal of enlightenment. The teachings of the Buddha continue to guide the growing numbers of Buddhist followers. Bhumibol Adulyadej, the current king of Thailand, is also recognized as a hero by most Thai Americans. As the longest reigning monarch, the king is revered and loved by his people. He is recognized for his leadership, compassion, hard work, and continuous dedication to his country. During his reign, the king developed numerous programs with the intended goal of improving the lives of the poor. Additionally, he implemented programs that utilized technological advancements to help restore the damaged environment, which will ultimately benefit his people. The king also has become a symbol of purity and honesty as the country faces political turmoil. In contrast to the corrupt politicians that plague Thailand, the king remains down to earth. Also a royal figure, Somdet Phra Sri Suriyothai, is known as a heroine for her loyalty to her husband and country. Queen Suriyothai was married to King Maha Chakraphat of Ayuttaya. During his reign, from 1549 to 1569, Thailand was in constant battle with Burma. Queen Suriyothai went out on the battlefield alongside her husband, the first time a queen has ever appeared in battle. As the fighting continued, the queen sacrificed her life to protect her husband from harm. This unselfish act became a symbol of nationalism and represented her willingness to sacrifice herself for her country. —Worapron Tina Worawongs
Further Reading Baker, Christopher John, and Pasuk Phongpaichit. A History of Thailand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Identity The ability to speak the Thai language, knowledge of Thai Buddhism, respect for the Thai royal family and institutions, and performance of Thai music and dance are the main cultural aspects that Thai Americans use to configure and reproduce their cultural identity in America. First, Thai Americans use the Thai language as the basic cultural aspect to communicate within the Thai community.
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Thai is a family language, and in a family, most Thai parents speak Thai to their children. Although only few percentages of the children actually speak Thai with their parents, most of them can understand it. Besides speaking, the children learn how to read and write Thai at a temple school. Most of them at first do not want to study the language, but when they grow up, they appropriate what their parents have given to them. Second, Buddhism gives the largest opportunity to Thai Americans to express their cultural identity. Throughout the year, Thai people get together to participate in Buddhist ceremonies and festivals. The religious activity provides the biggest events to draw a large numbers of Thais together in one place to express their ethnic identity. Third, the Thai royal institution is another aspect that Thai Americans use to represent their Thai nation, ethnicity, and identity. At temple and in a household, Thai people often like to place the pictures of the current Thai king and queen on a wall. Politically, the royal institution has been established as an important Thai national symbol for many decades. Thus, in the United States, Thai people celebrate the king’s and queen’s birthdays, which are regarded as the Mother’s and Father’s Days of the nation. Last, Thai music and dance is the most important aspect that Thai people use to represent their cultural identity. Most of the large Thai communities in the United States organize music and dance programs for their children to study at their temples. Around the year, the children performers have chances to perform their music and dance both inside and outside the community. In many areas of the United States some cities like to organize a kind of cultural show and festival in which numerous ethnic groups have an opportunity to contribute their performances. Thai communities are often invited to give performances along with other ethnic groups. This opportunity provides the children an opportunity to understand that American culture comprises many subcultures, and it encourages them to feel pride in their homeland culture and identity. Thai American children take pride in their Thai culture and understand the cultural diversity in the United States. —Priwan Nanongkham See also: Thai Americans: Community; Festivals and Holidays; Folk Dance and Performance; Religion.
Further Reading Phra Rajavaramuni (Prayut Payutto). Thai Buddhism in the Buddhist World: A Survey of the Buddhist Situation against a Historical Background. Bangkok: Amarin Print. Group, 1987. Reynolds, Craig., ed. National Identity and Its Defenders: Thailand Today. Seattle: University of Washington Press; Chesham: Combined Academic, 2003. Rutnin, Mattani Mojdara. Dance, Drama, and Theatre in Thailand: The Process of Development and Modernization. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1996.
Thai Americans: Names and Name Giving
Names and Name Giving Unlike most Westerners, a Thai does not have a middle name but only a first and last name. Even the last name was created only in 1913; prior to that year, Thai people did not have last names at all. The Thai creation of a last name was basically the result of Western influence. King Rama VI (1910–1925) was the first Thai king who went to study in Europe (England), where he came up with the idea of creating last names for his people. A last name, of course, is more efficient to identify people, specifically when there is a large population in a country. Without the last name, it can be very confusing when people coincidently have the same first name. At that time, the king himself also initially helped to create more than 6,000 last names for Thai people. As in the Western culture, Thais’ last names suggest the family lineage normally associated with occupations such as trading, farming, the military, music, and dance. Thai people always have nicknames, as their real names are too long and sound too formal. Practically, they always use their real names mostly for formal and official occasions. A nickname, on the other hand, is usually short (often one syllable), which is more convenient. Thai people, therefore, prefer using their nicknames informally for most of their daily life among members of a family, close friends, and relatives. Unlike in American culture, most Thai nicknames have no relation with the real names either in sound or meaning. It is a completely new name rather than a shortened version of the first name. Thus, a Thai nickname has nothing to do with family lineage; it can be anything. Girls usually like to have a cute name associated with some type of cute animal, flower, and fruit. In addition, a given name, especially the first name, commonly signifies gender. Since the 1980s, due to American influence, many Thai people preferred American nicknames for their children. Joe, Anne, Bee, Milk, Bird, Jack, Jane, and Jay are the most common American names, especially among city people. In the United States, Thai immigrants basically still use the tradition of naming. A child whose parents are Thai often earns his or her Thai name both in the formal name and nickname. Some families, however, now name their children with American names. Lydia, Petra, Helen, Liana, Nina, Joann, Laura, and Tiffany are among the common first names. These children, of course, still keep their Thai last names, having an American first name with a Thai last name. Children who have American fathers sometimes have a Thai first name with, of course, American last names. In this type of family, sometimes children officially have an American first name but also create a Thai name as a secondary, unofficial name. Some Thai parents like to create for their children names that contain some sense in both traditions. In this case, they pay attention to the sounds of the words rather
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than the meanings. For example, a name, “Gun” means a kind of weapon that shoots bullets in English; but within the same sound, it means “ear (s)” in Thai. As in Thailand, the children of Thai immigrants also carry nicknames. While some families prefer Thai names in both types of names, some parents create American nicknames for their children. It is interesting that Thai American children often prefer to use nicknames among families and close friends similar to ones in Thailand, perhaps due to the reason that their real names sound too long. Another interesting point among Thai American children who have Thai nicknames is that they prefer to make their names sound American. For example, Som becomes “Somie,” Koy becomes “Koky,” and Awm becomes Awmie. Because these children normally use English among their groups of friends and the rest of American society, the Thai nickname probably does not sound amenable together with English. Inventing American sounds on Thai nicknames is evidence of how the two languages blend together in certain ways and of how Thai immigrants wish to blend their lives into the two cultures. —Priwan Nanongkham
Further Reading Wannaphok, Satein. Science and Art of Naming: A Naming Guide in Thai Astrology and Arithmetic. Bangkok: Rakangthong, 2007. Waw, Chinphradit. Auspicious Naming. Bangkok: Hawsamut Klawng, 2007.
Narrative Folklore In Thailand—where a little over 90 percent of the population is Theravada Buddhist—societal convictions are intertwined with spiritual beliefs of animism, reincarnation, karma, and the supernatural. These cultural markers that define the Southeast Asian nation weave historical belief systems with contemporary attitudes to form rich cultural terrains of culture and spirituality that coincide with one another. In reference to Asian American folklore, Thai narrative folktale is used as a part of the everyday lives of Thais and Thai Americans in attempts to bridge cultural gaps and maintain a semblance of national authenticity. Therefore, these cultural markers are thus elements for social and nation-building movements. As aforementioned, Thailand is a country that heavily believes in animism—a philosophy or religious idea that souls inhabit not only humans, but other living elements such as animals, plants, or geographic features. In addition to this belief, Thais also have an in-depth reverence for the supernatural, which is evident in their belief of ghosts, deities, and other mythic elements. These two archetypes
Thai Americans: Narrative Folklore
of Thai culture act as frameworks to connect the past with the present and preserve cultural independence from the effects of globalization and cultural homogeneity. Additionally, some scholars argue that the aboriginal Thai belief systems and spiritual concepts of Buddhism and Hinduism are found to be directly tied to contemporary cultural principles and folklore in present-day society. One example of this enriched upholding is the usage of ghosts (or phii) as ways to mediate culture, modernity, and social spaces. In recent research, Western scholars examined the intersections of global modernization among localized Thai meanings of tradition. Sought to understand the ramifications and uses of Thai ghosts, the studies—as translated and interpreted through Western ideologies and theory—discuss the use of the paranormal as a response to the broader scope of modern social living and a commentary of everyday life. In Thailand, although there are numerous spirits for various purposes and reasons, one in particular generally stands out in its popularity and panic amongst Thais: the phii mae maai. Predominantly known as the widow ghost, the phii mae maai holds deep reverence within the Thai community because of the emblematic power she holds, but also because she represents an allegorical blueprint for villagers and communities within the Thai society. Studies define her figurative being as “a symbolic dramatization of villagers’ fears and experiences of vulnerability as a politically and economically subordinate population within the wider Thai society.” Entailing the creation, reproduction, and remembrance of the supernatural is thus not only about historical maintenance, but also cultural preservation. To make this more lucid, one particular example of this cultural conservation is through the popularized ghostly folktale of Mae Nak Phra Khanong (or Nang Nak). Set approximately during the same time as Anna Leonowens—a well-known English governess who was popularized by her memoirs on Siam (1870, 1873); the literary adaptation, Anna and the King of Siam (1944), by Margaret Landon; and the filmic musical, The King and I (1956), by Rodgers and Hammerstein— Mae Nak Phra Khanong is a venerated Thai folktale based on the ghost of Nak, who attempted to hold her family together even after death. Though her efforts were seemingly noble, they were unaccepted by her husband (Mak) and the village that surrounds them. Numerous tragic incidents followed, and in the end, Nak is exorcised to the realm of the dead; her soul finally at peace. Though this story is primarily used to scare children at night, the anecdotal narrative of Mae Nak is used today as a conscious discussion on various social archetypes of Thai society as a whole. As the ghosts of Mills’s research provide Thai villagers with a sense of security against modernization, Mae Nak’s account discusses and reaffirms that traditional Thai values directly coincide with Theravada Buddhist beliefs. The semiotics (or symbolic elements) of the narrative communicate that some overlapping Thai values—religious convictions, systems, and histories—complement one
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another and are social blueprints for how Thais are meant to act. As an act of Thai cultural preservation, the uses of Thai folklore in the United States by Thai Americans are then a transformative exploration of traditional markers in the face of contemporary belief systems and modernization. As many Asian Americans know, cultural maintenance in the United States is a vital process to remain visible as a marginalized community. In the United States, the Thai American community is relatively close to 150,283 counted individuals, making the intergenerational passage and upkeep of Thai folktale and customs significant. Furthermore, the aforementioned number does not include the expanding community of ethnically Thai migrants who are undocumented and have come during the present wave of Thai migration: mass migration (1980s to present). Since the actual number of Thais in the United States is actually larger and in the hundreds of thousands, maintaining a sense of cultural independence is truly an essential process to remain visible. Along with oral traditions, Thais in America have also preserved national identity as well as cultural aspects through the formation of Thai Theravada Buddhist temples (wat), pockets of emerging Thai Towns, and the numerous Thai restaurants sprouting throughout the nation. In constructing and preserving a viable Thai American community as well as passing Thai narratives and traditions down unto new generations, the use and establishment of cultural institutions and oratories is thus a concept that de-territorializes and re-territorializes culture; reframing the face of social circles. More or less, with the amassing amount of Thais in the United States as well as the increasing numbers of Thai migration post-1965 Immigration Act, the significance of cultural upkeep as well as the transmission of tradition and folktale unto younger generations is more important than ever. As mentioned, Thai narrative folktale has various purposes. In one sense, this specific brand of allegory is meant to bridge the gap between the past and present. At the other end of the spectrum, it is meant to negotiate cultural independence and authenticity against the monotonous threat of globalization and international homogeneity. Regardless of its purpose, the overlaying purposes of Thai narrative folklore as well as other traditions are about preserving ancestral customs while maintaining a grasp in shaping the future. In emphasizing its constant usage and conservation, Thai narrative folktale as well as oral tradition helps strengthen cultural ties as well as visibility of the marginalized; contributing to the cultural legitimacy of Thai American society. —Pahole Sookkasikon
Further Reading Bao, Jiemen. “Merit-Making Capitalism: Re-territorializing Thai Buddhism in Silicon Valley, California.” Journal of Asian American Studies 8(2) (2005): 115–142.
Thai Americans: Religion Mills, Mary Beth. “Bewitching Women, Pious Men: Gender and Body Politics in Southeast Asia.” Attack of the Widow Ghosts. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. Panyasopon, Natthapon. “The Cultural and Filmic Elements That Contribute to the Popularity of the Thai Film Nang Nak.” Paper submitted for consideration for presentation at the annual convention of the International Communication Association, San Diego, 2003. Rhum, Michael. “Modernity and Tradition in Thailand.” Modern Asian Studies 30(2) (1996): 325–355.
Religion Beginning from the middle of the 1960s, prompted by the liberalization of U.S. immigration policies and by the American military presence in Thailand during its involvement in the wars of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, the initial flow of Thai immigrants to the United States corresponds with both the advent of Theravada Buddhism in the United States through mission and diaspora and with a decisive cultural turn toward Eastern spirituality as an alternative to mainstream
Figures guard the entryway to Wat Thai, a Thai American Buddhist temple in Los Angeles, California. (J.G. Hunter/Dreamstime)
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religion in America. Thais in America come from one of the largest countries in mainland Southeast Asia, which, until 1932, was known to the world as Siam, and where the Theravada form of Buddhism has been the dominant and vitalizing force throughout the region since at least the 11th century. Prior to 1965, neither Thais nor Theravada Buddhism had any significant presence in America. By the 1990s, however, both were firmly established in communities throughout North America. These developments have opened a new chapter not only in the religious history of Asians in America, but more broadly in the long history of Buddhism’s gradual geographical and cultural diffusion since its emergence in Northern India some 2,500 years ago. The impetus to formally establish Thai Buddhism in America and build the first Thai wat (temple-monastery) in the United States was initially the concern not of Thai immigrants but of royal, ecclesial, and civil authorities in Thailand who, in the mid-1950s and 1960s, sought to expand Thai Buddhism beyond its national borders. It was during this auspicious period, known as the Jayanti celebration commemorating the 2,500 anniversary of the Buddha’s parinibbana (his passing into nirvana at death), that Thailand began to conceive of itself as a world center of Buddhism and funded the development of the first transnational temples under royal patronage in India with the construction of Wat Thai Buddha-Gaya in 1959 and with the establishment of Wat Buddhapadipa in the United Kingdom in 1965. An obscure museum of Tibetan objet d’art on New York’s Staten Island was to be the third outpost in this ambitious global effort, but the plan was aborted in 1966 when complications with the proposed site surfaced. A group of Thai immigrant and American-born Buddhists did, however, successfully form the Buddhist Study Center in New York as a legal entity in 1965 and, with the assistance of a monk from the London temple, eventually established Wat Vajradhammapadip a decade later. This development, along with the formal establishment of Wat Thai in Los Angeles in 1972—America’s first and largest Thai temple— presaged a new bottom-up, lay-centered approach in the institutionalization of Theravada Buddhism in the United States, one that nevertheless cultivated close links with Thai royalty and high-ranking civil servants but was largely led and financed by a growing, if widely dispersed, immigrant Thai population in America. The new trend continued to gain momentum throughout the 1970s with the establishment of temples serving major metropolitan areas across the continental United States, including Washington, DC. (1974), Chicago (1976), Denver (1976) and San Francisco (1979), and necessitated the formation of the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the United States to act as a liaison for missionary monks (dhammaduta) coming from Thailand to serve these emerging communities. Today 105 wats can be found scattered throughout North America in 32 states, including six temples in Canada. In addition to these, there are 32 Thai Christian church communities located primarily in California and Texas. The first
Thai Americans: Religion
Thai mosque, Masjid Al-Fatiha, was established in 1993 in the town of Azusa, a predominately Hispanic community about 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles. In contrast to the Thai church or mosque where the universal features of the religion tend to be emphasized, the wat in America is often more culturally specific. It functions both as a religious center for preserving and transmitting the Buddha-dhamma (the doctrines, laws, and teachings of the Buddha) and as a social space for promoting and performing Thai cultural practices and values. Religious activities commonly associated with the daily life of a temple involve chanting in Pali (the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism), going for refuge to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha (teacher, teaching, and community of monks); taking the Five Precepts (panca-sila) or vows to abstain from (1) the taking of life, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) lying, and (5) intoxicants; obtaining “blessings” (anisamsa); engaging in “merit-making” (tham bun) activities such as offering alms to the sangha; performing ceremonies for ritually transferring merit by decanting sacralized water (kru`adna´am); and participating in rituals (tham yan) such as those involving the recitation of protective chants (paritta), the dispersal of holy water, tying a sacred string around one’s wrist, and holding a sacred cord that ritually links participants to each other, the monks, and the central Buddha image. Participation in such activities effectively binds monks and laity, the living and the dead, men and women, children and parents, teacher and student, younger people and older people together into moral relationships of mutual reciprocity governed by social hierarchy and gender. They also publically affirm the Buddhist worldview based on the natural law of cause and effect and its consequentialist ethic of karma (action) and rebirth, and they articulate core Thai values such as generosity and hospitality and the Buddhist ideals of equanimity and compassion. These principles and values are often enacted in social relationships mediated by the temple. The practice of ordaining young men as novice monks, even for a brief period during summer vacation rather than the traditional three-month rains retreat in Thailand, helps ensure they become responsible adults after disrobing. Ordaining also generates merit for one’s parents, especially one’s mother who is owed a “milk debt” for the sacrifices she made during pregnancy and as one’s primary caregiver. Daughters, too, are expected to repay this debt. However, ordination for them has never been a possibility since the nun’s order was never established in Thailand. Instead, they are expected to financially support and care for their parents. It is the fulfillment of this obligation that may, in fact, be one of the key factors driving a women’s decision to migrate. Nearly two-thirds of all Thais in the United States today are women. Recent research finds many of these women not only send remittances back home to support their families, but over the last four decades they have emerged as a catalyzing force in the propagation of Theravada Buddhism in the United States (Perreira 2008).
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Significantly, the eclecticism endemic to the religious milieu of Thailand, including “pre-Buddhist” or animistic “folk Buddhist” practices such as the cult of charismatic monks and relics, the worship of Brahmanic deities, elaborate spirit-calling ceremonies (pithi riak khwan), yantric tattoos, the distribution of magical amulets, fortune telling, dashboard shrines, and spirit cults have not, thus far, figured prominently in the religious life of the wat in America. What is striking, however, is the demographic diversity associated with the temple and the implications this holds for the future. The “parallel congregations” identified in early research (Numrich 1996) have given way to communities that are increasingly interracial, multiethnic, and integrated. Though still predominately Thai, the community is also constituted by non-Thai husbands, children of mixed families, people of other religious faiths, and Laotian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Indian immigrants. Even local neighbors who live within the vicinity of a wat can be found participating at all levels of the temple’s social and devotional life. Such rich diversity among first-generation immigrants is unprecedented in the history of Asian religions in America and underscores the broad appeal of both Thai Buddhism and Thai culture. —Todd LeRoy Perreira See also: Thai Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Festivals and Holidays.
Further Reading Bankston, Carl L., III, and Danielle Antoinette Hidalgo. “Temple and Society in the New World: Theravada Buddhism and Social Order in North America.” In Paul David Numrich, ed. North American Buddhists in Social Context. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 2008, 51–85. Cadge, Wendy, and Sidhorn Sangdhanoo. “Thai Buddhism in America: A Historical and Contemporary Overview.” Contemporary Buddhism 6(1) (2005): 8–35. Numrich, Paul David. Old Wisdom in the New World: Americanization in Two Immigrant Theravada Buddhist Temples. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996. Padgett, Douglas M. “The Translating Temple: Diasporic Buddhism in Florida.” In Charles S. Prebish and Martin Baumann, eds. Westward Dharma: Buddhism beyond Asia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002, 191–217. Perreira, Todd LeRoy. “The Gender of Practice: Some Findings among Thai Buddhist Women in Northern California.” In Huping Ling, ed. Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008, 160–182. Perreira, Todd LeRoy. “Sasana Sakon and the New Asian American: Intermarriage and Identity at a Thai Buddhist Temple in Silicon Valley.” In Tony Carnes and Fenggang Yang, eds. Asian American Religions: The Making and Remaking of Borders and Boundaries. New York and London: New York University Press, 2004, 313–337.
Thai Americans: Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage Common ceremonies and celebrations in the rites of passage that Thai people still practice today involve birth, ordination, marriage, and death. Some of these rituals were originally derived from Hinduism, one of the oldest religions in Asia. In Thailand, however, since Buddhism flourished around the 13th century, it has taken a formative role in Thai rites of passage. Buddhism, in fact, involves itself with Thai rites of passage mostly in terms of spirituality rather than in its philosophy and formal practice. The religion does not carry obligations, but Thai Americans normally invite Buddhist monks to come as spiritual witnesses, guests of honor, and symbols of goodness. This gives the monks opportunities to meet the people who come to the events and to present Buddhist teachings to them, mostly in the form of chanting. In a funeral, the monks also have a chance to experience death, which involves concepts in their philosophic learning and practice. Thais can perform most ceremonies and festivals in the Thai rites of passage at home and at the temple; it depends on which is more convenient. Today, however, a funeral is often organized at the temple. Thai immigrants brought this custom with them to America. The only ceremony of birth that is still found both in Thailand and the United States is Konpham fi, or “shaving the baby’s new hair,” an ancient Brahman-created ceremony but “witnessed” by Buddhist monks for a long time. After the baby turns a month old, a ceremony is organized to welcome the baby as a new member of the family. The parents will invite Buddhist monks, friends, and relatives to the ceremony. Beginning with shaving the baby’s hair, people witness placing some objects of fortune, such as books, a green vegetable, and a rock, near the baby. These objects carry certain meanings; books for intelligence, a green vegetable for calmness, and a rock for patience. At the end of the ceremony, the monks sprinkle some water blessings on the baby and everyone else. Food and some entertainment can be arranged for the people as a celebration. Interestingly, in the United States, Thai immigrants have accepted the Western tradition of birthday and sweet-16 parties. The latter is, in fact, quite common in some Thai families back home as well. In the United States, a wedding can be organized in both Thai and American styles. If both the bride and the groom are Thai, the wedding is often organized in Thai style. If either the bride or the groom is American, the wedding can be in American or in Thai style depending on their agreements. Sometimes two a couple will celebrate their wedding in two ceremonies, in Thai style and in American style. A Thai traditional wedding takes the entire day in Thailand while it can be shortened to within three to four hours in America.
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In a Thai funeral, Thai people usually keep the dead body at home or at the temple. In the United States, although some temples such as Wat Dhammaram in Chicago offer to keep the dead body during the ceremony, most people prefer to use a typical American funeral home, which is more convenient. In such a context, to make it Buddhist, monks are invited to the funeral home to conduct a ritual and chant during the funeral. According to the tradition, Thai people take the dead body out for cremation rather than burial. Ordination is the only rite of passage directly involved with Buddhism. Thai immigrants support their sons in ordination to be novices and Buddhist monks. Traditionally, every Thai man should at one time in his life be ordained and conduct his life like the Lord Buddha. The new monk usually stays at the community temple to study and practice Buddhism full time as long as he can. Some leave their monkhood a week after ordination, while another may stay longer, for a month or more. To be more serious about study and practice, some immigrant parents even support their sons to be ordained and spend the monkhood in Thailand. —Priwan Nanongkham
Further Reading Perreira, Todd LeRoy. “Sasana Sakon and the New Asian American: Intermarriage and Identity at a Thai Buddhist Temple in Silicon Valley.” In Tony Carnes and Fenggang Yang, eds. Asian American Religions: The Making and Remaking of Borders and Boundaries. New York: New York University Press, 2004. Worakawinto, Phra Maha Thongyoy, and Thomas Silcock. A Village Ordination. Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 1976.
Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos Thai immigrants bring their social etiquettes and customs with them to America, and try to pass them onto their children. Wai is a primary greeting used when people meet and leave each other. A young person is supposed to begin to wai the elder first with putting his or her hands together to form the symbol of a budding lotus (a lotus represents the Compassion of the Buddha) and lift them up while bending the head down to have both thumbs and the nose in close position. We often do this several times, saying Sawaddi “be secure or safe” (a male says Sawaddi khrab, while a female says Sawaddi kha); and Thai people may say it at any time of the day as their hello and goodbye. A person does not always need to use both the gesture, and verbal greeting together depends on age, time, place, and occasion. Thai American children are aware of the greeting, especially to their
Thai Americans: Social Etiquette, Customs, Superstitions, and Taboos
parents and the elders in the community. Among these children, however, they certainly prefer American ways of greeting people in general American society. Thai people do not wear (regular) shoes in a house or temple. Shoes are considered dirty. People wear them on the lowest part of the body. Traditionally, Thai people regard some parts of a human body as of certain “value” and level. While the head is the highest, the foot is the lowest level. Thus, a person should not point his or her feet toward anyone; Thais consider that extremely rude. This concept also includes avoiding stepping over valuable objects such as Buddha images, books, and musical instruments. Within a given place, a young person is not supposed to sit in a higher position than his or her elder. While passing the elder, the younger should bend his or her head down to show respect. Certainly respect and obedience to parents, teachers, and elders are part of Thai culture that Thai immigrants try to pass down to their children in America. Thai parents teach their children these elements of etiquette at home. Children also learn directly from imitating their parents in the community. At temple schools, they learn from their volunteer teachers who are from Thailand. Basically within the community, Thai American children learn and practice their Thai culture and try to be Thai, while outside, they are Americans. In the ancient Thai culture, many superstitions, involved with various kinds of spirits, angels, deities, were associated with animism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Today, many beliefs and practices have died with the older generations. Similar to people back home, Thai Americans manifest their beliefs and superstitions mainly through Buddhism. The core of the religion, however, contains a more rational practice that emphasizes intellectuality rather than supernatural power. To reach the higher levels of the philosophy, a person must exert much effort to study and practice. Thus, most Thai Buddhists achieve in the basic levels of Buddhism. Based on their practice and understanding, they often mix Buddhism with animism and Hinduism. Since Buddhism is a rational philosophy, superstition among Thai people derives from animism and Hinduism. In most common phenomena, Thai people believe that some Buddhist monks have some kind of magical power. Within a certain way of worship, most Thais believe that the monks could help them in a number of ways. A small image of a famous monk either both one who has already died or one who is still alive is one of several magical objects that Thais like to hang around their necks as amulets. In Thailand, it is typical for some households to have a little statue of the Lord Buddha, a well-known monk, or some deities as magical objects for worship. One can see this kind of object on a little shrine hung on a wall in a corner of the house, restaurant, or business building. People believe that this worship will protect them and their family numbers from illness or from any kind of disaster or even help them to become wealthy. This phenomenon is also typical in the United States among the families of Thai immigrants. —Priwan Nanongkham
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Thai Americans: Thai Dance and Music
Further Reading Heinze, Ruth-Inge. Tham Khwan: How to Contain The Essence of Life: A SocioPsychological Comparison of a Thai Custom. Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1982. Rajadhon, Anuman. Five Papers on Thai Custom. Ithaca, NY: Southeast Asia Program, Depaetment of Far Eastern Studies, Cornell University, 1958. Rajadhon, Anuman. The Story of Thai Marriage Custom. Bangkok: National Culture Institute, 1956.
Thai Dance and Music Thai dance and music are most often performed by Thai American youth who have taken formal instruction on weekends at Buddhist temple schools. These amateur musicians and dancers have been a significant force in transplanting Thai dance and music in the United States. They spend countless hours, year after year, practicing dance steps, bending their fingers, and learning to play various musical instruments. Practicing and performing dance and music is considered an effective way to learn about and engage in Thai culture and Buddhism, Thailand’s state
Marsha Nangkai dances the traditional Thai lam uay porn dance as the Thai community marked Songkran, the Thai New Year, at the temple in Homestead, Florida, April 13, 2008. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
Thai Americans: Thai Dance and Music
religion. Over time, through their performances, these young Thai American dancers and musicians become a cultural bridge connecting Thais and Americans. Conventional Thai dance can be divided into two types: classical and folk. Up until 1927, classical dance was an elite art, a court dance, performed to entertain royalty and honored guests. Folk dance, however, depicts regional customs, agricultural activities, love stories, and scenes from everyday life. Both styles of dance are accompanied by distinctive Thai music and sometimes songs. Thai classical dance includes 108 basic movements and requires tremendous discipline and many years of training to master. In performing masked dance drama or khon, every movement has significance and is complimented with specific music, commentary, and song. Each movement must be practiced again and again. Dancers are required to remain erect from the neck to the waist, moving up and down, stretching to the rhythm by bending at the knees. These body movements and postures are considered graceful and beautiful. Dance teachers, both professional and volunteer, ask their students to imitate the original steps and moves as precisely as possible, for Thai dance is a great source of national pride and considered a cultural treasure, which has been handed down for generations. Thai dance also bears Indian and Khmer influences, which can be seen in the hand and finger gestures that convey a wide range of meanings and feelings. Unlike American dancers, who are trained to execute flamboyant jumps or spins, Thai American dancers are trained to bend their hands and fingers. A proficient female Thai dancer is able to bend her fingers toward the back of her hand at a seemingly impossible angle. Young dancers must routinely bend back their fingers for months, even years, before the fingers become flexible enough to mime the stories and characters. A Thai audience usually understands the story being depicted by the dancers’ hands, fingers, and stances, just as a typical American would associate animals being led on board a boat two by two with the story of Noah’s Ark. Some have said that Thai dancers appear to be animated or living versions of the temple murals. Through practicing and mimicking, students learn the various meanings of mudras, that is, stylized symbolic gestures of the hands of Buddha and Buddhist deities. Some of the most important mudras include the gesture of fearlessness, or blessing mudra, where the right hand is raised in appeasement with the palm turned outwards; the gesture of debate, or discussion mudra, where the hands are raised and the tips of the thumb and the index finger touch and form a circle; and the gesture of compassion, charity, or grace, in which either arm is extended all the way down with the palm turned outwards. Costumes are also an important part of Thai classical dance. Unlike the variety of regional and ethnic costumes worn in folk dance performances, which help viewers identify the regional culture, costumes worn in classical Thai dance, like those worn in the performance of khon, have maintained elaborate decorations, shapes, and styles typical of court dress and the clothing depicted in murals of
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celestial entities. These elaborate costumes have to be fitted and sewn on the dancer stitch by stitch, perhaps taking an hour or even longer to dress a dancer for a performance. The cumbersome and uncomfortable costumes are strictly prescribed to maintain esteemed classical Thai conventions. By learning these dances, Thai American youth learn about Asia, ethnicity, and the relationship between Thailand and its neighboring countries. For example, in studying Ramakien drama, one of the most popular dances in Thailand, students are exposed to a mix of different elements that originated in southern Thailand, Java, and Indonesia. This drama is based upon the Sanskrit epic, depicting the escapades of Prince Rama, whose wife is kidnapped by a demon. In studying Thai folk dances, they become familiar with the characteristics of Thailand’s four regions. In practicing the dance, Plaeng Jeen Khim Yai, they learn about Chinese music, because the dance was composed during the Ayutthaya era (1350–1767), when many Chinese came to Siam as traders. In learning the Farang Yum Tao dance, the students come to realize that King Rama IV accommodated Western ideals into Thai dance by integrating its slower motion with more rapid Western movements. In addition, Thai American students learn to perform dances that portray the lives of the hill tribe people, Thai Muslim dances such as Taree Gee Pus, ethnic dances from Vietnam, and so on. Thai American performers also educate their audience by interpreting the meanings of these folk dances through their body language, music, and printed material such as performance programs. While Thai classical dance has become part of popular culture, it continues to be influenced by Thai gender ideologies. Gentle and soft are considered feminine characteristics, whereas strong and tough are seen as masculine attributes. When a dancer plays a male role, hands, fingers, feet, elbows, and torso are all used to express a sense of masculinity—for example, walking bow-legged and striding outwards. In contrast, a dancer playing a female role expresses her femininity through a much more gentle and delicate body language, walking with dainty grace one foot placed across the other. Expressions for love too are articulated through gender-specific movements and body language. Thai American students absorb these gendered ideas through practice and repetition. Thai music, like dance, has been shaped and impacted by the music of neighboring counties. A number of Thai songs have been adapted from Burmese melodies. Some musical sequences found in Thai music are commonly used in theatrical action scenes, parallel those in Khmer compositions. Additionally, the process for combining cycles of melody and rhythm in Thai music is almost identical to that in Javanese music. Thai music is also influenced by Buddhist beliefs such as the notion that everything is in a state of ceaseless change, the evanescent of life, and the impermanence of the material world. Some believe that Thai music may ease the students’ minds and make them more open, partly because Buddhist music is regarded as possessing
Thai Americans: Thai Dance and Music
and teaching the qualities of genuineness, grace, balance, and clarity. When music is produced in a specific space or context in which the links between Thai-ness, Buddhism, and music are made, these Thai Americans musicians gradually internalize Buddhist values and Thai-ness. Several common musical instruments are played. Thai musical instruments can perhaps best be conceptualized according to how the sound on a given instrument is produced, that is, plucked instruments, bowed instruments, hit or beaten instruments, and blown instruments. The khim is a stringed instrument, which was adapted from the Chinese in the early 20th century. It bears a likeness to a hammer dulcimer. The saw-oo most closely resembles a two-stringed violin. The pong lang and ranad are percussion instruments. For the pong lang, proportional wooden bars are strung on a taut rope to reproduce the musical scale. The ranad is similar to the marimba. The khaen is a bamboo free-reed mouth organ that originated in Laos and northeastern Thailand. The ramanna is a drum made from a carved wooden ring with a piece of leather stretched over one side. Klong-yao is a wooden one-headed, drumlike instrument, which was originally brought to Thailand by the Burmese. What differs from the students’ previous experiences in taking music lessons in an American setting is that a teacher is considered located inside the instrument; therefore, the students are urged to pay respect to their instruments. Even if a stage is small and crowded, no student would show a lack of admiration for a musical instrument by stepping over it. Students also learn that it is taboo to point with the foot or show the soles of one’s feet. In addition, students may not wear shoes when they dance or play instruments. Some say this is a way to pay respect to the deity that resides within an instrument; others say this is to demonstrate modesty because, in the past, only the king was exalted enough to wear shoes. Over time, through these practices, the performers become aware of the similarities and differences between Thai and American culture. The ways of learning about dance and music becomes a process of learning about the Thai social order. Young Thai Americans make Thai dance and music popular in the United States. Many consider it “cool” to be able to play Thai instruments. These young artists perform at various festivals and social gatherings. On occasion, they perform at city-sponsored community events such as multicultural festivals and concerts or at Thai community events to raise money for the temple or the temple school. A few even perform at Thai restaurants or at weddings. In addition to performing in the United States, some perform in Thailand. Beginning in 1987, Thai American dancers and musicians at four large Buddhist temples in New York, Chicago, Washington, DC., and California have been invited by Thailand’s Council of Social Welfare to perform in Bangkok, Thailand. These young artists take part in Thai national celebrations such as the king’s birthday or the anniversary of the king’s accession to the throne. The stated goals of these visits are to help these performers understand and take pride in being Thai
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and develop a passion for and to bond with Thailand. The Thai government treats these young Thai Americans as honored guests. Wherever they go in Bangkok, these overseas visitors are given a police escort to lead them through the city’s notorious traffic jams. Royal family members occasionally come to watch the performances, which have been broadcast live on television to raise money for charity. These young Thai Americans are constantly reminded that they are sharing the richness of Thai culture with the people of Thailand. Some regard performing in Thailand as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Others felt that they were privileged, since neither the local Thailand youth nor their schoolmates in the United States ever had this kind of opportunity or were given such special treatment. As the effects of studying and performing Thai music and dance are absorbed, Thai identity is no longer an abstract concept. Rather, it springs to life, as it is related to the stories depicted in the dances they perform, the body language they have learned to mimic, the music that they have become familiar with, and the musical instruments that they play. Moreover, when they perform in Thailand, they make connections with Thais there. Thus, their performances not only offer American audiences a glimpse of Thai culture, but also give Thai audiences a chance to see how Thai music and dance are appreciated and practiced by Thai American amateur musicians and dancers. They serve as cultural ambassadors, bringing Thais and Americans closer together. —Jiemin Bao and Rayette Martin See also: Thai Americans: Folk Dance and Performance; Folk Music.
Further Reading Miller, Terry E., and Sam-ang Sam. “The Classical Musics of Cambodia and Thailand: A Study of Distinctions.” Ethnomusicology 39 (1995): 229–243. Morton, David. The Traditional Music of Thailand. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976. Redwood, John Ekert. “The Siamese Classical Theatre.” Educational Theatre Journal 5 (1953): 100–105. Rutnin, Mattani Mojdara. Dance, Drama, and Theatre in Thailand: The Process of Development and Modernization. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1996. Virulrak, Surapone. “Theatre in Thailand Today.” Asian Theatre Journal 7 (1990): 95–104.
Thai Town In 2000, Hollywood Boulevard, between Western and Normandie avenues in Los Angeles, was officially designated as Thai Town. For the past 40 years, this area became the port of entry for new Thai immigrants as they moved to the United States
Thai Americans: Thai Town
and has become dominated by Thai-owned businesses. Thai Town stretches for approximately two miles down Hollywood Boulevard and is lined with Thai restaurants, video stores, bookstores, and supermarkets. These businesses address the needs of the Thai community by providing them with ethnic food and media content that helps them remain connected to their cultural roots. At the heart of Thai Town is a miniature shopping center, known as Thailand Plaza, which reflects Thai style and culture. This collection of businesses consists of Silom Market, which sells products imported directly from Thailand. Next to the supermarket is Dokya Bookstore, which provides Thai CDs, books, and VCDs also imported from Thailand. At the forefront of the shopping center stands a Buddhist shrine decorated with colorful garlands, candles, and incenses. The presence of this shrine at the main entrance of the plaza conveys the Buddhist roots of the Thai community. The development of Thai Town was in response to the rapid increase in Thai residents and businesses in the Los Angeles area and the lack of cultural community within the Thai population. The construction of Thai Town became reality due to the efforts of the Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC). The Los Angeles riots in 1992 and the Northridge earthquake in 1994 affected many people, which also included many Thai immigrants. In response to the displacements of Thais, the Thai CDC was established to bring aid to the victims. Founded in 1994, Thai CDC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for immigrants currently living in the Los Angeles area. The organization believes that each individual has the right to a decent standard of living and good quality of life. The most notable achievement is the designation of Thai Town. With the assistance of council members Michael Woo and Jackie Goldberg, the Los Angeles City Council designated a location for the Thai community. To maintain the visibility of the Thai community in Los Angeles and contribute to the current Hollywood landscape, the Thai CDC put up the first of four Thai angel statues (Apsonsi) in 2007. These traditional Thai angels are part of the Thai Town gateway and would welcome visitors with their hands placed in the traditional Thai greeting. In Thailand, it is believed that these Thai angels would offer protection and good luck. In 2008, Thai Town received federal recognition when former First Lady Laura Bush designated the area a “Preserve America” community. This title acknowledges the Thai community is regarded as a cultural and historic asset for the Los Angeles area. As the Thai community receives recognition and increases their visibility in Los Angeles, Thai Town continues to expand and place their mark on the map. —Worapron Tina Worawongs
Further Reading “Thai Town Development.” Thai Community Development Center: http://www.thaicd chome.org/cms/ (accessed November 2009).
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Traditional Medicine and Healing Traditional healing and medicine in Thai America is rooted in Thai medicine that dates back to 13th-century Thailand. Traditional healing and medicine in Thai America draws from the beliefs and practices of animistic indigenous Thai religion, Theravada Buddhism; Indian Ayurvedic healing techniques; Indian yoga; traditional Chinese medicine; and genuine Thai folk healing and spiritual rituals. Although some traditional Thai healing has been formally systematized by the College of Traditional Medicine at Wat Pho in Bangkok, a considerable portion of its practice is based on knowledge that has been orally transmitted from generation to generation. Theravada Buddhism and Thai shamanism continue to play a significant role in traditional healing and medicine in Thai America. Traditional healers in Thai America are monks, shamans, and various word-of-mouth healers who have a successful record. Some traditional techniques involve healing prayers, performances of rituals and rites, and herbal medicines. In the United States, traditional Thai medicine is still a popular practice that is employed by Thais and Thai Americans. However, because more and more second-generation Thai Americans rely on Western medicine, traditional Thai healing and medicine remains a practice of the older generations. Moreover, in recent years, traditional Thai healing techniques such as Thai massage and Thai yoga has become high-end wellness and spa industries. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Chinese Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing; Indian Americans: Ayurveda; Traditional Medicine and Healing.
Further Reading Salguero, C. Pierce. The Encyclopedia of Thai Massage: Student Workbook. Forres, Scotland: Findhorn Press, 2007. Salguero, C. Pierce. The Spiritual Medicine of Traditional Thailand. Forres, Scotland: Findhorn Press, 2006. Salguero, C. Pierce. Traditional Thai Medicine: Buddhism, Animism, Ayurveda. Prescott, AZ: Hohm Press. 2007.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner The Thai American vernacular language, speech, and manner refer to the culmination of adaptive abstract languages used by Thai Americans to facilitate communication. Although not officially established, these adaptive language forms, often
Thai Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
referred to as Tenglish, Englithai, and Thaiglish, have been created in dedication to overcoming language barriers in the Thai American society. The form of speech used will often depend on the generation the speaker belongs to and the context in which it is used. Tenglish (pronounced “tinglish”) is characterized as the English spoken by Thais, while Englithai refers to the Thai spoken by Anglophones, or native English-speakers. The third form, Thaiglish, is characterized as a bonafide hybrid language, which conflates the Thai and English language structure and vocabulary. The official language of Thailand is “Standard Thai,” or Central Thai. This is characteristically spoken by most parents and elders in Thai American homes. In addition to the national language, many Thai American families also communicate in a regional dialect. In the home, it is common for adults to speak Thai or Tenglish to their children only to get a response in English, Tenglish, Englithai, or Thaiglish. Tenglish is merely an adaptation of English and will generally lack particles, articles and/or correct grammar conjugation. Since the Thai alphabet lacks many sounds produced by the Roman alphabet, most pronunciation of words with the consonants “r,” “v,” “z,” and the letter combination “th,” are almost indiscernible from consonants “l,” “w,” “s,” and “t,” respectively. For example, the word “road” would be pronounced “load,” and the word “three” would be pronounced “tlee.” As a result, Tenglish speech is often considered rudimentary and incomplete. Thai is generally a formal language; however, Tenglish does not follow the same form because many aspects of formality are abandoned in translation as Thais are inundated by the complex English structure and end up stripping many of the grammatical rules and complications. As a result, Tenglish can be perceived by native English speakers as being less formal and more rambunctious, and it may be misunderstood by foreigners as illiterate, rude, or aggressive. Often times, Thai American children will use Tenglish and mock their parents’ accented pronunciation and/or incorrect English grammar to facilitate communication with their parents and elders. Conversely, Thai American children who grow up speaking English will suffer the similar fate of being ridiculed by native Thais when speaking Englithai. Englithai, the counter part of Tenglish, is considered speech that incorrectly uses Thai words and/or adjectives and is determined by less tone than the native Thai language. Central Thai, by nature is a tonal and monosyllabic language. The five different phonemic tones—middle, low, falling, high, and rising—often distinguish the meaning of words that are otherwise pronounced alike. Reaching the correct tone or pitch may prove laborious for Englithai speakers who are not accustomed to the tonal speech. As an example, Englithai speakers, while attempting to compliment someone’s appearance, could be ridiculed for mistakenly saying “swuay” in a low tone (meaning “bad luck”), instead of in a rising tone (meaning “beautiful”).
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In the Thai culture, there is a high emphasis on formality and politeness, which is reflected in the Thai language’s composition of various styles and distinct registers. Many Thai Americans are taught the Thai language and traditional customs growing up, however, as they mature in the characteristically egalitarian American society and adapt to Western ideologies, many of these complex formalities become arduous for Thai Americans to comprehend. Consequently, there is a tendency to abandon the linguistic formalities when speaking Thai because of the seemingly informal American English language and culture in comparison to the Thai language and culture. For instance, Thai Americans find it difficult to determine what pronouns to properly use to represent themselves and the person they speak to as there are more than 10 ways to express the terms “you” and “I” in Thai. To simplify this process, Thai Americans simply use the terms “you” and “I,” but pronounce it in a Thai accent, which stresses the elongation of each vowel, (e.g., “yoo” and “aye”). Regardless of their efforts to sound Thai, however, the use of these words can still come across as too informal, disrespectful, or crass to some traditional Thais. To make up for these shortcomings, Thai Americans will often try to speak in the Thaiglish form, which adapts the Thai language rhythm, tone, and pattern. Thaiglish speakers will retain Thai pronunciation, tonality, and question tags like “na” and “ja” and particles like “krub” and “ka” to soften their tone, indicate respect, a request, encouragement, or other moods (similar to the use of intonation in English). Another characteristic of Thaiglish is adding suffixs like “-ing” when words cannot be directly translated or clearly described in one English word. For example, the term “wai-ing” as in “I am wai-ing my aunt,” is often used amongst Thai Americans when one is referring to the traditional Thai form of greeting someone. This greeting involves bringing the hands together to the chest and bowing the head slightly. As demonstrated by the previous example, Thaiglish also refers to the use of Thai words in regular English speech. In a typical conversation, one may notice that Thai Americans will speak English and Thai interchangeably throughout a conversation. Many Thai Americans begin speaking Thai in the home, but pick up English quickly as they transition into American school systems. Without a formal education or the reinforcement of the Thai language, many grow up reluctant to speak their native tongue because of the fear of mispronouncing words or being ridiculed for having a foreign accent. Many also point out that they cannot fully express themselves because of their lack of knowledge in Thai vocabulary or sayings. On the other hand, some also find it practical when they cannot fully translate certain feelings or emotions that are otherwise only fully comprehensible in Thai. There are also Thai Americans who have been motivated to speak Thai because of its usefulness as a code language when in proximity of foreigners.
Thai Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
With the growing emphasis on attaining an international education as well as the multilingual expectations in the workforce, many entry-level college students are experiencing the desire to relearn Thai and improve their speech skills. They often take Thai courses offered at their schools and/or local gathering places such as Thai temples (wat). Some also partake in cultural exchanges with the homeland by working and/or studying in Thailand to reconnect with their roots and language. Although the Thai American vernacular, speech, and manner has been an obscure subject of rare study, the use of adaptive language forms and the neologistic terms Tenglish, Englithai, and Thaiglish continues to be a growing trend amongst Thai Americans. The increased immigration and integration of native Thais into the United States and American culture, and vice versa, allows these vernaculars to become increasingly useful in facilitating communication amongst the different generations of Thai Americans in the United States. —Supattra Lerknant
Further Reading Cefola, Penchusee Lerdtadsin. “A Study of Interference of English in the Language of Thai Bilinguals in the United States.” PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1982. Smalley, William A. Linguistic Diversity and National Unity: Language Ecology in Thailand. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Web Sites Asian Americans: Demographic Overview. UXL Multicultural. Online Detroit: UXL, 2003. From Student Resource Center—Gold. Champeon, Kenneth. “ ‘Pror Wah I Think That It Sa-nook Kwah, Na?’ A Thaiglish Treatise,” January 2003. ThingsAsian Web site: http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/2309 (accessed August 5, 2010).
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Tibetan Americans History, People, and Culture A few Tibetans may have migrated to the United States as early as the turn of the 20th century, although it is not possible to determine how many, since they were being classified as “other Asians” by the U.S. Immigration Bureau. The first mass movement of Tibetans came to the United States after the 1949 invasion and the ongoing occupation of Tibet by the Chinese. Many fled to nearby Nepal and India, while some found political asylum in the United States. According to the 1990 U.S. census, there were 2,185 Americans with Tibetan and other ancestry. Most, if not all, present-day Tibetan Americans arrived in the United States as refugees as a consequence of this mass exodus. The Refugee Act of 1980 underlay and encouraged this migration trend. The 1990 Immigration Act made available special visas for some 1,000 additional displaced Tibetan refugees who came to settle down in the United States. Another factor accounting for ongoing growth of the Tibetan American population, aside from the natural growth and reproduction of the family over the span of its life cycle, is chain migration, as Tibetan Americans continue to sponsor and bring their relatives to the United States. As of 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau counted 5,147 people who identified themselves as Tibetans. However, as of 2008, the Office of Tibet in New York estimated that, approximately 9,000 people of Tibetan ancestry are living in the United States. The largest Tibetan American community can be found in Southern California, where Tibetan Buddhism is the fastest-growing Buddhist religion, albeit many followers of American Tibetan Buddhism are non-Tibetans. The Dalai Lama is tremendously popular in the United States, where Buddhism already is deeply rooted and continues to attract new converts. Approximately 90 Tibetan families are living around Southern California, according to the Los Angeles Friends of Tibet Association. Other communities in the western United States are located in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and in the states of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Washington, and Utah. There also are communities in the Great
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Lakes Region, Chicago, and in the states of Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. For example, there is a Tibetan Mongol Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana, near the campus of Indiana University. Lastly, there also are communities scattered along the Northeast in Boston and Amherst, Massachusetts; Ithaca, New York; New York City; and Washington, DC.; as well as in the states of Vermont and New Jersey. In New York, they live among the large Asian Indian community, especially in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens and in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Many Tibetan Americans continue to practice their cultural traditions and religious beliefs in the United States. Their culture may be even more authentic in the United States because the Chinese government in Tibet is forcing assimilation and occupation by ethnic Chinese, as a result of commercialization. However, Tibetan values mainly are rooted in Buddhist religious traditions and earlier indigenous (Bon) beliefs in mountain and lake spirits. Before Tibet was taken over by China, local agricultural and social life mainly revolved around a Temple center, while every family had a household shrine. Tibetan Americans also tend to be mutually supportive and community oriented. Their household shrines usually carry an image of the Dalai Lama. They can easily purchase Tibetan arts and crafts (e.g., rugs and thangkas, as well as other Tibetan material objects) in America in stores and online because of the popularity of the Free Tibet movement and the Dalai Lama. —Kathleen Nadeau See also: Tibetan Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Avedon, John F. In Exile for the Land of Snows: The First Full Account of the Dalai Lama and Tibet since the Chinese Conquest. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984. Peacock, John. The Tibetan Way of Life, Death, and Rebirth. London: Duncan Baird Publishers, 2009.
Web Site Miller, Olivia. “Tibetan Americans.” http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Sr-Z/TibetanAmericans.html (accessed August 5, 2010).
Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration Tibetan arts and crafts are thought to have developed with the advent of Buddhism in Tibet in the 7th century. Tibetan history tells that the first king of the Tibetan empire, Songtsen Gampo, received a bride from China and Nepal, and these two queens played instrumental roles in bringing Chinese and Nepalese art and crafts work to
Tibetan Americans: Arts, Crafts, and Home Decoration
Tibet. Tibetan art and crafts began developing since then. Thus, Tibetan art and crafts have strong influence from its neighboring countries like China, Nepal, India, and, some say, even ancient Persia. In recent times, due to the spread of multimedia technology, Tibetan and western Tibetan Buddhist artists are making new grounds by creating three-dimensional digital images of the Buddhist deities and concepts. Like people from other parts of the world, Tibetan Americans also have a natural fondness for arts, crafts, and home decorations. It could be said that Tibetan American arts, crafts, and home decoration customs is a blend of traditional Tibetan practices and modern Western influence. Due to their Tibetan heritage, Tibetan Americans utilize the same traditional Tibetan Buddhist artworks and crafts for their religious practices as do their brethrens in Tibet and other parts of the world. Due to the heavy Buddhist influence, most Tibetan artworks invariably have religious meanings or are designed to symbolize religious concepts. These items are either used as objects of worship or are used in rituals religious ceremonies and practices. For instance, most Tibetan thangkha paintings carry images of various Buddhas and tantric deities symbolizing the exalted wisdom of the Buddhas. Similarly, in the past, the only sculptures Tibetan artisans make are images of Buddhas, deities, and famous Buddhist masters. Tibetans do not have the custom of making busts of nonreligious figures nor of making their paintings as is done in Western culture. There are some other religious artworks also, like the vajra (a multi-spoked metal object symbolizing bodhichitta) and bell (symbol of the wisdom of emptiness) and others. There are at least a few nonreligious, secular, areas in Tibetan lives where one find Tibetans have a tradition of using arts and crafts. For instance, Tibetans have the tradition of making beautifully carved stringed musical instruments, ornamental items, utensils, and silver-plated wooden bowls. Tibetan home decoration tradition includes wall paintings having Buddhist motifs, wool carpets with exotic designs, intricately carved shrines and tables, and so on. Having imbibed American and Western flavor for taste, Tibetan Americans also use Western home decoration items, such as sofa sets, flat TVs, and musical sets. —Tenzin Sherab See also: Tibetan Americans: Sand Mandala.
Further Reading Heller, Amy. Tibetan Art: Tracing the Development of Spiritual Ideals and Art in Tibet. Boston: Wisdom, 1999.
Web Sites The Conservancy for Tibetan Art and Culture: http://tibetanculture.org. The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives: http://www.ltwa.net/library.
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Tibetan Americans: Children and Folk Song Norbulingka Institute: http://www.norbulingka.org. “Tibetan Buddhist Art.” Buddhist Art and Architecture: http://www.buddhanet.net/ tibart.htm (accessed August 5, 2010).
Children and Folk Song Today, an estimated 10,000 Tibetan Americans live in about 30 communities throughout the United States and Canada. Tibetan Americans draw inspiration from their spiritual and political leader, the Dalai Lama, who frequently visits the United States and gives them guidance. He is the root and height of their communal unity and strength. Under the Dalai Lama’s advice and inspiration, Tibetan Americans around the United States put great importance on preserving and imbibing their traditional Tibetan religious and cultural heritage, which includes traditional Tibetan folk songs. Tibetan culture in general is very rich with various kinds of folk songs and songs for children. Many of these songs have existed for centuries, and they have been sung and used by generations of ordinary Tibetans in their daily lives. Tibetan American communities and families across the United States preserve and learn Tibetan songs by organizing cultural events that include folk songs and dances and by organizing weekend song and dance lessons for their children. Some Tibetan American artists have even formed their own Tibetan music groups, such as the Chaksampam, to preserve and promote Tibetan music in America. There are many different kinds of Tibetan folk songs, and most are usually sung by both children and adults. Most old Tibetan folk songs were originally penned by ancient Buddhist masters and have spiritual themes. Some are eulogies in praise of the spiritual qualities of the great Buddhist masters, their great deeds, and scholarship. Some folk songs are in praise of the scenic beauty of the flora and fauna that thrive in nature. Some convey spiritual teachings, showing through metaphors the meanings of impermanence, suffering, and emptiness. For instance, the poetic songs written by the sixth Dalai Lama, Rigzin Tsangyang Gyatso (1683–1706), are romantic songs with spiritual meanings. One of Tibet’s most celebrated songs, “Ama Le Ho,” is in fact based on a poem entitled “White Crane! Lend me your Wings!” written by the sixth Dalai Lama. Some popular Tibetan folk songs include “Rangyul” (“My Country”), “Gampa Lamo” (“Gampa Pass”), “Pangyen Metok” (“Flower, the Ornament of Meadows”), “Pharla Mikchig” (“I Gave Her a Glance”), “Jola Tashi” (“Brother Tashi”), and “Zepei Rigzin Wangmo” (“Beautiful Rigzin Wangmo”). Others have titles that translate to “Sing a Song for the Party,” “Spring Wind in My Heart,” “Cuckoo, Cuckoo,” “Happy Life,” “Rich Tibet,” “Home Without Shadow,” “Antelopes Crossing the Ridge,” “Paradise Inferno,” “Sister-Drum,” and “Sky-Burial.” In
Tibetan Americans: Clothes and Jewelry
recent times, many modern Tibetan singers and bands have emerged and have produced many popular modern songs, such as “Aku Pema” (“Uncle Perma”) and “Shiwei Gangseng” (“Snow Lion of Peace”). Some well-known traditional Tibetan musical instruments are the Tibetan guitar (Dranyen), Yangqin (Tibetan dulcimer), Piwang (Tibetan violin), and the flute, drum, and hand cymbals. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Crossley-Holland, Peter. “The Ritual Music of Tibet.” Tibet Journal 1(3 and 4) (Autumn 1976): 45–54.
Web Sites Chaksampa: http://www.chaksampa.org/. Institute of Performing Arts: http://www.tibetanarts.org/. Tibetan community of New York and New Jersey: http://www.tcnynj.org/comcenter.html.
Clothes and Jewelry Tibetan Americans, generally, wear modern American dresses just as other Americans. However, as in the case of people from other cultures living in the United States, Tibetan Americans are very conscious about preserving their Tibetan identity and cultural heritage; thus, on special occasions, they wear traditional Tibetan outfits and jewelries. Tibetan men and women in America generally wear casual American clothes, such as suits, pants, jeans, T-shirts, sunglasses, sweaters, coats, and jackets, to go to work and on Sundays and other holidays. They also wear regular American jewelry, such as necklaces, earrings, and rings worn by people in the United States. However, on important Tibetan days and Buddhist religious occasions, such as the Dalai Lama’s birthday or certain occasions related to the Buddha’s life, when the Tibetan community meets to have group celebrations, they wear their traditional Tibetan costumes and ornaments and have dance and music events in addition to prayer meetings. The most important Tibetan costume is the chupa, which in essence is a long gown and is worn by both men and women. Men and women’s chupas have slightly different designs and also worn differently. While women wear it as a long dress stretching from the shoulder to down to the ankles and tightly around their bodies, men wear it pulled up to make a pouch around the belly area and the bottom of the chupa is raised up below the knees. Even though a chupa is essentially a form of gown, it is stylized and designed to look very fashionable, and is thus a very attractive dress. Married women wear a ceremonial apron also on the chupa.
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Tibetan clothing, jewelry, and home decorations are available at Tsering Youdon Jewelry in San Francisco, California. The shop is located on Polk Street, known for its diverse cultural and ethnic restaurants, bars, smoke shops, and tourists. (Jonathan H. X. Lee)
Traditionally, Tibetan men in eastern Tibet wear a large fur hat on their head and also tuck a sword and a short knife on their waist. Similarly, both men and women in different regions of Tibet wear necklaces, headdresses, and back ornaments made from large pieces of amber, coral, turquoise, gold, and silver during festivals. These are, however, not done by Tibetan Americans, except when required for stage performances of traditional dances. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. My Land and My People. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1962. Richardson, Hugh E. Tibet & Its History. 2nd ed. Boulder, CO: Shambala, 1984.
Web Site Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts: http://www.tibetanarts.org/craft_costume.html.
Tibetan Americans: Dalai Lama (1935–)
Dalai Lama (1935–) His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people, including Tibetans who have immigrated to the United States. The current Dalai Lama, whose given name is Tenzin Gyatso, is a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He was born in 1935 at Taktser, a remote village in the vicinity of the famous Kumbum monastery, which is located just inside the ancient border between Tibet and China and is today within Qinghai province under the Chinese demarcation. He is a recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize for peace and over a hundred other prestigious international awards and honors. He is today one of the most respected spiritual and social leaders in the world. Tibetan Buddhists believe that Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion, is the patron deity of Tibet and the Tibetan people, and the Dalai Lama is a human incarnation of Avalokitesvara, benefiting the Tibetan people and the world through his wisdom and compassion. It is also believed that when a Dalai Lama passes away, he reincarnates by taking birth in a new human child. His disciples then search for the new boy through a set of spiritual methods, and the child is installed as the next Dalai Lama. Thus, the present Dalai Lama is the 14th in a successive lineage of 13 previous reincarnations. The first Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gedun Drup (1391– 1474), lived in the 15th century. Ever since the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, the Dalai Lama has been living at his exile home in Dharamsala in neighboring India. He established his government in exile there as a replacement for his former government in Lhasa, and from there he attends to his people’s needs and directs the rehabilitation program of the Tibetan refugee community in India, the United States, and around the world. Ever since his exile, he has traveled around the world to campaign for Tibet and to give lectures on Buddhism. He also works tirelessly to promote world peace through the promotion of interreligious harmony and Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. human brotherhood. (Shutterstock)
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Ethnic Tibetans and other Americans who have become disciples of the Dalai Lama honor him by placing his photo in their family shrine and by worshiping him with prayers and offerings. In doing so, they seek his blessing and inspiration in their lives. He reminds them of nonviolence and commits them to compassion as the only way of life. —Tenzin Sherab See also: Pan Asian Americans: Avalokitesvara; Tibetan Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Avedon, John F. In Exile from the Land of Snows. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984. The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama. New York: A Cornelia & Michael Bessie Book, 1990.
Web Sites The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT): http://www.savetibet.org/. The Private Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Official Web site: http://www .dalailama.com.
Dying and Death Rituals Tibetan Americans’ death and dying rituals are generally based on the Tibetan traditional system, with few changes. Tibetan death and dying rituals are directly based on Vajrayana Buddhist beliefs and are steeped in deep Buddhist psychological and philosophical concepts. When a person dies, not just one, but a serious of stages of intensive meditative rituals and prayers—one every seven days—are performed until the 49th day. An astrologer determines the date and location of the cremation site as well as other things that need to be done to help the deceased person to experience a smooth passage through the bardo (intermediate realm) and to get a good rebirth as a human being. The most important aspect of the serious of rituals is the stage in which the lama performs the Jangchog (purification rituals)—using different Buddhist deities like Amitabha and Mahavairochana—during which specific rituals are performed aimed at purifying the negative karmas of the dead person and drawing up the person to pure realms or better rebirths. The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodrol) is also widely read as part of this practice. Some high lamas also perform phowa (transference of the consciousness), a meditative ritual by which the dead person’s conscious is meditationally hooked and lifted to pure realms by the lama through the power of his concentration.
Tibetan Americans: Family and Community
According to Tibetan belief, a person’s consciousness does not immediately leave the body even after the person’s body is clinically dead. Buddhists believe that real death has occurred only when signs such as lost of facial luster and a little discharge of white and red fluids could be seen in the two nostrils or in other openings of the body. This usually happens within the next few days after the occurrence of the clinical death. However, some highly realized lamas enter into a state of meditation known as “clear light” at the moment of death. When that happens, a body is left unmoved—sometimes for as long as 15 to 20 days or more— until signs occur that the meditation has finished. Traditionally, a dead body is kept in the house until the day the astrology has determined it to be taken away for cremation. However, such practices are not allowed by American law, and so, like other Americans, Tibetan Americans leave the body in mortuary until it is cremated. Tibetan Americans do not practice the system of “sky-burial,” also due to American laws. Tibetans, being mostly Buddhists, do not follow the system of burying bodies in caskets under the ground. Some terminally sick Tibetans choose to die in places like Tibet or India, where there are many Buddhist sites as well as Buddhist masters and monasteries. But whether a person dies in the United States or in India, family members make sure that the deceased person receives proper death religious rites so that the deceased person could get a good rebirth. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Mullin, Glenn H. Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition. New York: Penguin-Arkana, 1986. Rinpochay, Lati, and Jeffrey Hopkins. Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1985. Rinpoche, Sogyal, with Patrick Gaffney and Andrew Harvey, eds. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1992.
Web Site “Transitions to the Otherworld: The Tibetan Books of the Dead.” http://www2 .lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/dead/otherworld.html (accessed August 5, 2010).
Family and Community The Tibetan population in the United States is relatively small, with approximately around 10,000 Tibetans throughout the United States and Canada. The largest Tibetan community is in New York, with several thousand Tibetans working in
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the Manhattan area and living in the nearby suburbs of Brooklyn and Queens. There are also medium-sized Tibetan communities in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Minnesota, and Colorado. The first Tibetan to immigrate to the United States is said to be the late eldest brother of the Dalai Lama, Professor Thupten Jigme Norbu (Taktser Rinpoche), and his assistant, Dhondup Gyaltsen. He moved to the United States in 1952 to lobby international support for Tibet, which was then facing an invasion by communist China. A small group of Tibetans moved to the United States in the early 1960s following the takeover of Tibet by China and the exodus of Tibetans from Tibet in 1959. By 1985, there were about 524 Tibetans living in the United States. The majority of the Tibetans came to the United States in a series of immigration movements that began in 1992 following the issuance of 1,000 green cards to Tibetan refugees by the U.S. government in 1990. Immediate family members then followed the original group of 1,000, and the present Tibetan American population came into existence. By 2002, there were around 30 Tibetan communities and 8,650 Tibetans living in the United States. The root and height of the unity of Tibetans in America is their leader, the Dalai Lama, who frequently visits the United States and gives them guidance. Most Tibetan families in America have traditional Tibetan-style Buddhist shrines in their homes to which they make daily offerings and prayers. Tibetan meals, such as momo, thukpa, and butter tea, are frequently prepared for small family gatherings at home. Under the Dalai Lama’s advice and inspiration, Tibetans around the United States put great importance on preserving and following their traditional Tibetan religious and cultural heritage in America. They have formed a close-knit network of associations and cultural groups in almost every place where there is a Tibetan community. While these groups are generally independent from each other, during important occasions, such as when a joint protest against China for human rights violations in Tibet is being coordinated, the various organizations come together and work as a team. The activities of the community groups under normal situations includes, amongst others, group celebration of all important Tibetan religious and political days with an event of traditional Tibetan feasting, song, and dance, Sunday schools for Tibetan children where classes are given to the children on the Tibetan language, culture, dance, and music, and coordinating guest lectures by scholars to give talks on Tibetan religion, culture, and history. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Wangdi, Yosay. “Tibetan Identity: Transformations within the Diaspora.” Global Studies Journal 1(1) (2006): 91–100.
Tibetan Americans: Festivals and Holidays
Web Sites International Campaign for Tibet: http://www.savetibet.org. Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey: http://www.tcnynj.org/comcenter.html. Tibetan Government in Exile: http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=798&articletype =flashold&rmenuid=morenews&tab=1. Tsering, Bhuchung K. “Enter the Tibetan American” January 3, 2009. Tibetreport’s Blog: http://tibetreport.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/enter-the-tibetan-americans (accessed August 5, 2010).
Festivals and Holidays Tibetans in America generally observe all major annual traditional Tibetan festivals as their brethren do in Tibet and other Tibetan communities around the world. A traditional Tibetan calendar goes by the lunar system and has a long line of religious and cultural festivals that ends with the year itself. Of the many festivals, examples of a few important ones are: Losar (Tibetan New Year), which runs from the first to the third day of the first lunar month (between February and March); Monlam Chenmo (the great prayer festival), which celebrates the Buddha’s victory in a competition in displaying miracles with five Hindu rivals and which is celebrated between the 8th and 15th of the first lunar month; Saka Dawa (the fourth lunar month), on whose full moon day the Buddha took birth, enlightened, and passed away; Birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama, which falls on July 6 on the Western calendar; Zamling Chisang (World Purification Day), which falls on the 15th day of the 5th lunar month (around July); and Gaden Ngamchoe (Lama Tsongkhapa’s birthday), which falls in December. Tibetan festivals are by tradition very colorful and steeped in highly symbolic representations and spiritual meanings. For instance, in the typical Tibetan style, a year begins with the Losar festivals (Tibetan New Year) and ends on the 29th lunar day of December with a festival called Gutor (the 29th day cake). According to Tibetan custom, Losar is heralded by rising early in the morning and making prayers and symbolic food offerings of Chemar (a roasted barley flour mixed with butter), Changfue (Tibetan wine), and Droma Dresil (rice mixed with butter, Tibetan sweet potato, and sugar). Traditional costumes are worn and one has to say “Tashi Delek” (which means, “may you have auspiciousness, health, and success”) to everybody one meets. That is said to bring you good luck for the year. Similarly, a year is concluded by cleansing or driving away impurities, obstacles, and bad spirits of the old year by the monks performing an exorcism ritual. Traditionally, Tibetans leave about three days as holiday for New Year, but due to
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Tibetan Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
workplace rules, Tibetan Americans adjust their New Year holidays to the rules at their workplaces. The Dalai Lama’s birthday on July 7 is a big public event day for Tibetan communities across America. Tibetan American communities celebrate by holding functions in the morning followed by cultural events, potlucks, sports, partying, and disco in the night. They hold the events at rented places, like halls or churches, depending on what is available. Traditionally, religious festivals like the Monlam Chenmo and Saka Dawa are celebrated with grand religious ceremonies at monasteries and public places in Tibet. But as Tibetans do not yet have such facilities in the United States, they celebrate them by visiting small nearby Tibetan Buddhist centers or performing personal religious prayers and rituals at homes. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Kohn, Richard J. Lord of the Dance: The Mani Rimdu Festival in Tibet and Nepal. New York: State University of New York Press, 2001. Stein, R. A. Tibetan Civilization. English ed. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1972, 248–281.
Web Sites “Tibet’s Great Prayer Festival.” Boston.com. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/02/ tibets_great_prayer_festival.html (accessed August 5, 2010). Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey: http://www.tcnynj.org/. “Tibetan Festivals.” Kotan.org. http://www.kotan.org/tibet/festivals.html (accessed August 5, 2010).
Folk Dance and Performance Performances of folk songs and dances hold a prominent role in the festive life of Tibetans in North America. They are key elements of all major community gatherings, ranging from small-scale yet formal family parties such as weddings to larger reunions of all Tibetans residing in a given area. These occasions represent the most striking occurrences of folk performances, sometimes consisting in elaborate several-hours-long shows. These shows are then part of a larger function organized by the local Tibetan Association (there are over 30 such associations in the United States and Canada), which usually has ties with the Tibetan government-in-exile through its office in New York. This explains the political agenda of these performances: the preservation of an “authentic” culture outside occupied Tibet. Finally, semiprofessional groups, such as Chaksampa in California or Yarlung Tsogpa in
Tibetan Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
New York, perform on limited occasions and charity events both within and outside the Tibetan community. Large-scale performances by Tibetans are fairly recent in the United States. Before the Tibetan-U.S. Resettlement Project of 1993, which initiated most of the immigration, performances were done informally by a few adults who trained some children. After 1993, local Tibetan Associations gradually became established and have taken an active role in the transmission of the folk repertoire. In the large communities, they have even founded holiday schools to educate Tibetan children in their language, history, culture, and performing arts. It is thus now mostly the youth who perform at the official celebrations such as the lunar New Year, the Dalai Lama’s birthday (July 6), the Dalai Lama’s Nobel Peace Prize (December 10), or the commemoration of the 1959 Uprising (March 10). Important funds have been allocated to the making of fine costumes, the purchase of instruments and the recruitment of teachers, most of whom were senior performers at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), the government-in-exile’s official troupe in Dharamsala. Since the mid-2000s, full-fledged performing troupes have taken shape, the most significant ones being located in New York–New Jersey and Toronto, as well as in Minnesota, northern California, Washington, Chicago, Boston, and Madison, Wisconsin. To sustain this boom, a first artistic competition between all troupes was held in Madison in 2008. The functions open with prayers and political speeches under the national flag and a portrait of the Dalai Lama. Then comes the show, the content of which invariably consists of a series of short numbers (a few minutes each) of folk songs and dances, much in the way the TIPA organizes its shows in India: a demonstration of the regional diversity of dresses, dialects, or lifestyles (nomad, farmer) that constitutes “traditional” Tibetan culture. Most numbers are group choreographies: dances are done to songs in unison, to instrumental music performed live: drum beats (tashi sholpa and dro styles), plucked lutes (toshay), fiddles (bashay), or instrumental ensembles (nangma and toshay, with lutes, fiddles, flute, hammerdulcimer, and bells). Some songs are also delivered solo: either a capella nomad songs (an audience favorite) or dunglen songs from the Amdo region. Opera (ache lhamo) is rarer due its sophisticated singing technique. Some modern elements occasionally appear at the end of the performances: Tibetan pop, rock or rap singing, showing now more Western influences (compared to influences from South Asia in the past). The show then generally ends with the Tibetan national anthem and prayers for peace, upon which the whole audience is invited to stand up and join in a series of gorshay (participative circle dances). American Tibetans’ strong identity concerns and keen interest in performances have undoubtedly refreshed the motivation and practice of traditional styles back in South Asia. However, performances here also hold an important challenge: the seamless integration on stage and off stage of Tibetans born in exile with those
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born in Tibet. They have grown up with different reconstructions of folk styles and occasionally disagree on what constitutes their authentic tradition. —Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy See also: Tibetan Americans: Children and Folk Song; Festivals and Holidays; Folk Music.
Further Reading Henrion-Dourcy, Isabelle, and Tsereng Dondhup. “Tibet (II.1 Folk song and Dance; II.2 Nangma ; II.5 Lhamo ; II.6 Instruments).” In Stanley Sadie, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 25. London: Macmillan, 2001, 449–460 (passim). Makley, Charlene. “Performing Authenticity: Tibetan Song and Dance Ensemble Makes its Argument.” Journal of the International Institute 4(2) (1997). http://hdl.handle.net/ 2027/spo.4750978.0004.220 (accessed August 5, 2010). Yeh, Emily T. “Exile Meets Homeland: Politics, Performance, and Authenticity in the Tibetan Diaspora.” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 25(4) (2007): 648–667.
Folk Music The immigration of Tibetans to America began in the 1950s. There are approximately 10,000 Tibetan Americans today. Most Tibetan Americans live in Minnesota, Colorado, New York, Washington, California, and Oregon. Overall, the total number is relatively small compared to other Asian American groups. Fortunately, the musical folk traditions have not been negated. Most Tibetan American music is largely performed from a Buddhist perspective. In fact, Tibetan folk music traditions are mostly popularized from monastic chanting and contemplative or exotically mystical overtones. Tibetan American religious music retains historical traditions and instrumentation from Tibet. Besides multiphonic chanting, Buddhist ritual instruments such as the dranyem (stringed instrument), rag-dung (trumpet), wind bells, tingsha (mini cymbals), and singing bowls are used in various religious ceremonies, events, and festivals. Some celebrations involve dances, which are celebrated two times per year as Lama Dances. The first dance is called Mahakala Bernagchen, held on the 29th day of the 12th Tibetan month. The second dance honors Guru Rinpoche, whom brought Buddhism to Tibet around the 8th century. In addition, Tibetan American cultural resources, including the Tibetan Cultural Community and Service Center, Indiana’s Tibet Society, and Seattle’s annual TibetFest, are purveyors of folk music and religious traditions.
Tibetan Americans: Foods and Foodways
The prevalence of modern Tibetan American music is not nearly as widespread as monastic chanting and religious celebrations. Still, the only popular Tibetan American musician is New York’s Yungchen Lhamo. Her name means “Goddess of Song,” which is an accurate portrayal of her musical accomplishments. While temporarily living in Australia, Yungchen was the first Tibetan artist to win the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Music Awards for best Folk/ World/Traditional Music release in 1995 for her debut album Tibetan Prayer. Yungchen’s subsequent albums, Tibet, Tibet, Coming Home, and Ama, featured a mix of traditional Buddhist chants, Western instrumentation, and a signature voice of haunting beauty. —Matthew J. Forss
Further Reading Lhamo, Yungchen. Ama. Real World Records Ltd. USCDR W132. Lhamo, Yungchen. Ama. Tibet, Tibet. Real World Records Ltd. CAROL 2363-2. Lhamo, Yungchen. Ama Coming Home. Real World Records Ltd. 724384578527.
Web Site Miller, Olivia. “Tibetan Americans.” http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Sr-Z/Tibetan -Americans.html (accessed February 20, 2010).
Foods and Foodways Like other Americans, Tibetan American food and foodways are influenced by the hundreds of different kinds of international cuisines that one can easily eat in the many restaurants selling foods of different countries in American cities. However, the Tibetan American food style still essentially sticks to the traditional Tibetan foodways with minor changes. Traditionally, the most important part of the Tibetan food is tsampa, which is a flour made from roasted barley and a highly nutritious health food. In olden times, most Tibetans take it for all purposes, as breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as in other circumstances. It is taken together with black tea, butter, chura (dried Tibetan cheese) and sometimes a little bit of sugar. Another well-known aspect of the Tibetan food-ways is Tibetan butter tea. It is made by adding chunks of butter to normal black tea and churned in a dongmo (a hollowed pipe-like wooden instrument) to produce flavor and aroma. Tibetans also take yak dried and fresh meat, and different kinds of thukpas (noodles/spaghettis). Tibetan Americans may not be taking huge amounts of tsampa and butter tea as their kinsmen do in Tibet, but they continue to take these traditional foods
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whenever and wherever available as a special treat. Some popular traditional Tibetan delicacies that Tibetan Americans and their American guest friends like to savor are sha-momo (Tibetan style meat dumpling), sha-baklep (flat, round meat bread), thentuk (a short, flat noodle), and Droma Dresil (rice sweetened and cooked with dry fruits). Many Tibetan American families also like to enjoy the popular Tibetan beverage, chang (a Tibetan-style wine), which could be easily brewed at their homes. In addition to traditional Tibetan foods, Tibetan Americans have adopted many American and Western food styles, such as eating different types of salads, fruits, juices, soft drinks, burgers, and so on. Traditionally, Tibetans have not taken to the custom of taking many vegetables or different kinds of meats other than yak, beef, and lamb. Even eating fish and eggs is looked down as immoral. Tibetans, in fact consider it inhuman to eat the meat of every animal. However, in adaptation to American and modern foodways, Tibetan Americans are acquired the habit of taking vegetables regularly besides taking on the habit of eating eggs and fish. However, in observance of Buddhist teachings, Tibetan Americans—and for that matter, most Tibetans—avoid eating the meat of small sea animals, such as shrimp, prawns, etc. As per Tibetan tradition, many Tibetan Americans also follow the custom of saying grace before meals to offer the first sample of the food to the three jewels (the Buddha, dharma, and sangha) or to the Dalai Lama, whom Tibetans believe is the human manifestation of the Buddha of compassion who is in turn believed as the patron deity of Tibet. Tibetans believe that making a food offering to the Buddha will earn good merits for oneself. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading “Brick Tea and Tsampa.” In Andre´ Migot. Tibetan Marches. Translated by Peter Fleming. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1955, 99–104. Dorjee, Rigzin. Food in Tibetan Life. London: Prospect Books,1985.
Web Site Lobsang Wangdu’s Tibetan Recipes: http://yowangdu.com/inspirations/tibetan-food -recipe.html (accessed August 5, 2010).
Heroes and Heroines Tibetan Americans have many outstanding Tibetan men and women whom they consider as their heroes and heroines. But it could be said that Tibetan Americans also consider some of the outstanding American men and women as their heroes
Tibetan Americans: Heroes and Heroines
and heroines as well. These heroes can be outstanding American political leaders, singers, actors, youth activists, and so on. The greatest hero for Tibetan Americans is the Dalai Lama, who Tibetans not only recognize as their spiritual and temporal leader but also revere as the human manifestation of the patron deity of Tibet, Avalokitesvara, who is regarded as the Bodhisattva of compassion. As is well known, the Dalai Lama has been leading the Tibetan people ever since the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, through the Tibetan exodus from Tibet in 1959, in the post-1959 rehabilitation of Tibetan refugees in India and around the world, and through the nonviolent struggle of the Tibetan people against China for Tibet’s freedom. The Dalai Lama is also a recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize for Peace as well as scores of other international awards. Tibetan Americans have other heroes also. For example, Lobsang Senge, who has received a PhD in law from Harvard, is a source of inspiration for many younger-generation Tibetans due to his academic achievements in graduating from a top U.S. school of higher education and also due to his leadership quality as a highly energetic Tibet activist. Lhadon Tethong shot to fame after she proved herself as an outstanding Tibet activist and leader in her capacity as the president of Students for Free Tibet (SFT) which is one of the most popular Tibet activist groups in the world today. Many Tibetan artists have also attained stardom by inspiring young Tibetan Americans through their artistic talents. For instance, Ngawang Kechog has performed as a new-age Tibetan singer on the international music stage. His soothing music is loved and listened to by many Americans. Techung, who sings traditional and modern Tibetan songs, has also performed on the international stage and has popularized Tibetan songs amongst younger Tibetans. The child artist Tenzin Kunsel, from New York, has swept the Tibetan American community with her sensational performance of Tibetan songs and dances. She is a rising Tibetan American star. The above are just some samples of Tibetan American heroes. In reality, there are many more such stars. —Tenzin Sherab See also: Pan Asian Americans: Avalokitesvara.
Further Reading Avedon, John F. In Exile from the Land of Snows. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984. Dalai Lama, Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama. A Cornelia & Michael Bessie Book, 1990.
Web Sites Students for a Free Tibet Web site: http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/. Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey: http://www.tcnynj.org/.
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Identity Identity is a major issue for Tibetan Americans. A majority of Tibetan Americans today are naturalized U.S. citizens, and only a small portion are born citizens. Therefore, it is natural that most Tibetan Americans will feel an acquired sense of American identity about themselves. However, most Tibetan Americans also have the feeling that their reason for immigrating to the United States is first and foremost to campaign for Tibet’s freedom from China’s rule, and most importantly to preserve and promote their Tibetan cultural and racial identity, which is facing a dire threat of annihilation inside Tibet due to the Chinese government’s policy of assimilation and sinicization of its minority races. Therefore, Tibetan Americans have a feeling of dual identity, as being both Americans as well as Tibetans. But deep down, most Tibetan Americans think that they are in America mainly to be Tibetans first and Americans second. Like other American children, Tibetan American children go to American schools, elders support their families by working hard and often juggling between two jobs. They wear American casual clothes, eat fast foods, and pay their monthly house and car mortgages. Most elder Tibetan Americans, not having been educated in the United States in their childhood and not being able to speak English as natives, do menial jobs, whereas those who were educated in American schools and colleges have better jobs. Some Tibetan youths have joined the U.S. Army, a couple of whom were killed in action in Iraq. Tibetan Americans preserve their Tibetan identity through several ingenious ways. The Dalai Lama, who is the Tibetan people’s political and spiritual leader, is the greatest source of inspiration for Tibetan Americans to not lose their roots and to cultivate patriotism for Tibet. Tibetan Americans have formed Tibetan Associations and community groups at almost every place where they live. These associations regularly organize group celebrations of Tibetan traditional festival days, religious days, Free Tibet demonstrations, and Sunday Tibetan language and dance classes for their community children. They also regularly hold cultural events during which they perform traditional Tibetan dance, songs, and other shows. They wear traditional Tibetan costumes and cook Tibetan foods. They occasionally organize talks by scholars on Tibetan history, religion, and other areas of Tibetan culture. However, their most important events are visits from the Dalai Lama. During these visits, the Dalai Lama gives special talks to Tibetan Americans on how to be good Tibetan Americans and how to preserve Tibetan identity. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Wangdi, Yosay. “Tibetan Identity: Transformations within the Diaspora.” Global Studies Journal 1(1) (2006): 91–100.
Tibetan Americans: Literature and Folklore
Web Sites International Campaign for Tibet: http://www.savetibet.org. Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey: http://www.tcnynj.org/comcenter .html. Tibetan Government in Exile: http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=798&articletype =flashold&rmenuid=morenews&tab=1. Tsering, Bhuchung K. “Enter the Tibetan Americans.” Tibetreport’s Blog, January 3, 2009. http://tibetreport.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/enter-the-tibetan-americans (accessed August 5, 2010).
Literature and Folklore Tibetan Americans live in two cultural worlds simultaneously. As Tibetans who have been raised in their Tibetan communities in the United States or in their native home country (whether Tibet, India, or Nepal), they are familiar with a variety of traditional works of Tibetan literature and folklore. But as Americans, and having learned and adopted many American ways, they are also familiar with American literature and, to a lesser degree, with American folklore. Second-generation Tibetan Americans who either moved to the United States as children with their parents or were born in the United States are especially familiar with American literature. They have gone to school in the United States and have read a wide variety of American literature, from novels and science books to popular and sports magazines. Compared to them, the older firstgeneration Tibetan Americans have less knowledge about American literature and folklore. In particular, because folklore is usually more appreciated by those who are native to the culture within which the folklore emerged, Tibetan Americans, on the whole, find less use for American folklore within their communities. Traditional Tibetan literature is extremely rich and comprises a vast body of writings on all kinds of genres, ranging from classical works on Buddhist theological sciences and doxographical works, to epics, poetry, and literature on folklore. Many of these are too advanced to be of practical use to ordinary Tibetan Americans, who have not undertaken any specialized study of them. The ones that ordinary Tibetan Americans more commonly use are Tibetan history books, such as Gesar’s Epic, Sakya Pandita’s Sakya’s Eloquent Advice, and folktales on the trickster Aku (Uncle) Tonpa. These works are published and printed in places like Tibet, India, and Nepal and are then brought over to the United States by Tibetan American community members for use by their children. These Tibetan folktales either are not
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Tibetan Americans: Names and Name Giving
presently being printed in the United States, or have been appropriated by American or Tibetan American authors. —Tenzin Sherab See also: Tibetan Americans: Narrative Folktales.
Further Reading Cabezon, Jose Ignacio, and Roger R. Jackson, eds. Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1995. Smith, Gene E. Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2001.
Names and Name Giving Tibetan Americans carry thier Tibetan names. However, in the workplace and when going out with their non-Tibetan friends, some have taken an American name as their second name. For example, some use names like Tom and Sam with their non-Tibetan friends. This is done mainly to make it easier for their friends to call them and for the sake of making it easier to mix into American society, which is European in essence. However, the majority of Tibetan Americans seems to be maintaining their native Tibetan names and does not seem to feel the need for having American names. According to tradition, Tibetan Americans get their names from Tibetan Buddhist masters. In rare cases, there are some Tibetans who got their names from their parents or another source. Some examples of Tibetan men’s names are Tashi Dhondup and Kesang Tenzin, and some examples of women’s names are Dolma Tseing and Tseing Diki. Unlike some European names, which do not have a particular meaning, Tibetan names usually must have a meaning. For instance, in the case of a men’s name like Tashi Dhondup, Tashi means “being auspicious,” and Dhondup means “being successful.” While men’s names have themes symbolizing action, strength, and victory, women’s names have themes relating to beauty, goddesses, melody, and so on. Similarly, Tibetan names usually consist of a first and a last name. A girl’s name like Tsering Dikyi could be one example. But unlike the American system, the second name here is not a surname. Except in the case of a small percentage of Tibetan names, the majority of Tibetans somehow do not use surnames. However, as a surname is a requirement in the Unites States, Tibetan Americans are using their second names as their surnames, even though it has nothing to do with the paternal lineage. —Tenzin Sherab
Tibetan Americans: Narrative Folktales
Further Reading The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. My Land and My People. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1962. Germano, David, and Nicolas Tournadre. THDL Simplified Phonetic Transcription of Standard Tibetan. Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library, December 12, 2003. Wylie, Turrell. “A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies (1959): 261–267.
Narrative Folktales Tibetan culture and tradition are rich in narrative folktales on many different themes. There are two kinds of folktales—those universally told all over Tibet and those indigenous to different regions of Tibet, and known and narrated mainly by people living in these regions. Similarly, Tibetan American folktales have different themes. Some are historical stories, some tell of mythological heroes, and some relate the miraculous deeds of ancient Buddhist masters. Among the most well-known Tibetan American folktales is the story about the origin of the Tibetan people. According to this folktale, Avalokitesvara (the Bodhisattva of Compassion), who had taken birth as a monkey, mated with an ogress living in rocks, and together they gave birth to six children. Three of the monkey children carried the father’s nature and were brave, compassionate, and gentle. Three carried the nature of the mother and were aggressive, jealous, and cruel. From these six children developed the Tibetan race. Another, well-known story tells of the mythological Tibetan hero Gesar, who is also believed to be an emanation of Avalokitesvara. Gesar’s story is mainly about defeating demons and evil kings who are harming sentient beings. Gesar’s tales also exist in written forms and are read by people at home. The many folktales relating to the miraculous deeds of great Buddhist masters like Guru Padmasambhava, Atisa, Milirepa, and the fifth and sixth Dalai Lamas are also among the most loved and popular folktales in Tibetan communities worldwide. Among the most enduring and beloved Tibetan American folktales are the stories about the trickster Aku Tonpa, who is also believed to be an emanation of Avalokitesvara. It is said that long ago, the Tibetan people were so innocent and honest that they were like fools. So, Avalokitesvara came as Aku Tonpa to teach Tibetans how to be clever and protect themselves from being fooled by bad people. The name Aku Tonpa literally means “Uncle” Tonpa, which is what he called himself as he went out among the people. His stories are full of tales about how he went from one place to another, always cheating men, women, children, and villagers
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on the way through with his witty tricks and plots. Many of his tales are extremely vulgar and imaginative sexual stories. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Shelton, A. L. Tibetan Folktales. Santa Cruz, CA: Evinity Publishing Inc., 2009. Tshe dbang rdo rje, et al. Tibetan-English Folktales. Kevin Stuart, 2007.
Web Sites “The Folktales.” Tibetan Digital Library: http://www.crosby-lundin.com/tibet/culture/ folktales (accessed August 5, 2010). “Tibetan Folk Tales.” http://www.chinaculture.org/library/2008-02/04/content_25804.htm (accessed August 5, 2010).
Proverbs and Maxims By nature, Tibetans love using proverbs in their general conversations as well as in writings, advices, scoldings, and speeches. Hundreds or even thousands of traditional proverbs and maxims may still be in use among different communities within Tibetan society. Despite their extended separation from their native country and community, and American influence on their lifestyles and speech habits, Tibetans in the United States still preserve and practice some of the most wellknown proverbs. Most well-known Tibetan proverbs do not seem to have a designated authorship. They have been circulating within Tibetan society for centuries and are not attributable to any one source. The following are some examples of the bestknown Tibetan maxims and proverbs: • To emphasize the importance of heeding the advice of an elder experienced person, it will be said, “Watch the taste of a good tea, listen to the words of an elder man.” • To show the importance of learning from not only high sources but also from lowly sources, Sakya Pandita said, “Take knowledge even if it came from the mouth of a child.” • To show how important it is to learn, Sakya Pandita said, “Learn knowledge even if you are going to die tomorrow. You may not become a scholar in the life, but it will be like getting back a treasure, that you have deposited for your next life.”
Tibetan Americans: Religion
• To show how one can distinguish between a good and bad person, it will be said, “Whether someone is a good or bad (person) could be known by judging the person’s attitude.” Because Tibetan religion and culture are popular among non-Tibetans in the United States, there is the possibility that Tibetan proverbs and maxims may be transmitted to and come into use by nonethnic Tibetans. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Collection of Tibetan Proverbs and Sayings. Compiled and indexed by Christoph Cuppers and Per K. Sørensen. Stuttgart: F. Steiner, 1998. Gergan, J. A Thousand Tibetan Proverbs and Wise Sayings: From Ladakh, Spiti, Lahaul & Naris Skor-g Sum. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1976.
Web Site Tibetan Proverbs (43 proverbs): http://www.proverbatim.com/tibetan (accessed August 5, 2010).
Religion Tibetan Americans come from an ancient kingdom nestled in the upper reaches of the Himalayan Mountains, which are some of the tallest and most treacherous mountains in the world. Their country of origin, Tibet, overlooks India to the south and China to the north. In 1949, it was invaded and occupied by communist China, which resulted in a massive outward flight of Tibetan refugees, many of whom sought political asylum in nearby India, while some made their way to the United States. Since the 1950s, many ethnic Tibetans have been attracted to America, mainly, to escape political and religious persecution in their country of origin, where ethnic Chinese immigrants are quickly becoming the new majority and the Chinese-led government is enforcing an assimilation policy. Others have come as a result of chain migration, having been sponsored, usually, by a family member who came before them. Many Tibetan Americans living in exile, due to the Chinese takeover of Tibet, continue to actively participate in a nationalist independence movement for a Free Tibet. The rallying point of this independence movement is the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, who is the contemporary religious leader of Tibetan Buddhism and head of state living in exile. This movement also enjoys popular support from many non-Tibetans living in the United States. Many non-Tibetan Americans are sympathetic to the
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Prayer flags hang along the walkways through the 144-acre property of the Odiyan Buddhist Center in Stewarts Point, California. The complex was established in 1975 and is the largest Tibetan Buddhist Center in the Western Hemisphere. (AP Photo/Lacy Atkins)
Dalai Lama’s cause. He has been featured in several Hollywood blockbuster films such as Kundun, Red Corner, and Seven Years in Tibet. Meditation books authored by the Dalai Lama, also, are top sellers online and in American bookstores. The founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama (c. 480–400 BCE), an ancient Hindu prince who broke away from Hinduism, with its rigid hierarchical caste system and complex religious rituals, in search of answers to the perplexing questions of poverty, sickness, old age, and death. In the process, he experimented with austere and extreme yogic practices and meditative techniques, although ultimately, he settled on the golden mean of everything in moderation, nothing in excess, in his quest for personal enlightenment (Buddha-hood) and greater societal wellbeing. Buddha attracted and continues to allure many new followers who, in turn, pass down his teachings to their students, who have carried his religion all over the world. Early on, Buddhism branched out into three primary schools of thought: Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Vajrayana Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism mainly is practiced in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. It has sometimes been referred to as the “way of the elders” because every young man apprentices for two years under a master monk to learn the way to enlightenment. Mahayana Buddhism is the tradition found in China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. It is sometimes compared to Protestantism, wherein people pray
Tibetan Americans: Religion
to God directly, versus Catholicism, where they often pray through saints, because, under this tradition, people tend to discern the path to enlightenment directly for themselves through their own experiences with nature and the deities, although this is an incomplete definition. Finally, Vajrayana Buddhism is found in Vietnam, Nepal, and Tibet. Vajrayana Buddhism is often used interchangeably with Tibetan Buddhism, or tantricism, to refer to the religion of Tibet, which is a melding of Buddhism and Bon, indigenous beliefs in lake, sky, and mountain spirits. Vajrayana Buddhism was introduced as a “state” religion in ancient times by rulers over relatively small fiefdoms, who probably viewed it as a handy vehicle through which to garner a broader base of support and organizational structure to further legitimate their claim to power. In Tibet, this religious movement took the form of a theocracy based on Tantric incarnation theology and local spirit beliefs. One way to understand this particular kind of theology is to consider it in terms of metaphysical archetypes or exemplary models of human beings or the stories of creation. Tantric Buddhism shares commonalities with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and other forms of Buddhism, as it also begins from the point of an archetype. For example, it also teaches that the search for enlightenment is like an ancient pearl diver, unadorned by a scuba tank, plunging deep down on the ocean floor for that most precious of pearls, the Atman of the Brahmans, the absolute and all transcendent in Buddhism. An unenlightened person believes oneself to have an individualized mind and unique self, or ego, but this is an illusion that gives rise to the belief in an individual soul. Some Tibetan Buddhists, however, interpret this to mean that the one cosmic mind alone is itself unique. Life from this perspective is composed of a myriad of cycles of time and life-bearing emanations. The one cosmic mind appears to be differentiated, but that is an illusion as it is being reflected by subsidiary minds that can only see only a tiny bit of the picture. Just as the sun gives off innumerable rays that reach the earth, and a single cloud releases countless raindrops that go into the same ocean, humankind is but a complex of mental illusions. If human beings were not mentally one, according to this teaching, there would be no collective hallucination of the world. If each individual’s mind were separate and unique, each person would have their own distinctively illusionary world, and no two people would see the world in the same way. Since our consciousnesses are collectively one, we can see the same trees, mountains, sky, and lakes. Therefore, there is one illusionary mind conscious and unconscious to all human beings in which all subsidiary creatures of nature are part. In many ways and to different degrees, there are some commonalities in the variant Buddhist schools of thought. Buddhists, generally, believe that ignorant people are those who lack the ability to “see” the living incarnate in nature, and by extension, fail to follow the five golden precepts (thou shall not kill; thou shall not steal; thou shall not lie; thou shall not drink to excess; and thou shall not engage in sexual misconduct).
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Tantric Buddhism incorporates ritualized magic, some of which is found in all branches of Buddhism, and is more deeply rooted in earlier forms of Hinduism. However, when Mahayana Buddhism entered Tibet, it intermingled with ancient Tibetan shamanic Bon religious beliefs and practices, which gave rise to a distinctive and separate new branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. Tibetan rituals may include personal and communal magical practices aimed at transforming one’s consciousness and entering into a Buddhist state of enlightenment or communion with bodhisattvas (compassionate Buddhas in the ethereal world) or other enlightened beings. Such rituals may include creating mandalas, or designs symbolizing the universe, chanting, dancing, playing musical instruments, repeatedly prostrating oneself, and visualizing while meditating. Vajrayana Buddhism grew to become the state religion of Tibet as early as the mid-7th century, when Tibet was expanding on all sides and engaging in political negotiations with its neighbors. King Songzen Gambo first adopted Buddhism as the state religion because it promised to peacefully unite people of different cultures in a way that was harmonious and respectful of their right to exist. Legend has it that he had two wives, one from Nepal, another from China, who encouraged him to propagate Mahayana Buddhism in Tibet. Tibetan Americans have carried their unique cultural and religious heritage to their new homeland. They continue to modify and adapt many of their religious rituals and traditions to accommodate the changing landscape and social institutions of the United States. Some ritual practices are ongoing, especially those pertaining to individual and communal forms of worship and prayer, or meditation, aimed at transforming one’s consciousness so as to better achieve a state of enlightenment. However, other ritual practices such as sky-burials are not yet possible to enact in the United States. While back in Tibet, monks and lamas are cremated, ordinary people, usually, preferred to have a sky-burial. They believed that after the dead person’s soul embarked on its journey to reincarnation, the body remained as a carcass. For the first three days after death, the body should not be touched, after which, if the family had enough money, they brought in monks to stay with the dead person, while chanting and performing proper rituals to ensure an auspicious rebirth. During this time, the entire text of the Tibetan Book of the Dead is recited to the departed. The body then would be washed, placed in a fetal position, and wrapped in white cloth. Lamas chanted to guide the soul while leading a ritual to the charnel ground. At the site, the body is cut up into small pieces and placed on a mountaintop as a food offering for birds of prey. This practice is known as Jhator, literally, the giving of alms to the birds. It is considered an act of great generosity to allow others to be nourished by one’s own remains. As well, it is believed that vultures, or to use the colloquial expression, Dakini (sky dancers) are the equivalent of angels for they carry the deceased into heaven, which is believed to be a windy place where souls await reincarnation. This giving of
Tibetan Americans: Sand Mandala
human flesh to vultures is considered honorable because it spares the lives of small animals that the birds might otherwise prey upon. It is said that once upon a time, a Buddha named Sakyamuni fed his flesh to a hawk to spare a pigeon to demonstrate his virtue. While this practice is no longer in place in Tibetan American communities, where cremation ceremonies are more commonly practiced, many associated rituals such as chanting sacred texts to guide the spirit in the ethereal world continue, in modified form, in keeping with ancient Tibetan religion. —Kathleen Nadeau See also: Pan Asian Americans: Siddhartha Gautama (c. 6th–5th Centuries BCE).
Further Reading Evans-Wentz, W. Y. “Introduction.” In The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. Maguire, Jack. The Essential Buddhism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs and Practices. New York: Pocket Books, 2001. Willis, Michael. Tibet: Life, Myth, and Art. London: Duncan Baird Publishers, 1999.
Sand Mandala Sand mandala is one of the sacred folk practices of Tibetan Buddhism (also called Vajrayana Buddhism or Tantric Buddhism). It represents Tibetan Buddhists’ cosmology and one of the essential Buddhist teachings that all sentient beings are impermanent. Mandala is a Sanskrit word for sacred circle and surrounding environment. It literally means the house or palace of a deity. The mandala of a tantric deity is a pictorial depiction of the mind and essence of the deity (see for example, Bryant 1992, p. 13). A mandala typically represents a geometric and symmetrical diagram, which consists of a center and four quadrants of equal size (see, for example, Brauen 1998). Mandala can be two-dimensional, such as a sand mandala or Thangka, or three-dimensional, such as a stupa. For example, the Kalachakra (wheel of time) Sand Mandala is a two-dimensional visual representation of the sacred palace of the Kalachakra deity, his consort Vishvamata and 722 deities. Mandala serves to aid aspirants to concentrate, visualize, meditate, and invoke the enlightened being of tantric deities. It is a “map of inner reality” that helps guide the spiritual development, awareness, and healing (Fincher 1991, p. 13). The construction of a sand mandala may include a team of Tibetan monks (also called lamas) painstakingly working on the intricate sand mandala using colored sands to recreate the sacred palace of a tantric deity. The process may take days or weeks, depending on the complexity of the mandala.
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The folk practice involves the consecrated ceremonial blessing such as recitation of tantric liturgy prayers before and after the construction of a sand mandala. Upon the completion of a sand mandala, the lamas will then engage in its dismantling. This involves offering blessing to participants of the ceremony and all sentient beings. The lamas will request that the deities that were invoked during the process of recreating the sand mandala be returned to their sacred homes. A highranking Tibetan lama who is in charge of the dismantling ceremony will use the sacred religious objects such as vajra (thunderbolt, scepter) to cut across the four gates diagonally and then use a brush to disperse the pictorial formation of colored sands. Within a few minutes, the sand mandala is dismantled, and the blessed colored sands are swept up and put into an urn. The participants of the sand mandala ceremony will be given some blessed sands and the remaining consecrated colored sands will be taken to a nearby river, ocean, or lake. The lama who is in charge of the ceremony will gently pour the blessed sands into the water. As the water flows and washes away the colored sands, it will spread the blessing in whichever direction it goes. The construction and dismantling of a sacred sand mandala is ritualistic and symbolic. It represents Tibetan Buddhists’ worldview that life is impermanent, and whatever we take from the cosmos goes back to the universe. The folk practices of sand mandala also relate to Asian American communities in America. For example, there are vibrant Tibetan American communities and various groups related to Tibetan Buddhism in United States. The Dalai Lama and other high lamas visit these communities to give lectures on Tibetan Buddhism, to participate in sand mandala construction and dismantling practices. They raise awareness of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. —Rueyling Chuang See also: Tibetan Americans: Religion.
Further Reading Brauen, Martin, and Martin Wilson. The Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Sambhala, 1998. Bryant, Barry. The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Fincher, Susanne F., and Robert A. Johnson. Creating Mandalas for Insight, Healing, and Self-Expression. Boston: Shambhala, 1991.
Social Etiquette and Customs Tibetan Americans mainly follow traditional Tibetan social etiquette and customs as well as American social etiquette and customs. Tibetan social etiquette and customs are generally based on principles of ethics and morality directly derived from
Tibetan Americans: Social Etiquette and Customs
the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. Not only in religious practices, but even in daily secular life, many aspects of Tibetan social etiquette and customs are governed by Buddhist ethical rules, such as respecting the law of karma (every action will have a consequential result), compassion to all sentient beings, respect for elders, teachers, and parents, etc. But in some secular areas, such as dress codes and crops, the customs are not directly related to religion. On New Year’s Day, Tibetans wear their best clothes and ornaments, prepare the best foods and visit each other’s homes for parties. The first words one utters when meeting someone are the greeting words, “Tashi Delek.” This phrase is even generally, the most common Tibetan word for greeting someone. Tibetans offer a white scarf, known as katak, to symbolize both auspiciousness as well as condolence depending on the situation. Throughout the year, Tibetans visit monasteries and temples on every important religious day to make offerings and prayers to the Buddhas. By custom, most Tibetans have a private shrine at their homes, in front of which is arranged seven small bowls of water as offering to the Buddhas. The Dalai Lama’s birthday, July 7, is an extremely important day for Tibetan American communities. Tibetans celebrate it with a grand function and cultural events of song and dance. In accordance with tradition, Tibetans occasionally invite Buddhist monks to their homes to do private prayers for their family to avert obstacles and get protection. By religious requirements, four monks are invited at a time. When a person dies, the family of the deceased person will arrange for a team of monks to perform weekly death rituals until the 49th day, after which it is believed that the deceased person has taken a new rebirth. Then, after a year has passed, another prayer ritual will be performed to help the deceased person. An important etiquette is that, even though normally Tibetan Americans wear regular American dress, on important religious and social days, they dress in the colorful traditional Tibetan costume, known as chupas, a long gown designed and worn in a stylish way. During meal times, Tibetans say a grace to offer the food first to the Buddhas and religious masters. Tibetans are traditionally nonvegetarians, but Tibetan Americans have acquired the American habit of taking a balanced diet by eating plenty of vegetables also. But, as per Tibetan tradition, Tibetan Americans stick to only a few kinds of meat, like beef, lamp, pork, and goat. Many also take fish, but less then the others. They avoid eating small animals like shrims and prawns unless there is no choice. Some Tibetan Americans also prepare tsampa (a traditional Tibetan diet made from roasted barley flour). —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Goldstein, Melvyn C., “Study of the Family Structure in Tibet.” Natural History (March 1987): 109–112.
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Tibetan Americans: Traditional Medicine and Healing Stein, R. A. Tibetan Civilization. Translated by J. E. Stapleton Driver. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1972.
Traditional Medicine and Healing The Tibetan healing and medicinal tradition is said to have roots in the ancient medical system of Byzantine, Persia, India, and China and its beginning is said to go back 2,500 years in history. The Tibetan tradition is thus a product of a synthesis of the best of the medical elements from the ancient medical traditions of those countries and indigenous medicinal systems as well as further Tibetan innovations. For many centuries, its practice is widespread in Tibet, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Mongolia, China, and parts of Russia, and is today also being practiced in North America and Europe. There are some resident Tibetan doctors in many American cities, such as San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. The Tibetan medical system is called gSoba Rig-pa in Tibetan, which means “the science of healing.” It uses different kinds of ingredients, such as herbs, trees, rocks, resins, soils, precious metals, and saps, in its medicines. Ninety-five percent of the total substances used in its medicines are herbs, and 5 percent are derived from the seven types of precious metals, such as gold and silver, which are chemically processed to take the toxins out and then processed to make “precious pills” (Rin chen ril bu). Tibetan medicine is said to be good for all kinds of illness, but it is said to be particularly effective in the treatment of chronic diseases such as rheumatism and arthritis. Diagnosis of diseases is conducted through traditional methods such as urine analysis, checking the texture and color of the tongue, pulse reading, and questioning the patient on how the sickness developed. Treatments are done in four ways: by giving advice on proper diet, by giving advice on appropriate physical behavior, by prescribing medicine, and, if necessary, by performing surgery. Tibetan doctors also practice physical therapies like acupuncture, moxabustion, and massage. It also suggests the use of traditional techniques, such as applying residual barley from chang (Tibetan wine) on swollen body parts, drinking hot water for indigestion, and using melted butter for bleeding. The Four Tantras (tib. rgyud-bzhi), which represent the main canon of Tibetan medical science and lays out the principles of the human body, says that the human body is composed from the five basic ingredients of the cosmos: earth, water, fire, air, and space, and is sustained due to the presence of three further energies: wind (rLung), bile (mKhris-pa), and phlegm (Bad-kan). When the three energies are balanced, a person experiences good health. When they are out of balance or impeded in their flow, disorders result. However, the root cause of all disorders is
Tibetan Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
traced to the “three mental poisons”—desire, hatred, and delusion—as taught in Buddhist philosophy. Today, Tibetan Americans are resorting to the use of modern Western medicine, especially where Tibetan medicine is not very effective, such as in emergency cases. However, generally, they continue to rely a lot on Tibetan medicine, not only because it is a precious part of their homeland heritage, but also because they revere it for its efficacy and minimal side effects. Some, for example, take it just for general good health even if they are not really sick. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Avedon, John F. “Exploring the Mysteries of Tibetan Medicine.” New York Times, January 11, 1981. Burang, Theodore. The Tibetan Art of Healing. London: Robinson & Watkins Books Ltd., 1974. Donden, Yeshi. Health through Balance: An Introduction to Tibetan Medicine. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1986.
Web Sites Tibetan Medicine: http://www.medicinetibet.org (accessed August 5, 2010). Tibetanmedicine-edu.org: http://www.tibetanmedicine-edu.org (accessed August 5, 2010).
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Most Tibetan Americans speak both English and their native Tibetan language. The majority of Tibetans living in the United States are first-generation Tibetan Americans who moved to the United States during the late 20th century as adults. As a result, even though most learned English in school as a child in their country of origin (e.g., Tibet, India, or Nepal) and can speak and understand the language relatively well, English still remains a second language to them, and they do not feel as at ease with English as with their native tongue. Therefore, unless necessary, most Tibetans speak Tibetan when they are at home and amongst themselves. For these Tibetans, their general speech and manners are also more akin to the speech and manners in their country of origin. However, among younger children who have begun school in the United States from a young age, many tend to speak English as their native tongue and cannot speak or understand Tibetan well. The speech and manner of these young children also exhibit strong American influence. In terms of mannerism and interpersonal speech, most adult Tibetan Americans greet each other in their traditional Tibetan manner. For instance, when greeting each other, they say, “Tashi Delek” (meaning “auspiciousness, sound health”),
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which is the best-known Tibetan greeting phrase. For goodbye, they say the traditional phrase, “Yang Kyer Jel Yong,” which literally means “see you again.” Sometimes, some people will also say, “Ga Le Phep Go,” which means “go slowly.” When greeting their Buddhist clergy, especially senior Buddhist monks and teachers, they say “Tashi Delek” by bowing their head a little bit in respect. When they greet very high Buddhist masters like the Dalai Lama and other revered spiritual masters, they bow down very low with the palm of their hands clasped together at the center of their chest near their heart. —Tenzin Sherab
Further Reading Cabezon, Jose Ignacio, and Roger R. Jackson, eds. Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1995. Smith, Gene E. Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2001.
Vietnamese Americans History, People, and Culture The starting point of the Vietnamese American experience is often linked to the mass refugee exodus following the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. Though to be sure, there was a pre-1975 Vietnamese immigrant experience. This immigrant group consisted largely of Vietnamese who came to the United States as students, professionals, and war brides. According to the U.S. census, from 1951 to 1975, this group totaled a little more than 20,000. A study by academic Vu Pham, utilizing oral interviews and printed materials, found that some of the pre-1975 immigrants, particularly those who were students, acted as agents of change. These students promoted a better understanding of Vietnam as a country rather than merely as a war, as well as expressing a range of views from criticizing American policy in Vietnam that had uprooted a large number of Vietnamese villagers to espousing American support for the Republic of South Vietnam against communist rule in the north. One of those students was Dinh-Hoa Nguyen, who memorialized his life experience into two time periods, pre 1948 and post 1948, signifying the year he came as a student through the U.S. consulate in Hanoi to obtain a PhD in English education. After receiving his doctoral degree, Hoa returned to Vietnam in 1957 to serve as chairman of the English department at the University of Saigon. In 1965, he came back to, and remained in, the United States to develop one of the first Vietnamese Studies programs, promoting the Vietnamese language and literature. He also had published English textbooks for Vietnamese speakers, which were in high demand among the post-1975 Vietnamese refugees. According to Hoa’s memoir of his cultural odyssey, by the time when it was possible to provisionally return home, his memories of Vietnam were so strong they compelled him to travel back in 1994, which was very meaningful because he found that he had not outgrown his past. Another student was Long Nguyen, who attended the University of California at Berkeley from 1968 to 1973, completing his PhD work in political science. Prior to 1968, Long, as a student activist championing progressive politics, led protests
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against the Ngo Dinh Diem government (1955–1963) and the Nguyen Van Thieu government (1967–1975). He continued his activism in the United States, participating in antiwar demonstrations. Long returned to Vietnam in 1973 and saw no reason to become a refugee in 1975, believing the patriotism and nationalism, as espoused by the Communist Party, would allow for a coalition government to rebuild a better Vietnam. He discovered instead that life under communist rule was a nightmare, and the conditions were near slavery. Thus, Long was willing to risk death and escaped successfully by boat in 1979. Initially, he believed that the United States should withdraw its forces to allow the Vietnamese on their own to negotiate for peace. However, in his memoir of daily life under the Vietnamese Communists, Long came to realize that such an approach was too simplistic. The above experiences, on the one hand, as shared by a number of the pre-1975 immigrants, clearly antedate the narratives of the Vietnamese refugees following the Vietnam War. However, on the other hand, such experiences were neither necessarily unique only to the pre-1975 Vietnamese Americans nor were disconnected to the refugee exodus after the fall of Saigon. Rather, the pre-1975 experiences open possibilities of memorizing and/or archiving them as anchors to the Vietnamese American cultural and intellectual history. That is, the “birth” of Vietnamese American experience is related to American involvement in Vietnam during the end of World War II. Moreover, its cultural and intellectual history is about assertions and negotiations of the right to “place-making” and for “memory work” to bring about desired change and to revise distorted histories, both in the United States and in Vietnam. In fact, there has been a belief that Vietnam should seek diplomatic relations with the United States so as to achieve independence, dating back to Bui Vien’s mission in 1873. According to a well-known biography which was first published in Saigon in 1945, Bui Vien, an official of the Tu Duc’s court (1848–1883), was believed to have been sent to the United States to request an intervention by the Grant administration against French intrusion in Vietnam. However, due to political circumstances, the U.S. government was not in a position at the time to assist. Although no known historical documentation supports that such a visit actually took place, this fable has had the power to explain the events that came after it, according to academic Wynn Wilcox. That is, in 1950, the United States had granted the recognition of the Associated State of Vietnam in which a year earlier the noncommunist government of Bao Dai was able to negotiate for independence for the whole of Vietnam within the French Union. When the Geneva Accord of 1954 partitioned the country into two ideological halves, the United States singularly allied with noncommunist Vietnamese leaders to secure the survival of the Republic of South Vietnam. Thus, the historical vision of a political relationship between the two countries was finally inaugurated. By 1967, when the alliance was at a crossroads, President Lyndon B. Johnson invoked Bui Vien’s mission to
Vietnamese Americans: History, People, and Culture
reiterate that: “[W]e know our destination. We established it years ago . . . together, with courage and unflagging devotion to the duty we share, we will make it.” With the communist takeover in 1975, the United States and South Vietnam once again shared the same destiny, that is, as losers of the Vietnam War. While the United States began to study the lessons of and move on beyond the Vietnam War, the initial wave of refugees—about 130,000, of which many were members of the former South Vietnamese government and military—began to reconstruct their new home as “Little Saigon.” The use of “Little Saigon” not only suggests an explicit cultural and ideological reference point that could be passed from one generation to the next, but also a community-driven, bottom-up approach that expresses needs and desires that were quite different from U.S. resettlement policy. Initially, the objective of U.S. resettlement policy was to “assimilate” Vietnamese refugees to only take on an American identity and who were discouraged to form their own ethnic communities. As such, Vietnamese refugees were systematically dispersed across the states to avoid burdening local governments’ budget and to prevent Vietnamese from clustering into large, geographically ethnic enclaves. However, many of the first-wave refugees saw the dispersion as a major obstacle in adjusting because it prevented ethnic support and a sense of belonging. In fact, after a few years, government-created diasporas were reversing, as Vietnamese themselves sought for the presence of a Vietnamese community to cope with being physically, psychologically, culturally, economically, and intellectually displaced. In many respects, Vietnamese secondary migration, including those of the latter waves of refugees, were driven by “geographical mobility,” moving to places that had public assistance benefit levels, lenient public assistance eligibility requirements, low unemployment rates, or ethnic communities with dense cultural and social networks. Gradually, Vietnamese refugees have been able to put back the “place” into displacement, not always having a defined plan of action, but never “silent” or merely “surviving.” Contrary to the initial prediction by some American scholars that Vietnamese refugees were psychologically unprepared to start life anew, the refugees’ experiences of traumas from war and escape have in many ways instilled a sense of invulnerability and the attitude of “nowhere to go but up,” which encourages Vietnamese refugees to take risks and become innovators in their respected occupations. An empirical study by Paul Starr and Alden Roberts in 1982 found that many Vietnamese refugees saw past personal difficulties as having “inoculated” them against the negative, and instilled the attitude that “what does not kill you makes you stronger.” Other studies found that many Vietnamese refugees possessed a great degree of optimism, expecting their lives to improve markedly within five years, including occupational advancement, income, and overall quality of lives. Also contrary to the assimilationist perspective, the robust social mobility of the first generation of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants has been correlated to the
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cohort’s ability to retain aspects of Vietnamese culture. That is, in making places for themselves, many Vietnamese refugees and immigrants have retained Vietnamese cultural ideals of the family, such as “hieu” (filial piety) and of the community such as “nghia” (the obligation to participate rather than withdraw from societal affairs). For example, empirical studies by Minh Zhou and Carl Bankston have found that younger generations of Vietnamese Americans in marginal socioeconomic environments who have a strong adherence to traditional family values, a strong commitment to work ethic, a high level of Vietnamese literacy, and a high degree of personal involvement in the ethnic community tend to have disproportionately high grades, to have definite college plans, and to score high on college entrance exams. Importantly, these Vietnamese cultural ideals coexisted with views that the American way of life was modern, scientific, and progressive. Consequently, the bicultural patterns have caused observers to describe the first generation of Vietnamese Americans as having various characteristics, including eclectic, adaptable, resourceful, practical, passive, indirect, and resilient. The above characteristics have assisted, to a considerable degree, in the adjustment of subsequent waves of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants, who, relative to the first wave, possessed a lesser degree of “anticipatory socialization of American life.” Subsequent waves include “boat people” who began their journey in the late 1970s, as a result of the new government’s discriminatory policy toward the “corrupted, westernized” culture of southern Vietnam, including abolition of “bourgeois trade,” creation of new economic zones, and a military draft of young men. However, such journeys were subjected to violent acts by pirates, such as rapes, murders, and pillaging. Thus, the acronym “RMP” was stamped on many refugees’ files. It has been estimated that the death rate was about 15 percent of the total number of people arriving at the refugee camps in Southeast Asia, or rougly 220,000 deaths. “Boat people” were more likely to be Viet Hoa (Chinese Vietnamese or Vietnamese Chinese), males, Buddhists, less affluent, less proficient in the English language, and less educated. Still, this group was relatively young and had been urban workers in Vietnam. They were able to maintain strong family ties and kinship networks and, while they did not necessarily assimilate quickly as many of their first-wave cohorts, they show a rather gradual improvement on a number of socioeconomic indicators. The adjustment of many was exacerbated because many were sponsored by the first-wave refugees. Moreover, when confronted with language barriers and lack of employable skills in the mainstream, a great number turned to family-run businesses, marketing themselves to the growing Vietnamese communities across the states. As a result, Vietnamese Americans have had one of the highest growth rates in small businesses among Asian Americans, which helped to solidify the many “Little Saigons” across the United States as a vibrant ethnic enclave economy.
Vietnamese Americans: History, People, and Culture
Another wave consisted of individuals who came through governmentsponsored programs, namely the Orderly Departure Program (ODP), Humanitarian Operation (HO) Program, and U.S. Homecoming program. Individuals who came via ODP beginning in 1984 were those permitted to enter via sponsorship of relatives in the United States. Like “boat people,” earlier ODP immigrants over time have improved their socioeconomic situations. By contrast, later ODP immigrants and those under HO—who were former South Vietnamese political prisoners, for which the U.S. government negotiated with Vietnam for their immigration to the United States starting in 1989—have been struggling to climb out of the poverty line. This group relative to other waves was older and had a different, difficult adjustment because they were survivors of torture. Unlike earlier groups and younger cohorts, this group did not perceive a positive overall well-being that could buffer against psychological distress. Another group that faced serious adjustment difficulties has been that of Amerasians—individuals fathered by a U.S. citizen in Vietnam during the war—who came under the Homecoming Act implemented in 1989. These individuals differ drastically from other Vietnamese refugees and immigrants on measures of alcohol use, number of hospitalizations, years of education, childhood trauma, and perceived effects of trauma. From 1975 to 2002, a total of 759,482 Vietnamese arrived as refugees, while 412,449 arrived as immigrants from 1951 to 2002, according to the U.S. census. Today, Vietnamese immigrants, particularly through the family unification program, make up the vast majority of foreign-born Vietnamese entering the United States. According to 2008 census numbers, there are 1.6 million Vietnamese Americans, and—despite the different migration vintages—this group made considerable progress. Studies using the data from the census have shown that foreign-born Vietnamese entering the United States in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000–2005 have seen an increase in terms of English proficiency, proportion of college graduates, number of owner-occupied housing, family median income, naturalization, and voting; in addition, Vietnamese have seen a decrease in public assistance and poverty rate. However, relative to other non-refugee Asian foreign born who enter the United States in the same time period, Vietnamese Americans are more likely to be in poverty, to be uninsured, to be institutionalized, and to reside in the poorer inner-city neighborhoods. Notwithstanding, given the expectation that Vietnamese refugees and immigrants were to experience downward assimilation or segmented assimilation because of the “hourglass economy,” Vietnamese Americans have been able to achieve a considerable degree of “place-making” in the American mosaic. No less important, Vietnamese Americans, through “memory work,” have been able to make cultural statements, signifying their identity to themselves and others. For example, Vietnamese Americans are attempting to be the first Asian American group to establish a million-dollar endowment at the Smithsonian
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Institution. An exhibit, “Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon,” opened at the Smithsonian in January 2007, with plans to travel to 15 cities. The overall mission of the Vietnamese Heritage Project at the Smithsonian is to tell “the story of challenge, sacrifice and change—an ongoing journey that is changing the face of America.” However, the project has created discussions and inroads of inquiry. That is, whether or not marketing the Vietnamese American experience as a part of the American heritage would continue to marginalize the “missing” voices and narratives of the former Republic of South Vietnam. This is evident in the teaching of the Vietnam War on college campuses, where there is still a dominant emphasis on the American perspectives about the lessons learned. Within the community, there has been an effort to rewrite the Vietnam War, extracting the lessons of the past to build a better future along with the need to maintain an impartial objectivity. Moreover, there has been an ongoing documentation of Vietnamese American achievement called Ve Vang Dan Viet (The Pride of the Vietnamese), which currently has a five-volume edition. The Ve Vang Dan Viet is now being utilized by Vietnamese American newspapers, organizations, and bloggers. In many respects, Ve Vang Dan Viet is an ideological statement, declaring the superiority of a democratic way of life that has allowed Vietnamese refugees and immigrants to fulfill their full potential. Meanwhile, life under communist tutelage has not released the full potential of the Vietnamese people in Vietnam. —Long S. Le
Further Reading Aguilar-San Juan, Karin. Little Saigons: Staying Vietnamese in America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Kelly, Gail. From Vietnam to America. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1977. Le, Long. “Marking and Marketing the Vietnamese American Experience: Is Our Heritage Being Historically ‘Minimized’?” Nha Magazine, September–October 2007. McKelvey, Robert and John Webb. “A Comparative Study of Vietnamese Amerasians, Their Non-Amerasian Siblings, and Unrelated, Like-Aged Vietnamese Immigrants.” American Journal of Psychiatry 153(4) (1996). Nguyen, Hoa Dinh. From the City Inside the Red River: A Cultural Memoir of MidCentury Vietnam. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 1999. Nguyen, Long, with Harry Kendall. After Saigon Fell: Daily Life under the Vietnamese Communists. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies at University of California, Berkeley, 1981. Pham, Vu. “Antedating and Anchoring Vietnamese America: Toward a Vietnamese American Historiography.” Amerasia Journal, 29(1), 2003. Shapiro, Johanna, Karen Douglas, and Olivia de la Rocha. “Generational Differences in Psychosocial Adaptation and Predictors of Psychological Distress in a Population of Recent Vietnamese Immigrants.” Journal of Community Health 24(2) (April 1999).
Vietnamese Americans: Arts and Crafts Vo, Nghia. The Vietnamese Boat People, 1954 and 1975–1992. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006. Wilcox, Wynn. “The Myth of Bui Vien.” Paper presented at the Association for Asian Studies Conference, Chicago, March 31–April 3, 2005. Zhou, Min, and Carl Bankston. Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in United States. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1998.
Arts and Crafts In the mid-1980s, Vietnamese art saw the return of folk and village motifs, including buffalo herders, farmland, fishponds, and folk heroes. These folk images typically appear in lacquer paintings. Lacquer art is unique in that the pictures are printed on wood plates using a variety of paints, seashells, eggshells, and mother-of-pearl, and they are covered in multiple layers of clear lacquer (before and after the print) to give them the glossy texture. The resin used to make the lacquer comes from the Rhus Succedanea tree found in northern Vietnam. Besides lacquer, lacquer art requires the use of natural materials such as sawdust, alluvial oil, and grounded rocks. Underwater sanding is also an important part of the process, as it helps create the smooth surface on which the print is created. Other popular Vietnamese folk art includes handmade dolls, water puppets, and woodblock prints. Vietnamese handmade dolls, in particular, are usually of young maidens dressed in an ao dai or ao ba ba. The dolls almost always have long black hair, and many of them will either wear a straw hat (non la) or have one in hand. Like the traditional ao dai, long black hair on young women is a trait of traditional Vietnamese feminine beauty. The straw hat serves to protect her complexion from the sun’s rays. Water puppets are heavy, hand-carved wooden sculptures of folk characters. Each puppet has its own personality and mood; thus, there could be a puppet of a grumpy old man, a happy fisherman, a weeping wife, etc. As their name implies, water puppets perform in the water (e.g., lake, pond, or pool) where puppeteers use long bamboo rods hidden beneath the water surface to manipulate movements. Skits are usually about folk and agricultural life—rice-planting stories, folktales, heroes, etc. Woodblock prints, or tranh dong ho, originated in Dong Ho Village (north of Hanoi) and are one of the most popular forms of Vietnamese folk art. Common themes of woodblock prints include scenes from everyday life, domestic village animals (e.g., roosters, pigs, dogs, etc.), countryside landscape, and folk and national heroes. The artwork is known for its durable paper and vibrant and warm paint colors. Specifically, the printing paper (giay gio) is made from special tree
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bark fiber, and the paint comes from sea shells, earth of hills, yams, day lilies, and various tree leaves including burnt bamboo leaves. The actual woodblocks are made from a soft, fibrous tree. Woodblock prints are typically sold at Tet and other folk festivals year round. In addition to paintings, dolls, puppets, and woodblock prints, Vietnamese artwork may also include decorative ceramics, ceremonial drums, silk paintings, silk and paper lanterns, flower embroidery, and theater masks. —Rossina Zamora Liu See also: Vietnamese Americans: Home Decoration.
Further Reading MacMillan, Diane M. Tet: Vietnamese New Year. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1994. Noppe, Catherine, and Jean-Francois Hubert. Art of Vietnam. New York: Parkstone Press, 2003. Taylor, Nora A. Painters in Hanoi: An Ethnography of Vietnamese Art. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004.
Web Sites Asia2You. 2001 to 2009. Vietnamese Artwork. http://www.vietnameseartwork.com/ (accessed July 25, 2009). Ford Foundation. “Traces and Traditions: Vietnamese Woodblock Prints.” International Print Center New York. http://www.ipcny.org/exhib/exhib_ex/exhib_ex_vietnam.htm (accessed July 25, 2009). Le, Cuong N. 2001–2009. “Tet: A Celebration of Rebirth.” Asian Nation: Asian American History, Demographics and Issues. http://www.asian-nation.org/tet.shtml (accessed May 15, 2009).
Boat People “Boat people” is a term widely used to describe individuals fleeing their original communities on boats or other crudely made watercraft, generally due to political duress. Within Vietnamese America, the phrase “boat people” conjures up folkloric images of desperate women, children, and men seeking refugee risking their life out at sea. Although historically and politically, it has been used to refer to political refugees from a range of nations, it gained wide usage in the late 1970s after Vietnamese nationals fled the communist-controlled Socialist Republic of Vietnam following the fall of Saigon.
Vietnamese Americans: Boat People
Most of the initial wave of Vietnamese refugees to the United States were educated and highly skilled and had been airlifted by the U.S. government to bases on Guam and the Philippines before final resettlement. The boat people represented a second wave, beginning around 1978 as a reaction to government reeducation camps and oppression, and included both ethnic Vietnamese and a number of Sino-Vietnamese expelled due to tense relations with China. These refugees constructed makeshift, overcrowded boats with the hope of reaching asylum camps (in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, etc.) before eventual acceptance in host countries. Boat people recount stories of seasickness, mass vomiting, and attacks and raids by pirates, which includes murder, rape, and robbery. Their traumatic experiences on boats are part of the oral history of many Vietnamese refugees, and are thus a part of Vietnamese American folk narrative. Beyond being simply a historical moment, the narrative of the “boat people” has been important within Vietnamese American life, academic scholarship about Vietnamese Americans, and the realm of international policy. Figurative language about oceans and water abound in Vietnamese American literature, such as in the anthology Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose, which features an excerpt of Huynh Sanh Thong’s “Live by Water, Die for Water.” Refugees’ retelling of their harrowing experiences, such as in Cargill and Huynh’s anthology Voices of Vietnamese Boat People (2000), are also important to the fabric of the Vietnamese American refugee experience. Outside of the Vietnamese American community, the United Nations has heavily debated the human rights implications of socalled “boat cases.” In Vietnamese American popular culture, notable “boat people” include Nguyen Ngoc Ngan, celebrated author and emcee of the “Paris by Night” variety show by Thuy Nga Productions, and Truc Ho, composer and music producer for Asia Entertainment. Nguyen has penned a memoir and spoken at length about the loss of his wife and son when their boat capsized in 1979 en route to Malaysian refugee camps. The theme has also featured prominently in film, including Ann Hui’s Boat People (1982) and Tran Ham’s Journey from the Fall (2008). Hui’s work, a Hong Kong production, depicted a corrupt Vietnamese government abusing its power and Vietnamese nationals’ failed attempts to flee the country by boat. While critically acclaimed, the film was removed from the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival at the request of the French government, which was trying to restore relations with Vietnam (Kennedy 1983). Tran’s film, about a family divided when the husband is sent to a Vietnamese reeducation camp while his wife and children escape to California, was well received within the Vietnamese American community but was banned by the Vietnamese government. —Jason R. Nguyen
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Further Reading Cargill, Mary, and Jade Ngoc Quang Huynh. Voices of Vietnamese Boat People: Nineteen Narratives of Escape and Survival. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2000. Hui, Ann. Boat People. Hong Kong: Edko Films, 1982. Nguyen, Ngoc Ngan, and E. E. Richey. The Will of Heaven: A Story of One Vietnamese and the End of His World. New York: Dutton Adult, 1982. Rutledge, Paul. The Vietnamese Experience in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992. Tran, Barbara, Monique T. D. Truong, and Luu Truong Khoi. Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998. Tran, Ham. Journey from the Fall (Vuot Song). Australia: Arkles Entertainment, 2008. Zhou, Min, and Carl L. Bankston. Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States. Thousand Oaks, CA: Russell Sage Foundation Publications, 1998.
Web Site Kennedy, Harlan. “Ann Hui’s Boat People—Cannes 1983.” Film Comment, October 1983. http://www.americancinemapapers.com/files/BOAT_PEOPLE.htm (accessed August 6, 2010).
Children and Folk Song For many Vietnamese Americans, children and folk songs are an essential method of preserving Vietnamese culture and values. The repertoire shares much in common with music in Vietnam, and with the increasing connections between the diaspora and Vietnam through technology and normalized travel, many distinctions are becoming increasingly blurred. Children’s song can refer to both songs sung by children and those sung to children. Songs sung by children may include educational songs (such as those teaching Vietnamese vocabulary), playful folk songs such as “Bat Kim Thang” or “Chi Chi Chanh Chanh” that are associated with children’s games, or upbeat folk songs such as “Trong Com” or “Ly Ngua O.” Songs sung to children consist mostly of baby lullabies like “Ru Con,” the prototypic southern Vietnamese lullaby. These songs are typically passed down within families, and Vietnamese American mothers may seek to learn them to retain a sense of Vietnamese identity in the household. Vietnamese folk songs are often classified by Vietnamese scholars as being a special category of traditional vocal music sung by the average, typically rural, person and used in his or her daily life. In addition to children’s songs and lullabies, other examples of folk music include work songs, rowing songs, love songs, and beggar’s songs. Generally, Vietnamese Americans associate each of Vietnam’s
Vietnamese Americans: Children and Folk Song
three regions with a different kind of folk song: northern quan ho (e.g., “Qua Cau Gio Bay”), central ho (e.g. “Ho Mai Nhi”), and southern ly (e.g., “Ly Con Sao”). Folk song is generally distinguished as being purely or predominantly vocal music, and thus regional distinctions are best made through inflection, mode, melody, and giong (voice or accent). These qualities or traits may also be employed in popular music to give the impression of a folk-like quality to a song, such as in the nhac que huong (literally “homeland music”). While these repertoires are not performed in their original “folk” contexts in the United States, the styles are often used in Vietnamese American music to map a memory of the Vietnamese homeland and Vietnamese identity generally, regardless of regional distinctions. These performances occur at major cultural events such as Tet (the lunar new year) or Tet Trung Thu (the moon festival), and also at a number of venues including churches, temples, and cultural centers. Furthermore, ca dao, or folk poetry, is often a fertile resource of lyrics from which musicians and composers can set new melodies and arrangements, blurring the distinctions between folk traditions and popular music. For example, the popular folk poem “Tat Nuoc Dau Dinh” (“fetching water before the village communal house”) was set to music by the composer Y Van, and his interpretation is one of the best known versions. In addition, many ca dao were memorized by Vietnamese Americans as youth in Vietnam, and thus they exist in the public consciousness to be discussed and shared. Finally, collections of ca dao are now easily accessible online at sites such as E-CaDao.com or even in bilingual scholarly collections, suggesting continued interest in preserving folk traditions. —Jason R. Nguyen See also: Vietnamese Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Balaban, John. Ca Dao Vietnam: A Bilingual Anthology of Vietnamese Folk Poetry. Santa Barbara, CA: Unicorn Press, 1980. Nguyen, Thuyet Phong, Adelaida Reyes Schramm, and Patricia Shehan Campbell. Searching for a Niche: Vietnamese Music at Home in America. Kent, OH: Viet Music Publications, 1995. Pham, Duy, and Dale R. Whiteside. Musics of Vietnam, ed. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1975. Reyes, Adelaida. Songs of the Caged, Songs of the Free: Music and the Vietnamese Refugee Experience. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999.
Web Site Tran, Quang Hai. “An Introduction to Vietnamese Music.” Hon Que Vietnamese Multimedia Magazine, 2003. http://www.honque.com/HQ020/bKhao_tqHai.htm (accessed August 6, 2010).
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Clothes and Jewelry One of the most popular garments worn during Vietnamese folk holidays and other cultural events is the ao dai. Intended to accent the female figure without revealing too much, the ao dai is a long, fitted, mandarin-collar dress that is worn with a long, loose silk trouser (usually black or white) called quan dai. The dress is unique in that it has two slits—one on the right and one on the left side. The slits start from the waist and end at mid-calf. In traditional times, the ao dai was the common, everyday dress for young and old women. However, today most women wear it only on special occasions such as Tet, weddings, funerals, church/temple visits, etc. Colors may vary depending on the age of the person wearing the garment. In general, younger women wear bright colors such as pink, turquoise, yellow, and orange, while older women wear darker and/or muted hues like brown, tan, dark blue, and maroon. Still, some colors and designs are reserved only for special occasions. For instance, in traditional Vietnamese weddings, the bride might wear either a red or pink ao dai with sequined embroidery at the center of the dress (usually of a phoenix). Some brides might also wear a fancy, outer cloak (ao khoac) over the ao dai as well as a headdress called a khan dong.
A group of Vietnamese American students dressed in ao dai, Moorpark College, California, August 30, 2009. (Visions of America, LLC/StockphotoPro)
Vietnamese Americans: Domestic Religious Practices
The traditional Vietnamese garment for men is the ao gam. Like the woman’s ao dai, the ao gam is a long, mandarin-collar robe with a front and back panel. However, it is much more loosely fitted than the ao dai, and it is less frequently worn in modern times. Still, in traditional Vietnamese weddings, the groom might wear a royal blue ao gam and khan dong in place of a tuxedo or suit during the wedding. Another traditional Vietnamese garment is the ao ba ba (commonly known as the Vietnamese silk “pajama”), which consists of two pieces: a long-sleeve, button-down silk shirt and a pair of long silk pants. The ao ba ba is the common dress for both men and women in the southern rural regions of Vietnam. Finally, the four-panel dress, or the ao tu than, is perhaps one of the oldest Vietnamese garments worn at folk celebrations. The ao tu than dates back to the 12th century, and it is the traditional dress of northern Vietnamese women. Gold and jade are the most popular types of jewelry worn with traditional wear. Both men and women, for instance, may wear pendants of mythical creatures (e.g., dragon) or religious figures (e.g., Buddha) with their ao dai or ao gam. Some people believe the jade stone, in particular, bears magical qualities that could protect them against evil spirits. For most Vietnamese, however, jade and gold represent beauty, wealth, and status. In fact gold is almost always part of the dowry at traditional Vietnamese weddings. During the ceremony, for example, the mother of the groom will present the bride with gold (and sometimes jade) earrings, necklace, bracelet, and ring. —Rossina Zamora Liu
Further Reading Nguyen, Van Huy. Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. Hanoi, Vietnam: Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, 1998.
Web Sites Active Travel Vietnam. “The Vietnamese Ao Dai (Long Dress).” 2005–2009. http:// www.activetravelvietnam.com/culture_customs/vietnamese_ao_dai.html (accessed August 1, 2009). Jayaram, N. “Vietnamese Fashion.” Things Asian, August 1, 2005. http://www.things asian.com/stories-photos/3440 (accessed July 28, 2009).
Domestic Religious Practices Domestic religious practices in Vietnamese American homes are often centered on the folk-religious creation and maintenance of altars to ancestral elders and religious figures. These spaces create deeply meaningful material and spiritual ties
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to kin, ancestors, and the homeland and are often focal points in Vietnamese American homes. They are sacred spaces in which to memorialize deceased parents and grandparents and actual vehicles for the connection between the physical world and the spiritual plane. Most altars are arranged on a top shelf or cabinet and enhanced with incense, cups of water, a photograph of a deceased relative, and offerings in the form of oranges, fresh-cut flowers, and fried spring rolls or pork paste on special occasions. In certain religious and folk traditions, altars are created and maintained outside of the home in the liminal area between domestic and public space, usually in honor of those who passed away without ancestors, or to a number of beneficial spirits. Ancestral altars commonly follow the agnate line, but other relatives are allowed to set up smaller versions in their own homes. The patriarch of the family maintains the “main” altar in their home until he passes away and the eldest son continues the tradition. The wife of the patriarch usually maintains the altar, replacing the incense, water, and offerings on a daily basis. Women are also responsible for the yearly ancestor veneration family gatherings (an dam gio), social events in which relatives reflect on their ancestors and the afterlife through ritual and especially food. These events coincide with the death anniversary of recent patriarchs, but recently deceased relatives can be included in some cases. Some families are known to keep scrupulous notes of death anniversary dates going back two and three generations, calling for more family gatherings throughout the year. The most important annual gathering is the celebration of Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. This yearly ritual begins weeks in advance with the cleaning of the household, the family altar, and the ancestral graves. Many customs are associated with this holiday, including settling of debts, resolving social conflicts, and wearing new clothes. Often, families light firecrackers or attend public gatherings and dragon dancing performances to mark the holiday. On the first day of the New Year, which is reserved for the nuclear family (which can include grandparents and extended kin), parents and elders give children red envelopes containing money. Homes are decorated with symbolic fruits, flowers, and “money trees” decorated with the red envelopes. Special foods are cooked and placed on the family altar to share with the ancestral spirits, who are invoked to provide blessings for the family for the upcoming year. In each region of Vietnam and across the Vietnamese diaspora, there are a wide variety of rituals and customs concerning greetings, foods, and proper ritual practice. Domestic altars are also spaces where the faithful meditate, pray, and appeal to higher powers on a regular basis throughout the year. Religious iconography identifies the family’s religious faith or faiths—Quan Am or Quan Yin in Buddhist households, Jesus or Mary in Christian households. These religious figures are often placed on a shelf above the ancestral altar, if not on the altar itself. In multireligious households, families negotiate how to display religious iconography.
Vietnamese Americans: Domestic Religious Practices
Some families may set these religious icons on separate shelves but on equal grounding. Others do not allow deities from different religious faiths to occupy the same room, and therefore set out another altar in a different room. Each family negotiates these issues based on ideas about the proper maintenance of ancestral respect, and the proper maintenance of religious belief. Often, religious beliefs and ancestral respect are one and the same. Vietnamese American ancestral altars can trace their history back to various animistic customs of indigenous communities throughout Southeast Asia, making it one of the most commonly practiced domestic traditions in the region. Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were influences from China and India, which merged with an indigenous form of ancestor veneration to produce a syncretic sense of moral orientation. Catholicism, which gained influence with the upper middle class during the French occupation going back to the 17th century, has recently allowed practitioners to continue venerating ancestors. Two native religions, Cao-Dai and Hoa-hao, have added to Vietnam’s religious diversity and have transformed the ancestral altar tradition in various ways, including the practice of maintaining an additional altar for spirits with no descendants. Cao Dai is a blend of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Catholicism, while Hoa-hao has a staunch nationalist character. Although inherently syncretic, ancestral rituals in Vietnamese and Vietnamese American homes have been particularly inspired by the East Asian philosophical underpinnings of Confucianism, due in large part to China’s 1,000 years of colonization. All of these influences, both external due to colonization and contact and the internal diversity of a myriad of ethnic groups, have given the Vietnamese an enormous religious breadth and richness that has (since 1975 and the great refugee migrations) extended geographically across the United States. In fact, many families keep two ancestral altars, one in Vietnam and the other across the Pacific in the United States. In this sense, domestic religious practices among Vietnamese Americans have become a transnational phenomenon, a testament to the breadth and creativity of the ever-emergent folk practices in Vietnamese American homes. —Linda Ho Peche´ See also: Vietnamese Americans: Indigenous Religious Traditions; Religion.
Further Reading Avieli, Nir. “Feasting with the Living and the Dead: Food and Eating in Ancestor Worship Rituals in Hoi An.” In P. Taylor, ed. Modernity and Re-enchantment: Religion in Postrevolutionary Vietnam. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2007. Rutledge, Paul. The Role of Religion in Ethnic Self-identity: A Vietnamese Community. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1985.
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Web Site Truitt, Allison. “Offerings to Kings and Buddha: Vietnamese Ritual Activities at Chua Bo De.” Louisiana Folklife Program 2007. http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles _Essays/offeringskingsbuddha.html (accessed May 7, 2008).
Dying and Death Rituals Vietnamese Americans have had to adapt many of their death rituals to work within American standards while maintaining a distinct sense of Vietnamese tradition. Indeed, while birthdays are not traditionally important, death is one of the most important markers in Vietnamese conceptualizations of the life cycle. Death is one of the most important rites of passage in the Vietnamese culture. Funerals are often elaborate, involving a series of sacred folk practices that begin even before the death occurs. While children of the deceased are primarily responsible for the ceremonies, it is common for other family members to take part in the planning and execution of rituals. In general, Vietnamese death rites consist of three main stages: rituals performed before death, rituals performed immediately after death (i.e., the funeral), and rituals performed within the first two years of death. Because most Vietnamese Americans self-identify as either Buddhist or Catholic, the majority of death rituals and the process of dying that precede them fall within the rubric of one of these two religions. Moreover, because of the prevalance of ancestor worship among Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans, there are many similarities between the rituals of these two groups. Some funerary rites often shared across religions include the feeding of the spirit of the deceased and the rite of reburial, in which bones are recollected, cleansed, and stored in a jar to be reburied. In the case of this latter ritual, it has become increasingly popular to instead opt for cremation, after which the ashes are taken back and placed on altars in the home or in a Buddhist temple. The strong emphasis on familial relationships has meant that many Vietnamese prefer to die at home rather than in hospitals or other care facilities. Vietnamese American elders have been known to take time preparing for their deaths, arranging finances for their proper burial, and writing wills, although they tend not to do so in advance of illness. According to Vietnamese Buddhist beliefs, the karma one accrues in a lifetime directly affects the station and opportunities of the spirit’s reincarnation. Thus, Buddhist funerary rites place an emphasis on easing the spirit’s passage from this life to the next. To keep the spirit from becoming too distraught after death, family members avoid outward displays of grief such as crying. A monk or priest
Vietnamese Americans: Dying and Death Rituals
is typically consulted to determine the best day for burial or cremation. Furthermore, memorial services are performed every 7 days in the 49 days following death and again at 100 days. During these services, it is customary for family members to dress in white (the traditional color of death) and wear white bands around their heads. Catholic funeral rites are similar in many ways, although Catholics in the United States tend toward burial rather than cremation. Processions are often led to the burial ground, where family members often watch the entire burial, each person throwing in a handful of dirt at the start. Family members typically wear black somewhere on their clothing for the days of mourning following the death, and memorial feasts occur on the 49th and 100th day.
Vietnamese American Death Rites The first death rites occur before the family member passes away. When and if possible, this is when friends and relatives visit the person’s home and pay their final respects. People come to console and help care for the dying person; some bear gifts such as prayers and religious items. In Buddhist households, the family may also invite monks to perform death chants during this time. This happens especially if the dying relative is suffering from excessive pain and needs a peaceful death. When the time of death nears, family members gather around the person and observe a moment of silence. The eldest child then listens in for his or her parent’s final utterances and shares it with the group. The second stage of death rites, or “the funeral,” is perhaps the most elaborate and detailed of the three. Ceremonial rituals for this stage include the calling of the soul, the cleansing of the body, the wrapping of the body in white cloth, the placement of the body into the casket, and the funeral itself. The calling of the soul, specifically, serves as a symbolic demonstration of filial piety toward one’s parents. According to tradition, children are not supposed to immediately accept the death of the parent and therefore must express desire for his or her return to life. This ritual entails two main actions. First, the eldest child of the deceased places a chopstick in the parent’s mouth (between the upper and lower jaw). Then he or she takes an item of clothing that belongs to the parent and waves it in the air next to the body. The familiar scent of the garment serves to guide the soul back to its physical embodiment (via the mouth). In the body-cleansing ceremony, the family carefully washes the corpse and then dresses it in presentable clothing. The purpose of this ritual is to prepare the deceased for the spirit world. As part of the preparation, the family also places a grain of rice and three gold coins inside the person’s mouth; the rice and coins suggest that the deceased enters the afterworld completely fulfilled (i.e., without hunger and without lack of money). Family members will then take turns guarding
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over the body until a favorable funeral and burial date is selected. (In modern times, and especially in the United States, the family usually watches over the body for one night and then takes it to a funeral home for care.) Once a date for the funeral procession and burial is determined, the next set of rituals involves wrapping the corpse in white cloth and placing it into the casket. (Again, today people may do away with the white cloth and simply dress the corpse in nice, formal clothing [i.e., suit, gown, dress, etc.] for burial.) The official funeral completes the second stage of death rites. According to custom, Vietnamese funerals consist of two main ceremonies: the memorial service and the opening of the gravesite. The memorial service, in particular, lasts for three days and includes the visitation and viewing, the prayer sessions, and the burial procession. During this time, friends and neighbors may view the body, offer prayers at the ancestral altar, and pay their condolences to family members. Traditionally, for these three days the family is supposed to wear special mourning garments (robes, veils, turbans, headbands, etc.) made from white linen and gauze. However, today some families will put on the garments only for prayer sessions while the spiritual leader (e.g., Buddhist monk, Catholic priest, etc.) performs the death rites. Finally, the burial procession occurs on the third day of the memorial service. According to custom, daughters are supposed to walk behind the deceased with their heads bowed, while sons are supposed to walk backward at the front of the casket. In the United States, where families often refer to funeral services, the casket may already be set at the gravesite by the time of burial. As such, some families may modify this ritual and focus more on the prayer service right before the coffin is lowered into the ground. Three days following the burial, the family returns to the gravesite and bids the soul another farewell. In Buddhist families, this is when the monk performs “the opening of the gravesite” ceremony. According to Buddhist beliefs, the deceased is initially unaware of his or her death and therefore must be informed through prayers. During the opening of the gravesite ritual, the monk tells the deceased that he or she is no longer of the living and must proceed to the spirit world. It is believed that the soul awakens later that night at the gravesite and grieves over the death, acknowledging its fate for the first time. The final stage of death rites occurs in four increments during the first 49 days of death, the 100th day of death, the first year of death, and the second year of death. For the first 49 days, in particular, the family invites the soul back home for dinner every night (some families perform the ritual once a week). Three rice bowls are set at the altar—one for the deceased relative, and one for each of the two ghost-escorts accompanying the deceased. Because spirits are not permitted to enter the home without invitation, this ritual allows the soul entrance and visitation. The ritual stops after 49 days. Another ceremonial offering occurs on the 100th day of death, followed by another celebration on the first-year
Vietnamese Americans: Family and Community
anniversary. Finally, the mourning period ends two years after the death. Family members will hold a special ceremony for the deceased and discard funeral garments at this time. During the official mourning period, children of the deceased are not permitted to marry or dress in bright-color clothing. Today, the latter practice has been modified. To symbolize their loss, children of the deceased may wear a small piece of black cloth around the arm, head, and/or lapels. Many rituals have had to be modified or omitted entirely in the United States, where funeral preparations are generally performed by professionals in funeral homes. Recently, funeral homes have begun adapting to the changing religious and cultural climate to include accomodations for Vietnamese rituals generally and Buddhist rituals specifically. For example, ceremonies may be scheduled so that family members can chant Buddhist scriptures while proceeding to the cremation site without bothering the funeral home’s other patrons. —Rossina Zamora Liu and Jason R. Nguyen
Further Reading Brulliard, Karin. “Last Rites, Tailored to Immigrant Customs: Funeral Homes Learn the Traditions of a Diversifying Clientele.” Washington Post, April 24, 2006. Nguyen, Van H., and Laurel Kendall, eds. Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind and Spirit. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Yeo, Gwen, and Nancy Hikoyeda. “Cultural Issues in End-of-Life Decision Making Among Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States.” In K. Braun, J. H. Pietsch, and P. L. Blanchette, eds. Cultural Issues in End-of-Life Decision Making. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1999, 101–126.
Web Sites American Museum of Natural History. Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind and Spirit (2004). http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/vietnam/05_life/index.php (accessed July 3, 2009). Haivenu Co. “Rites of Passage in Vietnam” (2002). http://www.vietnam-holidays.co.uk/ aboutvietnam/cpassage.htm (accessed August 6, 2010). Hoang, D. T. Death Rituals in Vietnamese Society. University of Washington, 2000. http:// ethnomed.org/cultures/vietnamese/viet_death.html (accessed August 5, 2009).
Family and Community Not unlike other immigrants, Vietnamese refugees adapt as groups rather than as individuals and rely on, but also modify, traditional cultural values to meet demands of their host’s society. This was evident when the first wave of
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Vietnamese refugees sought to reconstitute their families and fictive kin relations, which had been split by migration or as a result of dispersal policy implemented by the U.S. refugee settlement program. In many ways, the family and kin relations along with the explicit desire for community interaction initially enabled Vietnamese refugees to cope, adjust, and solve problems raised by migration and resettlement. So that early on it was quite common for Vietnamese American families to contain three generations, married siblings, and even friends who are unrelated but are nonetheless treated as part of the family. Such decree of age and gender diversity, as found by Nazli Kibrai, can increase wages to the household financial pot, provide labor to the family business, and extend or share access to loans, jobs, and information. Underlying this “patchworking” strategy is the ideology of family collectivism, drawing from Confucian family traditions, that encourages members to act as an economic unit to achieve a “good name” and educational achievement. That is, one of the goals of the family collectivism is the schooling of the young. Educational attainment not only provides a good name, but also economic prosperity; both would bring honor and pride to the whole household. This includes family members in Vietnam, in which money is sent home along with reports of family accomplishments. However, it is still believed that a poor or uneducated person who is honest, righteous, and generous toward his or her family, friends, and neighbors is more respected than a rich and powerful person with a bad reputation. By many accounts, high levels of academic achievement and the belief that the Vietnamese community’s strength is the nature of its members are the result of the cultural values that Vietnamese refugees brought with them from Vietnam, though those traditional values have been reconstructed as well as influenced by a new environment. To be sure, to a considerable degree, resettlement and adaptation have disintegrated or put serious strains on family life, resulting in youth delinquency, divorces, and domestic violence. Notwithstanding, households that are able to innovate traditional familial roles and values are more likely to make better adjustments. While the traditional authority of men and elders has been challenged due to migration to the United States, it provides opportunities for greater equality between men and women and between young and old. Although such egalitarianism is at odds with the ideals of hierarchy and paternal control, studies have shown that individuals who exhibit bicultural patterns that lean toward Anglo middle-class values and norms, while maintaining or negotiating ethnic cultural practices in the home, are able to avoid psychological distress and able to attain personal, interpersonal, and achievement domains. As true with family and kinship relations, community was quite an important social arena for Vietnamese refugees, providing an enclave economy and ethnic associations through which members can obtain financial, psychological, and cultural support. In fact, by 1978, about half of the 1975 refugees had moved from
Vietnamese Americans: Festivals and Holidays
their original locations, from rural areas to cities and movement to states such as California, Texas, and Louisiana. The formation of ethnic enclaves and associations is not without problems, since who is to be helped has been subject to one’s political orientation. Nevertheless, the “Little Saigon” communities can be thought of as laboratories, testing and integrating American ideas on entrepreneurship and democracy, on both a local and an international scale. In general, the Vietnamese American community is not only invoked as a field of interaction, but also as a reflection of the experiences and values, which has provided a unique and positive identity. According to academic Linda Vo, there is now a diverse and growing cohort of 1.5, second, and even a third generation of Vietnamese Americans that are further reconstructing or transforming the Vietnamese American family and community. As such, research, teaching, and cultural perceptions must reflect the ongoing reconstructions and transformations of Vietnamese Americans. —Long S. Le
Further Reading Hein, Jeremy. From Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia: A Refugee Experience in the United States. New York: Prentice Hall, 1995. Kibria, Nazli. “Household Structure and Family Ideologies: The Dynamics of Immigrant Economic Adaptation among Vietnamese Refugees.” Social Problems 41(1) (1994). Lam, Brian Trung. “An Integration Model for the Study of Psychological Distress in Vietnamese-American Adolescents.” North American Journal of Psychology 7 (2005). Roberts, Alden, and Paul Starr. “Differential Reference Group Assimilation,” in David W. Haines, ed. Refugees as Immigrants: Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese in America. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1989. Vo, Linda. “Vietnamese American Trajectories: Dimensions of Diaspora.” Amerasia Journal 29(1) (2003). Zhou, Min, and Carl Bankston. Straddling Two Social Worlds: The Experience of Vietnamese Refugee Children in the United States. New York: ERIC Clearinghouse, 2000.
Festivals and Holidays The Vietnamese observe hundreds of folkloric holidays and festivals every year, sometimes hosting as many as five or more events per month. These cultural occasions include the most widely celebrated Lunar New Year (Tet), the Wandering Souls Day (Trung Nguyen), the Mid-Autumn Festival (Tet Trung Thu), and the more regionalized anniversaries like the Whale Festival, the Lim Festival, the Oc Om Boc Festival, and the Keo Pagoda Festival. Festivities usually last between
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one and three days, but some may last for long as two to three months (e.g., Perfume Pagoda Festival). Because of their folkloric roots, Vietnamese holidays and festivals usually entail rigorous rituals that are performed before, during, and after the ceremony. The rites are centered on folk-religious practices such as praying to the gods, cleaning ceremonial artifacts, and reenacting stories of origin. Preparatory rites, for instance, may include a prayer of inform to notify the gods of upcoming festivities and the washing of statues and other ceremonial costumes before placing them on the altar. Prior to the opening ceremony, people may also perform what is known as the procession of the gods. This rite is held en route between the place of worship, where the statues of the gods originally reside, and the place of festivities (usually a courtyard or large open area), where liturgical processes occur. During the opening ceremony, participants make offerings to the gods, and in some instances, designated orators may also present an oration dedication to the divine spirit. Similar rituals are performed during the closing ceremony. Aside from the opening and closing ceremonies, festivals vary from holiday to holiday. For instance, the Lunar New Year (Tet) is the most important and popular celebration in Vietnam and spans over three to seven days. Although the actual New Year day falls in late January to early- to mid-February in the Western calendar, preparation for Tet may start as early as a week beforehand (i.e., the 23rd day of the 12th month in the lunar calendar). Holiday festivities include paying tribute to the Kitchen God, performing the dragon-lion dance, offering lucky money to children, wearing new clothes, and feasting of traditional holiday foods. All Tet activities center on the pursuit of a happy, lucky, and prosperous New Year for friends and family. One of the second-largest Vietnamese holidays, the Wandering Souls Day (Tet Trung Nguyen), occurs on the 15th day of the seventh month. On this day, the gates of Hell are open at sunset, and souls fly back home to visit the living. Families welcome their loved ones by setting up home altars with plenty of food as well as clothing and money made of votive paper, for it is said that the souls are hungry and unclothed. For those souls without family to visit, or the wandering souls, many Buddhist temples and pagodas will set additional food on altars to welcome them. The Vietnamese believe that prayer by the living could help absolve the sins of the dead, and so during this time, many families may also donate to temples and ask monk-priests to join them in prayer. The other second-largest and popular Vietnamese folkloric holiday is the MidAutumn Festival (Tet Trung Thu). Often referred to as the Children’s Festival, this holiday falls on the 15th day of the eight month in the lunar calendar, or around September or October in the Western calendar, when the moon appears red and is at its fullest. According to folklore, the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates the fullness and completeness of life and prosperity. It is also a day for parents to spend time with their children after harvest season and tell them stories of Vietnamese
Vietnamese Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
cultural virtues (e.g., perseverance and diligence). A popular folktale involves a carp who wanted to become a dragon, and as a result, worked year in and year out until he was able to transform himself. For several days of the festival, children also eat moon cakes and parade in the streets wearing paper masks and carrying large, colorful lanterns of various shapes such as a star, a frog, a fish, or butterfly. Since daylight and heat are limited in autumn, these candle-lit lanterns serve as reminders of the sun’s light and warmth; the five-star lantern, in particular, is intended to represent the sun. Finally, like many Vietnamese festivals, the dragon-lion dance is a popular event of this holiday, representing luck and the duality of heaven and earth. Besides the three holidays mentioned, there are countless other national and regional festivals in Vietnam. The regional celebrations, in particular, tend to reflect older, indigenous cultural practices (i.e., pre-Chinese influence). Regardless, most, if not all, festivals center on folk-religious practices and are celebratory reminders of the Vietnamese people’s relationship to nature, the gods, and the spirit world. —Rossina Zamora Liu See also: Vietnamese Americans: Tet.
Further Reading McKay, Susan. Vietnam: Festivals of the World. Milwaukee, WI: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 1997.
Web Sites Nguyen, Henry. “Mid-Autumn/Moon Festival Children’s Festival (Tet Trung Thu).” SaigonInfo.com, 2001. http://saigoninfo.com/vanhoa/festivals.php (accessed May 30, 2009). Vietnam National Administration of Tourism. “Vietnam Festivals and Events.” Threeland Travel, 2008. http://www.threeland.com/vietnam_festivals_events.htm#FEBRUARY (accessed May 30, 2009).
Folk Dance and Performance While the category of folk dance is often associated with the daily lives of rural, agrarian peoples, the urban and suburban lifestyles of most Vietnamese Americans have shifted the dances’ social functions. Indeed, while scholars and Vietnamese Americans themselves trace folk dance genres to specific agricultural activities such as harvesting and planting celebrations, they acknowledge that the dances
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Dancers from the Hong Bang Vietnamese Cultural Center perform a traditional Vietnamese dance on stage at the 21st annual Lotus Festival at Echo Park, Los Angeles, California, July 11, 1998. (AP Photo/Katie Callan)
are generally incongruous with contemporary American life, limiting community interest and making experts difficult to find. In their social lives, Vietnamese Americans generally prefer contemporary and ballroom dance genres in “da vu” (literally, “night dancing”) parties and may associate folk dancing with rural Vietnamese or ethnic minorities. Consequently, performances of Vietnamese folk dances in America have shifted in purpose, becoming ways of establishing a sense of Vietnamese identity and strengthening a community’s cultural values by appealing to tradition. For example, organizations such as the Lac Hong Dance Ensemble in California consider their performances a combination of preserving traditional forms of cultural expression while also transforming and renewing them for younger audiences. Outreach events (e.g., demonstrations and workshops for K–12 students) are also often organized as ways of teaching “Vietnamese culture” to non-Vietnamese in the broader community. While not strictly “folk” in the sense of being practiced by the general population, traditional dances of the royal court are often referenced when discussing Vietnamese dance, and the genres overlap heavily in Vietnamese Americans’ daily parlance. Traditional dances such as the “lantern ceremony” are the aesthetic and
Vietnamese Americans: Folk Dance and Performance
conceptual inspirations for many choreographers of new dances. This borrowing is not considered problematic, as modern interpretations of Vietnamese traditional dance rarely have prescribed positions and movements. Instead, experienced dancers, such as the choreographers of DVL Dance Vietnam, study the themes and motions of “folk dance” and use them to develop new, complete dances. Thus, many Vietnamese American dances called “folk dance” can more properly be considered staged and choreographed dances borrowing heavily from an imagined historical folk and traditional life of Vietnam. They are primarily presentational in form and many are professionalized. For example, Minh Tran and Company is a professional dance company that borrows heavily from “traditional” aesthetics in its carefully crafted performances, and its leader, Minh Tran, is trained in Vietnamese opera. Context is crucial in Vietnamese American dance performance. Cultural festivals and holidays are important times for student and youth groups to confirm their sense of Vietnamese identity through dance and other forms of cultural expression. Dances like “mua lan” (lion or unicorn dance) are essential during Tet, the Lunar New Year, and while some university groups or communities may hire professionals, others train members to perform the dance themselves. Even in popular culture, Vietnamese American variety shows like Paris by Night regularly feature elaborately staged and choreographed sets borrowing from folk and traditional dances, and mimicry of these dances by local communities are often glossed as actual folk dance. —Jason R. Nguyen See also: Vietnamese Americans: Folk Music.
Further Reading Addiss, Stephen. “Hat a Dao, the Sung Poetry of North Vietnam.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 93(1) (1973): 18–31. DVL. “DVL Dance Vietnam: About DVL.” DVL Dance Vietnam. February 20, 2008. http://www.dvldance.com/content/?page_id=2 (accessed August 6, 2010). Kilbourne, Kathy. “Vietnamese Folklife in New Orleans.” Louisiana’s Living Traditions: Articles and Essays, 1990. http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/ creole_art_vietnamese_folk.html (accessed August 6, 2010). Lac Hong Performing Art Group Web site: http://www.lachongdance.com. Loan, Khanh. Mua Lan. Vietnamese Student Association at North Carolina State University. http://clubs.ncsu.edu/vsa/www/festivals/tet/mualan.html. Minh Tran and Company Web site: http://www.mtdance.org (accessed August 6, 2010). Nguyen Ngoc Giao. “Vietnamese Americans Brought Traditional Vietnamese Dance to Students at Rolling Terrace Elementary School, Takoma Park, Maryland.” Voice of
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Vietnamese Americans: Folk Music Vietnamese Americans, June 13, 2009. http://voiceofvietnameseamericans.blog spot.com/2009/06/vietnamese-americans-brought.html (accessed August 6, 2010). Nguyen, Phong. “Vietnamese Music in America.” Institute for Vietnamese Music, 2003. http://www.vietnamesemusic.us/NTP1.html (accessed August 6, 2010). Tran, Quang Hai. “An Introduction to Vietnamese Music.” Hon Que Vietnamese Multimedia Magazine, 2003. http://www.honque.com/HQ020/bKhao_tqHai.htm (accessed August 6, 2010). West, Martha Ullman. “Minh Tran and Company.” Dance, March 2004. http://find articles.com/p/articles/mi_m1083/is_3_78/ai_n6144905 (accessed August 6, 2010).
Folk Music The Vietnamese American population number approximately 1.7 million individuals, with most ancestral origins linked to southern Vietnam. Most Vietnamese arrived in America after the mid-1970s. The musical genres linked with Vietnam are also present and slightly modified in America today. Vietnamese music in America is organized into several categories, including dan ca (folk songs), cai luong (reformed theatre music), tai tu (chamber music), chau van ritual (religious), and tan nhac (new or popular music). In the United States, the most popular genre is dan ca. The versatility and national appeal for folk music is one reason for the popularity, though the presence of dan ca has been elicited by urban concerts and college performances over the past few years. Today, most Vietnamese American musicians and singers are based in California, but large Vietnamese populations also live in Washington, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, and Virginia. The Tet is a Vietnamese New Year (February) celebration, and it is the most important event for Vietnamese culture and tradition. Musical accompaniment is provided by folk singers and popular musicians, where events are held in public school auditoriums or cultural centers. Additionally, tan nhac music is the most popular style among Vietnamese American populations. The music contains hints of European, particularly French, romantic ballads with Vietnamese lyrics. Tan nhac is also popularly performed at wedding events, yet in the United States, traditional music ensembles do not perform at Vietnamese weddings. Beyond the traditional music genres, popular music forms of rock, pop, and dance forms have influenced a number of Vietnamese American musicians. The San Francisco–based alternative folk-rock band, Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down, perform music with a roots, blues, and tropical sound with English lyrics. California’s Phi Nhung sings in Vietnamese and incorporates the traditional
Vietnamese Americans: Folktales and Narratives
forms of cai luong and vong cu into a pop-ballad sound. Pop, dance, and electronic music is also popular. Trish Thuy Trang, Nhu Loan, and Da Nhat Yen are purveyors in this genre. —Matthew J. Forss See also: Vietnamese Americans: Folk Dance and Performance.
Further Reading Nguyen, Phong Thuyet, and Patricia Shehan Campbell. From Rice Paddies and Temple Yards. Danbury, CT: World Music Press, 1989.
Web Site Nguyen, Phong. “Vietnamese Music in America.” http://www.vietnamesemusic.us/ NTP1.html (accessed January 3, 2010).
Folktales and Narratives Most Vietnamese folktales and narratives can be traced back to the legendary era of the Hung Kings, or Vietnam’s “Golden Age” (c. 2800 BCE to 258 BCE). Intended primarily as a teaching tool of cultural practices and moral conduct, Vietnamese stories (as they are known today) tend to rely mostly on realistic elements rather than on the supernatural in their narrative makeup. While early tales depict mythical characters such as dragons and fairies as a way to explain the phenomenon of origin and other cosmic occurrences, subsequent tales focus more on daily life and the human condition, leaving the supernatural elements to function as entertainment and allegories for people’s ambitions and/or challenges. The narrative shift away from folk beliefs toward philosophical and moralistic concepts such as love, freedom, self-improvement, and virtuous conduct can be attributed to the Chinese, who dominated Vietnam for over 1,000 years (c. 207 BCE to 930 CE). During this period, the Chinese introduced Buddhism and Confucianism to the Vietnamese and discouraged folk-belief practices and customs, stigmatizing them as primitive and superstitious. Today, parents often tell their children popular folktales like Under the Starfruit Tree during holidays like the Lunar New Year (Tet) and the Mid-Autumn Festival (Tet Trung Thu) to remind them of virtues such as selflessness, loyalty, and love. Under the Starfruit Tree, for instance, is a story about greed. It tells a tale of two brothers who had very different fates—one had a lot of money but never shared his wealth with others, while the other had only a starfruit tree but was always generous to everyone. One day, a raven (or an eagle, depending on the version of
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the tale) asked if he could eat the fruit, and although the younger brother knew he did not have enough to sell at the market, he still fed the bird. The next day, the raven coughed out two gold nuggets to reward the young man for his generosity. When the elder brother learned of the news, he asked to trade places with his younger sibling. However, because of his greed and demand for a lot of gold nuggets, the raven dropped him into the ocean instead. Other popular folktales told during the holidays include The Legend of the Watermelon and The Two Rice Cakes. Like Under the Starfruit Tree, they are instructive, but they also serve to explain reasons for cultural traditions. The Legend of the Watermelon, in particular, is a story about luck and intelligence. It tells of a young man who discovered the unusual, juicy fruit while he was exiled on a deserted island. Because of his discovery and his creativity, he was able to lure merchants to the remote island (he carved his name and the island’s name on the melons and threw them out to sea), and he became a successful tradesman as a result. Today, the watermelon is considered a “good luck” fruit and it is often eaten during the Lunar New Year (Tet) and other festivals. The Two Rice Cakes shares a similar theme and tells of the origin of banh chung, a rice-and-bean cake that is also served during Tet. Of the many Vietnamese folktales, perhaps one of the most well known is The Origin of the Vietnamese People, a narrative about Vietnamese ancestry. According to legend, the marriage between the sea dragon prince, Lac Long Quan, and the mountain fairy princess, Au Co, produced 100 sons. When the couple parted ways, Au Co took 50 of their children to the northern mountains and started the Muong race, while Lac Long Quan took the other 50 sons to the sea and started the Vietnamese race. The most brave and skilled of these 50 sons became the first Hung King of the Hong Bang dynasty, which lasted for 18 generations. Although mythical in its nature, the Hong Bang dynasty is the most revered and celebrated line of kings in Vietnamese history. —Rossina Zamora Liu
Further Reading Garland, Sherry. Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales from Vietnam. New York: Harcourt Children’s Books, 2001. Nguyen, Nguyet C., and D. Sachs. Two Cakes Fit for a King: Folktales from Vietnam. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003. Terada, Alice M. (1989). Under the Starfruit Tree: Folktales from Vietnam. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989.
Web Sites Malykhina, I., Q. Nguyen, et al. Reading around the World. Federal Way Public Schools. 2005. http://www.fwps.org/dept/ell/vietnamesestories.pdf (accessed June 25, 2009).
Vietnamese Americans: Foods and Foodways Martin, Allison. Adopt Vietnam.org, 2008. http://www.adoptvietnam.org/books/books-vn -fairytales.htm (accessed June 1, 2009).
Foods and Foodways The foodways of Vietnamese Americans—how their foods shape and are shaped by both their own and the mainstream social organizations—are in many ways windows into the group’s everyday lived experiences. That is, Vietnamese American cuisines and restaurants have been sites of cultural adaptations, creolization, and diffusion. Moreover, the selling, cooking, and eating of Vietnamese foods through small business operations, supermarkets, or ethnic malls have become catalysts for the group’s economic mobility, cultural recognition, and reassertion of “Vietnameseness.” Relative to other cultural traditions brought to the United States, Vietnamese culinary and eating styles within the home and the ethnic enclave may persist longer and may experience fewer changes. Like other ethnic foodways, Vietnamese American foodways draw from both the culture of the homeland and the culture of the hostland. By implication, there is an accommodation process in which particular foods and tastes of Vietnamese Americans are more in demand and in supply than others. For example, regional, class-related, and generational subcultures that make up the Vietnamese American population will demand particular tastes, whether they reflect craving for comfort dishes, such as Vietnamese beef noodle called pho; for fast but cheap food to eat and drink, such as Vietnamese sandwiches called banh mi and Vietnamese iced coffee called ca phe su da; or for regional cuisines, such as Vietnamese spicy beef noodle from Hue called bun bo Hue. On the supply side, finding ingredients in the United States to substitute for those from Vietnam that are not easily available, or having to grow Vietnamese vegetables in the United States or use preserved/ frozen items shipped from Vietnam, can affect food tastes. So while Vietnamese American food is quintessentially embedded in daily lives and special occasions (such as weddings and Vietnamese New Year celebrations), Vietnam is still remembered nostalgically as a place of sensory pleasure where the food tastes are not only more “authentic,” but qualitatively better. It is also very likely that through urbanization or suburbanization, Vietnamese American foodways will entail degrees of creolization and diffusion. Living in a multiethnic environment, Vietnamese Americans have selected elements from other cultures to further innovate and upgrade their enterprises. For instance, Vietnamese American restaurants on the West Coast have began to use allnatural, hormone-free meats and no farm-raised seafood in order to elevate their traditional Vietnamese cuisines with higher-quality ingredients. Meanwhile,
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Vietnamese American restaurants on the Gulf Coast have added crawfish, beignets, and French pastry to their menus in a way that satisfies their Vietnamese palate. To be sure, non-Vietnamese restaurants have utilized Vietnamese ingredients and cuisines as well, including Vietnamese sriracha (hot sauce), fish sauce (nuoc mam), banh mi sandwiches, and spring rolls. There is also a recent surge of Latino immigrants hired to work in the kitchens of Vietnamese restaurants, from which some may take Vietnamese food and recipes back to their family and community. Moreover, there is commercialization of Vietnamese food to non-Vietnamese, which is often initiated by Vietnamese American entrepreneurs. On the one hand, this process allows Vietnamese food to enter American popular culture. For instance, Vietnamese sriracha is sold at Wal-Mart, Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches have been featured on Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate,; and a Vietnamese American chef, Hung Huynh, had won the third season of Bravo’s Top Chef in 2007. On the other hand, becoming more mainstream, Vietnamese foodstuff can transform to something very different from the original. Vietnamese restaurants catering to non-Vietnamese clientele will often tone down the fish sauce, provide vegan and gluten-free options, and create hybrid dishes such as spring rolls filled with raw tuna. Still, even those who like to sustain Vietnamese American food malls and supermarkets would need to innovate and experiment not only in American restaurant management strategies, but also in Vietnamese cuisines in order to meet the changing demands of their ethnic clientele. As the elders retire from the kitchen, is there a crop of younger Vietnamese Americans ready to take their place? To be sure, younger Vietnamese Americans still see Vietnamese cuisines as “comfort food.” In fact, according to a 2010 study by Sodexo, who provides food service to 600 campuses across the country, Vietnamese pho (noodle soup) ranks number three in the list of most popular regional and global “comfort foods.” By other accounts, Vietnamese cuisines can evoke memories of the past—that of mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers— which may further new generations of Vietnamese Americans to go back to their roots, to learn how to cook Vietnamese cuisines, and to live closer to their ethnic food malls and supermarkets. —Long S. Le
Further Reading Nguyen, Andrea. “Moving Vietnamese Food Forward,” New America Media, July 31, 2007. Tomingas-Hatch, Emma. 2009. “Preserving Vietnamese Culture and Language in Southern Louisiana: Altars as Symbols of Identity.” Louisiana Folklife Program within the Louisiana Division of the Arts (2009).
Vietnamese Americans: Heroes and Heroines
Heroes and Heroines It has been noted that Vietnam is a land of heroism and divinity. That is, individuals with intelligence or with special ability—who have acted with remarkable virtue during their lifetimes—are assigned to remain “on duty” after their deaths. So when called upon, they can assist the living in subduing foreign invaders or renewing a sense of identity during a stormy era. In fact, since ancient times, there has been spirit cults created after a person’s death or official dynastic titles conferred to a departed spirit. The origin myth of Vietnamese civilization, which is the most well known of Vietnamese folklores, is a part of this tradition. According to this myth, Sung Lam was a Dragon Lord, also known as Lac Long Quan, who had the gift of going underwater and taught the people the wet-rice cultivation technique. Once the people were prosperous, Long Quan disappeared into the sea. However, when a monarch from northern China intruded on their land, the people called on Long Quan for help. Long Quan responded by taking the monarch’s wife, named Au Co. When the monarch was not able to retrieve his wife, he left. Meanwhile, Au Co lived with Long Quan and, a year later, gave birth to 100 sons. Long Quan again departed along with 50 of his sons but bade to all his sons that: “Whether you go up to the mountains or down to the sea, you shall let one another know if you are in difficulties, and you shall no means desert one another.” Of the 50 sons who followed their mother to the mountains, Hung Vuong—the bravest and most courageous—became the first of the Hung Kings, which is believed to be Vietnam’s first dynasty. Thereafter, Lac Long Quan is considered both a hero and a deity whose deeds assisted the Vietnamese from being disinherited by neutralizing or appropriating foreign threats. Reliance on heroic divinity is further illustrated in Ly Te Xuyen’s Departed Spirits of the Viet Realm, written in 1329 after the Mongols attempted invasions in northern Vietnam in the 1280s. Vietnamese leaders at that time also believed their triumph was assisted by the departed spirits in their land, so much so that it was necessary to record heroic spirits to ascertain their relative merits. Xuyen’s dynastic compilation, which was more reflective of Buddhist tradition and “popular culture” than others written at that time, produced a list of 20 “godly beings.” These beings were actual historical persons whose heroism stirred the people and whose divinity was prominent in successive ages. On this list, eight reigned as kings or queens—five were men and three were women, and in terms of ethnicity, two were non-Vietnamese. Notably, the deeds of the Trung Sisters (Trac and Nhi), who resisted Chinese rule and ruled northern Vietnam as queens from 40 to 43 CE, were echoed across the centuries of Chinese rule (44 to 939 CE) for the Vietnamese to recover their ancient inheritance. The remaining 12 beings were
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male ministers who had served their rulers with particular loyalty. These ministers along with the eight rulers, in part, suggest that heroism, loyalty, and competence can transcend gender, ethnicity, and social position. To be sure, what is considered a heroic act or a heroic spirit is shaped from the political currents and public morality of the period. The Vietnam War was no exception. That is, after the communist victory in April 1975, Ho Chi Minh was constituted as the heroic founding father of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and whose deeds and morals were the foundation for future generations to follow. Families who have sons or daughters that fought and died as “martyrs” on the side of Ho Chi Minh have been given priority status for entering universities, granted easier access to government jobs and easier admission to the Communist Party, and received the most productive and convenient pieces of land. Meanwhile, the South Vietnamese experience was excluded from the newly official history. Individuals associated with South Vietnam or the United States were sent to “re-education” camps, and Vietnamese who tried to escape after 1975 were considered criminals. But, once Vietnamese American refugees were able to establish their “Little Saigons,” they began to reconstruct their “Vietnameseness.” On the one hand, the first generation of Vietnamese Americans still see themselves as “nguoi goc Viet,” or having Vietnamese roots. The community still celebrates the anniversary of Hung Vuong (the first king of Vietnam) and the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet). Moreover, they consider themselves as children of Lac Long Quan and Au Co and believe that without the Trung Sisters, there would be no Vietnamese nation today. On the other hand, Vietnamese American refugees have paralleled their stories with that of Lac Long Quan and Au Co with a new emphasis—that their displacement is unprecedented due to the separation of two authorities in which reconciliation may not be possible. There are also endeavors via animation and films by younger Vietnamese American artists to introduce ancient Vietnamese folklore, myths, and historic events that are reflective of the refugee experience. A noted film is Tran Ham’s Journey from the Fall (2007), which was the first American major motion picture to depict the Vietnamese American boat experience. But the film also embedded the legend of Le Loi to the turmoil of the fall of South Vietnam. Le Loi was an actual military leader and, according to legend, was endowed with a magical sword by a Golden Turtle God, which allowed him to liberate the country from Chinese rule and to later establish the Le dynasty (1428–1788). The moral of the legend was that not until the victor return the sword to the Turtle God will there be true freedom and peace in the country. The film implies that the communist victors had not laid down their arms and allowed for true unification. “If history is written by the victors, then folklore is the testimony of the vanquished,” according to Tran Ham. In many ways, Journey from the Fall not only symbolizes the “forced” migration of Vietnamese American refugees from their native land, but also memorizes the heroic acts of individuals in a way that such heritage can
Vietnamese Americans: Home Decoration
be passed down from one generation to the next. In fact, within the community, the fall of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975, is the most important commemorative event, but one that is also being transformed into a platform for future generations to sustain a diasporic movement for a democratic, noncommunist Vietnam. —Long S. Le
Further Reading Nguyen, Binh Ngoc Binh. “The Power and Relevance of Vietnamese Myths.” In Asia Society, eds. Vietnam: Essays on History, Culture, and Society. New York: Asia Society, 1985. Ostrowski, Brian, and Brian A. Zottoli. Departed Spirits of the Viet Realm. Translated from Ly Te Xuyen’s Viet Dien U Linh. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1999. Taylor, Keith. The Birth of Vietnam. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983. Tran, Ham. Journal from the Fall. A Film by ImaginAsianHomeEntertainment. 2007.
Home Decoration Vietnamese home decorations often include worship altars and a variety of artwork such as handmade Vietnamese dolls, decorative ceramics, lacquer paintings, and pictures made from in-laid mother-of-pearl. Common motifs are of rural life (e.g., a boy riding on a water buffalo), the countryside landscape, folk and national heroes, and religious icons. The art pieces are generally displayed on the walls, shelves, or altars. Religious icons and objects, in particular, reside on the altars. Depending on religious affiliation, these worship stations may be dedicated to Buddha and other gods and goddesses, or to Jesus with a special acknowledgement of the Virgin Mother Mary. Typical artifacts include religious figurines, symbols, and/or paintings; a couple of lighting sources (e.g., candles, candle lamps, etc.); and various religious objects. Additionally, because ancestral worship is pervasive in Vietnam, many households may also maintain altars for deceased family members. Common altar objects include a framed photograph of the deceased, flower vase (s), personal memorabilia, and oftentimes, some religious objects (e.g., figurines, rosary, incense stick holder, etc.). In general, family altars function as memorials, but people also use them as spiritual stations where they may acknowledge, connect with, and care for loved ones who have passed away. They might place offerings of food and clothing on the altars during special occasions like death anniversaries and holidays (e.g., Tet and Wandering Souls’ Day), for instance, to tend to deceased family members.
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Holidays in the Vietnamese culture often have their own sets of home decorations. For example, during the Lunar New Year, or Tet, many homes will display items such as the five-fruit plate, the peach blossom (hoa dao) and the apricot (hoa mai) trees, the New Year’s tree (cay neu), and Tet artwork such as woodblock prints. Although its name implies five items representing the five elements of the earth, the five-fruit plate might consist of anywhere between five to eight fruits, including the “Buddha’s hand” fruit, oranges, tangerines, bananas, persimmons, grapefruits, and apples. The fruits are arranged in a pyramid, and the plate sits on the family altar. The peach blossom tree is another popular home decoration item during Tet. Found in northern Vietnam, it has vibrant pink and/or red petals and represents spring, prosperity, and good fortune. In the south, it is the yellow petals of the apricot tree that is displayed in the home during the Lunar New Year. Like the peach blossom tree, it represents a new life cycle and spring. Some Vietnamese also believe the peach and apricot trees have the power to ward off demons. In fact, keeping evil spirits away is a common practice during the Lunar New Year. Like the peach and apricot trees, the New Year tree (cay neu) also functions partly as a deterrent against ghostly malady. The tree consists of a long bamboo pole with wind chimes, votive gifts, peacock feathers, and thorny branches suspended near the top. Families place the tree in front of their homes to welcome spirits of ancestors for the New Year celebration as well as to scare off evil ones. Whether Vietnamese home decorations are seasonal or year-round, most if not all of them stem from folk customs and practices. —Rossina Zamora Liu See also: Vietnamese Americans: Arts and Crafts.
Further Reading MacMillan, Diane M. Tet: Vietnamese New Year. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1994. Noppe, C., and J. F. Hubert. Art of Vietnam. New York: Parkstone Press, 2003. Taylor, N. A. Painters in Hanoi: An Ethnography of Vietnamese Art. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004.
Web Sites Ford Foundation. “Traces and Traditions: Vietnamese Woodblock Prints.” International Print Center, New York. http://www.ipcny.org/exhib/exhib_ex/exhib_ex_vietnam.htm (accessed July 25, 2009). Le, Cuong N. 2001–2009. “Tet: A Celebration of Rebirth.” Asian Nation: Asian American History, Demographics and Issues. http://www.asian-nation.org/tet.shtml (accessed May 15, 2009).
Vietnamese Americans: Hurricane Katrina Experience
Hurricane Katrina Experience Vietnamese Katrina evacuees were initially and disproportionately among the first to return and to have rebuilt their ethnic community. By the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, 45 of the 53 Vietnamese American–owned businesses concentrated in a commercial area are back, and over 90 percent of Vietnamese residents have returned to Village de L’Est. Thus, what have caught the attention of the media and academics are the disaster behaviors of Vietnamese Katrina victims. That is, Vietnamese Katrina victims both “put to use” and “drew on” the tales of overcoming “forced” migrations and catastrophic loss that their ethnic group experienced since the 1950s. This was illustrated by the Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church, which has been central to and has spearheaded the rebuilding of the Vietnamese Versailles Community. According to its pastor, The-Vien Nguyen, the church’s leadership was not a post-migration phenomenon. Rather, it had developed several hundred years ago when Catholicism, a foreign faith, was introduced to certain villages in Vietnam, and over a time, it has developed into a form of local leadership. For
Pastor The-Vien Nguyen (third from left) embraces volunteer cooks, from left, Phnong Thi Nguyen, Mai Nguyen, and Thaun Nguyen during a luncheon served after Mass at Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 1, 2005. The high-spirited priest guided the city's Vietnamese community in its efforts to recover from Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
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example, by the early 1950s, Vietnamese Catholic leaders had publicly condemned the communist government of Ho Chi Minh, since the latter associated Catholicism and its followers with colonialism. When the 1954 Geneva Accord divided the country into two halves, more than 80 percent of the initial million refugees fleeing to the “noncommunist” south were Catholics. In 1975, when South Vietnam fell to communist rule, about 40 percent of the 130,000 Vietnamese refugees were Catholics. In both massive migrations, the local Catholic leadership had played a major role in mobilizing villagers to flee in fear of religious and political persecution. In drawing strength from the past, the Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church organized itself into “hamlets” in which each team would handle a different task. For example, one would repair and decontaminate houses, another would arrange for tetanus shots to prevent illness, and still another would buy and cook food. Furthermore, church members were reminded that their families “have been displaced twice in their life prior to this” and during the 21 years of war “we were always having to evacuate and rebuild,” so that “we’re well experienced” as a community,” preached Pastor Nguyen. Noted was the church’s leadership decision to build their community without approval from the city’s rebuilding commission. Such strategy has paid off, demonstrating to the city that Vietnamese have intended to return. As a result, a city urban planning team is now working with community leaders and looking beyond the rebuilding phase, such as a future plan for a community center, a retirement home, and the area’s history and culture museum. Moreover, the Vietnamese community has shown the ability to build and lead community coalitions—including African Americans and environmental groups—in getting the city to close a landfill that had opened near Village de l’Est after Katrina. In fact, post Katrina, one member of the church’s leadership, Anh “Joseph” Cao Nguyen became the first Vietnamese American to be elected to the U.S. Congress, campaigning on the rebuilding of New Orleans East communities. To be sure, in and around the Vietnamese Versailles Community, there is a smaller but vibrant Buddhist community anchored by a number of temples and religious organizations. There are also many Vietnamese who either live below or are hovering just above the poverty line, and who are tenants in the government-subsidized apartments. Their Katrina experiences were often overlooked by the media and academic studies. However, a few accounts show that such individuals were down on their luck, but they did not dwell too long on the negatives or become withdrawn from the outside world. They kept busy in finding resources to move on. Their focus was literally on the creative process of “patchworking,” drawing on kinship relations, resources from the larger Vietnamese American community, and government assistance to rebuild their boats, which for many were also their home. —Long S. Le
Vietnamese Americans: Identity
Further Reading Chiang, Leo. A Village Called Versailles. A Film by Walking Iris Films (2009). Le, Long. “Vietnamese Katrina Experiences: Windows to the Past and Present,” BBCVietnamese, September 22, 2008. Leong, Karen, Christopher A. Airriess, Wei Li, Angela Chia-Chen Chen, and Verna M. Keith. “Resilient History and the Rebuilding of a Community: The Vietnamese American Community in New Orleans East.” Journal of American History 94 (December 2007).
Identity Prior to 1975, there was not a significant Vietnamese American population in the United States. The Vietnamese American population is highly diverse and consequently is difficult to apply a singular conception of identity. However, adherence to traditional folkways such as maintenance of Tet and other holidays, a focus on family ties and obligations, language, music, religion, and traditional foods such as Pho function as unifying agents that cuts across generational lines. The degree of influence varies, however, and it is useful to divide Vietnamese Americans according to generational categories and find common characteristics that help further define their identity. The group that comprises the first generation consists of adults that fled Vietnam after 1975. They are defined by their common plight of fleeing a war-torn homeland and their hatred of communism. It is logical, then, that so many of these refugees chose anticommunist Orange County, California, as their destination and the county currently boasts the largest concentration of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam. These people generally are very nationalistic, yet, are very grateful to the freedoms offered by their host society. They would consider themselves Vietnamese living in America, although many are naturalized citizens. The 1.5 generation consists of those who came to the United States at the age of 12 or younger. Their age ranges from newborns to roughly their late 40s. Most have been able to acculturate very quickly, picking up American language, customs, and culture. However, this also creates conflict as they grapple with the contending traditional Vietnamese values of filial piety, strong family influence and priority, and maintenance of family reputation on one hand; and American values of individualism and independence on the other. Issues of identity and identity crisis develop within this generation due to the racialization of people of color in the United States. These individuals may feel completely American, but their physical appearance sets them apart. Yet, some 1.5-generation Vietnamese Americans have a difficult time fulfilling many of the societal expectations of Asian Americans in
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the United States. Poverty, low parental education, family separation, and the inability of parents to understand and help their children cope with the demands of living in a new environment creates a difficult and stressful situation for Vietnamese Americans. This sometimes results in high school dropout, gang participation, and criminal activity. The second generation is the first set of people born in the United States. Upon their arrival, they ranged from newborns to their mid-30s. Many are acculturated into American society, attained higher education, and achieved middleclass status. Their parents often complain about their inability to retain cultural values, language, or customs, their lack of respect for elders, and being “too” American. They suffer much of the same identity issues and conflicts as the 1.5 generation. The third generation consists of the children of the second generation. This is an emerging generation, and currently these individuals fall within the children or adolescent category. It is yet to be seen how their identity will form, but what is apparent is there will be a strong influence of folk traditions brought from Vietnam that ethnic enclaves such as Little Saigon have been able to preserve. —Hong Herrera Thomas
Further Reading Chan, Sucheng. The Vietnamese American 1.5 Generation: Stories of War, Revolution, Flight, and New Beginnings. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006. Kibria, Nazli. Family Tightrope: The Changing Lives of Vietnamese Americans. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993.
Web Site Asian Nation. http://www.asian-nation.org.
Indigenous Religious Traditions Vietnamese Americans come from a country of diverse religions. While their ancestral homeland, Vietnam, has incorporated faiths introduced from other countries, it has also cultivated indigenous religions that are distinctively Vietnamese. Among the indigenous homegrown religions include Cao Dai (Caodaism), Phat Giao Hoa Hao (PGHH or Reformed Buddhism), and Dao Mau (Mother Goddess). Following Buddhism (8 million) and Catholicism (6 million), Caodaism is the third-largest religion in Vietnam, with about 3.2 million followers among the
Vietnamese Americans: Indigenous Religious Traditions
country’s 87 million population. Founded in 1926 in Saigon under French colonialism, it is a syncretistic religion that seeks to heal the wounds of colonialism and establish dialogues with the West by combining Vietnamese distinctive cultural traditions and Western philosophies. Hoa Hao Buddhism is the fourth-largest religion in Vietnam with 1.5 million practitioners. Founded in 1939 in southwestern Vietnam, it is considered as the recovery of pure Buddhism that combines with elements of Confucianism and Taoism. The Mother Goddess religion does not have official documentation of its followers because its practices vary locally. However, during the past 10 years, it has become a resurgent and growing religion in Vietnam, particularly in the North. This religion emphasizes ancient Vietnamese ritual practices of worshipping indigenous deities and national heroes through trance and spirit possession. While Chinese influences of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism have become localized and accepted into the Vietnamese cultural fabric, indigenous religions have frequently been a point of political debacle and internal warfare throughout Vietnam’s turbulent history. Forced regional displacement, sociopolitical marginalization, and martyrdom have marked their history under the French, Americans, and Vietnamese Communists. It was only recently, in 2007, that a government-research study was published to officially recognize Caodaism and Hoa Hao Buddhism as “local religions” (“ton giao ban dia”) that have contributed to Vietnamese culture. Since Vietnam came under the control of communism in 1975, two million Vietnamese have fled their homeland and resettled in other countries. Among the one million Vietnamese who are in the United States, approximately 49 percent are Buddhist, 30 percent are Catholic, 13 percent are Christian, and 14 percent have no religious affiliation. However, there are no statistics on those who practice some form of upland tribal or indigenous shamanistic religion. Early waves of Vietnamese to the United States initially faced challenges to practicing their indigenous religions because their faiths were not well known outside of Vietnam. However, during the past 30 years, they have gradually revitalized their homegrown religious practices into domestic and public life in the United States. At home, practitioners of all religious traditions often set up altars devoted to gods, spirits, and ancestors. In the community, Vietnamese Americans often gather on a regular basis to celebrate their religions and preserve their ethnic heritage, such as teaching Vietnamese-language classes and celebrating cultural festivals. As they transplant their indigenous religions into American society, Vietnamese Americans are also using their faith to reconnect to Vietnam and create interreligious and interethnic dialogues. —Thien-Huong T. Ninh See also: Vietnamese Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Religion.
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Further Reading Hoskins, Janet. “Caodai Exile and Redemption: A New Vietnamese Religion’s Struggle for Identity.” In CCRC Conference on “Religion, Immigration and Social Justice,” Los Angeles, 2005. Nguyen, Thi Hien. “The Religion of the Four Palaces: Mediumship and Therapy in Viet Culture.” In Folklore. Bloomington: Indiana University, 2002. Pham, Bı´ch Hop. Nguoi Nam Bo va Ton Giai Ban Dia. Hanoi, Vietnam: Nha Xuat Ban Ton Giao, 2007. Taylor, Philip. “Apocalypse Now? Hoa Hao Buddhism Emerging from the Shadows of War.” Australian Journal of Anthropology 12 (2001): 339–355.
Little Saigon Little Saigon is the name given to a number of Vietnamese diasporic enclaves and is a reference to Saigon, the capital of the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), from which a great number of Vietnamese refugees came to the United States. Similar to “Chinatown,” Little Saigon districts can be found in several metropolitan centers across the United States and consist primarily of Vietnamese American businesses ranging from services (medical, financial, etc.) to restaurants to entertainment centers (television stations, video distribution, etc.). The largest and most historic Little Saigon is located in Orange County, California, which is so well recognized as to be dubbed the “Capital of Vietnamese America.” It has emerged as both a major residential and cultural center for Vietnamese across the United States. In addition, the area boasts media corporations that broadcast and/or distribute around the country, connecting Vietnamese Americans throughout the diaspora through television and other media. The label “Little Saigon” is officially sanctioned in some cases and is unofficial in others. Houston and San Francisco, for example, both officially recognized Little Saigon districts in 2004. However, many Vietnamese American communities officially given other names, such as Seattle’s “Chinatown/International District” may still be referred to as “Little Saigon” by the local population. In cities like Philadelphia, Vietnamese American populations, while substantial, may be too spread out to recognize a single Little Saigon. The term itself has been at the center of a number of controversies in Vietnamese American communities. In November 2007, the San Jose City Council voted 8–3 for its Vietnamese American enclave to be called “Saigon Business District,” with nearly 800 Vietnamese Americans protesting the decision. The central issue for many of the protesters was the importance of “Little Saigon” as an homage to pre-war Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).
Vietnamese Americans: Monkey Bridge (Lan Cao)
The large numbers of Vietnamese Americans in these communities has allowed them to emerge as a political force, and in places like the Little Saigon of Orange County, have historically been conservative-leaning. This political power has not grown without resistance, and the existence of ethnic enclaves within urban areas has often led to problems of racism and stereotyping. Little Saigon exists as both a literal place and an idea of a Vietnamese American community. By building a space that in some way resembles what has been left behind, Vietnamese Americans can construct identities that refer to and are continuous with their memories and former lives. On the other hand, nonVietnamese—including scholars, politicians, journalists, and the general populace—can use the term as a shorthand for Vietnamese Americans in general, attaching both positive and negative connotations. —Jason R. Nguyen See also: Vietnamese Americans: Family and Community.
Further Reading Aguilar-San Juan, Karin. Little Saigons: Staying Vietnamese in America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Collet, Christian. “Bloc Voting, Polarization, and the Panethnic Hypothesis: The Case of Little Saigon.” Journal of Politics 67(3) (2008): 907–933.
Monkey Bridge (Lan Cao) In Vietnam, narrator Mai in Monkey Bridge was privileged. Mai remembers the French villa where she lived with her family in Vietnam as a nurturing sanctuary that she misses deeply. Her father was a professor of French philosophy and her mother a well-educated woman who did not have to work outside the home. Her father passed away in Vietnam before she immigrated to the United States, where she lives alone with her mother, who subsists on welfare. For Mai, immigration does not represent progress or safety, but an unimaginable downfall and rupture with what was once a very good life. Mai recognizes that the fear of death is lodged inside her body, despite the relatively safe circumstances of her departure by plane. In the United States, Mai’s mother loses her authority to the point where she becomes increasingly alien to Mai. Growing up, Mai is attracted to an American culture that promotes individualism, rationality, and straightforward communication. Immigration to America has not given her the sense of security or entitlement she needs. She does not have a sense of place. In search of safety, Mai uses misconceptions and stereotypes to her own advantage. For instance,
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she strategically transforms Vietnamese legends and historical events to manage her fears. During a college interview, Mai is afraid she will not be accepted to the college of her choice. Threatened by the interviewer’s power to deny her entry to the college of her choice, Mai feels vulnerable and suddenly regards the interviewer as an enemy. To maintain her composure, she puts on an imaginary mask, positing herself as the legendary Vietnamese woman warrior Trung Trac, who is lauded by Vietnamese for winning battles against Chinese invaders. Mai’s appropriation of Trung Trac represents an abrupt return to an imagined Vietnam, from which she can retrieve heroism and pride. Mai now sees herself as a woman warrior in close combat with a tiger. When Ms. Layton asks her in a casual and “unreadable voice” if she was “there the whole time the war was going on” Mai tempers her impulse to ask “Which war?” Shielded by the armor of the Trung warrior, she is tempted to attack the interviewer’s American centrism, her ignorance of Vietnam’s long history of wars, and the diversity among Vietnamese Americans. But Mai is conflicted because she does not want to reveal the complexity of Vietnam’s history for fear that she might lose the special attention that she is currently being given as a stereotypical refugee. If she unveils her elite background, she fears she will no longer receive the compassion she may benefit from. Like a “warrior” faced with a stronger opponent, she plays the role of the recognizable and vulnerable “refugee.” Mai deflects the question and provides a vague and unsatisfactory answer without being overtly offensive: “In Saigon, right in the downtown section,” she says. When the interviewer asks, “What was it like over there?” Mai, imagining what a woman warrior like Trung Trac would do with a tiger, steps carefully to one side, and uses her own momentum to throw the interviewer off balance: “It was . . . different,” she replies. “It’s very hot there and humid . . . I thought seventy degrees was cold when we first arrived. My mother put up the heat.” Mai employs here “a drunken monkey style” used by the woman warrior, the “most bewitching,” she says, “of all styles . . . [a] riot of freewheeling movements that seemingly contained no pattern and no discernible rhythm, best designed to confound an opponent.” Mai manages to circumvent the discussion without having to lie or confront Layton’s preconceived notions. Like a Vietnamese woman warrior’s guerrilla tactic, Mai successfully manages and controls Americans’ national guilt over the Vietnam War without compromising herself and showing her fear and anger. Ms. Layton responds, “Uh-huh . . . Good thing you didn’t start out right away in New England.” In a final punch, Mai throws the interviewer off guard and steers the discussion away from war stories and toward more benign discussions about the weather. Mai successfully evades Ms. Layton’s assumptions and maintains intact the interviewer’s preconceptions about the refugee experience because at this very moment, it serves her.
Vietnamese Americans: Names and Name Giving
Throughout the novel, Mai compares her positioning to that of a girl walking alone on a bridge made of bamboo reeds suspended over a steep precipice, always on the verge of falling. When Mai is accepted into college, her mother commits suicide. She sacrifices herself to free her daughter from filial responsibilities, and so that she can finally find peace from her fears. It is only then that Mai cannot only use but feel, and embrace her connection to her mother and to Vietnam. —Isabelle Thuy Pelaud
Further Reading Lam, Andrew. Perfume Dreams. Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 2005. Pham, Andrew. Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999.
Names and Name Giving Names can be important signifiers of family and social values, and for Vietnamese Americans, the choosing of names take on added parameters such as language selection. Choosing Vietnamese or American names imply varying degrees of assimilation and acculturation, and they are further influenced by practical issues of pronunciation and familiarity. Furthermore, selecting or changing names may reflect spatial, temporal, or some other compartmentalization of identity: a child born with a Vietnamese name may take an American name when starting school, or a person may begin to use her Vietnamese name to assert her ethnic identity. For many Vietnamese Americans, names become a question again when they must give names to their children. When selecting Vietnamese names, they generally follow cultural conventions (e.g., surname, then middle name[s], and given name) and given names include common names like Thuy, Quyen, Huy, Vu, etc. In some special cases, they may even take on a nostalgic theme if parents select names such as Hoai Huong (looking homeward). For many, this may mean choosing a Vietnamese name for official documents and an American nickname or vice versa (generally, the surname is not in question). In other cases, children are given Vietnamese names at birth, and they then take American names of their own choosing as they become more practical. Such children may end up maintaining both names as they grow up, the Vietnamese name used within a familial context and the American name used in public. The difficulty with deciding between American and “ethnic” names has sometimes been described as being symptomatic of “fractured identities”. Unfortunate pronunciations of Vietnamese names such as “Phuc” may lead to harassment
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and cause some Vietnamese Americans to avoid Vietnamese names altogether. On the other hand, some may feel that their names are one of the few things connecting them to their Vietnamese heritage and may feel pride in maintaining them, although they may mitigate problems by compromising with simplified pronunciations. Names play an important role not only in the ways Vietnamese Americans conceptualize themselves and their identities, but also in the ways others may come to understand them as well. These others may find themselves struggling with whether to use a Vietnamese American’s “Vietnamese name” or his “American name,” and the choice of one or the other can signify the explicit selection of a Vietnamese or American narrative frame, respectively. In addition, Vietnamese surnames have increasingly become ways for nonVietnamese to recognize Vietnamese Americans’ ethnicity, as a few surnames are much more common than others. Therefore, while there are approximately 100 common Vietnamese names, the four most common surnames—Nguyen, Tran, Le, and Pham (ordered most to least common)—account for approximately twothirds of the Vietnamese population. The emergence of a number of Vietnamese American celebrities such as Dat Nguyen (former football player) and Hung Huynh (winner on Top Chef) has also helped to give Vietnamese surnames some exposure in American media. —Jason R. Nguyen
Further Reading Lin, Lynda. “What’s in a(n Asian) Name?” IMDiversity. 2009. http://imdiversity.org/ Villages/Asian/history_heritage/pc_asian_names.asp (accessed August 6, 2010). Ngo, Thuy. “Why I’m Still ‘Thuy’ and Not ‘Jane’ or ‘Susie’—NAM.” Pacific News Service / New American Media, August 15, 2005. http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view _article.html?article_id=3336b18c0eb321ddeec4f8e73873ef76 (accessed August 6, 2010).
Proverbs and Maxims Most Vietnamese proverbs and maxims can be found in folklore oral traditions such as folktales, myths, legends, and narratives about daily lives. While it is impossible to trace their exact sources of origin, these cultural idioms continue to be popular in Vietnamese colloquial language. It is very common for Vietnamese people, for instance, to reference certain proverbs in conversation, whether it is to teach children virtuous conduct, to assert an elder’s authority in the family, to reinforce gender roles and expectations, to express one’s state
Vietnamese Americans: Proverbs and Maxims
of mind and/or emotion, to share common values, or even to make a point in an argument. Passed down from generation to generation, Vietnamese proverbs reveal much about the people’s societal attitudes toward family, community, and religion and faith. Common cultural themes may include filial piety (toward living family members as well as ancestors), diligence and persistence, universal harmony, friendship, and karma. Some examples of Vietnamese proverbs are as follows: • “A faithful friendship will soften the hardest hearts.” • “A mother who loves sleeps little.” • “Children’s virtues result from their mother’s behavior.” • “The hen sleeps. The fox does not.” • “Whip tames horse, reason tames man.” • “Nine drops of sweat for one grain of rice.” • “If you want to know the distance, walk it.” • “Kind words cost no gold, but they make happy hearts.” • “When you have much to eat, you have nine great-aunts. When you have nothing to eat, you have not even a little nephew.” • “One tree does not make a forest and one grain does not fill a dish.” • “Each of us is marked by the Creator with his destiny. None escapes.” —Rossina Zamora Liu
Further Reading Clyne, Michael. Inter-cultural Communication at Work: Cultural Values in Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Knappert, Jan. Mythology and Folklore in Southeast Asia. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1999. Mulroy, Kevin J. “Vietnamese Proverbs Compared with Other Sources in Investigating National Characteristics for Pedagogical Purposes.” MA thesis, City University of New York, 1977. Nguyen, N., E. F. Foulks, and K. Carlin. “Proverbs as Psychological Interpretations Among Vietnamese.” Asian Folklore Studies. 50 (1991): 311–318. Tran, Ngoc, D. To Swim in Our Own Pond: Ta Ve Ta Tam Ao Ta: A Book of Vietnamese Proverbs. Walnut Creek, CA: Shen’s Books, 1998.
Web Site “129 Vietnamese Proverbs.” Special Dictionary. 2005–2009. http://www.specialdictionary.com/proverbs/source/v/vietnamese_proverb (accessed July 3, 2009).
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Religion The religious sphere of the Vietnamese and Vietnamese American people has been shaped by several world religions: Chinese Confucianism (Khong giao or Nho), Chinese Taoism (Lao giao or Laoo), Chinese Buddhism (Phat giao or Thı´ch), which is the result of nearly 1,000 years of Chinese domination (111 BCE–938 CE), Protestantism, and Catholicism, the latter of which was introduced by the French during the French colonial period (1859–1945 CE). Over the centuries, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and popular Chinese folk traditions have amalgamated with ancient Vietnamese animism to form what is collectively known as Tam Giao (Three Religions—Nho-Thı´ch-Laoo), which is sometimes referred to as “Vietnamese Buddhism,” but is more appropriately termed “Vietnamese popular religion.” Prior to the arrival of Chinese rule, ancestral veneration profoundly influenced the religious life of the Vietnamese people. Confucianism was introduced into Vietnam as early as the 1st century during Chinese rule. Confucian ethics and values have deeply penetrated the Vietnamese family structure and its emphasis on ancestral veneration and remembrance, which reinforces the Confucian virtue of filial piety. Hence, it is no surprise that the family altar is the cosmic center, the most honored place in a Vietnamese household. Taoism was also introduced into Vietnam during Chinese rule, but remained largely marginal within the Tam Giao tradition; nonetheless, its influence is clear in forms of divination, fortune telling, and ritual performance. The predominant religion of Vietnam is Buddhism. Vietnamese Buddhism—a combination of Chan (Zen), Pure Land, Tiantai, and popular Vajrayana—is the main tradition for the majority of Vietnamese people. Christianity has also influenced Vietnamese spirituality. Vietnam has the highest percentage of Catholics in Asia outside of the Philippines (8 to 10 percent of the population). Portuguese, Spanish, and French missionaries introduced Christianity into Vietnam during the second half of the 16th century. Christianity was banned in Vietnam around the 17th century. Despite the proscription, Catholic missionaries continued to evangelize to the Vietnamese people, perhaps explaining why 29–40 percent of Vietnamese refugees in America are Roman Catholic. In addition, new Vietnamese religions have also developed and have been transplanted to Vietnamese American communities, most notably, Cao Daism and Hoa Hao Buddhism. The development of the Cao Dai movement in 1962 is connected to French colonialism, introducing se´ances and spiritism which, blended with Chinese-style divination, resulted in the development of Cao Dai. Cao Dai can be considered a cornucopia of religions, including elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Islam, in combination with veneration of secular personalities (e.g., French poet and writer Victor Hugo; exiled founder
Vietnamese Americans: Religion
of the People’s Republic of China, Dr. Sun-Yat-sen; World War II British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill; and a Vietnamese diviner, Trang Trinh). Hoa Hao, a reform Vietnamese Buddhist sect of the Theravada tradition, was founded in 1930 in the village of An Giang Province. This is the religion and practice that Vietnamese refugees bring with them to the United States, helping them ease into their relocation as religious communities, be it Catholic, Buddhist, or Hoa Hao, and helping them establish solidarity and a network of support to begin their new life. In the United States, many Vietnamese Americans continue to practice ancestral veneration by creating a family altar in their homes as sacred places for the ritual performance of veneration and remembrance of their ancestors. This belief and ritual is based on a certain understanding of the “soul.” The am-soul is dense and clings to the body, and is believed to remain at the gravesite. The duong-soul is less dense, less malevolent and, therefore, more auspicious—found around the home and the family altar. Daily ritual offerings are performed in the home altar for the duong-soul. Special foods are prepared during the 15th and 16th of each lunar month and during Tet Nguyen Dan (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) for the yang-souls on the ancestral altar. Similar to other Southeast Asian Buddhist communities (e.g., Khmer American and Thai American), Buddhism plays a central role in the moral and social education of Vietnamese American youths. Hence, Vietnamese temples in both Vietnam and the United States are not only sites to carry out spiritual work but where traditional and cultural values are preserved and transmitted. When Vietnamese refugees first came to the United States in 1975, they brought with them the first Vietnamese Buddhist community. By 1995, there were 160 Vietnamese Buddhist temples and centers in North America. While in Vietnam, there were monks and nuns in permanent residence, not all temples in the United States have a permanent resident monk. The economic necessity in the United States for a monk to work outside the temple has altered the relationship between the laity and the monk. This, in turn, has modified the function of the temple in the United States. Smaller temples, many of which operate from private rural homes, known as “home temple,” mainly function in the performance of rituals, especially funerals, while the larger temples may function as cultural centers and language schools. The transplanted congregation would invite a monk to come and build a temple; otherwise, they would build the temple and then recruit a monk. Since the temple’s primary importance is for performing rituals, Vietnamese people will visit a temple only when an occasion arises, such as a funeral, which is an important rite of passage in ancestral veneration. Memorial services are often held for family members and relatives who died during the Vietnam War. This is
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possible because the spirit of the deceased is considered to always remain a part of the family, and it accompanies the family’s immigration to the United States. Some older Vietnamese Americans find the prospect of death stressful because they fear that their spirits and memories will not be given the proper traditional veneration by their Americanized children after they die. Orange County, California, is home to the largest Vietnamese community in the United States and has come to be known as “Little Saigon.” Small Vietnamese temples, “home temples” are operated throughout the country where Vietnamese Americans live—in Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Jose, California; Olympia, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and so forth. The main characteristic of Vietnamese American communities and their religious beliefs and practices is adaptability. It has been able to withstand periods of colonial rule and outside influence, and hence will be a source of strength for new migrants rebuilding a life in America. —Jonathan H. X. Lee See also: Vietnamese Americans: Domestic Religious Practices; Dying and Death Rituals; Indigenous Religious Traditions.
Further Reading Crawford, Ann. Customs and Culture of Vietnam. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1966. Do, Hien Duc. The Vietnamese Americans: The New Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. Henkin, Alan B., and Liem Thanh Nguyen. Between Two Cultures: The Vietnamese in America. Saratoga, NY: Century Twenty One Publishing, 1981.
Rites of Passage The three main rites of passage in the Vietnamese culture are birth, marriage, and death. Because each stage marks an important milestone in an individual’s life, families usually throw elaborate ceremonies for each of these occasions. Such ceremonies typically involve folk practices such as dripping special water into the baby’s mouth or whipping the coffin of the deceased. The first rites of passage consist of two events: the baby’s one-month birthday and the baby’s one-lunar-year birthday. Parents will usually host a big party after one month of the baby’s birth, wherein they make offerings to ancestors and to the Holy Godmother, the deity who looks over, teaches, and disciplines the baby. They also perform a common folk ritual that entails dipping a flower into “blessed water” and dripping it into the baby’s mouth. According to folk beliefs, the water is supposed
Vietnamese Americans: Rites of Passage
to bless the child’s tongue so that he or she may speak in sweet, gentle words. During this time, friends and family will also try to avoid commenting on the baby’s good health or beauty for fear that evil spirits might become jealous and harm the child. When the baby turns one (i.e., one lunar year), parents throw yet another big party. The ritual for the one-year birthday involves sitting the baby at the center of the room and surrounding it with items such as a brush, a pen, a ruler, a spoon, etc. The item that the baby picks up first is supposed to determine his or her future occupation. For example, if the baby picks up a pen, then he or she may become a writer later in life. A ruler might suggest the baby will be a teacher, while a brush might mean he or she will be a stylist or beautician, and so on. The next rite of passage is marriage. The traditional Vietnamese wedding ceremony is an elaborate family event and entails countless folk practices. First, the family (usually the bride’s and/or groom’s parents) must select the most astrologically compatible date for the couple to wed. This date is determined by a Buddhist monk, a spiritual leader, or an astrologer and requires consideration of the bride’s and groom’s birth dates. Once the date has been chosen, the actual wedding consists of three major celebrations: the gift-giving procession, the ancestor tribute, and the tea offering. During the gift-giving procession, the groom and his family visit the bride’s home and bears wedding gifts inside black lacquer boxes for her and her family, including betel, wine, tea, fruit, cakes, a roasted pig, fabric, and jewelry. Next, the couple performs the ancestor tribute, when they kneel before the bride’s family altar and ask her ancestors for their blessings. Finally the bride and groom participate in a formal tea and candle ceremony where they serve tea to both sets of parents. The parents, in return, offer marital advice to the couple. The union candle is then lit and the groom’s mother places the jewelry gifts on the bride. Afterward, both families return to the groom’s home, where the couple pays tribute to the groom’s family ancestors. A wedding reception for family and friends follow after the major ceremonies. Traditionally, attendees offer the married couple money gifts inside a red envelope. The last rite of passage in the Vietnamese culture occurs at death with a traditional funeral. These ceremonies typically consist of a worshipping altar and a Buddhist monk and/or spiritual leader to perform the rituals. Some families may also hire a band of musicians and mourners. Children of the deceased wear white robes and head bands and/or veils. In very traditional funerals, daughters will walk behind the deceased with their heads bowed against the tip of the casket, while sons will walk backward at the front of the casket. If a family burial site or tomb does not already exist, the family may hire a geomancer to pick out the most appropriate burial lot for the body. The official mourning period lasts for two to three years after death. —Rossina Zamora Liu See also: Vietnamese Americans: Tet.
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Further Reading Bodo, K., and N. Gibson. “Childbirth Customs in Vietnamese Traditions.” Canadian Family Physician 45 (1990): 690–692, 695–697. Nguyen, Van H., and Laurel Kendall, eds. Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind and Spirit. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
Web Site American Museum of Natural History. (2004). Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind and Spirit. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/vietnam/05_life/index.php (accessed July 3, 2009).
Social Etiquette and Customs Most Vietnamese social etiquette and customs are based on Confucian and/or folk teachings. The concepts of family and respect toward others, in particular, are common themes of social protocols. During greeting situations, for example, it is customary to convey respect by clasping one’s hands together and performing a slight bow toward the other person (particularly if he or she is elderly). Moreover, because the Vietnamese culture centers on the family, people may use family designations when addressing others—regardless of whether biological and/or martial relations exist. A friend of one’s parents might be referred to as “Uncle” (chu or bac) or “Aunt,” (co or bac gai), and a peer (e.g., a relative, a friend, and/or a romantic partner) might be referred to as Older Brother/Sister (anh/chi) or Younger Brother/Sister (em). Of the latter designations, the terms do not necessarily carry the literal meaning of siblings; rather, they are verbal gestures that suggest intimacy and friendship. The concept of title/designations, in fact, is quite complex and usually depends on familial and/or generational ranking rather than age. Thus it is possible for one to refer to a younger peer as Older Brother/Older Sister if that peer has a “higher” ranking in the family, (e.g., if he or she is married to the speaker’s older sibling, or is the child of the speaker’s parent’s older sibling). This reference is especially true in traditional households. Furthermore, Vietnamese family designations are divided into two parts: the maternal side and the paternal side. The words for the maternal aunt are di (the mother’s sister) or mo (the mother’s sister-in-law), and the words for the maternal uncle is cau (the mother’s brother) or duong (the mother’s brother-in-law). For the paternal aunt, the words are co (the father’s sister), thim (the father’s sister-in-law married to his younger brother), bac gai (the father’s sister-in-law married to his older brother); and for the paternal uncle, the words are chu (the father’s younger brother) or bac (the father’s older brother). In traditional families, the correct form of address for family members is essential in conveying proper manners.
Vietnamese Americans: Superstition and Taboo
Other common Vietnamese social practices include home-visitation etiquette and dining etiquette. For these protocols, the notions of family and respect remain key foundational virtues; however, many of them are also related to folk and superstitious beliefs. For example, the custom of removing one’s shoes when entering someone’s home is as much a matter of respect and cleanliness as it is (or can be) of superstition. Some people believe that dragging dirt or mud from the outside is symbolically the same as dragging one’s bad luck into the home. Such an act is especially offensive during holidays like Tet, when cleanliness and new beginnings are most essential. Similarly, it is highly insulting and disrespectful to point the bottoms of one’s feet toward a family and/or religious altar because the feet are considered dirty and unholy. Dining etiquette also has its share of respectful conduct and taboos. In general, elderly members sit and eat first at the table. The rice bowl should be held close to the mouth while eating; otherwise, it would be deemed as laziness and/or ingratitude for one’s food. Chopsticks should never be propped vertically upright inside the rice bowl, as many people believe that resembles incense sticks used to call on spirits. Some may even see it as wishing death on their family. In sum, the Vietnamese people are very respectful and family oriented, and some are even very superstitious. As such, proper social conduct is essential to strong and positive relationships. As a general rule, remember to show respect toward elders and when possible, perform acts of good luck. —Rossina Zamora Liu
Further Reading Murray, Geoffrey. Customs and Etiquette of Vietnam. London: Bravo, Ltd., 2006.
Web Sites “Cultural Etiquette: Vietnam.” eDiplomat, 2009. http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural _etiquette/ce_vn.htm (accessed August 3, 2009). “Go Native: Etiquette in Vietnam.” The Lonely Planet, 2009. http://www.lonely planet.com/vietnam/travel-tips-and-articles/42/1375 (accessed August 5, 2009).
Superstition and Taboo Most Vietnamese superstitions and taboos stem from indigenous folklore, and like other cultures, these beliefs are driven by the fear of supernatural forces, mainly that they might bring harm to the self, family, and/or community. For the Vietnamese, these powerful entities include deities and spirits, and many believers will go to large measures to avoid their wrath, including performing elaborate rituals or
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refraining from activities on “unlucky” days. Astrological readings and signs, thus, play an important role in the subscription of Vietnamese superstitions and taboo. For example, it is common for families to consult with astrologers and shamans when determining “lucky” dates for special occasions like weddings and funerals. Otherwise, an untimely date or incompatible sign could mean an unhappy marriage or a restless afterlife. Because of the supernatural elements of superstitions and taboos, people often dismiss them as ignorant and primitive. Yet because of the syncretic nature of Vietnamese cultural traditions and beliefs, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between what are common custom or religious rites and what are superstitious practices. For example, many aspects of folk ancestral worship overlap with the Buddhist belief of souls and reincarnation. Consequently, what one family may call a religious ritual, another may call a superstitious custom. This is especially true during festivities and commemorations in which ceremonial (and religious) rites may coincide with superstitious folk practices. The Wandering Souls’ Day, for example, is technically a Buddhist holiday that pays tribute to the deceased, but almost everyone in Vietnam observes this occasion. Altars are set up with food, paper clothing, and paper money at temples, businesses, and private homes for family members who have passed away as well as for souls who have been forgotten by the living—i.e., wandering souls. People in the transportation business, in particular, strictly observe this holiday regardless of their religious affiliation. The Vietnamese believe that it is bad luck for someone to die while he or she is away from home. As such, bus drivers, cyclo drivers, and other carriers who have had passengers die while en route will attentively observe the Wandering Souls’ Day. Similarly the Lunar New Year, or Tet, has hundreds of rituals that dictate people’s activities. Because the holiday is a celebration of beginnings, it is customary for families to clean their houses, clear out old debts, and pay tribute to the Kitchen God before the first of the year. Likewise, on the day of the New Year, people wear new clothes, send each other good-luck wishes, and offer children lucky money (li xi). The first visitor to the home is also very important. The Vietnamese believe that a good-natured person who is also successful in business will bring good luck and good fortune to the family. As such, people are very selective in who they invite into their homes on the first day of the year. Dragon-lion dances (mua lan) are especially popular among business owners who believe that the mythical creatures bring good luck and fortune to the business. Some people also place a tall bamboo tree (cay neu) in front of their homes during Tet to ward off evil spirits and welcome good ones. The top of the tree pole usually contains various items such as red lucky paper, a basket of betal and areca nuts, wind chimes, and peacock feathers. In addition to the bamboo pole, people may spread lime powder around the house and draw a bow and arrow at the front entrance to scare away demons.
Vietnamese Americans: Tet
Taboos associated with Tet include those actions that bear bad luck and misfortune to families and friends. For example, just as it is good to clean the house before Tet, it is bad luck to clean the house on Tet. The Vietnamese believe that this is like sweeping away one’s fortune for the year. Additionally, it is bad luck to cry, show anger, use profanity, insult others, or break dishes on Tet, because these behaviors and occurrences will set the tone for the year. Tet and the Wandering Souls’ Day are just two examples in which Vietnamese superstitions and taboos come into play in people’s lives. The Vietnamese culture has hundreds, if not thousands, of other beliefs that involve supernatural forces. These superstitions and taboos are observed during national and regional festivities, at weddings and funerals, and in everyday activities. —Rossina Zamora Liu
Further Reading MacMillan, Diane M. Tet: Vietnamese New Year. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1994.
Web Sites “Holidays in Vietnam.” Vietnamese Student Web Project, Seattle.gov. 2009. http:// www.ci.seattle.wa.us/helpinglink/StudentWeb/webproject/html/holidayvn.htm (accessed May 30, 2009). Le, Cuong N. “Tet: A Celebration of Rebirth.” Asian Nation: Asian American History, Demographics and Issues. http://www.asian-nation.org/tet.shtml (accessed May 15, 2009).
Tet Tet (Tet Nguyen Dan) is the Vietnamese celebration of the Lunar New Year and the arrival of spring. It occurs in late January or early- to mid-February in the Western calendar and is the most celebrated and important holiday in the Vietnamese community, lasting for four to seven days. Like most traditional celebrations, Tet customs are rooted in old folkloric beliefs and hold symbolic and religious significance. Families prepare for the holiday days prior to the New Year by paying tribute to the Kitchen God (Ong Tao), also known as the Hearth God or Household God, who, on the 23rd day of the 12th month in the lunar calendar returns to heaven and reports to the Jade Emperor about each family’s deeds and misdeeds. To appease the god and ensure a favorable report, families offer him a brilliant feast as well as clothing and vehicles (e.g., a horse, a crane, or a golden fish) for his ascent to heaven. The latter two gift-types are made of special paper and are burned at the altar so that they may be received by the god in the spirit world.
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A traditional Vietnamese dance group performs a dragon dance to celebrate Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, in Little Saigon, Westminster, California, February 16, 1999. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
In addition to paying homage to the Kitchen God, many families clean their homes and decorate the living quarters with small bamboo trees (cay neu) and/or yellow blossom trees (hoa mai) to represent the upcoming spring. If possible, people also try to clear out old debts so that they may start the year anew. On the day of the Lunar New Year, it is common for parents and their children to dress up in new clothes when visiting friends and relatives as it is essential and expected to bear only positive and untainted energy into other people’s homes. As a popular tradition at these gatherings, children often line up before elders and bid them good luck, good health, and good life, and in return, elders offer them similar wishes and hand each child a little red envelope stuffed with lucky money (li xi). Tet is also a time for many people to pay respect to their deceased family members by visiting gravesites and praying for them at temples or churches. To invite the spirits of ancestors to join them in the celebration, families light up incense sticks at the gravesites and/or home altars and offer Tet foods such as slowly braised dishes (kho) like chicken in ginger and coconut milk or salted short ribs in a clay pot. Sticky rice, pork, and mung beans wrapped in green arrowroot leaves (banh chung) is another Tet favorite, as are dried fruits, roasted duck, whole fish, deep-fried crabs, and lobster.
Vietnamese Americans: Trung Sisters
Besides ancestral offerings, food in general plays an important role in Tet, representing both a literal meaning of celebratory feasting and a symbolic meaning of abundance and prosperity. The most common idiom referencing the holiday, in fact, is an Tet, which literally means “eating Tet.” Here, the term “eating” does not necessarily mean to fill one’s mouth with food; rather, it means to celebrate and to be spiritually nourished with close family and friends. In Southern California, home to the largest Vietnamese American population in the United States, the Tet festival takes place in Little Saigon, where spectators may witness the traditional “dragon and lion dance” (mua lan) move to the beat of vibrating drumbeats and metal gongs, followed by loud pops of firecrackers from rooftops and/or doors of local businesses. The celebratory dance and firecrackers are meant to scare away evil spirits of the year past, and allow for a fresh start in the Lunar New Year. The festival also features musical variety shows highlighting Vietnamese singers and performers on open stages, and the Miss Vietnam of Southern California beauty pageant, often hosted in conjunction with a fashion show featuring trends by Vietnamese American designers. In smaller towns, the holiday events usually take place inside high school buildings, gymnasiums, and/ or other public halls. —Rossina Zamora Liu See also: Vietnamese Americans: Festivals and Holidays.
Further Reading MacMillan, Diane M. Tet: Vietnamese New Year. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1994.
Web Sites “Holidays in Vietnam” Seattle.gov. 2009. http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/helpinglink/ StudentWeb/webproject/html/holidayvn.htm (accessed May 30, 2009). Le, Cuong N. Tet: “A Celebration of Rebirth.” Asian Nation: Asian American History, Demographics and Issues. 2001–2009. http://www.asian-nation.org/tet.shtml (accessed May 15, 2009). “Sequence of the Tet Celebration.” Saigon Info. http://saigoninfo.com/tet/sequence_of _tet_Celebration.htm (accessed May 30, 2009).
Trung Sisters In 40 CE, two Vietnamese noble women led a rebellion against the Chinese colonialist government in Vietnam and won. Their names are Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, and they are known as the Trung Sisters, the two most famous heroines of Vietnam.
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According to history, the Chinese dominated Vietnam from 207 BCE to 39 CE. Trung Trac and Trung Nhi were daughters of a nobleman and military leader, Lord Lac of Me-Linh. The two sisters grew up witnessing cruel Chinese treatment of their people, including forced assimilation and impositions of harsh taxations on salt, crafts, and fishing, and both vowed to someday drive the foreigners out of their country. After the Chinese governor of the Wangku district, To Dinh, killed Trung Trac’s husband and punished her for violent protests against Chinese rule, Trung Trac and her younger sister, Trung Nhi, organized a retaliation against the colonialist government in Vietnam. The two women commanded an army of 80,000 men and women (of which 36 women, including their mother, served as generals), and captured 65 Chinese-controlled provinces. Afterward, both sisters became co-queens of what was then called “Nam Viet,” and established their royal court at Me-Linh in the Hong River plain. During their reigns, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi abolished tributary taxes to the Chinese and, although they were in constant battle with Chinese lords in Vietnam, they were able to maintain power for two years. Finally in 42 CE, the Chinese Han emperor sent General Ma Yuen to regain control over the region. Outarmed and outnumbered, the Trung Sisters’ troops were badly defeated. In 43 CE, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi both fled to the Hat Giang River where, according to lore, they chose to commit suicide by drowning themselves in the river rather than surrendering to the Chinese. Although Vietnamese independence was short-lived, and Chinese domination continued for another 500 years (until the next rebellion), the Trung Sisters’ fight for freedom is considered the first, successful uprising against Chinese domination in Vietnamese history. Given their legendary victory against Chinese control of Vietnam, many heroic tales of bravery have been told about the Trung Sisters. As daughters of a powerful military family, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi were known for their fearlessness and their martial arts skills. According to legend, both women once killed a humaneating tiger and wrote on its hide their proclamation of independence as a way to inspire confidence in the people. Similarly, stories of loyal friends and followers tell of unmatched acts of bravery, including that of the woman Phung Thi Chinh from Son Tay, who led one of the armies of resistance in central Nam Viet. Based on popular lore, Phung was pregnant at the time of battle and had to give birth at the front line. After the birth, Phung immediately wrapped the newborn on her back and continued fighting Chinese troops. When she finally learned of the Trung Sisters’ deaths, she followed suit and drowned herself and the child in a river. Every year on the sixth day of the second lunar month (March), the Vietnamese people celebrate the Trung Sisters’ victorious uprising against Chinese oppression almost 2,000 years ago. The holiday is called Hai Ba Trung, literally “The Two Ladies Trung.” —Rossina Zamora Liu
Vietnamese Americans: Truong Van Tran Incident
Further Reading Taylor, Keith Weller. The Birth of Vietnam. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
Truong Van Tran Incident In exercising his “freedom of speech,” Truong Van Tran, a storeowner of a shop named Hi-Tek Video in Southern California, displayed a poster of Ho Chi Minh along with a flag of the communist government of Vietnam in his store on January 15, 1999—Martin Luther King Day. Mr. Tran stated that Ho Chi Minh was a “hero” who helped liberate his people, and that he loved America, which provides real freedom. Thus, his display was not only to facilitate more freedom to Vietnam by illustrating the freedom of expression that exists in the United States, but also to insist that Vietnamese Americans would have to accept different views about Vietnam’s history without resorting to intimidation and violence. When Vietnamese Americans made threats to boycott the store, Tran stood his ground and dared his critics to take down the display. What followed was the largest Vietnamese American political protest, lasting for 53 days in which more than 15,000 people had showed up on several nights. This protest also had sparked pro-democracy rallies in northern California, Houston, Washington, DC., Paris, and Sydney, Australia. In many ways, the incident reenergized the “zeal” of preserving cultural memory from a refugee perspective Protesters hold up signs and South and being active as agents of “anticom- Vietnamese American flags outside the Himunism.” Tek store in Westminster, California, in an While a county judge ruled that Tran area called Little Saigon, February 22, 1999. had the First Amendment right to Demonstrators were protesting the store owner Truong Van Tran, who has outraged hang the items, what ended the display the Vietnamese community by hanging a was that after a call by Tran for the communist flag and a photo of Ho Chi Minh in police to investigate a break-in at his his storefront. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
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store, the police found hundreds of pirated videos and recording machines for duplication. After a two-year court battle in which Tran’s lawyers unsuccessfully argued that his conviction was in part politically motivated, he served a 90-day sentence. In 2002, Tran visited Vietnam and wrote a couple of articles for a state-run newspaper. However, he stated that “over here they say I am Communist. When I go there, they say I am CIA.” Instead, Tran sees himself as a Vietnamese and American citizen who wants to follow Ho Chi Minh’s footsteps in fighting freedom for Vietnam. For the first-generation refugees, they compare Tran’s act to putting up a swastika in a Jewish immigrant neighborhood. They also see the actions of Tran, who escaped Vietnam in 1980 and whose family migrated to southern Vietnam in 1954 to escape communist influence, as a betrayal of the Vietnamese refugee experience. Nonetheless, it appears that Tran’s display of Ho Chi Minh’s poster incidentally provided the opportunity for the first generation to explain or reach out to younger Vietnamese Americans as well as to other Americans why they should also reject Ho Chi Minh and communism in Vietnam. The protest also helps to dismantle the perception that Vietnamese refugees are passive victims or silent survivors. Still, for a number of Vietnamese American studies scholars, the Truong Van Tran incident was another type of watershed, spurring anticommunist projects that do not practice democratic principles and that also blind the community to many other problems. For other scholars, the key questions include whether the dislike of communism breeds intolerance of attitude toward other dislikes; and whether mobilization on anticommunist issues provides a foundation for subsequent political mobilization on domestic issues or whether it serves as a distraction from it. —Long S. Le
Further Reading Aguilar-San Juan, Karin. Little Saigons: Staying Vietnamese in America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Le, Long. “In the New Year, Resolving the Unresolved Passion.” Nguoi Viet, March 13, 2008. Nguyen, Viet Thanh, et al. “Academics Take Stand against Vietnamese American Anticommunist Obsession.” Azine, June 6, 2004. Ressner, Jeffery. “The Man Who Brought Back Ho Chi Minh.” Time, March 8, 1999. Shore, Helen. “Ho Chi Minh Protests: 5 Years Later: The Man Who Enraged Little Saigon.” Pacific News Service, May 11, 2004.
Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner Vietnamese is the national language of the nearly 90 million speakers in Vietnam and for the 3.6 million Vietnamese immigrants living overseas. The origin of the Vietnamese language has been a subject of debate among scholars. Vietnamese
Vietnamese Americans: Vernacular Language, Speech, and Manner
is usually categorized as a part of the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic language family. However, from the Vietnamese perspective, its national language can be genealogically classified by itself along with Muong, a language spoken by a group of highlanders in northern Vietnam. In fact, Muong is more closely related to Vietnamese than other Mon-Khmer languages, according to recent linguistic studies. Thus, as a starting point for a proper genealogical classification, Viet-Muong or Vietic has been established as a branch of the Austroasiastic language family. While Vietnamese language is not genetically or mutually intelligible with any other national language spoken in Asia, its language has had an astonishing faculty to assimilate foreign language elements. In part, this is due to the fact that Vietnam is geographically located on the frontier between East and Southeast Asia. Accordingly, modern Vietnamese has been described as resulting from a mixture of foreign contributions. That is, Vietnam has been successively, at different times in its history, at the northern limit of the Mon-Khmer languages, the eastern limit of the Tai languages, and the southern boundary of Chinese. For example, it is thought Vietnamese was a non-tonal language at the beginning of the Christian era, but later developed three tones by the 6th century; and by the 12th century, it had acquired all six tones, which characterize it today. Such tonal development has been contributed in part to Tai languages. Through centuries of Chinese rule, Chinese linguistic influence on Vietnamese language has also been significant but was, at the same time, situational. In particular, Chinese loan words were predominant in literary and scholarly language, but such influence was limited to the large body of content words, while function words retain their native identity. Lexical borrowing from French has been relatively less numerous but noticeable, such as “ca phe” (coffee). Meanwhile, the recent renormalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam has increased the number of English loanwords in Vietnamese, which is evident in government-funded linguistic dictionaries. Like its people, Vietnamese language has not only survived despite centuries of foreign domination but also been able to borrow and transform. Therefore, the Vietnamese language can be thought of as having a linguistic core—one that has been dynamic in which what would count within the core would be what was considered essential at a given time. This would better explain why the Vietnamese language has had three different writing systems: Chinese characters (“chu nho”), Sino-Vietnamese characters (“chu nom”), and Vietnamese romanized script (“chu quoc ngu”). Thus, a foreign writing system is treated like a type of technology, the adoption of which, in a given historical context, would be seen as critical in advancing the Vietnamese civilization. For example, Vietnamese romanized script was developed by Catholic missionaries in Vietnam during the 17th century as a way for them to communicate and preach in Vietnamese to covert Vietnamese to Christianity. However, it was not until the turn of the 20th century when scholars
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such as Phan Boi Chau and Tran Trong Kim paralleled the Vietnamese romanized script to that of the nationalist movements, which sought for both independence and modernization at the same time. In fact, in 1945, Tran Trong Kim, who headed a short-lived government that collaborated with the Japanese, took the opportunity and “de-Franchified” Vietnam by adopting the Vietnamese romanized script as the official language. Vietnamese language in the United States, which may be more accurately described as the Vietnamese language of pre-1975, is still widely used both in communication and in print by the first generation of Vietnamese Americans. By some accounts, proficiency in Vietnamese among the younger Vietnamese Americans is of major concern for the overall community to sustain its “goc Viet” (Vietnamese roots). Among the second and third generations, it is more likely that those whose parents are both Vietnamese and in which Vietnamese is spoken in the household, or those who reside in communities that have organizational support in promoting the maintenance of Vietnamese language, are likely to acquire some level of Vietnamese proficiency. —Long S. Le
Further Reading Alves, Mark. “Loanwords in Vietnamese.” In Martin Haspelmath and Uri Tadmor, eds. Loanwords in the World’s Languages: A Comparative Handbook. New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009. Diffloth, Gerard. “Proto-Austroasiastic Creaky Voice.” Mon-Khmer Studies 15 (1989). Nguyen, Dinh Hoa. “An Outline of Vietnamese.” The Vietnamese Forum (Winter–Spring 1988). Pham, Vinh Kim. The Vietnamese Culture: An Introduction. n.p.: The Pham Kim Vinh Research Institute, 1990. Te, Huynh Dinh. Introduction to Vietnamese Culture. n.p.: Multifunctional Resource Center, 1987.
Viet Kieu “Viet Kieu” is a term referring to Vietnamese living abroad. Currently, there are about 3.6 million overseas Viet Kieu in around 90 countries and territories. The largest is the Vietnamese American diaspora with 1.7 million, followed by Cambodia (600,000), Russia and Eastern Europe (300,000), France (250,000), Australia (245,000), Canada (245,000), Taiwan (120,000), and the United Kingdom (55,000). At first glance, the term Viet Kieu seems to offer very little in understanding the Vietnamese experience across time and space. But Viet Kieu, in fact, can be
Vietnamese Americans: Viet Kieu
classified in ways that could provide new insights. For example, homeland status can distinguish some key differences among Viet Kieu across the globe: those who identify themselves as being “stateless,” and those who identify themselves as being “state-linked” to the current Vietnamese government. Another factor is the link between Viet Kieu and development: whether there is development within a specific Viet Kieu community. Such factors can illustrate that, on the one hand, there has been considerable economic mobility among Viet Kieu residing in the West or developed countries, which accounts for more than 80 percent of all Vietnamese overseas. However, on the other hand, Vietnamese in the West generally do not identify themselves as Viet Kieu. Instead, they more often use “Nguoi Viet Hai Ngoai” or “Nguoi Viet Tu Do Hai Ngoai,” which literally means overseas Vietnamese or overseas Vietnamese who have freedom, respectively. That is, Vietnamese in the West, particularly among the first-generation refugees, are still linked to the former Republic of South Vietnam. This diaspora can be categorized as “stateless,” and whose homeland politics can be described as anticommunist. Notwithstanding, the Vietnamese government has recently begun to view all Viet Kieu, regardless of their past history, as Vietnamese nationals who are entitled to have their “rights” in the country’s national unity, so long as they fulfill their “duties” to the state. By some accounts, Vietnamese Americans have been described as “passive transmigrants.” On the one hand, they have increasingly returned to Vietnam and continued to provide financial support to their extended families as well as to humanitarian projects in Vietnam. However, on the other hand, only a small number thus far have conducted business in or with Vietnam, and few play an active part in the operation of local “mass organizations” or in the production of pro-Vietnam discourses. To a large extent, Vietnamese Americans have been unwilling to link its relative economic success to the current regime’s developmental policies. In some ways, Vietnamese in this “stateless” diaspora are more likely to see themselves through the character of Kieu in Nguyen Du’s The Tale of Kieu. As noted by scholar Huynh Sanh Thong, Kieu’s story conveys a message of hope for both the individual and the country: If Vietnamese refugees can endure the experiences of being victims and survivors and remember themselves as “nguoi goc Viet” (having Vietnamese roots), they will one day achieve salvation: saving the people of Vietnam from communist rule. Meanwhile, there is a growing number of Viet Kieu sent by the Vietnamese government to work abroad, mostly in Eastern Europe and Asia. This experience has its roots in Vietnamese-Soviet relations. In 1982, to offset debts to the Soviet Union, Vietnam’s value transfer included exported labor to the extent that before the end of the Cold War, there were 244,000 Vietnamese workers in the Soviet bloc. To ease domestic unemployment and increase remittances, the Vietnamese
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government in 2001 has actively promoted labor export workers in which the total number is now more than 400,000. However, these Viet Kieu in the East are mostly from the rural areas and usually have both low labor and low linguistic skills. Importantly, circumstances have forced many of the above Viet Kieu to live and work illegally in their host country. This can result into a “proletarian diaspora,” whose members cannot achieve mobility relative to the host’s society elites or improve their own economic status over time. Although these Viet Kieu are politically “loyal” to the Vietnamese government, such state-linked relations can be quite fragile if such “proletarian” status remains in place. —Long S. Le See also: Vietnamese Americans: Identity.
Further Reading Dorais, Louis-Jacques. “From Refugees to Transmigrants.” In Wanni Anderson and Robert Lee, eds. Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005. Huynh, Sanh Thong Huynh. The Tale of Kieu: A Bilingual Edition of Nguyen Du’s Truyen Kieu. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1987. Le, Hai. “The Vietnamese in Eastern Europe.” Conference paper delivered at the London Metropolitan University, March 22, 2006. Nguyen, Bich Ngoc. “Immigration and Integration: The Vietnamese Experience.” Conference paper delivered at the London Metropolitan University, March 22, 2006.
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF FOLKTALES IN ASIAN AMERICA
1. Asian Buddhist American: The Jataka Tales The Jataka Tales are important among all Buddhist traditions. Therefore, these tales are popular among Southeast Asian American (i.e., Cambodian, Laotian, Burmese, Thai, and Vietnamese), East Asian American (i.e., Chinese, Japanese, Korean), South Asian American (i.e., Sri Lankan, Nepali, and Indian), and Inner/ Central Asian American (i.e., Mongolian, Tibetan) Buddhist communities. They are the folklore and folktales of the historical Buddha’s previous lives (jati). The Jataka Tales are so popular, it is often times narrated by elders to teach children the meaning of being Buddhist, in addition to central Buddhist teachings and precepts (i.e., nonviolence [ahimsa], compassion [karuna], patience, and loving kindness [metta]). The tales also teach, in simple metaphors and stories complex Buddhist metaphysical concepts, such as suffering (duhkha), the cycles of reincarnation (samsara), and karma. Moreover, they teach central Buddhist doctrines such as the Noble Eight Fold Path, and the Four Noble Truths. These tales teach children that Buddha is compassionate and his compassion is expedient (upaya), meaning that faith in the Buddha and his teachings will lead to enlightenment (nirvana)—or at least, immediate protection from harm. The two sample tales retold here teaches compassion and wisdom. In “The Rabbit on the Moon,” the Buddha is the old man: in “The Foolish Rabbit,” the Buddha is a wise lion. The Rabbit on the Moon During a full moon, children in Buddhist Asia and Asian America are told this tale of Buddha’s compassion: Once upon a time, an old man begged a monkey, an otter, a jackal, and a rabbit for food. The monkey went and gathered fruits from nearby trees for the old man. The otter caught fish from the river for him. The jackal stole a lizard and a pot of milk-curd for the old man. The rabbit, who only ate grass, offered his own body by throwing himself into the fire the old man made. However, the rabbit was not burnt. The old man revealed himself as the Buddha. The Buddha, being so touched by the rabbit’s virtue and display of compassion drew his likeness on the moon to remind everyone of his selfless act of compassion. Big or small, every creature is endowed with compassion.
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Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
The Foolish Rabbit Once upon a time, there was a Rabbit sleeping under a coconut tree. Suddenly the Rabbit heard some loud noise, woke up, and thought, “The world is breaking up. What will happen to me?” The Rabbit started to run as fast as he can, jumping over pushes, leaping over great distances. Another Rabbit saw him running, and called after him, “Why are you running so fast? Where are you going?” “Don’t ask!” the panicked Rabbit cried. The other Rabbit ran after him, insisting that he tell him why he is running so fast. The first Rabbit replied, “I’m running because the earth is breaking up.” And so, the second Rabbit joined him and ran just as fast. Then, another Rabbit joined, one after another, more Rabbits joined as they heard that the earth was breaking up. The group of Rabbits passed a Deer, who called out asking “Hey Rabbits, why are you all running so fast? Where are you going?” Hearing that the earth was breaking up, the Deer joined them and ran. The Deer called the Fox, the Fox called the Elephant, and they all ran together, towards the ocean. Finally, they ran past the Lion, who heard their cries that the earth was breaking up. The Lion thought to himself, there must be something wrong. So he ran to the front of them and roared three times. They all stopped, because the Lion was King of the Beasts. The Lion asked, “Why are you all running so fast? Where are you going?” The Elephant said, “We’re running because the earth is breaking up. We are headed to the ocean.” The Lion asked, “Who saw the earth breaking up?” The Elephant, said, “the Fox told me.” The Fox, said, “The Deer told me.” The Deer, said, “The Rabbit told me.” Each Rabbit said, “I didn’t see it, but that Rabbit told me.” This went on until the Lion knew it was the First Rabbit who first said the earth was breaking up. The Lion asked the First Rabbit, “Is it true? Did you see the earth breaking up?” “Yes,” said the First Rabbit. “I was napping under the coconut tree and woke up to a loud noise.” That made me realized the earth was breaking up so I started to run. The Lion, said, “Okay. Then you and I will go back to that place where the earth began to break up.”
Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
First Rabbit jumped on the Lion’s back and they went to the coconut tree. Everyone else stayed at the hillside waiting for their return. When they arrived to the place where First Rabbit was taking a nap, the Lion saw two coconuts on the ground. Then said, “Foolish Rabbit, the sound you heard was the sound of the coconuts falling to the ground. The earth is not breaking apart.” First Rabbit jumped back on the Lion’s back to tell the others what they discovered. If it had not been for the wise Lion (who was the Buddha in disguise), they might all still be running. Eventually they would have all ran into the ocean and died. —As retold by Jonathan H. X. Lee
2. Cambodian American: Kaundinya and Soma This tale tells the origin of Kampuchea, or Cambodia, which resulted from the union between a Brahmin prince and a nagi-princess (water snake). It is the story of the genesis of the first kingdom, known as Funan. Gradually, it was used to explain the Hindu and Indian influence on Khmer civilization. The folktale of Khmer origin, as a narrative of the people, voices what it means to be Khmer, which is the figurative and literal connection to the ancestral couple. There are various versions of the tale, but they all conform to the blending of two different entities: foreign and native, human and animal, culture and nature, and male and female. It is the assimilation and reconciliation of the two that informs what it means to be Khmer. This is a foundational theme in the history of Cambodia. The tale is represented in Cambodian folk art that is used to decorate Cambodian American homes. The naga is also very common in Cambodian folk art and performance. This is an oral tale, and there are many variations, but they all conform to the version told here. Once upon a time, the great ancestor of the Khmer people, Kaundinya, an Indian Brahman priest, dreamt that if he sailed to the shores of Great Lake, he would find a myriad of riches. Kaundinya set sail with his magical bow and arrow. When he reached the Great Lake, Soma, a nagi-princess, paddled out in a boat to greet him. Soma was the beautiful daughter of the Naga King. Kaundinya shot a magic arrow into her boat, which frightened her, at first. In due course, the two fell in love and married. Kaundinya gave her clothes to wear; as her dowry, her father sucked up the waters of his water-logged country therefore making the fertile land valuable and presented it to Kaundinya to rule over. This land would become Nokor Phnom, the first Kingdom of Cambodia. Kaundinya and Soma thus became the ancestral pair of the royal dynasty, from which all Khmer kings are descended. —As retold by Jonathan H. X. Lee
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3. Filipino American: The Legend of the Pineapple This legend was often heard told by parents to their children to inculcate the value of obedience, respect for elders, and the sense of responsibility. The story was prevalent in the southern Tagalog region, located outside of the capital city of Manila on the island of Luzon in the northern Philippines. It was on Luzon that the Filipino revolt against Spanish rule began in 1896. As in many Filipino legends, the presence of Spaniards is prevalent, oftentimes in the denouement or the conclusion, which brings together the lessons in the legends. It was not uncommon for children raised in Catholic homes to hear such legends as the Legend of the Pineapple, as the story reinforces recurring religious themes. As the Philippines enters the era of contemporary globalization and the Internet, both parents and their children lose the fascinating opportunities of storytelling and thus, legends such as this have become a part of a good past. Pina had very beautiful black eyes and thick black hair. Her two younger sisters envied Pina, who was prettier than they were. These younger sisters, however, were very industrious and helpful. They helped their mother clean and fry fish. They would bring freshly steamed rice wrapped in banana leaves to their father for lunch as he plowed the rice paddies. On the other hand, Pina was lazy and conceited. All she cared about was combing her beautiful hair and looking at the mirror all day long. “What pretty eyes I have,” Pina would say as her sisters worked around the house. If the sisters stopped to help Pina brush her hair, Pina would push them away. “Don’t touch my hair with your dirty hands,” she would exclaim. Pina was also very selfish. No one could borrow her things. When one of her sisters would ask for her pretty pearl-lined comb, Pina would say: “I don’t know where it is!” Pina would laugh and say to herself: “Why does she need my comb? Her hair is as stiff as a broom. No comb in the world could even untangle that mess!” Their father, old and weary from working in the fields, loved his children equally despite Pina’s mean ways. The old man regretted that he and his wife had spoiled Pina when she was very young. They had treated her like a princess. In fact, his wife used to sing a lullaby to Pina saying she was a very pretty princess. Pina never lifted a rag or mop to clean the house. She was so lazy that every time her mother asked her to find the rice pot, Pina would say she couldn’t find it. But when Pina’s mother asked the two younger sisters to get the pot, they would find it in its usual place. When Pina’s mother scolded her, she would simply shrug her shoulders and walk away saying, “Well, if they can find the pots and pans, they can also cook.
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Obviously I am not good at finding things especially in the kitchen. I don’t know where the salt is, or the cooking oil or the sack of rice.” One day, the two sisters came home quite early from washing clothes at the river bank. They told their mother that very few women washed clothes that day because they were homesick. The sisters themselves felt rather tired. “Several farmers have not worked for the past few days as well,” the father joined in. He added he also felt weak. He thought he was coming down with a cold. The next morning, the father left for the farm despite his fever and aching bones. The two younger sisters stayed in bed. No one boiled water for the usual salabat (ginger tea). Neither of the girls walked to the bakery for the fresh-baked pan de sal. At 10 in the morning, Pina sleepily sauntered into the kitchen for breakfast. She found the kitchen table empty! Pina ran to her sisters’ room and found them still sleeping. She roused them and asked why they had not prepared breakfast. The sisters cried and told Pina they were so sick to get up. Pina would not have it. “You lazy girls,” she said as she pinched their ears and pulled them out of bed. “Go and buy bread, now!” The sisters, although still weak, ran out of the house. The mother, who was also sick, heard all the commotion and got up from bed. Her head throbbed with pain. “Child what did you do to your sisters?” she cried out to Pina. “Be quiet, mother. Your good-for-nothing daughters did not have breakfast ready for me this morning,” Pina shouted. “Your sisters are ill. Let them rest, Pina,” her mother pleaded. They are not. They are just being lazy and pretending to be sick,” Pina replied. “Pina, please go to the kitchen and cook some porridge. I am very weak and hungry,” said the mother. “But I do not know where the pots are,” protested Pina. “They are in the cupboard as always,” Pina’s mother answered. “Where is the sack of rice? Where is the salt? Where is the spoon? Where is the pot cover? Mother, I can’t find anything!” Pina exclaimed. Angry and frustrated, the mother said: “Pina, I hope someday you would have a hundred eyes so you can find things!” Ignoring her mother, Pina started dragging the sack of rice outside the house. She slashed open the bag of rice with a knife and let its content drop to the ground. “I will simply tell them that I couldn’t find the rice,” Pina muttered. The precious rice that Pina’s father had worked for all year fell on the ground. It poured and poured and poured and wouldn’t stop. It reached Pina’s knees and rose up to her waist and neck. She couldn’t move her feet and legs. All she could do was yell for help. No one heard Pina’s pleas. No one saw what happened to Pina. All they knew was that she was missing for days. The mother, father, and sisters searched the whole town for Pina but couldn’t find her. She had disappeared.
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Months later, as the mother prepared a plot to plant some tomato seeds in the yard; she saw a small plant with an interesting fruit. The fruit has sharp edges around it and a funny crown on top. With a knife, she peeled the fruit. To her astonishment, the fruit was covered with what appeared to be little black eyes. She suddenly remembered her last words to Pina: “I hope someday you would have a hundred eyes so you can find things!” She sat down and cried, “Oh, Pina, Pina!” Two Spanish solders passed by the house and saw the mother crying. They stopped to comfort her. One of the soldiers saw the fruit on the ground and tasted it. It was sweet and juicy, with a bit of tartness. The soldier asked the mother in Spanish, “What is this fruit?” The mother who couldn’t understand Spanish kept repeating her daughter’s name, “Pina, Pina, Pina . . .” The soldiers brought home with them the strange fruit and called it Pina, which later on came to be pronounced in Spanish as Pinya. In the Western world, Pinya has become better known as the Pineapple. As to Pina, she was never found. —As retold by Cecile Caguingin-Ochoa
4. Filipino American: Siblaw Taraw (The Star Maiden) The star maiden motif is common in Philippine folklore and, as E. Arsenio Manuel, the leading Filipino folklorist, has written, “[t]he more versions there are, the older and more authentic the tale.” Siblaw Taraw is the version from Barlig (traditionally called Fialikia) nestled in the northern Cordillera mountains of Luzon. The residents of Barlig are called Ifiallig and their language is Finallig. This tale is derived from the narrative of Arfonso Nacleo, a revered Ifiallig umu-ufok (village elder and storyteller). The umu-ufok narrate tales about hero ancestors, and these stories, called ubufok, serve as a record of the people’s history, genealogy, and cultural traditions. Filipino American heritage learners, in turn, can find fuller or “more authentic” versions of familiar folktales, epics, proverbs, or myths, like Siblaw Taraw, in classes of Philippine folklore, culture, or literature now taught in programs that remind them of their roots and foster appreciation of their culture and identity. Long, long ago . . . one full-moon night, a robust Ifiallig bachelor decided to hunt at Siblaw, the enchanted lake atop a mountain of Fiallig. The Ifiallig believe the wilderness guarding Siblaw is animate, sometimes hostile. But that night, as the hunter journeyed stealthily through moonlit trees, he saw the forest illuminated. Suddenly he caught the distant laughter of women’s voices coming from Siblaw. Why were women bathing at night with the moon and animals? Sleep at camp eluded him as he wondered who they were.
Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
The moon was still full the next dusk when at last he came to Siblaw. He stayed concealed behind trees and looking up, saw winged creatures descending from the sky. They sparkled; their clothes and their wings shimmered. The winged women undressed. He spotted the most beautiful maiden and watched where she left her wings and clothes. Gingerly, he took one wing and hid it in his woven basket. At dawn, he returned to Siblaw. The beautiful maiden wept beside the lake. When the young man approached, she told him one of her wings was lost. She could not return home to heaven. Gallantly, he helped search, but because he had hidden the wing, they did not find it. Then the bachelor asked the star maiden to marry him. Since she could not fly home, she reluctantly agreed. They went home to Fiallig and lived as husband and wife. Ifiallig villagers admired her and asked him where he met such a resplendent beauty. He would only tell them her name was “Taraw” (Star). Several years passed. Taraw and the hunter had a baby girl. She was beautiful, so much like her mother. One day while cleaning, Taraw noticed a basket concealed by the hut’s ceiling. She opened it to find her lost wing, tattered and full of holes. The truth fell down upon her as she realized her husband had hidden the wing. She mended the damaged wing, then unfolded her other wing, properly stored and still in perfect shape. When she tried both wings, she could fly again. She longed to fly home and leave her deceitful husband. But she saw how little her child was and could not bear to abandon her. When her daughter turned 15, Taraw told her the whole story. Born celestial, she had two wings but deceptively one had been kept from her. Now her daughter was of age; the lost wing was found and mended. It was time she flew back to heaven. Sadly she bid the maiden goodbye, leaving her an oracular warning: “If you wish to live long, never dance in village festivities.” The daughter kept secret her mother’s last words. When the father returned from the hunt, he was devastated to find Taraw gone. His daughter still lived in his hut. But the day came that a feast was held to celebrate bountiful harvest from the rice terraces. Because she was so beautiful, the villagers begged his daughter to dance. The daughter tried to resist the sound of the gongs. She tried to fend off the insistent calls of the people. But slowly, eventually she started swaying with the music. Everyone was mesmerized as she broke into dance, seeming to float through the air. Suddenly the music ended. She remembered the prophetic warning. Still, she kept it secret. In a few days, the young woman fell ill. Finally she revealed Taraw’s parting words, and soon passed away. Her father grew old, all alone. —As retold by Pia C. Arboleda
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5. Hmong American: The Life Story of Orphan Toua This Hmong folktale was told to teach people about love and respect. Love one another, love your villagers, and most importantly, love those that are close to you. At the end, this story teaches us about morals, values, and dignity through the struggle of Toua’s life. This tale was passed down from my maternal greatgrandma to my maternal grandma. From there, the story was passed down to my mom and finally, from her to me. Once upon a time there was a little boy named Toua. His parents had passed away while he was nine years old and left him with Uncle Xing and Xong. With the loss of his parents, the uncles did not treat Toua very well. Uncle Xing and Xong’s resentment towards Toua grew as time gone by. Food was scarce and having another child to take care of meant that there was more food required on the table. To limit Toua’s eating amount, Uncle Xing and Xong used a rope and tied it around Toua’s stomach to make him eat less. As time gone by, the uncles felt the tying rope around Toua’s stomach was not enough. Weeks gone by and the uncles saw that Toua was still eating regardless. One day Uncle Xong said to Uncle Xing, “It has been a year now and we are feeding Toua too much. Food is scarce and we barely have enough for our own children. What are we going to do?” The older brother hesitated and said, “Well, I guess we’ll take him to the highest mountain cave and plant some potatoes nearby. We’ll take him there tomorrow night so that he will not be able to see and find his way back home.” After a long conversation, Uncle Xing and Xong decided that the plan was excellent. The following night, Uncle Xing and Xong packed a bag of rice, a small pot, and some harvesting tools. Then the uncles took Toua and headed off the long walk to the mountain cave. Along the way, Toua asked, “Where are we going uncles?” The uncles replied, “We’re just going to go farming Toua.” Along the way, they heard all sorts of noises from familiar insects and animals to those that never had been heard before. With the twist and turn of the road, Toua soon had lost his awareness of the surrounding. Toua felt frightened along the way but with his courage, he did not tell the uncles. After the long journey, they arrived at the cave at the highest mountain peak. Uncle Xing and Xong made a fire pit in the mountain cave and said to Toua, “Wait here by the fire for us. Keep the fire alive or you will not be able to see in the dark. We’ll come back for you after the farming is complete.” Being an obedient little boy, he did not question the uncles and walked to the cave and waited patiently. Toua waited and waited but his uncles were nowhere to be seen. As Toua waited patiently, he listened to the surrounding areas and heard many noises from the animals and insects. He also heard a stream flowing nearby. At last, the uncles
Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
returned with the bag of rice, small pot, and harvesting tools. It was almost dawn by the time Toua realized the uncles’ presence. The uncles took Toua on a short walk away from the cave and showed Toua the newly made potato patches. The uncles said, “Toua, when you run out of rice, come to this potato patches and make sure to keep an eye on it well so that it will grow many potatoes. When it gets dark, go collect wood and make yourself a fire so you will see your surroundings and keep the tigers away. We’ll come back tomorrow morning. Now you take good care of yourself.” Soon Toua found himself alone with his thoughts. The days gone by, the uncles were nowhere to be seen. Toua waited anxiously for the uncles to return but he soon found himself waiting less and less. Remembering the uncles’ advice, Toua checked on the potatoes daily and carried water to it. He also gathered wood and made fire at night to keep the tigers away. Weeks gone by and Toua ran out of rice. He soon dug up the potatoes and ate it scarcely. Months and months gone by and he soon ran out of the potatoes as well. Without rice and potatoes, Toua literally had nothing left to eat. He explored the surroundings and soon found himself eating small insects and plants. Toua had lost touch with people as many years gone by. Each day was about surviving as he acquired hunting techniques. As time gone by, Toua’s ability to speak and communicating diminished. One day, going about his daily routines Toua spotted a group of Hmong hunters. Toua approached them and the hunters were in shocked to see someone out in the mountain caves so far away from the villages. They said, “Son, who and where is your mom and dad and why are you out here alone?” Toua could barely spoke back and managed to utter, “No mama and Papa.” Before long, Toua was taken home by the group. Toua had forgotten his parents’ name, had fuzzy memories about the uncles, and did not remember which village he was from. With difficulties in communicating, the group decided to adopt Toua to be part of their clan. At last, Toua had finally given another chance to live again. Years gone by and Toua relearned the language all over again and soon became knowledgeable as well. He adapted very well and his courageous and bravery made him stood out in the village. He helped out everyone who needed help; he worked hard and expanded his influences and wealth. Soon words about his charismatic characters in the village extended out to other villages. Upon hearing this news, many villagers including Toua’s uncles headed off to see what all the fuss was about. After learning about Toua’s life, struggle, and achievement, the uncles realized that he was their newphew who they left at the mountain cave years ago. After the long apologies and display of regretfulness, the uncles asked for forgiveness from Toua. Toua hesitated for a long moment, stood up, and made an announcement to all of the villagers. He said, “Uncles, you did not love me and left me in the mountain cave. You did not come back
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for me as promised. You did not love me . . . as a nephew. I forgive you but cannot forget the pain and suffering I had endured. I would like for all of you to love the ones around you, regardless if they are smart or not, blind or disabled, rich or poor. You cannot predict what the future may hold. Miracles might just be around the corner.” —As retold by Yeng Yang
6. Indonesian American: Malin Kundang Indonesians are expected to respect their parents, especially their mother. There are many stories that teach this message throughout Sumatra island. However, Malin Kundang—represented by stone formed like a man kneeling with his head half-buried on the ground in Pantai Air Manis—the people of Minangkabau and other regions transmit the tale of Malin Kundang to teach children to respect their parents. Malin Kundang’s story is included in many folktale collections and elementary school textbooks throughout Indonesia. A long time ago, in a village near the beach of West Sumatera, lived a woman and her son, Malin Kundang. His father had passed away when he was a baby, and his mother had worked hard to raise him. Malin Kundang grew to be healthy, diligent, and strong. He spent his days at the sea and learnt the martial arts. One day, Malin Kundang saw a merchant’s ship being raided by a small band of pirates. He helped the crew to fight the pirates. With his martial arts skills and strength, Malin Kundang defeated the pirate leader. When asked to join his crew, Malin Kundang accepted and sailed away in the big ship. That night his mother was worried because he did not come home. She asked his friends but no one knew except, “He said he was going to the beach.” In his absence, his mother continued praying for his safe return. Many years later, through hard work, Malin Kundang became a wealthy merchant with a beautiful wife. He led his own ship and crew. One day, his ship landed on the beach of West Sumatra. Some villagers who saw him speculated and spread the news that someone who looked like Malin Kundang was at the harbor. Hearing the news, the old woman, weak after years of hard work and loneliness, made her way to the harbor in her raggedy clothes. She wished to be with her beloved son again. Getting closer to the ship, through the flock of villagers, the old woman recognized her son, Malin Kundang, who was ordering his crew to unload their merchandise. Beaming with happiness, she asked to see him. Since his wife and crew only knew him as a rich merchant, Malin Kundang rejected her request saying he was busy. She asked again, and he refused. She then called out to him, “Malin Kundang, my son. I just want to hug you before I die.” With the eyes of
Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
the villagers, the crew and his wife on him, Malin Kundang snarled, “Enough, old woman! I never had a mother like you, dirty peasant!” Then he ordered his crews to pack up and set sail. Not having the chance to see the merchandise the villagers blamed the woman. Heartbroken, the mother whispered, “Good bye, my son. May God teach you honesty and humility.” She turned around and walked away. Malin Kundang sneered at her as his ship pulled from the harbor. Just as the ship left the harbor, a thunderstorm came. A big wave wrecked the ship and threw Malin Kundang to the beach. He landed on traces of footsteps. As he lifted his head, he saw the old woman in a distance. Malin Kundang tried to crawl, but he could not move his feet. He called out to the old woman, but she did not hear him. He cried for his mother and bowed down on her footsteps. As his forehead touched the ground, his whole body turned into stone. —As retold by Trikartikaningsih Byas
7. Indonesian American: No Tigers in Borneo Indonesians value humility, ingenuity, and peace, as represented by the unlikely hero the Kancil (mousedeer). Though rather naughty, Kancil generally thinks quickly and comes up with peaceful resolution of a dispute or conflict. Many stories of Kancil exist in Indonesia, and the story “No Tigers in Borneo” is just one example of Kancil’s ingenuity, which teaches children to maintain peace by being humble and clever. A long time ago, tigers ruled the jungles of Java. When food became scarce, they reported to the King of All Tigers. After discussing with his ministers, the King decreed, “I have decided. We will demand the King of Borneo to send food every month. If he refuses, he should be ready for a war.” He plucked the heaviest and longest whisker from his face. “Take this to show him how strong I am and he will not refuse” he rumbled his challenge. Three messengers swam across the Java Sea to Borneo. They announced their arrival with scary roars, then they entered the forests to search for the King. Having heard their roars, all the animals had hid, except Kancil, the mousedeer. Just awoken from a nap, he poked his head out of the shelter of a fallen log. He jumped when the leader tiger snarled over his shoulder, “Where is the King of Borneo? I bring a message from the King of All Tigers in Java.” Despite his fear, Kancil kept his cool. Bowing down, he calmly said, “Welcome. The King is hunting in the northern forest. I will deliver your message to him.” “Tell him that my King demands monthly tribute and food,” the leader said. “If your King refuses, we shall attack in seven days. Here is our King’s whisker for
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your King,” he passed the whisker to Kancil. “Wait here. I shall return as soon as I have his reply,” Kancil said and disappeared into the forest. While running, Kancil thought aloud, “What will happen to our island? Tiger’s food is meat, and that includes me. I do not want to be anyone’s dinner.” “Of course, not,” a voice answered. Kancil stopped and saw Landak, the porcupine. An idea came to Kancil. “My friend, may I have a quill of yours?” he asked. “You will save our land.” “Sure. But how?” Landak queried as he gave a quill to Kancil. “Leave it up to me,” Kancil replied. Carrying the quill in his mouth, Kancil ran to the tigers. Seeing the tigers impatiently pacing back and forth, Kancil shouted, “The King of Borneo accepts the challenge to a battle with your King. He also sends his whisker to your King,” Kancil said as he passed the quill to the leader. Surprised by its thickness and resilience, the leader bowed to Kancil and said, “I shall take the message to the King of All Tigers.” The three left the forest of Borneo and returned to Java, where their King had waited. Nervous to convey the message, the leader bowed deep to the ground and said, “Oh King of All Tigers, the King of Borneo desires war. And he sends his whisker to you.” The leader presented the quill to the King. Looking at the quill from all angles, the King thought deeply. At last he said, “I have decided. Borneo is too far for us. We shall demand food from the elephants of Sumatra.” —As retold by Trikartikaningsih Byas
8. Korean American: The Woodcutter’s Family—A Folktale on Aging and Eldercare The following folktale concerns a woodcutter and his family and calls for the care and well-being of the elderly. It is shared between parents and their children in the Korean American community as a way to teach young people about the importance of giving respect and tending to the needs of their elders. The United States has sometimes been referred to as the society of the young because old people are put aside to make way for the new. In many Euro-American cultural communities, for example, it is not uncommon for elders and senior citizens to be placed in the care of nursing homes. This has something to do with the busy life that most Americans lead, but also to do with cultural moorings and understandings about human development, including childrearing practices and the care of parents when they get old. Asian Americans often, not always, pour their resources into their children’s education and future. They instill in them a sense of mutual interdependency in relation to their family.
Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
It is common, for example, for Korean American parents to want their children to stay with them “forever,” at least, until they are married, and to then help them get started with their new family lives. By contrast, Euro-Americans are said to encourage their children to be independent and self-reliant by leaving home when they enter young adulthood, sometimes as young as 18 years old, but this is not always so. Stereotypes are just that and do not always fit in every case. Nevertheless, the following folktale is a telling lesson on the importance of eldercare from the Korean American perspective. Once upon a time there was woodcutter who lived deep in the forest with his wife, children, and father. His father who has grown elderly was now bedridden and required constant care and attention. Everyday the mother woke up early to work from dawn to dusk taking care of her family, cleaning house, doing laundry, caring for the children, their grandfather, and cooking the daily meals. The grandfather being bedridden was incontinent and pooped, farted, and dirtied the sheets. She had to clean and feed him and began to complain and complain to her husband. One day, after the children’s mother complained vociferously to her husband, she woke up before the crack of dawn to prepare a picnic lunch for him and her children. Dad and his children got up and he went into grandfather’s room. Gently, the father lifted grandpa out of bed and carried him on his back wrapped tightly in a warm blanket. Together, the father and his children walked a long ways into the woods to an area with a cave like hole in the ground. Ever so gently, the father put down their grandfather into the cave, along with his lunch box. As father and children began to walk back home, his son and daughter looked up at him and said “is that what we are suppose to do with you when you get old?” Right away, the father turned around, lifted up his father, and they all returned home. —As retold by Kathleen M. Nadeau
9. Laotian American: The Great Gourd from Heaven: All Humanity from the Same Place The Lao cosmogonic myth is a tale all Lao people, in Laos or in America will know. This tale teaches Lao children how everyone is connected as kinfolks because they all originated from the same source. This myth tells how the first King, Khoun Bulom (Lord Bulom), was born to earth; how the earth was troubled because of the gigantic gourd; how Khoun Bulom requested help from heaven; and how the earth was populated with humans, animals, plants, jewels, and other things.
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Long, long ago the earth was covered with dense forest, and one enormous creeper grew out of the forest and stretched right up to the sky. It had only one gourd hanging from it, and this gourd was very, very big. The gods in heaven had a meeting and decided that the earth should be inhabited, so one of the gods was sent down with his followers. His name was Khoun Bulom, and he had two wives, Yommala and Akkai. There were no men or animals on earth at this time, just gods and some spirits. The earth was very dark because of the huge gourd that blocked out the light from the sun. Khoun Bulom sent a messenger to the Great God of heaven asking for help. The Great God, Phya In, ordered some gods to come down to the earth to cut away the creeper and to make holes in the gourd, too. As soon as they cut away the huge creeper, sunlight shone all over the earth, and it became a very bright, very pleasant place indeed. But making holes in the gourd was a difficult task. At first the gods used a pointed iron bar heated in the fire. As soon as they made the hole in the gourd, many human beings started to crawl out from the center of the gourd. Because these people had to push their way out through the tiny, dark, sooty hole that the iron bar had burnt in the side of the gourd, they had dark complexions. The hole was quite small, and the human beings found it difficult to squeeze through. The gods saw this, so they made another hole, this time with an axe. This axe made a big clean hole in the side of the gourd, and it was not difficult for the humans to get out. The second batch of humans had lighter complexions than those who came out first because the hole was not burnt. But all humans came from the same place. Those who came first were the big brothers and sisters, and those who came later were the younger brothers and sisters. They were very closely related. The colors of their skin were not a problem for them at all. These first human beings are the ancestors of all humanity. From that place they spread out all over the world. They adapted themselves to the various climates and natural environments in different places. But the important thing is that they came out from the same place and were the same human beings, and they truly loved one another as brothers and sisters. When all human beings had come out, the gods pierced yet another hole in the gourd and many animals came out—elephants, horses, cows, and so on—and after them many things came out for the human beings to use to make life beautiful. Jewels of all kinds, and gold and silver. The Lao people have handed this story down from generation to generation, and it shows how every tribe is as worthy of honor and as significant as all the others, because they are all brothers and sisters who come from the same place.
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Source: Wajuppa Tossa with Kongdeuane Nettavong, Lao Folktales, World Folklore Series, edited by Margaret Read MacDonald (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008), pp. 131–132.
10. Pacific Islander American: Chamorro Taotaomona and Suruhanu Story from Guam The following tale is a Suruhanu (a traditional curer) and Taotaomona (ancient spirits) narrative, as told by a grandmother to her granddaughter. The story is true. The “Charo” in the story is actually the narrator’s daughter. Many Chamorros still believe in the power of taotaomonas and suruhanu. The tale also reflects the weaving of indigenous Chamorro folklores and beliefs with Christianity. Joanne, come here, sit down. You are soltera (a young lady) now. Its time I shared a story with you. There was a girl named Charo. She was 18 and attending college at the University. Charo had many activities to keep her busy. She attended classes during the day and worked as a Polynesian dancer at a hotel in the evenings for extra money. Often she would come home with blue bruises on her thigh or arm, but she could not say where she got them. One Wednesday Charo came home after work. She heard voices in her room, and, a little afraid, she slept with her mom and dad in their room that night. The same thing happened on Thursday. Friday night when Charo brought her blanket into her parents’ room, her dad quietly left the room. Charo left her parents’ room to get a drink of water. She met up with her dad carrying a huge pot containing the leaves that were blessed from Palm Sunday that he was burning. Charo started screaming to her dad and he brought down the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the top of the paradot (parador, armoir). Charo was screaming, “Get that dirty thing away from me!” Her dad put both the pot and the Blessed Mother down on the floor and tried to hold on to Charo because she said that she was choking, couldn’t breathe and had to get away. Her dad could not believe Charo’s strength! It took all his 250 pounds to hold her down on the sofa! By this time he was shouting for Charo’s mom and brother. When they came out, Charo’s dad told them to call for the grandparents and the priest. When the grandparents came, they splashed holy water on Charo and wherever the liquid landed on her skin, it would evaporate into smoke! Charo’s boyfriend, Juan, knew of a suruhanu. When he brought the suruhanu, Charo calmed down a little. The suruhanu asked some questions and then left with Juan. He told us he would not be gone too long and advised us not to upset Charo in any way. He promised to return soon.
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While waiting, Charo told her mother to move away (from her) because the noises in her head were telling her to hurt her mother. When the suruhanu returned, he asked to speak to her parents outside the house. The suruhanu told the parents that there is a young male taotaomona that loves Charo. He has been in love with her since she started dancing at the hotel. He says Charo gets pinched but the bruises do not hurt. What her father did with the Blessed Palm to drive him away made him angry. It didn’t help that Charo has her period because the girl is at her weakest (then). This spirit could have taken Charo away but he knows she is in love with her present boyfriend and wants her to be happy. The dad looked at the mom and the mom confirmed that Charo did have her period. Then the dad turned to the suruhanu and asked how did he know that Charo had her period. The suruhanu said that the young taotaomona told him. The parents asked this man if he could amti (treat) Charo. He said he can only feel and communicate with the spirits, not heal. He recommended to see another suruhanu in Chalan Pago (a village on Guam). The suruhanu told the parents to watch closely over Charo from dusk until dawn because that is when the spirits are strongest. He also told them to keep her indoors during that time, especially when she has her menstrual period. In the end, Charo stopped dancing and resumed classes at the college. She has these mysterious sensations (like a sixth sense) often and shares them with her parents and brother. Joanne, the taotaomona are known to be the strongest from dusk to dawn. Our parents and elders always tell the young women to stay indoors during that time. They also say that we must be more careful when we have our menstrual period. This belief continues to this day. —As retold by Clarisa Garcia Quan
11. Vietnamese American: The Two Ladies Trung: The Story of Two Queens In ancient times, when Vietnam was under the Chinese Han dynasty, Vietnamese women enjoyed more privileges than did many Chinese women, including the right to inherit property through their mother’s family line. Over time, the Chinese began to oppress the Vietnamese, which gave rise to a local rebellion. The Trung Sisters rose in retaliation to lead the rebellion, after witnessing a Chinese commander rape their mother and kill their father. Their courage and leadership continues to inspire Vietnamese Americans into the 21st century. In 40 CE when the Chinese governor of the Wangku Commandery executed Thi Sach, he didn’t kill just any man, he killed the beloved patriot of the people, the
Appendix: Examples of Folktales in Asian America
son of the military chief of Chu Dien, and the husband of Trung Trac, a woman unlike any other. For Trung Trac was a warrior, a proud and vigilant fighter. She was also a daughter of a powerful military leader, Lord Lac, and both she and younger sister, Trung Nhi, hated the Chinese rule in Vietnam. Since childhood they had witnessed Chinese brutality on their people, they had seen families go hungry due to harsh taxes, they had observed men getting whipped over misdemeanors, and they had heard about wives being raped by officials—for no reason at all. It is no wonder then, that when the governor of Wangku killed Trung Trac’s beloved husband, he not only further fueled the sisters’ hatred toward the Chinese colonialist government, he also sparked the first successful Vietnamese rebellion against it. In the spring of that year, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi set their campaign to overthrow the government in motion. They began recruiting for their army, a mission that would prove to be just as difficult and dangerous as fighting the Chinese oppressors in the battlefield, themselves. For while the Vietnamese despised their oppressors, they also feared them, and were therefore not readily persuaded to join the retaliation. “What could two weak women possibly do against the rule of the Chinese golden dragon?” they asked. “How would they fare against men of the imperial court?” Trung Trac and Trung Nhi knew they couldn’t just inspire people with the rhetoric of freedom and liberty; instead, they would have to prove their physical prowess and strategic wit with an act that was visibly spectacular, impressively valiant, and perhaps even suicidal. And so one late spring afternoon, the sisters invited the townspeople to join them in the jungle. “Meet us at the clearing by the pools of quicksand before dusk,” they said. When the townspeople arrived, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi instructed everyone to climb onto the trees. Although confused, they all followed the women’s instructions. Then Trung Trac and her sister brought out buckets of swine blood and poured it onto the ground and surrounding brushes. Before long, the air reeked of fatty flesh and pigs’ intestines and everyone covered their noses. “For what reasons are you two women doing this?” some of the townspeople asked. “You will surely awaken the beasts in this jungle, now!” Just then a loud roar came vibrating through the forest. The sound was so loud it caused the leaves to break off the branches. Suddenly from behind the dark trees, a massive human-eating tiger strutted into the clearing. Everyone gasped as they watched the thick saliva drip from the tiger’s fangs. “Save yourselves! Come with us onto this tree,” the peopled cried. But the two women stood their grounds, and pulled out their weapons instead. Trung Nhi, being the better martial artist of the two and therefore had faster footwork, danced around the tiger with a spear in hand. When the beast opened its jaw to roar, she jabbed at its mouth with the arrowhead. Trung Trac took advantage of the distraction and jumped onto the cat’s back and within seconds, with both hands on sword, she pushed the blade straight into its neck. The animal roared and stood up on its
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hind legs, thus throwing Trung Trac to the ground. Seizing the opening, Trung Nhi quickly threw her spear at the tiger’s heart, and just as loud as its roar, the beast’s fall to the ground echoed violently through the forest. In awe, the townspeople all jumped off the branches and cheered. They couldn’t believe that two women had actually killed a human-eating tiger. Later that day, the sisters skinned the animal and wrote their proclamation of independence on its hide. Within weeks stories of the women’s valor had spread across the land, and before long the Trung Sisters found themselves commanding an army of 80,000 men and women (of which 36 women served as generals, including their mother), all ready and eager to fight for Vietnam’s independence from Chinese domination. One of the first provinces the liberation army captured was that of the Wangku Commandery, where the governor ruled with a corrupt and brutal hand. It was there, after all, where he had physically humiliated Trung Trac and murdered her husband. The battle against the governor did not last long, for just as ruthless as he was in the days of power, he was just as equally cowardly in the days of invasion. Even before his last men fell, the governor had already long headed north toward China. Within a half a day, the Trung Sisters’ army liberated the citadel and by nightfall, they had already moved on to other provinces. In total the Trung Sisters liberated 65 provinces and upon their last victory, the people elected them to the throne as co-queens of Vietnam. Trung Trac and Trung Nhi established their royal court at Me-Linh in the Hong River plain, and as the new monarchs, they abolished the much-hated tributary taxes to the Chinese. They also implemented a simpler form of government, one that reflected traditional Vietnamese values. No longer would the Vietnamese people have to adhere to Chinese customs and absorb their philosophical and cultural practices. Meanwhile, the Trung Sisters and their army continued to engage in battles with Chinese troops. They were able to keep the foreigners outside their borders for two years. Then in spring of 42 CE, the Chinese Han emperor went full force against the Vietnamese resistance and sent one of his military leaders, General Ma Yuen, to regain control over the region. Heavily armed, the general marched his battalion west from the Sui Mountain where they battled against the two queens’ troops. It was said that, in addition to the large Chinese army and highly advanced artillery, the general also exercised rather unconventional and odd tactics, ones that caught the Vietnamese by much surprise. In mid-battle, he would instruct his men to strip down their clothes and fight the Vietnamese women in bare, nakedness. Embarrassed, the women would hurriedly cover their eyes and in those brief moments of modesty and shock, the men would run swords across their throats. Within weeks, the Trung Sisters’ troops were badly defeated. Outarmed and outnumbered, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi fled to the Hat Giang River where they eventually chose to drown in the water rather than surrender to the Chinese.
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Shortly thereafter, many of their loyal commanders also followed suit, opting for an honorable death over shameful submission. One of the most famous loyalists was named Phung Thi Chinh from Son Tay, who led one of the armies of resistance in the central flank of Vietnam. Accordingly, Phung was pregnant at the time of battle and had to give birth at the front line. Yet rather than recuperating afterward, Phung immediately wrapped the newborn on her back and continued fighting Chinese troops. When she finally learned of the Trung Sisters’ deaths, she drowned herself and the child in the river. Although the Vietnamese independence was short-lived and Chinese domination continued for another 500 years (until the next rebellion), the Trung Sisters’ fight for freedom is considered the first, successful uprising against Chinese domination in Vietnamese history. Every year on the sixth day of the second lunar month (March), the Vietnamese people celebrate the Trung Sisters’ victorious uprising against Chinese oppression almost 2,000 years ago. The holiday is called Hai Ba Trung, literally “The Two Ladies Trung.” —As retold by Rossina Zamora Liu
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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Contributors Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, JD Independent scholar Anna Alves, MA University of California at Los Angeles Barbara A. Amodio, PhD Fairfield University Fairfield, Connecticut Sze Wei Ang, PhD University of California at Los Angeles Pia C. Arboleda, D.A.L.L. University of Hawai’i at Manoa Honolulu, Hawai’i Steve Arounsack, PhD California State University at Stanislaus Turlock, California Myrtati Dyah Artaria, PhD University Airlangga, Indonesia Jenny Banh, MA PhD candidate University of California at Riverside Jiemin Bao, PhD University of Nevada at Las Vegas Shereen Bhalla, MA PhD candidate University of Texas at San Antonio Edith R. Borbon, MS Ed University of San Francisco
Jay C. Brown, PhD Texas Wesleyan University Beverly J. Butcher, PhD New York Institute of Technology Nanjing, China Trikartikaningsih Byas, PhD Queensborough Community College Bayside, New York Cecile Caguingin-Ochoa, MA University of Southern California Suresh Canagarajah, PhD Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania Joseph Cheah, OSM, PhD Saint Joseph College West Hartford, Connecticut Dorothy C. Chen-Maynard, PhD, RD California State University at San Bernardino May May Chiang, MA Doctoral student University of Maryland College Park, Maryland Rueyling Chuang, PhD California State University at San Bernardino Hyeyurn Chung, PhD Sungshin Women’s University Seoul, South Korea
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Fred Cordova, PhD Archivist Filipino American National Historical Society Linda Sun Crowder, PhD California State University at Fullerton Peter Cuasay, PhD Independent scholar Wei Ming Dariotis, PhD San Francisco State University Joanne Doi, MM, PhD Franciscan School of Theology A Member of the Graduate Theological Union Berkeley, California Lan Dong, PhD University of Illinois at Springfield
Kim Foreman, PhD San Francisco State University Matthew J. Forss, MS, MFA Independent scholar Omro, Wisconsin Brandon Fryman, MA California State University at Long Beach Linda A. Gerdner PhD, RN Stanford University, School of Medicine Palo Alto, California Rahuldeep Singh Gill, PhD California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, California Trangdai Glassey-Tranguyen, MA Doctoral student University of California at San Diego
Lorraine Dong, PhD San Francisco State University
Marsha Greer, PhD California State University at San Bernardino
Rachel Endo, PhD College of Saint Mary Omaha, Nebraska
Michael James Gressett, MA PhD candidate University of Florida
Brett Esaki, MA PhD candidate University of California at Santa Barbara
Renuka Gupta, BA Media Expressions Video Productions Inland Empire, California
Michael Shaw Findlay PhD Butte College Chico, California Alfred Peredo Flores, MA PhD candidate University of California at Los Angeles Evelyn San Miguel Flores, PhD University of Guam
John Handley, MA, MDiv PhD candidate Graduate Theological Union Berkeley, California Richie Neil Hao, PhD University of Denver Denver, Colorado Anna M. Hennessey, PhD University of California at Santa Barbara
List of Contributors
Anne M. Henochowicz, PhD The Ohio State University Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy, PhD Universite´ Laval Que´bec, Canada Xavier Hernandez, MA San Francisco State University Jacob R. Hickman, MA PhD candidate The University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois Ayumi Hidaka, BA Miyazaki International College Kiyotake, Miyazaki, Japan Karina Hof, PhD University of Amsterdam Jun Sung Hong, MSW, MA PhD candidate University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dushyanthi Hoole, PhD Central Connecticut State University New Britain, Connecticut E. Elilini Hoole, BA Banyan Paper, USA Mariyahl M. Hoole, BA National Peace Council, Sri Lanka S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, DSc (Eng.), PhD University of Jaffna Jaffna, Sri Lanka
A. R. M. Imtiyaz, PhD Temple University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Sayaka Inaishi, MA The Institute of Buddhist Studies Berkeley, California Bounheng Inversin, MSW Independent Scholar Toby Braden Johnson, MA PhD candidate University of California at Riverside Elaine L. Jorque-Augustine, MAT University of the Cordilleras Baguio City, Philippines Eun-Young Jung, PhD University of California at San Diego Rajrani Kalra, PhD California State University at San Bernardino Rabia Kamal, MA PhD candidate University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Sarath P. Kankanamge, BSc, Dip. Comp. Sci. Royal Bank of Canada, Canada Yasuko Kase, MA PhD candidate State University New York at Buffalo
Hui Huang, MA Doctoral Student University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Esther Chihye Kim, MA PhD Candidate Yale University New Haven, Connecticut
Young Suk Hwang, PhD California State University at San Bernardino
Linda J. Kim, PhD University of California at Riverside
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David G. Kohl, MA Concordia University Portland, Oregon
Jing Li, MS PhD candidate University of Texas at Austin
Michael Kohn, BA Journalist and author for Lonely Planet San Francisco, California
Paul L Liem, BA Korea Policy Institute Berkeley, California
Hideyo Konagaya, PhD University in Nagasaki, Japan
Rossina Zamora Liu, MFA PhD candidate The University of Iowa
Fe P. Koons, MA University of the Philippines, Diliman Campus Candy Krajangsri, BA Tourism Authority of Thailand, Los Angeles Office Winston Kyan, PhD Macalester College St. Paul, Minnesota Mariam Beevi Lam, PhD University of California at Riverside Uday Lama, BS Independent Author Tri-Chandra College Kathmandu, Nepal Long S. Le, PhD University of Houston, Texas Heather R. Lee, MA PhD candidate Brown University Providence, Rhode Island Mark Sabas Leo, MA San Francisco State University Supattra Lerknant, BA Independent Scholar Bangkok, Thailand Sharleen Nakamoto Levine, PhD University of California at Santa Barbara
Cherstin M. Lyon, PhD California State University at San Bernardino Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor, MA Pacific Lutheran University and The Bellingham Storyteller’s Guild Bellingham, Washington Geetha A. Mandayam, PhD California State University at Long Beach Rayette Martin, MA University of Nevada at Las Vegas Hla Min, M.Sc., MCS Independent scholar Patit Paban Mishra, PhD Sambalpur University Orissa, India Scott A. Mitchell, PhD Institute of Buddhist Studies Berkeley, California Barbara Lynne Rowland Mori, PhD California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California Salvador Jimenez Murguia, PhD Miyazaki International College Kiyotake, Miyazaki, Japan
List of Contributors
Martha Nakagawa, BA Freelance writer Gardena, California Heather Emi Nakasone, BA Independent scholar
Ruby Toshimi Ogawa, MPA Bunkyo University, Institute of Living Sciences Department Chigasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Ronald Y. Nakasone, PhD Graduate Theological Union Berkeley, California
Rory I. P. Padeken, MA California College of the Arts San Francisco, California
Priwan Nanongkham, PhD Kent State University, Ohio
Sarah Park, PhD St. Catherine University, Masters of Library and Information Science Program St. Paul, Minnesota
Beverly Romero Natividad, MA PhD student University of Denver Denver, Colorado Pauline T. Newton, PhD Southern Methodist University Dallas, Texas Jason R. Nguyen, MA Indiana University at Bloomington Thien-Huong T. Ninh, MA PhD candidate University of Southern California Ronaldo L. Noche, MA PhD student Brown University Providence, Rhode Island Eliza Noh, PhD California State University at Fullerton Charles H. Numrich, PhD Center for Spirituality and Healing Cupertino, California Vivian-Lee Nyitray, PhD University of California at Riverside Paul Ocampo, MFA Arizona State University
Terry K. Park, MA PhD candidate University of California at Davis SooJin Pate, PhD University of Minnesota at Twin Cities Linda Ho Peche´, MA PhD candidate University of Texas at Austin Mike Pedro, MA San Francisco State University Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, PhD San Francisco State University Todd LeRoy Perreira, MA University of California at Santa Barbara Nasy Inthisone Pfanner, MA Concordia University Ann Arbor, Michigan Bonnie Piller, PhD California State University at San Bernardino Vincent Kelly Pollard, PhD University of Hawai’i at Manoa Honolulu, Hawai’i
1251
1252
List of Contributors
Shanta Ponnudurai, Dip. Bharatanatyam, MFA Sruti Laya Fine Arts Academy and India School of Dance, Music and Theatre Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, PhD University of Connecticut at Storrs K. N. Sethi, PhD Sambalpur University Orissa, India
Nicholas Poss, MA PhD candidate The Ohio State University
Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan, MA, MS Ed PhD candidate University of California at Los Angeles
Clarisa Garcia Quan, PhD University of Guam UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam
Tenzin Sherab, MA, MA, MA University of California at Santa Barbara
Nancy Yunhwa Rao, PhD Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Herb Shon, PhD California State University at San Bernardino
Abashya Jung Rayamajhi, BA California State University at San Bernardino
Megan Adamson Sijapati, PhD Gettysburg College Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Sangita Rayamajhi, PhD Asian University for Women Chittagong, Bangladesh
Manumaua Luafata Simanu-Klutz, PhD University of Hawai’i at Manoa Honolulu, Hawai’i
Greg Robinson, PhD ` Montre´al Universite´ du Que´bec A Montre´al, Que´bec, Canada Tammy Ko Robinson, PhD San Francisco Art Institute Evelyn I. Rodriguez, PhD University of San Francisco Noriko Sanefuji, BA Smithsonian National Museum of American History Washington, D.C. Thomas Xavier Sarmiento PhD Student University of Minnesota at Twin Cities
Jaideep Singh, PhD California State University at East Bay Hayward, California Amy E. Skillman, MA Institute for Cultural Partnerships Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Bolortsetseg C. Smith, MBA and JD Western Washington University Bellingham, Washington Pahole Sookkasikon, MA San Francisco State University Nicole Kanahele Stutz, MA Independent scholar Mentone, California
List of Contributors
Jenny Suh, BA California State University at Northridge
Mark Redondo Villegas, MA PhD candidate University of California at Irvine
Hongmei Sun, MA University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Ofelia O. Villero, PhD Graduate Theological Union Berkeley, California
Vinya Sysamouth, PhD Center for Lao Studies San Francisco, California
Konstantinos Vrongistinos, PhD California State University at Northridge
Isao Takei, PhD University of Texas at Austin
Worapron Tina Warawongs, PhD Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania
Alice Tam, MA San Francisco State University Zhilin Tang PhD candidate Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana Francis Tanglao-Aguas, MFA The College of William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia Hong Herrera Thomas, MA PhD candidate University of California at Riverside Charles M. Townsend, MA PhD candidate University of California at Riverside Dawn Lee Tu, MA PhD candidate University of California at Davis Kanara Ty, MA San Francisco State University Wesley Iwao Ueunten, PhD San Francisco State University Pa Der Vang, PhD University of Minnesota at Twin Cities
Joyce Pualani Warren Graduate Student University of California at Los Angeles Usha Welaratna, PhD Independent Scholar Los Altos, California Ian Woolford, MA PhD candidate University of Texas at Austin Wayne E. Wright, PhD University of Texas at San Antonio Emily S. Wu, MA PhD candidate Graduate Theological Union Berkeley, California Kyejung R. Yang, PhD De Anza College Cupertino, California Yeng Yang, MA San Francisco State University Christina R. Yanko, MA Graduate Theological Union and Institute of Buddhist Studies Berkeley, California
1253
1254
List of Contributors
Eri F. Yasuhara, PhD California State University at San Bernardino Suk Jeon Yeom, PhD Kyung Hee University Seoul, Korea Nolana Yip, PhD Georgetown University and Corcoran College of Art and Design Grace J. Yoo, PhD San Francisco State University Ayako Yoshimura, MA PhD candidate University of Wisconsin at Madison
Samuel Yum, MA PhD candidate University of Washington at Seattle Xiaoxin Zeng, MA PhD candidate University of Southern California Helena Zeweri, MA New York University Willa Zhen, MA PhD candidate School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London London, England
INDEX
Ahn, Philip, 656 Ahu’ena Heiau temple, 941 Aiiieeeee! anthology, 293 Akha people, 715 “Aku Tonpa” (Tibetan folktale), 1147–1148 Alcohol consumption, 1014, 1062 Alexander, Meena, 485 Ali, Nadia, 973 Ali, Samina, 486 Alien Land Act, 571, 1004 All American Girl (TV show), 28 All Souls Day, 352 Allen, Horace, 664 Altan Sav (Mongolian funeral rituals), 820, 821 Altars and shrines, domestic Burmese Americans, 56, 57 Chinese Americans, 229 Filipino Americans, 380 Hmong Americans, 418, 420 Indian Americans, 469, 482–483, 495 Japanese Americans, 584–585 Laotian Americans, 723, 724 Malaysian Americans, 791 Mongolian Americans, 834, 842 Nepali Americans, 868 Okinawan Americans, 891 Punjabi Americans, 1020 Sri Lankan Americans, 1049 Thai Americans, 1084–1085, 1085–1086 Tibetan Americans, 1128, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1172, 1172–1173, 1191, 1197, 1205 Alternative medicine. See Traditional medicine “Ama Le Ho” (Tibetan folksong), 1130 Amanollah, King, 106 Amar Das, Guru, 1035 Amerasians, 97–98, 1163 America Is in the Heart (Bulosan), 345, 385 American Born Chinese (Yang), 74, 296–297 American Brat, An (Sidhwa), 981 American Citizens for Justice, 235, 236
Academic scholarship, on Asian Americans, 24, 41–46, 51–52, 59–60, 60–61 Accents, Asian American humor and, 25–26 Actors and acting, 32–33, 81–82. See also Films; Television Acupuncture, 219, 323, 464, 648, 709, 710 Adoptions children’s literature and, 16, 273 Korean Americans, 657, 665, 683–688 mixed race Asian Americans, 94 root quests and, 77 Aesop’s Fables, 1077 Afghan Americans cultural identity, 117–120 dance, 114 history, people, and culture, 105–110 literature, 114–115 religious beliefs, 120–123 rites of passage, 123–126 speech and language, 110–114 Afghan Civil War, 107 Afghanistan, history of, 105–107 African Americans ghost stories and, 239 interracial/interethnic marriage, 102, 103 Korean Americans and, 658 model minority stereotype and, 70 Afterlife, 260–261, 767, 777 After the War (Gotanda), 610 Aglipayan Church, 402 Agriculture Chinese Americans, 274, 275 Filipino Americans, 331–332, 344 Hmong Americans, 415, 433 Japanese Americans, 601–602, 611 Punjab region, 999 Punjabi Americans, 1003, 1004–1005 Vietnamese Americans, 1181–1182 Aguinaldo, Emilio, 365 Ahn, Chang-ho, 680, 681 Ahn, Me-K, 684
I-1
I-2
Index American culture, 112, 505, 799. See also Assimilation American Folklife Center, xxxvi American literature, Indian influences and, 489 American Oriental Society, 47 American Samoa, 895, 896, 947–948 Amish people, 456–457 Amulets, 230, 767 Ancestors, ghosts, and spirits Burmese Americans, 133–134, 158, 169 Chinese Americans, 228–230, 260–261, 261–262, 305–306 Filipino Americans, 336–337, 372–373 Hmong Americans, 417–418 Indian Americans, 461–463 Indonesian Americans, 520–523 Japanese Americans, 576–577 Korean Americans, 660–661, 669, 670–671 Laotian Americans, 717–719, 755 Malaysian Americans, 764–768, 803 Okinawan Americans, 890–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 899–900, 906, 918–919, 942 Pakistani Americans, 960–961 Thai Americans, 1084–1085 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1172, 1174, 1191, 1205, 1210, 1212 Anderson, Sherwood, 620 Angad Dev, Guru, 1035 Angel Island, 304, 1001 Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella (Coburn), 186, 187 Anglican Church, 1051–1052 Anglo-Afghan wars, 106 Anglo-Burmese wars, 128 Animals Burmese Americans, 160 Chinese Americans, 231 Chinese zodiac and, 250–251 Guam and, 912–913 Hmong Americans, 442 Indian Americans, 488, 500–501, 509 Indonesian Americans, 552 Japanese Americans, 623 Mongolian Americans, 828, 829 Nepali Americans, 871–872
Pacific Islander Americans, 936 Pakistani folktales and, 984 Animism Burmese Americans, 55, 56, 135, 142, 156 Filipino Americans, 372, 387, 403 Hawaiian Natives, 924 Hmong Americans, 414, 416–417, 417–418, 442 Laotian Americans, 718, 723 Thai Americans, 1106–1107, 1112 Vietnamese Americans, 1173 Anna and the King of Siam (Leonowens), 1107 Anthropology, material culture and, 18–19 Antimiscegenation laws, 92–93, 95–96, 100–101, 332, 390, 1010–1011 Ao ba ba (Vietnamese clothing), 1171 Ao dai (Vietnamese dress), 1170 Ao gam (Vietnamese clothing), 1171 Aoki, Brenda Wong, 101 Apl.de.ap (musician), 361 Apologies, Japanese Americans and, 642 Arab ethnicity, Afghan Americans and, 117 Architecture Chinese Americans, 291–292, 325–328 Indian Americans, 480, 481, 488 material culture and, 20 mosques and, 494–495 temples and worship spaces, 172–173 Arjan Dev, Guru, 1019, 1035 Arranged marriages, 866, 1050 “Artifact” music, 4 Artifacts, material culture and, 17, 18–19 Arts and crafts Afghan Americans, 114 Burmese Americans, 131, 134–135, 151–152 Cambodian Americans, 185–186 Chinese Americans, 230–231, 329–330 Filipino Americans, 337–339, 339–340 Hawaiian Natives, 925–926 health and wellness, 13 Hmong Americans, 418–421, 453–455 Indonesian Americans, 523–524 Japanese American National Museum, 611–613
Index Japanese Americans, 573, 577–578, 593–595, 609, 610–611, 623, 624–625, 628–629 Korean Americans, 661–663 Laotian Americans, 719–720 lotus flowers and, 68, 69 material culture and, 19 music and, 1–5 Nepali Americans, 854–855 Okinawan Americans, 880–883 Pacific Islander Americans, 900–901 Pakistani Americans, 961–963 Punjabi Americans, 1005–1006 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048–1049, 1060 Thai Americans, 1085–1086 theatre and, 51–54 Tibetan Americans, 1128–1130 Vietnamese Americans, 1165–1166 visual culture and, 54–58 See also Dance; Music; Theater Arundale, Rukmini Devi, 1059–1060 Asawa, Ruth, 611 Asia, precolonial, 35–37, 43 Asian American Panethnicity (Espiritu), 11–12 Asian American studies, xxxvi, 42–43 Asian American Theatre Company, 53 Asian fetish, 26–27 Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, 16–17 Asian Pacific Heritage Month, 62, 63–64, 914 Asian Pride movement, 67 Asiatic Barred Zones Act (1917), 6 Assimilation Chinese Americans, 224, 286, 287 Filipino Americans, 383 grocery stores and, 22 Hmong Americans, 415–417, 436, 443 Indian Americans, 460 Japanese Americans, 591, 603–604, 609, 613 Laotian Americans, 715–716 Malaysian Americans, 762, 788–789 material culture and, 19 Mongolian Americans, 817–818, 835 Nepali Americans, 874 Okinawan Americans, 886
Pacific Islander Americans, 921 Pakistani Americans, 957, 958, 959, 967–968, 970, 979, 988 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 88–89 Punjabi Americans, 1025 religious beliefs and, 47 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046, 1049, 1064 swastikas and, 87–88 Thai Americans, 1082, 1095–1096, 1105–1106 in Tibet, 1128 Tibetan Americans, 1144, 1145 Vietnamese Americans, 1161–1162, 1163, 1195–1196, 1201 Association of the Nepalis in the Americas (ANA), 853, 866, 874 Astrology, 509–510 Attan (Afghan dance), 114 Au pairs, 1083 Aung San, 128, 149–150, 159 Aung San Suu Kyi, 128–129, 150 Authenticity Afghan Americans, 113 Chinese American literature and, 302 mixed race Asian Americans, 96 Pacific Islander Americans, 937 Autobiographical fiction, 16 Avalokitesvara, 64–66, 232, 289 Avatars, reincarnation and, 75 Aw, Tash, 794 Ayurveda medicine Burmese Americans, 174 Indian Americans, 463–465, 511–512 Indonesian Americans, 563, 565 Nepali Americans, 872–873 Punjabi Americans, 1039, 1040 Sri Lankan Americans, 1078 Azeez, N. I. L. A., 1063 “Baby Chicken Stars” (Thai folktale), 1086–1087 Baby luaus, 945 Baby showers, 846 Bachelors, 354, 1001–1002 Baci strings, 741, 743, 746, 750, 751, 752
I-3
I-4
Index “Bad days,” Mongolian Americans and, 845 Bahai’ism, 503, 504, 748 Bahasa Indonesia language, 566 Bakla (third gender), 35, 45 Balagtas, Francisco, 394 Balboa, Vasco Numez de, 894 Baldwin, Shauna Singh, 485–486 Balikbayan boxes, xxxviii, 76, 339–340, 373–374 Balinese people, 548–549, 784–785 Bama Sagar (spoken Burmese), 176 Bama Sar (written Burmese), 176 Bamboo crafts, 523–524 Bamboo Dancers, The (Gonzalez), 386 Bangskaul (ceremony for the dead), 214 Barefoot Gen (Nakazawa), 17 Barraquiel, Joel, 40 Basant festival, 970 Bascom, William, 934, 935 Bassac theater, 190 Batbayar, Davagiin, 833 Bathing ceremony, 1092–1093, 1175 Batik designs, 420, 455–456, 526, 527 Bazaars, Indonesian Americans and, 525–526 Beauty pageants, 301, 341–342, 580–581 Beauty standards Filipino Americans, 341–343, 342–343, 371 Indian Americans, 477–478 popular culture and, 34 Bellingham riots, Punjabi Americans and, 1004 Ben-Amos, Dan, 54 Berger, John, 54 Berson, Misha, 51–52 Betel nut boxes, 56–57, 135 Betel quids, 152–153 Better Luck Tomorrow (film), 33 Between Silences (Jin), 281 Bhagavad Gita, 489 Bhangra dance, 971–972 Bharatanatyam dance, 1059–1060 Bhindranwale, Jarnail Singh, 1019 Bhumibol Adulyadej, King, 1103 BIBAK organization, 377, 380–381, 382 Bie (Mongolian dance), 825 Biggers, Earl Derr, 278 Bindi dots, 508 Birds, 161–162
Birmingham School, 59 Birth order, 549 Birth rituals Afghan Americans, 122 Chinese Americans, 309 Filipino Americans, 404 Hmong Americans, 425–426, 448–449 Indian Americans, 498, 506–507 Indonesian Americans, 561 Japanese Americans, 621 Korean Americans, 679, 705, 708 Laotian Americans, 752 Malaysian Americans, 804, 805–806 Mongolian Americans, 842–843 Nepali Americans, 869 Pacific Islander Americans, 944–945 Pakistani Americans, 982–983, 989 Punjabi Americans, 1031 Sri Lankan Americans, 1074–1075, 1076 Thai Americans, 1113 Vietnamese Americans, 1206–1207 Birthdays, 588, 639, 705, 804–805, 1207 Bisexuality, 39 Bishop, Claire Hutchet, 15 Black-Chinese intermarriage, 96 Blanket ceremonies, 262 Blind Men and the Elephant, The (Malaysian folktale), 797 Boat people, 1162, 1166–1168 Boat People (film), 1167 Boats and seafaring, 924, 925 Bodhisattvas, 64–66 Bok Kai Temple and parade, 231–233 Bollywood movies, 479 Bonifacio, Andres, 365 Boon Bang Fai festival, 730, 751 Borglum, Gotzon, 625 Bouchard, David, 272 Boun-gyi (Burmese dance), 142 Bowing Burmese Americans, 169 Cambodian Americans, 215 Chinese Americans, 261, 262 Indian Americans, 508 Japanese Americans, 641 Nepali Americans, 870–871 Sikhism and, 1018
Index social relationships and, xxxvii–xxxviii Tibetan Americans, 1158 Boy Who Cried Wolf, The (Malaysian folktale), 797 Brahamanism, 747 Brancusi, Constantin, 625 Brass lamps, 1048 Bread of Salt and Other Stories, The (Gonzalez), 366 Bride, The (Sidhwa), 981 Bride price, 740, 753 Brocka, Q. Allan, 45 Brother Rabbit: A Cambodian Tale (Ho, Ros, and Hewitson), 186, 187 Brother the Size of Me, A (Doss), 665 Brushwork, calligraphy and, 247 Bua Xou Mua, 430–431 Buck, Pearl S., 97 Buddha, 84–86, 1102, 1150 Buddhism, 1150–1153 Avalokitesvara and, 64–66 Burma and, 127–128 Burmese Americans, 133, 135, 136, 137–138, 138–139, 141–142, 147, 153, 156–157, 160, 164–165 Cambodian Americans, 183, 185–186, 191–192, 194, 195, 200–201, 202, 207, 209, 210, 211–212, 219 Chinese Americans, 255, 307, 321 Dalai Lama and, 1133–1134 Filipino Americans, 334 health and wellness, 13 Indian Americans, 476, 503, 504 Japanese Americans, 570, 583, 584, 588, 591–592, 622–623, 637, 638, 640, 643–644 Korean Americans, 664, 669, 670, 671, 672, 701, 703 Laotian Americans, 715, 716, 723, 725–726, 729–730, 744, 746, 747 lotus flowers and, 69 Malaysian Americans, 777, 801–802 Mongolian Americans, 815, 824, 838, 840–842, 846–847 Nepali Americans, 852, 858, 863, 868 in North America, 47 Okinawan Americans, 891
reincarnation and, 74–75 sexuality and, 36 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1054, 1058, 1059, 1071, 1072–1073 swastikas and, 87 Taiwanese Americans, 313, 314–315 Taoism and, 255 temples and worship spaces, 172–173 Thai Americans, 1083, 1085–1086, 1091–1092, 1097, 1104, 1109–1110, 1110–1111, 1113, 1115 Tibetan Americans, 1128–1129, 1134, 1155 transnationalism and, 50 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1174–1175, 1197, 1204, 1205–1206 See also Theravada Buddhism Bui Vien, 1160 Bulosan, Carlos, 344–345, 368, 385 Bunker, Chang and Eng, 1081, 1095 Burger people, 1044–1045 Burma, history of, 127–129 Burmese American Catholic Fellowship (BACF), 165 Burmese Americans ancestor worship, 133 arts and crafts, 134–135 Chinese Americans and, 224, 225 cultural identity, 153–154 dance and, 141–144 death and funeral rituals, 137–138 festivals and celebrations, 138–141 folktales, 145–146 foods and cooking, 146–148 ghosts and the supernatural, 133–134 health and wellness, 152–153, 173–176 heroes and heroines, 148–151 history, people, and culture, 127–132 home decoration, 151–152 literature, 154–156 music and, 144 myths and legends, 156–158 names and naming practices, 158–159 nature and animals, 160–162 proverbs and maxims, 162–163 religious beliefs, 135–137, 163–166 rites of passage, 166–167
I-5
I-6
Index Burmese Americans (continued) social etiquette, 167–168 speech and language, 176–177 superstitions and taboos, 169–171 temples and worship spaces, 172–173 visual culture and, 55–58 Burmese Monks Association, 141, 143, 160, 173 Bush, George W., 27 Butsudan (shrine), 584–585 Byaw (Burmese dance), 142 California, Yokohoma (Mori), 620 Calligraphy, 230, 246–248, 284, 962, 978 Cambodian Americans arts and crafts, 185–186 clothing and jewelry, 188–189 cultural identity, 201–202 dance and music, 189–191 death and funeral rituals, 191–193 families and communities, 193–195 festivals and celebrations, 195–196 foods and cooking, 198–199 health and wellness, 216–217 heroes and heroines, 199–201 history, people, and culture, 179–185 home decoration, 185–186 literature, 186–188, 204–205, 206–207, 1223 music, 8, 189–191, 196–197 names and naming practices, 205–206 oral tradition and, xxxvii proverbs and maxims, 207–209 religious beliefs, 209–212 rites of passage, 213–214 social etiquette, 214–215 speech and language, 219–221 temples and worship spaces, 211–212 “The Killing Fields,” 202–204 urban legends, xxxix, 217–219 Canada, 1001, 1055–1056, 1057 Cantonese language, 324 Cao, Lan, 8–9, 72, 1199–1201 Cao Cao, 279–280 Caodaism, 1173, 1196–1197, 1204–1205 Caricature, Asian American humor and, 28 Carnival/Fair of the Ghosts, 462 Carpenter, Frances, 15, 665
Carpio, Bernardo del (Filipino folktale), 393–394 Carroll, Denise, 51 Cartoons and animation, 634–636 Caste system Indian Americans, 499 Indonesian Americans, 548–549 Nepali Americans, 858–859, 869 Sri Lankan Americans, 1049–1051, 1068–1069, 1069–1070 Catering businesses, 538, 559 Catholicism Filipino Americans, 334, 336, 350–351, 357, 372, 375, 380, 401, 402–403 Guam and, 911–912 Indonesian Americans, 555 Korean Americans, 669, 670 Laotian Americans, 747 Malaysian Americans, 801, 802 Pacific Islander Americans, 920–921, 943 the Philippines and, 49 religious beliefs and, 47 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051, 1055 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1174, 1193–1194, 1197, 1204 Cedoreck (Center for Documentation and Research on Khmer Civilization), 204 Celibacy, Buddhism and, 36 Cemeteries Chinese Americans, 262 Laotian Americans, 726 Malaysian Americans, 765 Pacific Islander Americans, 907 Pakistani Americans, 966 Vietnamese Americans, 1176 Census, U.S., mixed race Asian Americans and, 94 Center for Lao Studies (CLS), 729 Chai, Mary Lee, 99 Chairil Anwar, 546 Chamorro people, 902–903, 912, 917–922, 929, 1235–1236 Champuru (Okinawan food), 884 Chan, Charlie, 81, 248, 277–278 Chan, Jeffrey Paul, 293 Chandra, Vikram, 486 Chang, Eliot, 26
Index Chang, Leonard, 695 Chang, Tisa, 53 Chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony), 579–580 Charity, 153, 395–396 Chauvinist and Other Stories, The (Mori), 620 Cherry Blossom Festival, 580–581, 592, 646, 883 Chetry, Kiran Carrie, 854 Chi, martial arts and, 248–249 Chicago School, youth culture and, 59–60 Children and youth Afghan Americans, 123–126 Burmese Americans, 166–167, 172–173 Cambodian Americans, 193–195, 201–202, 212, 220–221 Chinese Americans, 233–234, 253, 286, 287–288, 310, 324–325 Filipino Americans, 338–339, 348–349, 353, 404–405, 409–410 Hmong Americans, 439–440 Indian Americans, 506–507 Japanese Americans, 590, 608 Mongolian Americans, 816–818 Nepali Americans, 859, 869 Pakistani Americans, 968 second and subsequent generations, 78 Sri Lankan Americans, 1074–1075 Thai Americans, 1090, 1111 Tibetan Americans, 1144 Vietnamese Americans, 1178 See also Youth culture Children’s literature Afghan Americans, 115–116 Burmese Americans, 145, 156 Cambodian Americans, 186–188, 205 Chinese Americans, 272–274 Hmong Americans, 423–424 Japanese Americans, 581–583 Korean Americans, 663–664, 664–666 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 14–18 Punjabi Americans, 1007–1008 Thai Americans, 1086–1087 Children’s songs Chinese Americans, 233–234 Filipino Americans, 345–346
Indian Americans, 465–466 Indonesian Americans, 524–526 Japanese Americans, 582–583 Korean Americans, 663 Laotian Americans, 720–721 Malaysian Americans, 768–771 Pacific Islander Americans, 903–904 Pakistani Americans, 963–964 Tibetan Americans, 1130–1131 Vietnamese Americans, 1168–1169 Chin, Frank, 53, 256–257, 294 Chinese American literature and, 293, 302 love and sexuality, 82 Maxine Hong Kingston and, 263, 289 Chin, Vincent, 234–236, 283 China Chinese Americans and, 226–227 Hmong people and, 413 Korea and, 655 Okinawa and, 887 Tibet and, 1127, 1128, 1149 Vietnam and, 1213–1214, 1217 China Men (Kingston), 288, 289, 293 Chinatowns, 236–246, 264, 300–301, 327–328 Chinese Americans ancestor worship, 228–230 architecture, 291–292, 325–328 arts and crafts, 230–231 Asian American dating and, 103 Burmese Americans and, 153, 154 calligraphy, 246–248 children’s literature and, 272–274 Chinatowns, 236–246 clothing and jewelry, 251–253 cultural identity, 286–288 dance, 269–270 death and funeral rituals, 257–263, 305–306 deities, 280, 320–322 families and communities, 264–266 feng shui and, 266–267 festivals and celebrations, 267–268, 300–301 films, 277–278, 290–291 foods and cooking, 274–277 ghosts and the supernatural, 228–230, 238–241 heroes and heroines, 263–264, 282–283, 296–297
I-7
I-8
Index Chinese Americans (continued) history, people, and culture, 223–228 home decoration, 283–284 Indonesian Americans and, 529 interracial/interethnic marriage, 96 literature, 256–257, 281–282, 288–289, 292–294, 302–303, 316–317 martial arts, 248–249 mixed race Asian Americans and, 91 model minority stereotype and, 70 the Monkey King, 296–297 music, 233–234, 270–271 myths and legends, 297–299 names and naming practices, 299–300 paper sons and daughters, 303–304 proverbs and maxims, 304–305 religious beliefs, 253–257, 307–308 rites of passage, 309–310 root quests and, 76 social etiquette, 311–313 speech and language, 324–325 suicide and, 11 temples and worship spaces, 231–233, 313–316 theater, 241–246, 285–286, 294–296 traditional medicine, 322–324 urban legends, 238–241 Vincent Chin, 234–236 yin and yang, 329–330 zodiac and, 250–251 Chinese Christian Churches, 254–255 Chinese Connection, The (film), 290 Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), 6, 93, 223, 237, 264–265 Chinese Indonesians, 542–543, 550–551, 555, 558 Chinese influences, Filipino Americans and, 333, 362, 391 Chinese Malaysians, 759, 762–763 clothing and jewelry, 773 death and funeral rituals, 775–776 families, 779–780 festivals and celebrations, 781 foods and cooking, 787, 788, 789 ghosts and the supernatural, 766–767 home decoration, 791–792 languages and, 793
music, 769 names and naming practices, 795, 796 proverbs and maxims, 799 religious beliefs, 764–765, 802–803 superstitions and taboos, 807 wedding ceremonies, 805 Chinese Mongolians, 812 Chinese Music Society of North America, 271 Chinese Performing Artists on America, 271 “Chinese religion,” Malaysian Americans and, 761 Chinggis Khaan, 831, 832 Chinggis Khan Ceremony, 823, 824, 832, Ching Ming. See Qing Ming Chinn, Lenore, 38 Chiota, Jon, 878 Chi You, King, 434 Cho, Chung Hyun, 662 Cho, Henry, 25, 26 Cho, John, 681 Cho, Margaret, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31–33, 44–45 Choi, Susan, 695 Choichi, Terukina, 882 Choo, Jimmy, 790 Chopstick test, 96 Choup (traditional medicine), 216 Chow, Robin Nathalis, 144 Christianity, 48 Burmese Americans, 136, 139–140, 159, 164, 165 Chinese Americans, 224, 225, 254–255, 307, 308 Filipino Americans, 356–357, 401–403 Hmong Americans, 416–417, 445, 446, 447–448 Indian Americans, 503, 504 Indonesian Americans, 545, 554–555 Japanese Americans, 583, 584, 637 Korean Americans, 669, 670, 690–693, 694, 701–703 Laotian Americans, 724, 747–748, 749 Malaysian Americans, 777, 801 Mongolian Americans, 842 Nepali Americans, 852 Pacific Islander Americans, 906, 941–942, 943 Pakistani Americans, 987 Sri Lanka and, 1045
Index Sri Lankan Americans, 1049, 1051–1052, 1055, 1059, 1071, 1074, 1075 Taiwanese Americans, 315 Thai Americans, 1110 Vietnamese Americans, 1197, 1204 See also Catholicism; Protestantism Christmas, 356, 533, 970, 1052 Chu, Louis, 293 Chual Chhnam Thmey (Cambodian New Year), 195–196 Chupa (Tibetan clothing), 1131–1132 Churches Filipino Americans, 356–358 Indonesian Americans, 555 Korean Americans, 690–693, 701–703, 706 Pacific Islander Americans, 898, 908 See also Mosques; Temples and worship spaces Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving), 674, 675 Chuukese people, 899 Circle dances, 731 Circular mobility, 897–898 Circumcision, 404–405, 507 Citizenship Amerasians and, 97 Filipino Americans, 332 flexible citizenship and, 61 Japanese Americans, 571, 574, 590 Korean Americans, 656–657 Sri Lankan Americans, 1065 U.S. Pacific Island territories and, 896 Civil disobedience, 585–587 Civil Liberties Act (1988), 633 Civil rights movement, Japanese Americans and, 70, 574–575, 609, 621–622 Clan groups, Hmong Americans and, 413–414, 439 Classical dance, Thai Americans, 1098–1099, 1117–1118 Classical music Cambodian Americans, 197 Chinese Americans, 270–271 Hmong Americans, 431 Indian Americans, 475 Korean Americans, 677, 697 Thai Americans, 1098 Climate, Sri Lanka and, 1043
Clothing and jewelry Burmese Americans, 57–58, 130, 170 Cambodian Americans, 188–189 Chinese Americans, 251–253, 261–262 death and funeral rituals, 257–258 Filipino Americans, 338, 346–348 folklife and, xxxviii Hmong Americans, 419–420, 424–425, 426, 455 Indian Americans, 466–467, 508 Indonesian Americans, 526–528 Japanese Americans, 645 Korean Americans, 666–668 Laotian Americans, 721–722, 736–737 Malaysian Americans, 771–774 material culture and, 19 Mongolian Americans, 818–820, 845–846 Nepali Americans, 855–857, 866 Pacific Islander Americans, 904–906, 944 Pakistani Americans, 964–965, 988, 991 Punjabi Americans, 1006 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053–1054 Thai Americans, 1087–1088, 1117–1118 Tibetan Americans, 1131–1132, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1170–1171, 1212 See also Textiles Coburn, Jewell, 187 Code-switching, 410, 457, 513. See also Speech and language “Coining,” 756 Collective behavior, 452–453, 590, 673 Colonialism Burma and, 128 Filipino Americans and, 370–371, 389–390, 407 Guam and, 912, 918 Indonesia and, 541, 546 Korea and, 655, 687 mixed race Asian Americans and, 95 Pacific Islands and, 894–896, 948, 952 the Philippines and, 343, 364, 383, 405–406 Sri Lanka and, 1043–1044, 1045 Tahiti and, 950 Comfort Woman (Keller), 8, 9, 72 Comfort women, 668–669 Comic books, 496–497
I-9
I-10
Index Coming of age ceremonies Indian Americans, 507 Indonesian Americans, 561 Laotian Americans, 753 Nepali Americans, 869–870 Pacific Islander Americans, 945 Pakistani Americans, 989–990 Punjabi Americans, 1032 Sri Lankan Americans, 1075, 1076 Community organizations. See Cultural and community organizations Complementary Alternative Medicines (CAM). See Traditional medicine Compound words, Mongolian language and, 848–849 Confucianism Chinese Americans, 253–254, 304–305, 307 Chinese zodiac and, 251 Frederick Douglass and, 47–48 Japanese Americans, 622–623, 642 Korean Americans, 663–664, 670, 690–691, 692, 703–704 Malaysian Americans, 802–803 sexuality and, 36–37 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1197, 1204 Consolidated Chinese Benevolent Association, 238 Contemporary Afghan American Literature (Saed and Muradi), 119 Cordova, Dorothy Laigo, 358 “Cow Herder and Weaver” (Korean folktale), 700 Cows, Hinduism and, 500–501 Cox, Palmer, 272 Creation stories. See Origin tales Cremation Cambodian Americans, 192 Indonesian Americans, 529, 530 Korean Americans, 671 Malaysian Americans, 777 Nepali Americans, 857 Pacific Islander Americans, 907 Punjabi Americans, 1008–1009 Tibetan Americans, 1135 Crime and punishment, 204, 218, 234–236. See also Gang activities Crockett, Lucy Herndon, 665
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (film), 248 Cult of Jewels, Burmese Americans and, 175 Cultural and community organizations Cambodian Americans, 183, 195–196 Chinese Americans, 226, 227 Filipino Americans, 341, 355, 358–359, 368–369, 371, 377, 396–398 Indian Americans, 468 Indonesian Americans, 519 Korean Americans, 72–703, 657, 680, 681 Laotian Americans, 729 Malaysian Americans, 763–764, 783, 786 Mongolian Americans, 826 Nepali Americans, 853, 860–861, 866, 874 Okinawan Americans, 879 Pacific Islander Americans, 908, 909, 937 Pakistani Americans, 959 Punjabi Americans, 1011, 1012 Sikhism and, 1018 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1065–1066, 1069 Thai Americans, 1089, 1121 Tibetan Americans, 1136, 1138, 1139, 1140, 1144 Vietnamese Americans, 1194 Cultural Care Au Pair, 1083 Cultural identity Afghan Americans, 109–110, 110–114, 117–120 Burmese Americans, 153–154 Cambodian Americans, 182–184, 201–202 children’s literature and, 17 Chinese Americans, 223, 224, 286–288 Filipino Americans, 333–335, 370–372, 383–384, 398–399 folklore and, xxxix–xl Hawaiian Natives, 923 Hmong Americans, 435–437 immigration and, 5–7 Indian Americans, 481–482 Indonesian Americans, 519–520, 540–543 Japanese Americans, 603–605 Korean Americans, 682–683, 684, 687 Laotian Americans, 715–716, 735–736 Malaysian Americans, 763, 771–772, 792–793 material culture and, 19
Index Mongolian Americans, 815, 835–836 Nepali Americans, 852, 858–859, 865–866 Okinawan Americans, 877–878 orientalism and, 73–74 Pacific Islander Americans, 930–931 Pakistani Americans, 957, 978–980 Polynesians and, 938 Punjabi Americans, 1021–1022 religious beliefs and, 49–50 root quests and, 76–77 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046–1047, 1064–1066 Thai Americans, 1095–1096, 1103–1104, 1111, 1120 Tibetan Americans, 1128, 1139–1140, 1144–1145 “Twinkies,” “Bananas,” and “Coconuts,” 88–89 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnamese Americans, 1163–1164, 1169, 1182, 1195–1196, 1201–1202 visual culture and, 58 youth culture and, 61–62 Cultural Revolution, 281 “Cupping,” 756 “Curious Case of Ah-Top, The” (Cox), 272 Dagvadorj, Dolgorsurengiin, 833 Dalai Lama, 831 Mongolian Americans, 833, 842 reincarnation and, 75 Tibetan Americans, 1133–1134, 1136, 1138, 1143, 1149–1150, 1155 Damphu drums, 861 Dance Afghan Americans, 114, 125 Burmese Americans, 141–144 Cambodian Americans, 189–191, 200, 206 Chinese Americans, 269–270 Filipino Americans, 359–360, 380–382, 397–398 Indian Americans, 467–469 Indonesian Americans, 534–536 Japanese Americans, 595–596 Korean Americans, 675–677, 689, 696 Laotian Americans, 721, 730–732
Malaysian Americans, 783–786, 790 Mongolian Americans, 825–826 Nepali Americans, 861–862 Okinawan Americans, 881–882, 887 Pacific Islander Americans, 900, 913–914, 951 Pakistani Americans, 971–972 Sri Lankan Americans, 1059–1061 Thai Americans, 1090, 1098–1099, 1104, 1116–1120 Tibetan Americans, 1138–1140 Vietnamese Americans, 1181–1184, 1213 Dari language, 113 Dates and calendars, 250–251, 521–522, 1137 Dat Phan, 24, 25 Dating and courtship Hmong Americans, 432, 438 Japanese Americans, 631–632 Laotian Americans, 728, 740, 753 Mongolian Americans, 843 Nepali Americans, 859 Pacific Islander Americans, 945–946 Pakistani Americans, 992 Sri Lankan Americans, 1075 See also Marriage Daubat (Burmese dance), 142 Daughter from Danang (film), 77 Daura Suruwal (Nepali clothing), 855–856 Davenport, Charles, 93 David Kaukauea, King, 929 “Deadly Waters” ghost story, 240 Death, suicide and, 10–14 Death and funeral rituals Afghan Americans, 123 Burmese Americans, 137–138, 169 Cambodian Americans, 191–193, 214 Chinese Americans, 229, 238, 257–263, 305–306, 310 Filipino Americans, 336, 350–352, 372, 374–376 Hmong Americans, 414, 425–427, 432, 450 Indian Americans, 470–471 Indonesian Americans, 528–531, 561 Japanese Americans, 587–589, 592–593, 640, 643–644 Korean Americans, 671–672
I-11
I-12
Index Death and funeral rituals (continued) Laotian Americans, 717–718, 725–727 Malaysian Americans, 766–767, 774–778 Mongolian Americans, 820–822 Nepali Americans, 857–858 Pacific Islander Americans, 906–907, 921, 946 Pakistani Americans, 966–967, 990 Punjabi Americans, 1008–1010 Sri Lankan Americans, 1054–1055, 1075 Thai Americans, 1092–1093, 1113, 1114 Tibetan Americans, 1134–1135, 1152, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1174–1177, 1207 Death pollution, 258–259, 260 Debutantes, 348–349, 405 Decolonialization, Pacific Islands and, 896–897 Deel (Mongolian clothing), 819 Deities Burmese Americans, 156–158 Chinese Americans, 228, 229, 278–280, 297–299, 320–322 Indian Americans, 478, 481, 495–497, 500 Pacific Islander Americans, 919–922, 942 Sri Lankan Americans, 1070, 1073–1074 Tibetan Americans, 1153, 1154 Vietnamese Americans, 1180 Demographics Afghan Americans, 107–108 Cambodian Americans, 181–182 Chinese Americans, 224, 225–226 Fiji and Fijians, 910 Filipino Americans, 331 Indian Americans, 489–490 Indonesian Americans, 516, 538 Japanese Americans, 569 Korean Americans, 658 Laotian Americans, 714 Malaysian Americans, 760 Mongolian Americans, 813 Nepali Americans, 851, 862 Okinawan Americans, 878 Pacific Islander Americans, 893, 931 Pakistani Americans, 955–956, 972 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046 Tibetan Americans, 1135, 1136 Vietnamese Americans, 1163 Dengue Fever (band), 190, 197
Departed Spirits of the Viet Realm (Ly), 1189–1190 Deportations. See Repatriations Derogatory terms, Chinese Americans and, 224 Desai, Anita, 485 Desai, Kiran, 486 Desani, Govindas Vishnudas, 486 Deshain (Nepali festival), 860 “Desi” culture, 956, 979–980 Devil dancing, 1061 Dhaka Topee (Nepali hat), 856 Dharmapala, Anagarika, 1063–1064 Dharmic religions, 74–76 Dias, Maurice, 1060 Diaspora, music of, 4 Dilowa Gegeen, 811–812, 841 Dining etiquette, 311–312, 733, 871, 1101, 1209 Disagreements, Japanese Americans and, 650 “Disappearing Lady” ghost story, 240 DJs, 359–360 Dokdo, Korea, 667 Dol (first birthday), 705 Dom (traditional Mongolian cures), 847 Domestic religious practices Burmese Americans, 135–137 Chinese Americans, 254–255 Indian Americans, 469–470 Japanese Americans, 583–585 Korean Americans, 669–671 Laotian Americans, 723–724 Thai Americans, 1091–1092 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1174 Donald Duk (Chin), 256–257 Dorson, Richard, 54 Doss, Helen, 665 Douglass, Frederick, 47–48 Dowries, 740, 753, 1075 Draft resisters, World War II, 585–587 Dragon Ball manga series, 598 Dragon Boat Festival, 268 Dragon New Year, The (Bouchard), 272 Dragons, Chinese Americans and, 231 Drug abuse, 565 Drunken Tiger (musical group), 697 Dukun (traditional Indonesian medical practitioner), 563, 564, 565 Dun, Tan, 246
Index Durand Line, Afghanistan and, 106 Durians, 146 Dutch Indonesians, 517 Duttu Gemunu, 1063 Dynasty Warriors (video game), xxxviii–xxxix, 589 East Goes West (Kang), 695 East West Players, 53 Ebens, Ronald, 235, 283 Economic immigration, 763, 1095 Education Asian American humor and, 27 Cambodian Americans, 182 Chinese Americans, 253, 287 Hmong Americans, 417, 449, 452 Indonesian Americans, 517–518 Korean Americans, 703 Malaysian Americans, 802 Mongolian Americans, 811, 815, 818, 823 Nepali Americans, 853 Pakistani Americans, 987 Thai Americans, 1083–1084 Vietnamese Americans, 1178 Eid celebrations, 112, 121, 969–970 El Shaddai, 402–403 Elder abuse, 460–461 Elders, respect for Burmese Americans, 169–170, 177 Cambodian Americans, 193–194, 208, 214 Chinese Americans, 253 Filipino Americans, 336, 353, 371, 387, 392, 407 Hmong Americans, 452 Indian Americans, 508 Indonesian Americans, 532, 551, 552 Japanese Americans, 588 Korean Americans, 691, 710–711 Laotian Americans, 715, 754, 758 Malaysian Americans, 761, 780, 809 Mongolian Americans, 845 Nepali Americans, 870–871 Pakistani Americans, 991, 992, 996 Thai Americans, 1114–1115 Vietnamese Americans, 1178, 1208, 1212 Elephant motifs, 152, 1021, 1086
Elephant Walk restaurant, 199 Employment Malaysian Americans, 761 Nepali Americans, 853 Punjabi Americans, 1003 Thai Americans, 1081–1082, 1083, 1084 Viet Kieu experience, 1219–1220 Empress of Heaven. See Tianhou/Mazu Endogamy, 102 English-Chinese Phrasebook, 293 English language skills Afghan Americans, 113 Burmese Americans, 129 Cambodian Americans, 220 Chinese Americans, 287, 325 Filipino Americans, 333–334, 371, 409 Ha Jin and, 281–282 Hmong Americans, 458 Indian Americans, 512–513 Indonesian Americans, 546 Korean Americans, 698 Malaysian Americans, 760, 794, 808 Mongolian Americans, 835, 848 Nepali Americans, 852, 874 Pakistani Americans, 996–997 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046 Thai Americans, 1123, 1124 Tibetan Americans, 1157 Vietnamese Americans, 1163 Englithai language, 1123 Enkhbat, Badar-Uugan, 833 Enter the Dragon (film), 290 Entertainment. See Dance; Music; Popular culture Epics, xxxvii, 489, 499, 744, 828, 1023 Espiritu, Yen Le, 11–12 Ethnic communities Burmese Americans, 131, 164 Cambodian Americans, 180, 181, 195–196, 201, 211, 220 Chinese Americans, 236–238, 264–266, 286–287 Filipino Americans, 333, 387–389 Hmong Americans, 427–428 Indian Americans, 490–492 Indian literature and, 489 Indonesian Americans, 515, 533–534, 537
I-13
I-14
Index Ethnic communities (continued) Japanese Americans, 591, 614–615 Korean Americans, 658, 673, 682, 693–694 Malaysian Americans, 763 Mongolian Americans, 813, 822–823 Nepali Americans, 851–852, 862, 865–866 Okinawan Americans, 878 Pacific Islander Americans, 907–908 Pakistani Americans, 955, 967–968, 970 Punjabi Americans, 1002, 1012–1013, 1021–1022 second and subsequent generations, 78–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046, 1065 Thai Americans, 1081, 1082, 1088–1090, 1096, 1099, 1108, 1120–1121 Tibetan Americans, 1127–1128, 1130, 1135–1136, 1140 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnamese Americans, 1161, 1178–1179, 1193–1194, 1198–1199, 1206 Ethnic groups Fiji and Fijians, 910 Filipino Americans, 333, 390 grocery stores and, 21–22 Indian Americans, 475–476, 490 Indonesian Americans, 517, 518, 525, 536, 548, 551–552, 555, 566 Laos and, 735–736 Laotian Americans, 714–715, 747 Malaysia and, 759–760 Malaysian Americans, 762–763, 771, 774–775, 784–786, 793, 800–801 model minority stereotype and, 70–71 Mongolian Americans, 813–814, 826, 848 Nepali Americans, 852, 861, 873–874 Pacific Islander Americans, 893, 930–931 Polynesians and, 938 religious beliefs and, 48–49 Sri Lanka and, 1044–1045 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Ethnic hierarchies, Asian American dating and, 103 Ethnic identity. See Cultural identity Ethnomusicology, 1–5 Eugenics, 92–93 Eugenio, Damiana, 400 Eurasians, 97 European exploration, Pacific Islands and, 894–895
Evangelical Christianity, 1052 “Evil eye,” 993 Exogamy, 102, 413–414, 416, 439 Exorcisms, 157 Experimental films, 684 Extended families Cambodian Americans, 193 Hawaiian Natives, 923 Indonesian Americans, 531–532 Laotian Americans, 728 Malaysian Americans, 779, 780 Nepali Americans, 858 Pakistani Americans, 967, 968 Thai Americans, 1095 Vietnamese Americans, 1178 Eye contact, Japanese Americans and, 650 Fair Play Committee, 586 Fairy tales, 273. See also Myths and legends Families Chinese Americans, 253, 286, 324–325 Filipino Americans, 334, 371 Hmong Americans, 413–414, 415–416 homosexuality and, 37 Indian Americans, 471 Japanese Americans, 608 Korean Americans, 698 Laotian Americans, 715 love and sexuality, 80, 82 Mongolian Americans, 815, 817, 822 mother-daughter relationships and, 8–9, 71–73 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 5–10 queer studies and, 43 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047 Families and communities Cambodian Americans, 193–195 Chinese Americans, 264–266 Filipino Americans, 353–355, 376–377 Hawaiian Natives, 923 Hmong Americans, 427–428 Indonesian Americans, 531–532 Japanese Americans, 590–591 Korean Americans, 673–674
Index Laotian Americans, 727–729 Malaysian Americans, 778–781 Mongolian Americans, 822–823 Nepali Americans, 858–859 Pacific Islander Americans, 907–908 Pakistani Americans, 967–968 Punjabi Americans, 1010–1012 Sri Lankan Americans, 1055–1057 Thai Americans, 1088–1090, 1095–1096 Tibetan Americans, 1135–1137 Vietnamese Americans, 1177–1179 Fa Mu Lan (Mulan), 243–244, 263–264, 272, 282, 289, 299 Fa Ngum, King, 734–735 Family reunification, immigration and, 1011 Far, Sui Sin, 14, 293 Farewell to Manzanar (Houston), 590, 618 Farmers’ band dance, 676 Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), 897 Feng shui Chinese Americans, 262, 266–267, 283–284 Filipino Americans, 370 Hmong Americans, 414, 416 Malaysian Americans, 764–765, 766 material culture and, 19 Festivals and celebrations Afghan Americans, 111–112, 114, 122–123, 124–126 Asian Pacific Heritage Month, 63–64 Burmese Americans, 130, 138–141, 144, 157 Cambodian Americans, 183–184, 190, 195–196, 199 Chinese Americans, 231, 232–233, 238, 244, 245, 261, 267–268, 269, 300–301, 305–306 Filipino Americans, 335, 336, 348–349, 355–356, 361, 363, 378, 381, 382, 396–398, 405–406 Hmong Americans, 429–430 Indian Americans, 468, 472–474, 478, 481, 491, 496, 497 Indonesian Americans, 519, 532–534 Japanese Americans, 570, 575, 580–581, 583, 591–593, 596, 598, 645–646 Korean Americans, 667, 674–675, 683, 696 Laotian Americans, 729–730, 732, 745–746, 751 Malaysian Americans, 767, 781–782, 783, 786, 789
Mongolian Americans, 814, 818, 821, 823–824, 825, 836 music and, 2–3 Nepali Americans, 859, 860–861, 862–863, 868 Okinawan Americans, 879, 883–884 Pacific Islander Americans, 908–910, 920, 928, 929, 930, 939 Pakistani Americans, 968–970 Punjabi Americans, 1011, 1012–1014 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1058–1059, 1073 Taiwanese Americans, 316 Thai Americans, 1083, 1096–1098 Tibetan Americans, 1131, 1137–1138, 1139 Vietnamese Americans, 1169, 1172, 1179–1181, 1183, 1190, 1210–1211, 1211–1213, 1214 Fiestas. See Festivals and celebrations Fifth Book of Peace, The (Kingston), 289 Fiji and Fijians, 910–911 Filipino American History Month, 359 Filipino American National Historical Society, 358–359 Filipino American National Museum, 359 Filipino Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 336–337, 372–373 arts and crafts, 337–339 Asian American dating and, 103 balikbayan boxes, xxxviii, 339–340 beauty pageants, 341–342 beauty standards, 342–343 clothing and jewelry, 346–348 cultural identity, 370–372 death and funeral rituals, 350–352 families and communities, 353–355 festivals and celebrations, 355–356, 396–398, 405–4406 Filipino American National Historical Society, 358–359 foods and cooking, 362–364 gender roles and, 364–366 heroes and heroines, 368–369 history, people, and culture, 331–336 home decoration, 369–370 indigenous peoples and, 372–384
I-15
I-16
Index Filipino Americans (continued) jeepneys and, 384 literature, 366–367, 385–386, 392–394, 1224–1227 Manilamen, 387–389 mixed race Asian Americans, 389–390 music, 345–346, 359–361, 361–362 names and naming practices, 391–392 origin tales, 386–387 “Pinoy and Pinay,” 398–399 political activism and, 344–345 proverbs and maxims, 399–401 queer folklore and folklife, 40, 45 religious beliefs, 356–358, 401–403 rites of passage, 348–349, 403–405 root quests and, 76–77 social etiquette, 395–396, 406–408 speech and language, 409–411 traditional medicine, 408–409 Films Cambodian Americans, 200 Chinese Americans, 248, 264, 277–278, 290–291 Indian Americans, 479 Japanese Americans, 610 Korean Americans, 661, 681, 683–685 love and sexuality, 81, 82–83 Malaysian Americans, 790 Mongolian Americans, 819–820 orientalism and, 73–74 popular culture and, 33 Punjabi Americans, 1042 Thai Americans, 1094 Tibetan Americans, 1150 Vietnamese Americans, 1167, 1190 First Person Plural (film), 684 Fists of Fury (film), 290 Five Chinese Brothers, The (Bishop), 15 Flag Day (Samoa), 947 Flexible citizenship, 61 Floral arrangements, 593–595 Florante at Laura (Balagtaz), 394 Flower cloths, 418–420, 456 FOBs (fresh off boat), 667 Folk dance. See Dance Folk music. See Music
Folk religions Cambodian Americans, 210–211, 212 Chinese Americans, 228–229, 255, 278–280, 307, 320–322, 324 Filipino Americans, 336–337, 403 Hmong Americans, 445–446, 450–451 Indian Americans, 509–510 Indonesian Americans, 520–521 Korean Americans, 664, 704 Laotian Americans, 748, 750 Malaysian Americans, 799–801 Okinawan Americans, 890–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 941, 942, 943 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Thai Americans, 1112 Tibetan Americans, 1153–1154 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1181, 1196–1198, 1205, 1210. See also Ancestors, ghosts, and spirits Folk songs, 233–234, 345–346, 431–432. See also Music Folklore Afghan Americans, 114–115 Amy Tan and, 316, 317 Burmese Americans, 155–156 Cambodian Americans, 186–188 Chinese Americans, 227–228, 272–274, 292–294 defined, xxxv–xxxvi Filipino Americans, 385–387, 392–394 Hawaiian Natives, 925–927 Indonesian Americans, 551–553 Japanese Americans, 617–618 opera theaters and, 242–243, 243–244 Pacific Islander Americans, 918, 925–927 Pakistani Americans, 959 See also Literature Folktales Burmese Americans, 145–146 Cambodian Americans, 206–207 children’s literature and, 14–15 Chinese Americans, 232, 302–303 Filipino Americans, 342–343 Hmong Americans, 423–424, 440–442 Indian Americans, 499 Japanese Americans, 597–599 Korean Americans, 699–700
Index Laotian Americans, 737–738, 744 Malaysian Americans, 796–798 Mongolian Americans, 828–829 Sri Lankan Americans, 1066–1067 Thai Americans, 1118 See also Literature Fonseka, Sarath, 1063 Foo, Josey, 790 Foods and cooking Burmese Americans, 130, 146–148, 168 Cambodian Americans, 198–199 Chinese Americans, 274–277, 284, 313, 330 Filipino Americans, 335, 338, 362–364, 377–379 “Got Rice?” slogan, 66–68 grocery stores and, 21–23 Guam and, 912 Hmong Americans, 433–434 Indian Americans, 460, 463, 475–477 Indonesian Americans, 536–538, 557–560, 562 Japanese Americans, 599–601, 644 Korean Americans, 675, 678–680, 707 Laotian Americans, 732–734 Malaysian Americans, 787–789 Mongolian Americans, 814, 815, 829–831, 844 Nepali Americans, 852, 864–865 Okinawan Americans, 883, 884–885 Pacific Islander Americans, 916–917 Pakistani Americans, 973–975, 993–994 Punjabi Americans, 999–1000, 1014–1015 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1061–1062 Thai Americans, 1083, 1101–1102 Tibetan Americans, 1141–1142 Vietnamese Americans, 1187–1188, 1213 “Foolish Old Man” (Chinese legend), 298 Foreignness, root quests and, 76–77 Fort Minor (musical group), 640–641 Fortune cookies, 276–277, 305 “Four Dragons, The” (Chinese legend), 298 Four tantras, traditional Tibetan medicine and, 1156–1157 Fox folktales, 660 France, Tahiti and, 950–951 Frankfurt School, youth culture and, 59 Free Life, A (Jin), 281
Free Tibet movement, 1143, 1144, 1149–1150 Freedom, Hmong Americans, 453–454 Freedom of speech, 1215, 1216 French Indochina, 713 Fu Manchu films, 277–278 Fulbeck, Kip, 98, 99 Fuller, Buckminster, 625 Funeral homes, 192–193, 375, 718, 857, 1177 Funeral services. See Death and funeral rituals Gabriela Network (GABNet), 368–369 Galang, M. Evelina, 386 Games and toys, 675, 912, 1006, 1165 Ganesha (Hindu god), 500 Gang activities Cambodian Americans, 201, 220 Chinese Americans, 227 Hmong Americans, 417 Sri Lankan Americans, 1057 youth culture and, 59, 60 Gardening, 611, 652–653, 834 Gay men, 38, 342. See also Homosexuality; Queer folklore and folklife; Queer studies Gender, 35, 159 Gender roles Cambodian Americans, 193–195, 215 Filipino Americans, 364–366, 393 folklore and, xxxvii Hmong Americans, 415, 427 interracial/interethnic marriage, 101 Korean Americans, 691, 692, 708 Laotian Americans, 727–728 Malaysian Americans, 780 Nepali Americans, 856, 859, 871 Pacific Islander Americans, 942 Pakistani Americans, 964, 966, 981–982, 987–988, 989–990, 991–992 Punjabi Americans, 1010, 1027 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053 Thai Americans, 1118 Genghis Khan, 831 Gentlemen’s Agreement, 571, 632, 656 Geomancy. See Feng shui Gesar’s Epic (Tibetan folktale), 1145, 1147 Geser Khan epic, 828
I-17
I-18
Index Geshe Wangyal, 812, 841 Ghadar Party, 1005 Ghazal music, 963 Ghose, Zulfiqar, 981 Ghosh, Amitav, 486 Ghost stories, 238–241, 244–245, 273, 462, 598–599 Ghosts and the supernatural Burmese Americans, 133–134 Cambodian Americans, 191 Chinese Americans, 228–230, 238–241, 260–261 Hawaiian Natives, 926 Korean Americans, 660–661, 664 Malaysian Americans, 764–768 Pacific Islander Americans, 899 Pakistani Americans, 960–961 Thai Americans, 1106–1108 Vietnamese Americans, 1209–1210 Gift, The (Xiong), 424 Gifts and gift giving Japanese Americans, 642, 644 Korean Americans, 706–707 Laotian Americans, 742, 753 Malaysian Americans, 775, 807 Mongolian Americans, 844 Pacific Islander Americans, 906–907 Pakistani Americans, 991 Sri Lankan Americans, 1075 Vietnamese Americans, 1207 Girei origami, 629 “Goddess and the Giant, The” (Cambodian folktale), 207 Gold jewelry, 252, 736–737, 856 Golden Land of Legends, 149 Goldilocks chart, 102–103 Gonzalez, N. V. M., 366–367, 386 Good Earth, The (film), 32 Gorn, Steve, 475 “Got Rice Bitch?” (song), 67 “Got Rice?” slogan, xxxix, 66–68 Gotanda, Philip Kan, 610, 618 Government Burma and, 128–129, 149–150 Cambodia and, 203–204 Nepal and, 868
Samoa and, 948 United States, 30 Graduation ceremonies, 990 Grammar Burmese language and, 176–177 Hmong language and, 458 Korean language and, 711 Malaysian Americans, 808 Mongolian language, 849 Grandfather’s Journey (Say), 17 Grandmother Tales (Carpenter), 15 Grant, Glen, 598–599 Grass Roof, The (Kang), 695 Great Britain, 106, 1005 Great Game, the, 105–106 “Great Gourd from Heaven, The” (Laotian folktale), 1233–1235 “Green Frog, The” (Korean folktale), 699, 700 Greetings, social etiquette and Indonesian Americans, 562 Laotian Americans, 758 Nepali Americans, 870–871 Pakistani Americans, 991 Thai Americans, 1114–1115 Tibetan Americans, 1155, 1157–1158 Vietnamese Americans, 1208, 1212 Grimm’s fairy tales, 1077 Gripe water, 1079 Grocery stores, 21–23, 111, 363, 1121, 1188 GSoba Rig-pa (traditional Tibetan medicine), 1156 Gu, Kim, 681 Guam literature, 1235–1236 narrative folklore and, 919–920, 934 Pacific Islander Americans, 911–913, 917–922 United States and, 896 U.S. Pacific Island territories and, 895 World War II, 902–903 Guandi (deity), 278–280 Guanyin. See Avalokitesvara Gung Do (Korean archery), 689 Gurbani kirtan (Sikh epic), 1015–1016 Gurdwara (Sikh temple), 1005, 1013, 1017–1018, 1036 Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scripture), 1037, 1038
Index Guru Nanak, 1007, 1019, 1023–1024, 1029, 1034–1035, 1037 Gurung people, 860 Gurus, Sikh, 1007, 1013, 1018–1019, 1023–1024, 1033–1036, 1037–1038 Gutal (Mongolian boots), 819 Gyaltsen, Dhondup, 1136 Gyalwa Gedun Drup, 1133 Gyatso, Rigzin Tsangyang, 1130 Gyatso, Tenzin. See Dalai Lama Gye (Korean American credit system), 673 Ha Jin, 281–282 Hafez, 115 Hagiwara, Makoto, 276 Haiku, 616–617 Haircutting ceremonies, 816–817, 842–843, 846, 1113 Hairstyles, 740, 1053–1054 Hajj pilgrimage, 990 Halal foods, 787, 788, 993–994 Hamamoto, Darryl, 82 Hamid, Mohsin, 982 Han dynasty, 279 Hanbok (Korean dress), 666, 667 Hands, using correct, 510, 563, 844, 871 Han Suyin, 293 Hangin, Gombojov, 811, 824 Hanging papers, 230–231, 247 Hanh Thi Pham, 38 Hapa, 98–100 Hapa Issues Forum, 99 Har Krishan, Guru, 1035 Har Rai, Guru, 1035 Hara, Mari, 99 Hargobind, Guru, 1019, 1035 Hari Krishna movement, 48 Harmony, maintaining, 254 Hasu-Houston, Velina, 52 Hate crimes, 234–236, 283 Hats, Mongolian, 819 Hatta, Mohammad, 539 Hawaii festivals and celebrations, 908 Japanese Americans, 607, 632 Korean Americans, 656, 676
Pacific Islander Americans, 922–928, 939–940 Pearl Harbor and, 630–631 U.S. annexation of, 895–896 Hawaii United Okinawa Association, 879, 883 Hawaiian Creole English (HCE), 935–936 Hawaiian Natives clothing and jewelry, 904–905 dance and, 900, 913–914 folk religions, 942 hapa and, 98, 99 model minority stereotype and, 71 music, 915 names and naming practices, 933 Pacific Islander Americans, 893 rites of passage, 944–945 surf and surfing, 949 Hawaiian Renaissance, 939 Hawaiian sugar plantations, 331–332, 601–602 Hayakawa, Sessue, 617 Head, touching, 170, 215, 754, 846 Headscarves, 964 Healers, Pacific Islander Americans, 952–953 Health and wellness Burmese Americans, 152–153, 173–176 Cambodian Americans, 216–217 Chinese Americans, 322–324 Filipino Americans, 408–409 Hmong Americans, 446, 450–451 Indian Americans, 463–464 Malaysian Americans, 775 Pacific Islander Americans, 915, 952 Sri Lankan Americans, 1079 Taoism and, 255 See also Traditional medicine Heaton, Matt and Shannon, 1100 Henna, 477–478, 491, 1006 Herbal medicines Burmese Americans, 174–175 Chinese Americans, 322–323 Filipino Americans, 408 Indonesian Americans, 563, 565 Japanese Americans, 648 Laotian Americans, 755–756 Mongolian Americans, 847 Pakistani Americans, 994–995 Sri Lankan Americans, 1078–1079
I-19
I-20
Index “Herit and Weasel” (Sri Lankan folktale), 1076–1077 Heroes and heroines Burmese Americans, 148–151 Cambodian Americans, 199–201 Chinese Americans, 244, 263–264, 282–283, 296–297 Filipino Americans, 365, 368–369 Hmong Americans, 434–435 Indian Americans, 478–479 Indonesian Americans, 538–540 Japanese Americans, 602–603 Korean Americans, 680–682 Laotian Americans, 734–735 Malaysian Americans, 789–791 Mongolian Americans, 831–833 Pacific Islander Americans, 928–930 Pakistani Americans, 975–977 Punjabi Americans, 1018–1020 Sri Lankan Americans, 1063–1064 Thai Americans, 1102–1103 Tibetan Americans, 1142–1143 Vietnamese Americans, 1189–1191, 1213–1215 Hewitson, Jennifer, 187 Heyerdahl, Thor, 894 Hijra (third gender), 35 Hindi language, 465, 512–513 Hinduism Afghan Americans, 120 Burmese Americans, 135, 136, 147, 163, 164 Cambodian Americans, 209 Filipino Americans, 337 Indian Americans, 462, 469–470, 472, 473, 476, 478, 479–482, 482–483, 495–497, 500–501, 503–504, 505–506 Indian literature and, 489 Indonesian Americans, 529–530, 541, 548 lotus flowers and, 69 love and sexuality, 80 Malaysian Americans, 761, 777, 800 Nepali Americans, 852, 857, 865, 868, 869 Pakistani Americans, 987 Punjabi Americans, 1008–1009, 1010, 1022, 1029, 1031–1032 reincarnation and, 74–75 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048, 1049–1050,
1054–1055, 1058, 1059, 1071, 1073–1074 swastikas and, 87 Hinduism Today (magazine), 496 Hinglish, 513 Historical experiences, folklore and, xxxvi–xxxvii Historical fiction, children’s literature and, 16 Historical narratives, 441, 828 Historiography, queer studies and, 44 History, people, and culture Afghan Americans, 105–110 Burmese Americans, 127–132 Cambodian Americans, 179–185 Chinese Americans, 223–228 Filipino Americans, 331–336 Hmong Americans, 413–417 Indian Americans, 459–461 Indonesian Americans, 515–520, 541–543 Japanese Americans, 569–576 Korean Americans, 655–660 Laotian Americans, 713–717 Malaysian Americans, 759–764 Mongolian Americans, 811–816 Nepali Americans, 851–854 Okinawan Americans, 877–880 Pacific Islander Americans, 893–899 Pakistani Americans, 955–960 Punjabi Americans, 999–1005 Sri Lankan Americans, 1043–1047 Thai Americans, 1081–1084 Tibetan Americans, 1127–1128 Vietnamese Americans, 1159–1165 HIV/AIDS, 42 Hla, Luda U, 145 Hmong Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 417–418 arts and crafts, 418–421, 453–455 Asian American humor and, 27 clothing and jewelry, 424–425 cultural identity, 435–437 dance, 732 death and funeral rituals, 425–427 families and communities, 427–428 festivals and celebrations, 429–430 foods and cooking, 433–434 heroes and heroines, 434–435
Index history, people, and culture, 413–417 literature, 423–424, 440–442, 1228–1230 music, 430–432, 437–438 names and naming practices, 439–440 nature and animals, 442–443 proverbs and maxims, 443–444 religious beliefs, 445–448, 723–724 rites of passage, 448–450 social etiquette, 452–453 speech and language, 457–458 story cloths and, xxxviii textiles, 453–457 traditional medicine, 450–451 Hmong people, Laos and, 714 Ho, Minfong, 187, 205 Ho Chi Minh, 1190, 1215 Hoa Hao Buddhism, 1173, 1196, 1197, 1205 Holidays. See Festivals and celebrations Holt, John Dominis, 926 Home decoration Burmese Americans, 133, 151–152 Cambodian Americans, 185–186 Chinese American architecture and, 327, 328 Chinese Americans, 283–284 feng shui and, 266–267 Filipino Americans, 369–370, 379–380 Hmong Americans, 420 Indian Americans, 482–484, 510–511 Indonesian Americans, 523–524 Japanese Americans, 584–585, 646–647 Korean Americans, 662 Laotian Americans, 720 Malaysian Americans, 791–792 Mongolian Americans, 833–834, 842 Nepali Americans, 854–855 Pacific Islander Americans, 900–901 Pakistani Americans, 962, 977–978 Punjabi Americans, 1005–1006, 1020–1021 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048–1049 Thai Americans, 1085–1086 Tibetan Americans, 1129 Vietnamese Americans, 1191–1192, 1212 Homeopathic medicine, 995, 1040 Homophobia, 39–40 Homosexuality interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 love and sexuality, 81, 83
queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 queer studies and, 41–46 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051–1052, 1067 Hong Fook Tong, 241, 285–286 Hong Kong, 252, 1001, 1017 Honor suicide, 11, 12 Honorifics Burmese Americans, 159, 168 Cambodian Americans, 215 Filipino Americans, 391 Hmong Americans, 457–458 Indian Americans, 498 Indonesian Americans, 551, 562, 566–567 Korean Americans, 698 Korean language and, 711 Laotian Americans, 728, 743, 754 Mongolian Americans, 845 Nepali Americans, 871 Vietnamese Americans, 1208 Hoopoe (mythical bird), 114–115 Horse-head fiddle, 837 Horton, Frank, 63 Hosoi, Christian, 603 Hospitality. See Social etiquette and customs Hot Air Balloon celebrations, 160–161 Housing, 326, 369, 379, 414, 416. See also Architecture; Home decoration Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki, 590, 618 Hsi Lai Temple, 314 Hsu, Evonne, 271 Hsu, Hong-yen, 648 Htin Aung, 145 Huhm, Halla Pai, 676 Hui, Ann, 1167 Hula dance, 913–914, 915, 925 Human rights organizations, 200 Humor and comedy Burmese Americans, 142 Cambodian Americans, 184 Pakistani Americans, 988 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife, 23–29 popular culture and, 31–33 queer studies and, 44–45 Humoral medicine, 152, 216, 847, 872–873 Hunting, Mongolian Americans and, 814, 831 Hur Jun, 709
I-21
I-22
Index Hurricane Katrina, 1193–1195 Huynh, Hung, 1188, 1202 Hwan gap (60th birthday), 705 Hwang, David Henry, 52–53, 294 Hwang, Jason, 246 Hwang, Jason Kao, 271 Hwang, Rah, 662 Hyperfeminization, 37–38, 80, 82, 101 I Ching, 329–330, 766 Ibrahim, Ramli, 790 Icons, Indian Americans and, 479–480 Identity. See Cultural identity Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church), 402 Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), 402 Igorot people, 372–380 Igus, Toyomi, 582 Iijima, Geneva Cobb, 582 Ikat designs, 526, 527 Ikeda, Stuart David, 618 Illegal immigration, 224, 518, 1108, 1220 Immigration Afghan Americans, 105, 107–108 Burmese Americans, 135–136 Cambodian Americans, 179–181, 218–219, 220 Chinese American architecture and, 326, 327 Chinese Americans, 223–224, 237, 264–265, 299–300, 303–304, 307 cultural identity and, 5–7 ethnomusicology and, 1–2 Filipino Americans, 331–333, 376, 383, 387–389 Hmong Americans, 415 Indian Americans, 459 Indonesian Americans, 515, 516–517, 517–518, 540–541, 542–543 Japanese Americans, 569–570, 574, 583–584, 590, 594, 601–602, 614, 631–632 Korean Americans, 655, 656–657, 657–658, 667, 693–694 Laotian Americans, 736 love and sexuality, 81 Malaysian Americans, 759–760, 762, 763 minority groups and, 49
model minority stereotype and, 70 Mongolian Americans, 811, 812, 813–814, 822 Nepali Americans, 851 Okinawan Americans, 878, 888 Pacific Islander Americans, 896–897, 897–898 Pakistani Americans, 955, 957–958 Punjabi Americans, 1000–1001, 1002–1003, 1011, 1038–1039 religious beliefs and, 49–50 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Sri Lankan Americans, 1045–1046, 1055–1056, 1064–1065 Thai Americans, 1081–1082, 1083, 1095, 1108 Tibetan Americans, 1127, 1136 Vietnamese Americans, 1159–1164, 1166–1167, 1197 Immigration and Nationality Act (1965), 1–2, 6–7, 237, 332–333, 673, 851 Imperialism, 92, 95, 105–106 Improvisation, opera theaters and, 242–243 In Search of Roots Program, 76 Inada, Lawson, 293 Independence movement, Korean, 656–657 India, Sri Lanka and, 1043–1044 Indian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 461–463 Burmese Americans and, 153, 154 clothing and jewelry, 466–467 dance, 467–469 death and funeral rituals, 470–471 ethnic communities, 490–492 festivals and celebrations, 472–474 foods and cooking, 475–477 henna, 477–478 heroes and heroines, 478–479 history, people, and culture, 459–461 home decoration, 482–484, 510–511 literature, 484–487, 489–490, 492–494, 499 music, 465–466, 474–475 myths and legends, 495–497 names and naming practices, 497–498 nature and animals, 500–501 Pakistani Americans and, 956 proverbs and maxims, 501–503
Index religious beliefs, 469–470, 503–505 religious buildings and worship spaces, 479–482, 487–488, 494–495 rites of passage, 505–507 social etiquette, 508–509 speech and language, 512–513 superstitions and taboos, 509–510 traditional medicine, 463–465, 511–512. See also Punjabi Americans Indian classical dance, 467 Indian Malaysians, 759, 762–763 clothing and jewelry, 773 families, 780 foods and cooking, 787, 788 home decoration and, 792 languages and, 793 names and naming practices, 796 superstitions and taboos, 807 Indian nationalism, 1005, 1024 Indigenous peoples Burmese Americans, 147, 153 Filipino Americans, 338, 346–347, 372–384, 391 Guam, 917–919 Hawaiian Natives, 922–923 Indonesian Americans, 531, 534, 560 Malaysia and, 759, 765 Malaysian Americans, 766, 799–801 Indirect communication, Japanese Americans, 649 Indirect discourse, homosexuality and, 37 Indo-Fijians, 910 Indonesia, Malaysia and, 771, 784–785 Indonesian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 520–523 arts and crafts, 523–524 clothing and jewelry, 526–528 cultural identity, 540–543 dance, 534–536 death and funeral rituals, 528–531 families and communities, 531–532 festivals and celebrations, 532–534 foods and cooking, 536–538, 557–560 heroes and heroines, 538–540 history, people, and culture, 515–520 literature, 545–548, 551–553, 1230–1232 music, 524–526
names and naming practices, 548–551 proverbs and maxims, 553–554 puppet theatre, 544–545 religious beliefs, 554–557 rites of passage, 560–562 social etiquette, 562–563 speech and language, 566–567 traditional medicine, 563–565 Indonesian Independence Day, 533 Inheritances, 776, 992 Inoue, Rena, 603 Inouye, Daniel K., 602, 605–606 Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, The (Rohmer), 277 International Education and Resource Network (iEARN), 984–985 Internet Cambodian Americans, 184 Indian Americans, 468 Indonesian literature and, 547 Malaysian Americans, 777 Mongolian Americans, 814 popular culture and, 33–34 Qing Ming and, 306 religious beliefs and, 50 Sri Lankan Americans, 1067 Interracial/interethnic marriage Afghan Americans, 125 Indian Americans, 460 Japanese Americans, 575, 604 Korean Americans, 691 Laotian Americans, 728, 742 Malaysian Americans, 776, 801 mixed race Asian Americans, 95–96, 100–104 Mongolian Americans, 815 Nepali Americans, 870 Pakistani Americans, 990 Punjabi Americans, 1002, 1010–1011, 1025, 1033 Sri Lankan Americans, 1050, 1057, 1068–1069 Thai Americans, 1082 Introductions, Chinese Americans and, 311 Iqbal, Allama, 975–976, 986 Irish-Chinese intermarriage, 96
I-23
I-24
Index Islam Afghan Americans, 120, 121–123 Burmese Americans, 135, 136, 137, 140, 163–164 Cambodian Americans, 209–210 Filipino Americans, 334, 351–352, 403 Indian Americans, 469, 470, 473, 476, 494–495, 498, 502, 503, 504, 507 Indonesian Americans, 528–529, 530, 532, 533, 541, 555–556, 564–565 Laotian Americans, 748 Malaysian Americans, 765, 772, 774–775, 776–777, 792, 793, 804 Nepali Americans, 852 Pakistani Americans, 956, 960, 966, 973, 976, 978, 980, 982, 986–989, 990, 993 Punjabi Americans, 1010, 1021, 1022, 1029 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1049, 1055, 1059, 1068–1069, 1074, 1075 Thai Americans, 1111 Issei generation, 78 Itinerant laborers, 344, 368 Ito, Michio, 625 Iwamatsu, Atsushi, 598 Iyer, E. Krishna, 1059–1060 Jade jewelry, 252 Jagchid Sechen, 812 Jainism Indian Americans, 470, 476, 487–488, 503, 504 lotus flowers and, 68, 69 Punjabi Americans, 1029 “Jana Gana Mana” (song), 465 Japan, 655, 668–669, 892, 902, 903 Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), 574, 586, 604, 609, 626–627 Japanese American internment camps, 571–572, 573, 605, 606–610, 632–634 arts and crafts and, 577 children’s literature and, 16, 582 draft resisters and, 586 families and, 590–591 Hawaii and, 630
literature and, 618 pilgrimage to, 632–634 redress movement and, 7–8 religious beliefs and, 584 root quests and, 77 social etiquette and, 643 Japanese American National Museum, 591, 604, 611–613 Japanese Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 576–577 antimiscegenation laws and, 101 arts and crafts, 577–578, 593–595, 610–611, 624–625, 628–629 Asian American dating and, 103 cultural identity, 603–605 dance, 595–596 death and funeral rituals, 587–589 Dynasty Warriors (video game), 589 ethnic communities, 614–615 families and communities, 590–591 festivals and celebrations, 580–581, 591–593 foods and cooking, 599–601 fortune cookies and, 276 hapa and, 99 Hawaiian sugar plantations and, 601–602 heroes and heroines, 602–603 history, people, and culture, 569–576 home decoration, 646–647 interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 literature, 581–583, 597–599, 615–617, 617–618, 620, 627–628, 651–652 marriage, 631–632 martial arts, 618–619 mixed race Asian Americans, 91 model minority stereotype and, 70 music, 8, 582–583, 596–597, 640–641, 644–646 names and naming practices, 621–622 nature and animals, 622–624 Okinawan Americans, 888–889 Poke´mon, 634–636 political activism, 605–606 proverbs and maxims, 636–637 religious beliefs, 583–585, 637–638 rites of passage, 639–640 rituals and ceremonies, 579–580 second and subsequent generations, 78 social etiquette, 641–643
Index speech and language, 649–651 superstitions and taboos, 643–644 traditional medicine, 647–649 World War II, 585–587, 626–627, 630–631 Zen gardens, 652–653 See also Okinawan Americans Japantowns, 614–615 Jataka Tales, 155–156, 207, 744, 747, 1066, 1221–1223 Javanese people, 550, 784–785 Javanese puppets, 544–545 Jayasuria, Sanath, 1064 Jeepneys, 384 Jehan, Noor, 976 Jets, The (musical group), 915 Jew, Jeanie F., 63 Jewelry Cambodian Americans, 188–189 Chinese Americans, 252 Filipino Americans, 347–348 Hmong Americans, 425 Indian Americans, 466–467 Indonesian Americans, 528 Korean Americans, 666–667 Laotian Americans, 736–737 Malaysian Americans, 772–773, 773–774 Mongolian Americans, 819 Nepali Americans, 856 Pacific Islander Americans, 905 Pakistani Americans, 965 Sri Lankan Americans, 1054 Thai Americans, 1088 Tibetan Americans, 1132 Vietnamese Americans, 1171 Jikihara Toshihei, 616 Jin, Ha, 281–282 Jinn (spirits), 960–961 Jinnah, Muhammad Ali, 975 Johnson, Lyndon B., 1160–1161 Joo, Brian, 677 Jootis (Punjabi shoe), 1006 Journey from the Fall (film), 1167, 1190–1191 Journey to the West, 296 Joy Luck Club (film), 33, 82 Joy Luck Club (Tan), 71, 317 Judaism, 120, 503, 504
Judge Rabbit and the Tree Spirit (Spagnoli and Wall), 186–187, 205 Judo, 618–619 Jung, David, 276 Kabuki theater, 596 Kadohata, Cynthia, 618 Kaji, Bruce T., 612 Kalmyk Mongolians, 811, 812, 835, 840–841 Kalmyk Mongols, 822 Kamani, Ginu, 486 Kamehameha Day (Hawaii), 908 Kamehameha I, King, 929 Kampo (traditional Japanese medicine), 647–649 Kanazawa, Tooru, 617 Kandyan dance, 1060 Kang, Younghill, 694–695 Kapwa (shared identity), 406–407 Karate, 619, 885 Karma Burmese Americans, 169–170 Cambodian Americans, 191 Laotian Americans, 716 reincarnation and, 75 religious beliefs and, 210 Sikhism and, 1038 Thai Americans, 1091–1092 Katoeys (lady boys), 36 “Kaundinya and Soma” (Cambodian folktale), 1223 Kawai, Tochihiro, 577, 578 Kechog, Ngawang, 1143 Keepers of the Flame (film), 939 Keller, Nora Okja, 8, 9, 72, 99, 695 Kendo, 619 “Kenji” (song), 641 Keppetipola, 1063 Khalistan, 1019 Khalkh Mongols, 813–814, 835 Khan, Imran, 975 Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali, 963, 972, 976 Khan, Shah Rukh, 1064 Khatak dance, 971 Khene (musical instrument), 430 Khin Myo Chit, Daw, 145 Khmer Arts Academy, 190
I-25
I-26
Index Khmer Guided Placement (KGP) program, 180 Khmer Rouge, xxxix, 179, 194, 202–204, 210, 217–218 Khmu people, 732 Khon (Thai dance), 1099, 1100 Khurem and khantaaz (Mongolian clothing), 819 Killing Fields, the, 203–204 Killing Fields, The (film), 200 Kim, Daniel Dae, 32–33 Kim, Elaine, 82, 695 Kim, Patti, 695 Kim, Richard, 694, 695 Kim, Ronyong, 695 Kim, Sooja, 662 Kim, Young Oak, 612, 656 Kim of Korea (Norris and Lum), 665 Kina, Laura, 92, 99 King, Rodney, 658 King and I, The (musical), 1107 King of the Hill (TV show), 747 King’s Birthday (Thailand), 1097 Kingsbury, Charles Winslow, 1070 Kingston, Maxine Hong Chinese American literature and, 302–303 Chinese Americans, 227, 288–289 Fa Mu Lan and, 263–264 Frank Chin and, 293 the Monkey King and, 296 mother-daughter relationships and, 71 opera theaters, 245 Kinnara Taiko, 646 Kinship ties Filipino Americans, 352, 354, 376, 391–392 Hmong Americans, 413, 427, 439, 452 Korean Americans, 698 Laotian Americans, 743 Pacific Islander Americans, 897–898, 907, 918 Punjabi Americans, 1001 See also Families and communities Kirant (Nepali folk religion), 852 Kirchner, Bharti, 485 Kitayama, Henry, 611 Kivakaruni, Chitra Banerjee, 485 Kiyama, Henry Yoshitaki, 617 Kneubuhl, John, 932
Kneubuhl, Victoria, 932 Ko Hung, 318 Kogawa, Joy, 617 Koothu dance, 1060–1061 Korea, 655, 659 Korean American Adoptee films (KAAF), 683–685 Korean American Adoptee literature (KAAL), 685–686 Korean Americans adoptions, 683–688 ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 660–661 arts and crafts, 661–663 Asian American dating and, 103 clothing and jewelry, 666–668 cultural identity, 682–683 dance, 675–677 death and funeral rituals, 671–672 ethnic communities, 693–694 families and communities, 673–674 festivals and celebrations, 674–675 foods and cooking, 678–680 heroes and heroines, 680–682 history, people, and culture, 655–660 literature, 663–664, 664–666, 685–686, 694–696, 699–700, 1232–1233 martial arts, 689–690 mixed race Asian Americans, 91 music, 677–678, 696–698 names and naming practices, 698–699 proverbs and maxims, 700–701 religious beliefs, 49, 669–671, 690–693, 701–704 rites of passage, 704–706 social etiquette, 706–707 speech and language, 710–711 superstitions and taboos, 707–709 traditional medicine, 709–710 World War II, 668–669 Korean Church in America, 690–693 Korean Hand Therapy, 710 Korean Tales (Allen), 664 Korean War, 16, 657, 687–688 Koreatowns, 679, 693–694 Korematsu, Fred, 572 Koten music, 886–887, 888
Index Koy, Jo, 26, 31 Krishna, 75 Kuda kepang (Malaysian dance), 783 Kuhio Day (Hawaii), 908 Kunsel, Tenzin, 1143 Kwan, Michelle, 227 Kwon, Yul, 682 Labor unions, 344, 368, 602 Lac Hong Dance Ensemble, 1182 Lacquer ware, 151–152, 1165 Lahiri, Jhumpa, 486 Lama dances, 1140 Land mines, 714 Land ownership, 571, 590, 1000, 1004–1005 Landscapes, 17–18, 160, 267, 652–653 Languages Afghan Americans, 113 Burmese Americans, 129, 150, 176–177 Filipino Americans, 333–334, 371 grocery stores and, 22 Hawaiian Natives, 922–923 Hmong Americans, 437 Indian Americans, 465, 512–513 Indonesian Americans, 541, 553, 566 Indonesian literature and, 545–546 Khmer, 219 Lao language, 735–736 Malaysian Americans, 760, 793, 798, 808 Mongolian Americans, 848 Nepali Americans, 852, 873–874 Okinawan Americans, 877 Pacific Islander Americans, 935–936, 939 Pakistani Americans, 956, 966 Punjabi Americans, 999 See also Speech and language Lantern ceremony dance, 1182–1183 Lantern Festival, 268 Lao Heritage Foundation (LHF), 729 Lao language, 735–736, 757 Lao Tse, 251, 318–319 Lao Tzu. See Lao Tse Lao Vision Magazine, 738 Laos, 414–415, 434–435, 713 Laotian American National Alliance, 729 Laotian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 717–719 arts and crafts, 719–720 clothing and jewelry, 721–722, 736–737
cultural identity, 735–736 dance, 730–732 death and funeral rituals, 725–727 families and communities, 727–729 festivals and celebrations, 729–730, 745–746 foods and cooking, 732–734 heroes and heroines, 734–735 history, people, and culture, 713–717 literature, 737–739, 744–745, 1233–1235 music, 720–721 names and naming practices, 742–743 oral tradition and, xxxvii proverbs and maxims, 746–747 religious beliefs, 723–724, 747–752 rites of passage, 752–754 rituals and ceremonies, 739–742 social etiquette, 754–755 speech and language, 757–758 traditional medicine, 755–756. See also Hmong Americans Larrick, Nancy, 15 Lassi (yogurt drink), 1014 Latino Americans, 102 Laughter of My Father, The (Bulosan), 385 Lavelle, Todd Tongdee, 1100 Law-Yone, Wendy, 155 Le Loi, 1190 Lee, Ang, 82–83, 248 Lee, Bobby, 24 Lee, Bruce, 81–82, 227, 248, 290–291 Lee, Chang Rae, 695 Lee, Chol Soo, 680–681 Lee, C. Y., 293 Lee, Helie, 682 Lee, K. W., 680 Lee, Lela, 33–34 Lee, Marie G., 665 Lee, Sammy, 656 Lee, Stacey, 61 Lee, Yong Baek, 662 Legal system, hate crimes and, 235–236 “Legend of the Pineapple, The” (Filipino folktale), 1224–1226 Legend of the Watermelon, The (Vietnamese folktale), 1186 Legend of White Snake (opera), 244–245 Legend Sondayo (Minahal), 40
I-27
I-28
Index Leis (garlands), 900, 905, 924, 925 Lemar Aftaab magazine, 118 Lemon Notebook (Remoncho) journal, 615–617 “Lenggang Kangkung” (Malaysian folk song), 769 Leong, Russell, 40 Leonowens, Anna, 1107 Lesbians, 36, 38 LGBT. See Queer folklore and folklife; Queer studies Lhamo, Yungchen, 1141 Li, Gladys, 51 Li, Jet, 248 Li shi (lucky money), 259 Liberation Day (Guam), 902 Library of Congress, American Folklife Center and, xxxvi Liem, Deann Borshay, 684 “Life Story of Orphan Toua, The” (Hmong folktale), 1228–1230 Lim, Shirley Geok-lin, 790, 794–795 Lin, Justin, 33 Lin, Maya Ying, 227, 291–292 Lion dances, 269–270 Literary criticism, 293, 302, 316, 366 Literature Afghan Americans, 115–116, 118–120 Burmese Americans, 145, 154–156 Cambodian Americans, 186–188, 204–205, 206–207 Chinese Americans, 256–257, 272–274, 281–282, 288–289, 292–294, 296–297, 302–303, 316–317 Filipino Americans, 344–345, 353–354, 366–367, 385–386, 392–394 Hmong Americans, 423–424, 440–442 Indian Americans, 484–487, 489–490, 492–494, 496–497, 499 Indonesian Americans, 545–548, 551–553 Japanese Americans, 581–583, 597–599, 610, 615–617, 617–618, 620, 627–628, 651–652 Korean Americans, 663–664, 664–666, 682, 685–686, 687, 694–696, 699–700 Laotian Americans, 737–739, 744–745 love and sexuality, 80
Malaysian Americans, 790, 793–795, 796–798 Mongolian Americans, 828–829 mother-daughter relationships in, 71–73 orientalism and, 74 Pacific Islander Americans, 925–927, 931–932, 934–935 Pakistani Americans, 980–982, 983–985 Punjabi Americans, 1007–1008, 1023–1024 queer folklore and folklife, 40 Sikhism and, 1015–1016, 1030 Sri Lankan Americans, 1066–1067 Thai Americans, 1086–1087, 1106–1109 Tibetan Americans, 1145–1146, 1147–1148 Vietnamese Americans, 1167, 1185–1187, 1199–1201 See also Children’s literature Little Buddha (film), 212 Little India, 490–492 Little Saigon, 18, 1161, 1198–1199, 1206, 1213 Liu Guo Da Feng Xiang (opera), 285–286 Living in Half Tones (film), 684 Lo Blia Yao, 434 Loh, Vyvyane, 794 Long, Zhou, 246 Long song (Mongolian), 836 Looking Like the Enemy (film), 613 Los Angeles riots, 658, 673, 693 Lotka paper, 855 Lotus flowers, 68–69 Louie, Edward, 276 Louisiana Filipino Americans, 387–389 Vietnamese Americans, 1193–1195 Love and sexuality, 79–84, 100–104 Love children, 93–94 Loving v. Virginia (1967), 93 Low, Evan, 283 Lowe, Pardee, 293 Loyalty questionnaire, 608, 626–627, 628 Lucky money, 259 Luddi dance, 971 Luk thung (Thai music), 1100 Lum, Peter, 665 Lumber industry, 1003–1004 Ly Te Xuyen, 1189–1190 Lyfoung, Touby, 434
Index M. Butterfly (Hwang), 52–53, 294–295 Ma, Sheng-mei, 289 Ma, Yo-Yo, 271, 282 Madal drums, 861 Mae Nak Phra Khanong (Thai folktale), 1107–1108 Maeda, Sentoku, 633 Magazines, 118, 119, 496, 615–617, 1094 Magellan, Ferdinand, 405, 406, 894–895 Magical tales, Mongolian Americans, 828, 829 Mahat, Prem Raja, 863 Mahayana Buddhism, 65–66, 69, 86, 750, 1072, 1150–1151 Mahidol, Prince, 1081 Mahjong, 284 Mahta, Gita, 485 Mai lu (buying the road), 260 Mako, 53 Malakas at Maganda creation story, 386–387 Malay people, 772–773, 778–779, 796 Malaysia, 759–760, 761–762, 771, 784–785 Malaysian Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 764–768 clothing and jewelry, 771–774 cultural identity, 792–793 dance, 783–786 death and funeral rituals, 774–778 families and communities, 778–781 festivals and celebrations, 781–782 foods and cooking, 787–789 heroes and heroines, 789–791 history, people, and culture, 759–764 home decoration, 791–792 literature, 793–795, 796–798 music, 768–771, 786–787 names and naming practices, 795–796 proverbs and maxims, 798–799 religious beliefs, 799–803 rites of passage, 804–806 speech and language, 808–809 superstitions and taboos, 806–807 Malaysian Independence Day, 781 Malaysian influences, Filipino Americans, 362, 371 Malaysian language, 808
“Malin Kundang” (Indonesian folktale), 1230–1231 Mam, Somaly, 200 Mamiya, Yoshio “Buddy,” 612 “Man that Chops Wood” (Thai folktale), 1087 Manalansan, Martin F., 43, 45 Manalo, Felix, 402 Mandalas, 1153–1154 Mandarin language, 324 Manicka, Rani, 794 Manila Village, Louisiana, 388 Manilamen, 387–389 Mano po (kissing of hands), 407 Manongs (union organizers), 368 Manyue (birth ritual), 309 Maori people, 893, 894 Mapa, Alec, 45 Maria Clara de los Santos, 365 Marriage Afghan Americans, 111–112 antimiscegenation laws, 92–93, 95–96, 100–101, 332, 390, 1010–1011 Chinese Americans, 310 Hmong Americans, 413–414, 416, 439, 449–450 Indian Americans, 498 Japanese Americans, 631–632 Laotian Americans, 728, 739–742 Nepali Americans, 866 out marriage and, 30 Pakistani Americans, 990, 992 Punjabi Americans, 1031–1032 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1049–1050, 1068–1069 Thai Americans, 1082 See also Interracial/interethnic marriage; Wedding ceremonies Marshall Islands, 897 Martial arts, 248–249, 290, 618–619, 689–690, 731, 885 Martyred, The (Kim), 695 Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church, 1193, 1194 Masculinity, 256–257, 364, 365 Masjid Al-Hikmah, 556 Mask dance, 675–676 Mass culture. See Popular culture
I-29
I-30
Index Mass media Cambodian Americans, 183 Chinese Americans, 225 Filipino Americans, 335 Japanese Americans, 603 Korean Americans, 681 Okinawan Americans, 879–880 Thai Americans, 1093–1094 Vietnamese Americans, 1198 youth culture and, 59 Massage therapy, 219, 408, 464, 512, 648–649 Material culture, 18–21, 21–23, 911–913. See also Arts and crafts; Home decoration Matrix films, 94 Matsunaga, Ernest Michio, 618 Matsunaga, Masayuki, 602 Max Havelaar (Multatuli), 546 McCarran-Walter Act (1952), 6 Meatless Days (Suleri), 981–982 Medical schools, 175, 1078, 1122 Medicine. See Health and wellness; Traditional medicine Meditation, 464, 565 Mehendi. See Henna Melanesia, 895, 936 Memorial Day, 352 Memorial services. See Death and funeral rituals Mental health, 10–14, 756, 995 Merit ceremonies Cambodian Americans, 212 Laotian Americans, 749 Malaysian Americans, 776 Thai Americans, 1083, 1085, 1091, 1097 Mermaid’s Muse, The (Bouchard), 272 Mestizaje (mixed race people), 389–390 Metal crafts, 523, 854–855, 961 Micronesia, 895 Mid-Autumn Festival, 1180–1181 Migrant workers. See Itinerant laborers Military servicemembers Amerasians and, 97–98; Daniel K. Inouye and, 605 Filipino Americans, 390 Japanese Americans, 602, 630–631 Pacific Islander Americans, 898 Punjabi Americans, 1001
Thai Americans, 1082 Tibetan Americans, 1144 Minahal, Maiana, 40 Minang people, 550 Minarets, mosques and, 494–495 Mineta, Norman, 63 Minh Tran and Company, 1183 Minjung nationalist movement (Korea), 667 Minyo music, 887, 888 Mirror of Eastern Medicine, The (Hur Jun), 709 Mirzoeff, Nicholas, 54 Misaka, Wataru, 602–603 Miss Saigon (Schonberg), 53 Mixed race Asian Americans Amerasians, 97–98 Filipino Americans, 389–390 hapa and, 98–100 interracial/interethnic marriage and, 100–104 Japanese Americans, 575 literature and, 294 origin tales, 91–97 Mochizuki, Ken, 582 Model minority stereotype Asian American humor and, 28 Chinese Americans, 287 Japanese Americans, 604 Korean Americans, 683 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 69–71 sexuality and, 37–38 suicide and, 12–13 youth culture and, 60–61 Modernization, Afghanistan and, 106–107 Mohanraj, Mary Ann, 1067 Mohori music, 197 Money, Chinese death rituals and, 259, 260 Mongolia, Tibet and, 846–847 Mongolian American Cultural Association (MACA), 822–823 Mongolian Americans children and youth, 816–818 clothing and jewelry, 818–820 cultural identity, 835–836 dance, 825–826 death and funeral rituals, 820–822 families and communities, 822–823
Index festivals and celebrations, 823–824 foods and cooking, 829–831 heroes and heroines, 831–833 history, people, and culture, 811–816 home decoration, 833–834 literature, 828–829 music, 826–827, 836–837 names and naming practices, 837–838 proverbs and maxims, 839–840 religious beliefs, 840–842 rites of passage, 842–844 social etiquette, 844–845 speech and language, 848–849 superstitions and taboos, 845–846 traditional medicine, 846–848 Mongolian School of the National Capital Area (MSNCA), 818, 835 Monkey Bridge (Cao), 8–9, 72, 1199–1201 Monkey King, 296–297, 298–299, 598 Monks, Buddhist, 749, 751. See also Buddhism Monlan Chenmo festival, 1137 Moon, Dawn Xiana, 271 Mori, Toshio, 602, 620 Mormon Church, 896–897, 943 Mosel, Arlene, 272 Mosques, 494–495, 556, 987, 1068. See also Churches; Temples and worship spaces Mother-daughter relationships, 8–9, 71–73, 316, 1201 Motherland tours. See Root quests Mount Popa, 157, 160 Moxibustion, 648 Mukerji, Dhan Gopal, 484 Mukherjee, Bharati, 485, 492–494 Mulan. See Fa Mu Lan (Mulan) Multatuli, 546 Multiculturalism, Afghan Americans, 112–113 Muong language, 1217 Muradi, Sahar, 119 Muralitharan, Muttiah, 1064 Murayama, Milton, 618 Museums, 18, 611–613, 939, 1163–1164 Music Burmese Americans, 144 Cambodian Americans, 183, 189–190, 196–197, 202
Chinese Americans, 233–234, 241–246, 270–271 death and funeral rituals, 259 Filipino Americans, 338, 345–346, 359–361, 361–362 “Got Rice?” slogan, 67 Guam and, 902 Hmong Americans, 430–432, 437–438 Indian Americans, 465–466, 474–475 Indonesian Americans, 524–526 Japanese Americans, 582–583, 596–597, 610, 640–641, 644–646 Korean Americans, 677–678, 696–698 Laotian Americans, 720–721 Malaysian Americans, 768–771, 786–787, 790 Mongolian Americans, 826–827, 836–837 Nepali Americans, 862–863 Okinawan Americans, 880–881, 882–883, 886–890 Pacific Islander Americans, 903–904, 914–915, 927–928 Pakistani Americans, 963–964, 972–973, 976 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 1–5 Punjabi Americans, 1015–1016 racial discrimination and, 8 Sikhism and, 1030 Thai Americans, 1090, 1098, 1099–1101, 1104, 1116–1120 Tibetan Americans, 1130–1131, 1139, 1140–1141, 1143 Vietnamese Americans, 1168–1169, 1184–1185 Musical instruments Cambodian Americans, 190, 197 Chinese Americans, 271 Hmong Americans, 430, 438 Indian Americans, 475 Indonesian Americans, 524–525, 535 Korean Americans, 677, 696 Laotian Americans, 731 Mongolian Americans, 827, 828, 837 Nepali Americans, 862, 863 Okinawan Americans, 879, 886, 887
I-31
I-32
Index Musical instruments (continued) Pacific Islander Americans, 901, 914, 927–928 Pakistani Americans, 972 Thai Americans, 1098, 1119 Tibetan Americans, 1129, 1139 Myanmar, 131–132. See also Burmese Americans Myths and legends Burmese Americans, 149, 156–158 Chinese Americans, 282, 297–299 Filipino Americans, 353–354, 386–387 Hmong Americans, 440–441 Indian Americans, 495–497 Indian literature and, 489 Korean Americans, 663, 709 Mongolian Americans, 828 Pacific Islander Americans, 928–929, 934–935 Vietnamese Americans, 1185, 1189, 1213–1214 Na, An, 665 Naadam (Mongolian sports festival), 814, 818, 824 Nai Htaw Paing Ensemble, 144 Naidan, Tuvshinbayar, 833 Nakano, Mia, 35, 38 Nakashima, George, 578 Nakasone, Harry Seisho, 882 Nakazawa, Keiji, 17, 617 Names and naming practices Burmese Americans, 129, 158–159, 166 Cambodian Americans, 205–206 Chinese Americans, 299–300 Filipino Americans, 333, 391–392 Hmong Americans, 439–440 Indian Americans, 497–498 Indonesian Americans, 548–551 Japanese Americans, 621–622 Korean Americans, 698–699 Laotian Americans, 742–743 Malaysian Americans, 795–796 Mongolian Americans, 816, 837–838 Pacific Islander Americans, 932–933 Pakistani Americans, 982–983, 989 Punjabi Americans, 1024–1026, 1032
Sri Lankan Americans, 1069–1071 Thai Americans, 1105–1106 Tibetan Americans, 1146–1147 Vietnamese Americans, 1201–1202 Naming, power of, 98–99 Naqvi, Maniza, 981 Narcissus Festival and Queen Pageant (Honolulu), 300–301 Narrative folklore Filipino Americans, 392–394 Hmong Americans, 453–455 Korean Americans, 699–700 Laotian Americans, 744–745 Malaysian Americans, 796–798 Pacific Islander Americans, 934–935 Pakistani Americans, 983–985 Thai Americans, 1106–1109 Tibetan Americans, 1147–1148 Vietnamese Americans, 1185–1187 Naser-al-din, Molla, 115 Natalise, 144 National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, 132 National Heroes, Indonesia, 539 National Pinoy Archives (NPA), 358–359 Nationalism Afghan Americans, 116 Indian nationalism, 1005, 1024 Punjabi Americans, 1021–1022 Vietnam and, 1218 Native Hawaiians. See Hawaiian Natives Nature and animals Burmese Americans, 160–162 Hawaiian Natives, 924–925 Hmong Americans, 442–443 Indian Americans, 500–501 Japanese Americans, 593–594, 622–624 Mongolian Americans, 846 Pacific Islander Americans, 924–925 Navalar, Arumuka, 1064 Nazism, swastikas and, 87–88 Nepal, government of, 868 Nepali Americans arts and crafts, 854–855 clothing and jewelry, 855–857 cultural identity, 865–866 dance, 861–862
Index death and funeral rituals, 857–858 families and communities, 858–859 festivals and celebrations, 860–861 foods and cooking, 864–865 history, people, and culture, 851–854 music, 862–863 proverbs and maxims, 866–868 religious beliefs, 868–869 rites of passage, 869–870 social etiquette and customs, 870–872 speech and language, 873–875 traditional medicine, 872–873 Nepali language, 874 New Age religions, 898 New Caledonia, 895, 897 New Tide, The (magazine), 344 New World Theatre, 52 New Year celebrations Burmese Americans, 140 Cambodian Americans, 183–184, 196 Chinese Americans, 230, 247, 267, 269, 284, 300–301, 312–313 Hmong Americans, 418, 429, 454 Japanese Americans, 591, 593 Korean Americans, 674, 675, 678–679 Laotian Americans, 716–717, 730, 745–746 Malaysian Americans, 767, 789, 791–792, 807 Mongolian Americans, 818, 823–824 Nepali Americans, 860 Okinawan Americans, 883 Pacific Islander Americans, 909 Sri Lankan Americans, 1058 Taiwanese Americans, 316 Thai Americans, 1097 Tibetan Americans, 1137–1138, 1155 Vietnamese Americans, 1180, 1211–1213 Newah people, 860, 862–863 Newspapers, Thai Americans and, 1093–1094 Ng, FaeMynne, 294 Ng, Irene, 790 Ngor, Haing S., 200 Nguyen, Dat, 1202 Nguyen, The-Vien, 1193 Nguyen Ngoc Ngan, 1167 Nicknames Japanese Americans, 621
Laotian Americans, 743 Mongolian Americans, 838 Pakistani Americans, 983 Thai Americans, 1105, 1106 Tibetan Americans, 1146 Vietnamese Americans, 1201 Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan), 593 Nipa huts, 369 Nisei generation, 78. See also Second and subsequent generations Nisei Week Festival, 79 Nitz, Michael, 235, 283 “No Tigers in Borneo” (Indonesian folktale), 1231–1232 Noguchi, Isamu, 578, 602, 624–625 “Nolbu and Heungbu, the Two Brothers” (Korean folktale), 700 Noli Me Tangere (Rizal), 354, 365 Nomadic lifestyle, Mongolia and, 815 No-No Boy (Okada), 628 No-No boys, 585, 626–627, 631 Non Resident Nepalese Association (NRNA), 853 Nonverbal communication, Japanese Americans, 649, 650 Nonya (Indonesian cuisine), 558 Norbu, Thupten Jigme, 1136 Normativity, queer studies and, 42, 43 Norris, Faith, 665 North American Guqin Association, 271 Northern Marianas Islands, 896, 897 Novel of Justice, The (Gonzalez), 366 NRN National Coordination Council of the USA, 853 “Nu Wa Makes People and Mends a Hole in the Sky” (Chinese legend), 298 Nuchigusui (Okinawan foodways), 884–885 Nuo dances, 270 Nursery rhymes, 465, 769, 770 Obama, Barack, 226, 482, 682, 958, 976 Obon festival, 576, 596, 638 Odiyan Buddhist Center, 1150 Offerings Chinese Americans, 306 Indonesian Americans, 522, 562–563 Laotian Americans, 755
I-33
I-34
Index Offerings (continued) Mongolian Americans, 834 Sri Lankan Americans, 1072–1073 Thai Americans, 1085 Tibetan Americans, 1142 Vietnamese Americans, 1176–1177 Ogata, Paul, 26 Oh, Sandra, 29–30 “Oh Duang Champa” (Laotian song), 720–721 Ohno, Apolo Anton, 603 Okada, John, 602, 627–628 Okamoto, Kiyoshi, 586 Okinawa, 97–98, 588, 619 Okinawan Americans arts and, 880–883 dance, 881–882 festivals and celebrations, 883–884 foods and cooking, 884–885 history, people, and culture, 877–880 martial arts, 885 music, 882–883, 886–890 religious beliefs, 890–892 speech and language, 892 Okinawan Association of America, 883 Okinawan Festival, 883 Okinawan Peace Network, 879 Okubo, Mine, 611 Omura, James, 586 Ondaatje, Michael, 1067 Ondar (Mongolian singer), 827 One Tribe (Galang), 386 Onon, Urgunge, 811 Ooh-Si (Burmese dance), 142 Opera and opera theaters, 241–246, 285–286 Oral tradition Cambodian Americans, 206 Filipino Americans, 345, 393 folklore and, xxxvi Hmong Americans, 423, 440–442 Laos and, xxxvii Laotian Americans, 744 Malaysian Americans, 794 Mongolian Americans, 828 Pacific Islander Americans, 934. See also Urban legends Ordination, Thai Americans and, 1111, 1114 Oriental Exclusion Act (1924), 614, 632
Orientalism, 73–74, 294–295 Orientalism (Said), 73, 278 Origami, 628–629 Origin of the Vietnamese People, The (Vietnamese folktale), 1186 Origin tales Chinese Americans, 272, 273 Filipino Americans, 342–343, 386–387, 392–393 Hawaiian Natives, 923 Indonesian Americans, 552 Korean Americans, 663 Laotian Americans, 738 mixed race Asian Americans, 91–97 oral tradition and, xxxvii Pacific Islander Americans, 893–894, 920, 921–922, 934 the Philippines and, 364–365 Tibetan Americans, 1147 Vietnamese Americans, 1186, 1189 Orzolek, Karen Lee “Karen O,” 677–678 Otherness, 23–24, 27–28, 73–74, 383 Out marriage, 30 Outmigration, to India, 461 Ovoo (ritual cairn), 841 Pa yao (Laotian clothing), 722 Pacific Imperial pigeons, 936 Pacific Islander Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 899–900 animals, 936 arts and crafts, 900–901 Asian American dating and, 103 clothing and jewelry, 904–906 cultural and community organizations, 937 cultural identity, 930–931 dance, 913–914 death and funeral rituals, 906–907 families and communities, 907–908 festivals and celebrations, 908–910 Fiji and Fijians, 910–911 foods and cooking, 916–917 Guam, 911–913, 917–922 Hawaii and Hawaiian, 922–928, 939–940 heroes and heroines, 928–930 history, people, and culture, 893–899
Index literature, 925–927, 931–932, 934–935, 1235–1236 model minority stereotype and, 71 music, 903–904, 914–915 names and naming practices, 932–933 Polynesians, 938–939 religious beliefs, 940–944 rites of passage, 944–946 Samoa and Samoans, 946–948 speech and language, 935–936 surf and surfing, 948–950 Tahiti and Tahitian, 950–951 traditional medicine, 952–953 World War II, 902–903 Pacific Islander Festival Association, 909 Page Act (1875), 6 Paik, Mary, 695 Pakiksama (hospitality), 395–396, 407 Pakistani Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 960–961 arts and crafts, 961–963 clothing and jewelry, 964–965 cultural identity, 978–980 dance, 971–972 death and funeral rituals, 966–967 families and communities, 967–968 festivals and celebrations, 968–970 foods and cooking, 973–975 heroes and heroines, 975–977 history, people, and culture, 955–960 home decoration, 977–978 literature, 980–982, 983–985 music, 963–964, 972–973 names and naming practices, 982–983 proverbs and maxims, 985–986 religious beliefs, 986–989 rites of passage, 989–991 social etiquette and customs, 991–992 speech and language, 996–997 superstitions and taboos, 992–994 traditional medicine, 994–995 See also Punjabi Americans Pakistani Independence Day, 969, 970 Palau, 897, 933 Palikat, Nicolette Louisa, 786–787 Pan, Christine, 38 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife
Asian Pacific Heritage Month, 63–64 assimilation and, 88–89 Avalokitesvara and, 64–66 children’s literature and, 14–18 families and, 5–10 “Got Rice?” slogan, 66–68 grocery stores and, 21–23 humor and comedy, 23–29 lotus flowers and, 68–69 love and sexuality, 79–84 material culture and, 18–21 model minority stereotype and, 69–71 mother-daughter relationships, 71–73 music and, 1–5 orientalism and, 73–74 popular culture and, 29–34 queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 queer studies and, 41–46 reincarnation and, 74–76 religious studies and, 46–51 root quests and, 76–77 second and subsequent generations, 77–79 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), 84–86 suicide and, 10–14 swastikas, 86–88 theater and, 51–54 visual culture and, 54–58 youth culture and, 59–62 Pan Asian Theater Company, 53 Pandita, Sakya, 1145 “Panties for Peace” protest, 171 Paper crafts, 720, 855 Paper sons and daughters, 76–77, 224, 303–304 Papua New Guinea, 895 Parents and parenting, 162, 193–194, 253, 709, 1111. See also Children and youth; Families and communities Park, Lena, 677 Park, Linda Sue, 665 Parody, 66–68, 499 Parol (Christmas lanterns), 356 Parrots, 161–162 Parsiism. See Zoroastrianism Pasalong (Laotian clothing), 722 Pashto language, 113 Paternalism, 80 Patriotism, 7
I-35
I-36
Index Pearl Harbor, attack on, 630–631 Pei, I. M., 227 Pele legends, 929 Pengajian (Islamic groups), 556 Penn, Kal, 29–30 Performance arts. See Dance; Theater Personal narratives, 441 Personality traits, Chinese zodiac and, 250–251 Perveen, Abida, 963 Peters, Russell, 25, 32 Phan Boi Chau, 1218 Phi Nhung, 1184–1185 Philippine Independence Day, 355 Philippines, 49, 95, 911–913. See also Filipino Americans Philippines Is in the Heart, The (Bulosan), 385 Philosophy, 48, 253–254, 318–319, 329–330 Phung Thi Chinh, 1214 Picture brides, 569–570, 631–632, 656 Pigeons, 936 Pidgin, 935–936 Pii May Lao (Laotian New Year), 745–746 Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN), 396–398 “Pinoy and Pinay,” 398–399 Playwrights, 51–52 Poetry, 431–432, 547, 616–617, 1169 Poke´mon, 634–636 Pol Pot, 202, 204 Political autonomy, ideal of, 436–437 Political involvement Asian American humor and, 26–27 children’s literature and, 15–17, 115–116 Chinese Americans, 226, 282–283 Filipino Americans, 342, 344–345, 399 “Got Rice?” slogan, 66–68 Japanese Americans, 572–573, 605–606 Korean Americans, 668–669 Malaysian Americans, 761 Pakistani Americans, 958 Pan Asian American label, 30 queer folklore and folklife, 46 Vietnamese Americans, 1199, 1215–1216 Polynesian Cultural Center, 909, 913, 914, 937 Polynesians, 894, 895, 906, 929, 938–939 Pong Choolie, You Rascal! (Crockett), 665 Popular culture
Cambodian Americans, 183 Chinese Americans, 225, 290 Filipino Americans, 340 humor and comedy, 23–29 model minority stereotype and, 69–71 Mongolian Americans, 825–826, 835 Pacific Islander Americans, 903–904 Pakistani Americans, 984 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 29–34 Punjabi Americans, 1042 religious beliefs and, 50 Sri Lankan Americans, 1064 surf and surfing, 949 Vietnamese Americans, 1167, 1183, 1188 youth culture and, 59 Popular music Cambodian Americans, 190, 197 Chinese Americans, 271 Filipino Americans, 361 Hmong Americans, 430, 431, 438 Indian Americans, 475 Japanese Americans, 597 Korean Americans, 677–678, 697 Malaysian Americans, 786–787, 790 Mongolian Americans, 827, 837 Okinawan Americans, 882, 889 Pacific Islander Americans, 915 Pakistani Americans, 963, 964, 971, 972–973 Thai Americans, 1100 Tibetan Americans, 1131, 1141 Vietnamese Americans, 1184–1185 Population. See Demographics Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 201 Postwar period, Japanese Americans and, 573–574, 608–609, 614–615 Pottery and ceramics, 719, 961–962, 1086 Poverty. See Socioeconomic status Power structures, model minority stereotype and, 12–13 PraCh Ly, 8, 202 Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 546 Pran, Dith, 200 Prayer, 122, 350–351, 495, 842, 966 “Princess Bari, the Abandoned Daughter” (Korean folktale), 700
Index “Princess of the Night Rides” (Holt), 926 Professional organizations, Chinese Americans, 227 Pronatalism, 688 Proposal ceremony, 843 Prostitution, 82, 668–669 Protestantism Burmese Americans, 139–140 Filipino Americans, 351, 356–357, 401–402 Indonesian Americans, 554–555 Korean Americans, 49, 669, 670, 690–693 Laotian Americans, 747–748, 749 Malaysian Americans, 801 Pacific Islander Americans, 942, 943 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051–1052 Proverbs and maxims Burmese Americans, 162–163 Cambodian Americans, 207–209 Chinese Americans, 304–305 Filipino Americans, 399–401 Hmong Americans, 441, 443–444 Indian Americans, 501–503 Indonesian Americans, 532, 553–554 Japanese Americans, 586, 636–637 Korean Americans, 700–701 Laotian Americans, 725, 729, 746–747 Malaysian Americans, 798–799 Mongolian Americans, 839–840 Nepali Americans, 866–868 Pakistani Americans, 985–986 Punjabi Americans, 1026–1028 Sri Lankan Americans, 1076–1077 Tibetan Americans, 1148–1149 Vietnamese Americans, 1202–1203 See also Speech and language Proxy weddings, 742 Pujas (shrines), 479–480, 483 Puku’i, Mary Kawena, 929, 930, 939–940 Pungmul dance, 676 Punjabi Americans arts and crafts, 1005–1006 cultural identity, 1021–1022 death and funeral rituals, 1008–1010 families and communities, 1010–1012 festivals and celebrations, 1012–1014 foods and cooking, 1014–1015 heroes and heroines, 1018–1020
history, people, and culture, 999–1005 home decoration, 1005–1006, 1020–1021 literature, 1007–1008, 1023–1024 names and naming practices, 1024–1026 proverbs and maxims, 1026–1028 religious beliefs, 1015–1016, 1028–1030, 1033–1039 religious buildings and worship spaces, 1017–1018 rites of passage, 1030–1033 speech and language, 1041–1042 traditional medicine, 1036–1041 See also Indian Americans; Pakistani Americans Punjabi language, 999, 1000, 1029–1030 Puppet theatre, 143, 197, 522, 523–524, 534, 544–545 Qawwali music, 963, 972 Qazi, Javaid, 981 Qigong (healing), 324 Qing Ming, 238, 261, 305–306, 776 Qipao (Chinese dress), 251–252 Queen’s Birthday (Thailand), 1097 Queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 Queer Pin@y Conference (QPC), 45–46 Queer studies, 41–46, 83 Quilting, 456–457 Race riots, 658, 673, 693, 1004 Racial discrimination Asian American humor and, 28 children’s literature and, 15 Chinese Americans, 226–227, 287, 291–292 ethnic identity and, 6 Filipino Americans, 334, 398–399 Indian Americans, 461 Japanese Americans, 571, 574, 584, 613 Laotian Americans, 715–716 love and sexuality, 81, 83 in Malaysia, 759–760, 762, 803 Malaysian Americans, 762 orientalism and, 73–74 Pakistani Americans, 958 popular culture and, 30
I-37
I-38
Index Racial discrimination (continued) Punjabi Americans, 1001–1002, 1003–1004, 1010–1011 second and subsequent generations, 7–8 sexuality and, 39–40 Sikhism and, 1018, 1039 Racial hierarchies, interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 Racial purity, myth of, 91–92 Racial slurs, 88–89 Racism, mixed race Asian Americans and, 94 Rajapakse, Mahinda, 1063 Ram Das, Guru, 1035 Rama VI, King, 1105 Ramadan, 122, 969 Ramanathan, Ponnambalam, 1063 Rao, Raja, 484 Rap and hip-hop music Filipino Americans, 360, 361 Japanese Americans, 640–641 Korean Americans, 677, 697 Pacific Islander Americans, 915 Pakistani Americans, 972, 973 Rapanui, 897 “Rasa Sayang” (Malaysian folk song), 769 Ray, Aishwarya, 1064 Redress movement, Japanese Americans, 574–575, 609, 633 Refugee groups Afghan Americans, 108 Cambodian Americans, 179, 180–181, 201–202, 203–204 folklore and, xxxix Hmong Americans, 415, 427–428 immigration and, 7 Indonesian Americans, 518 Laotian Americans, 714, 719, 747 Punjabi Americans, 1002 Sri Lankan Americans, 1046, 1055–1056 Tibetan Americans, 1127, 1136, 1149 Vietnamese Americans, 1159, 1160, 1161, 1162, 1163, 1166–1168, 1178–1179, 1195–1196 Reincarnation Burmese Americans, 133 Cambodian Americans, 191–192
Dalai Lama and, 1133 Laotian Americans, 717–718 Mongolian Americans, 820 Nepali Americans, 857 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 74–76 Tibetan Americans, 1152 Religious beliefs Afghan Americans, 120–123, 125 Avalokitesvara and, 64–66 Burmese Americans, 55–56, 57, 58, 133, 135–137, 156–158, 163–166 Cambodian Americans, 209–212 Chinese Americans, 224–225, 228–229, 253–257, 307–308 Filipino Americans, 334, 355, 356–358, 370, 372–373, 401–403 health and wellness, 13 Hmong Americans, 414, 416–417, 417–418, 432, 445–448, 450–451 Indian Americans, 459–460, 469–470, 473–474, 476, 479–482, 487–488, 501–502, 503–505, 509 Indonesian Americans, 520–522, 528–530, 541, 542, 554–557 Japanese Americans, 583–585, 594, 637–638 Korean Americans, 669–671, 690–693, 701–704 Laotian Americans, 716, 723–724, 747–752 lotus flowers and, 68–69 Malaysian Americans, 760–761, 764–765, 799–803 Mongolian Americans, 815, 820, 823, 835–836, 840–842 Nepali Americans, 852, 854, 860, 865, 868–869 Okinawan Americans, 890–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 899, 919–922, 940–944 Pakistani Americans, 956, 957, 986–989 Punjabi Americans, 999, 1000, 1015–1016, 1022, 1028–1030, 1033–1039 reincarnation and, 74–76 religious architecture and, 20 religious studies and, 46–51
Index sexuality and, 35, 36–37 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), 84–86 Sri Lankan Americans, 1051–1052, 1068–1069, 1071–1074 suicide and, 11 Thai Americans, 1091–1092, 1109–1112 Tibetan Americans, 1133–1134, 1149–1153, 1153–1154 Vietnamese Americans, 1171–1174, 1196–1198, 1204–1206 See also Folk religions; Temples and worship spaces Religious buildings and worship spaces, 479–482, 487–488, 494–495, 868, 1017–1018. See also Churches; Mosques; Temples and worship spaces Religious studies, Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 46–51 Religious tolerance, 47 Reluctant Fundamentalist, The (Hamid), 982 Remittances Chinese Americans, 226 Filipino Americans, 339–340 Indonesian Americans, 520 Mongolian Americans, 822 Pacific Islander Americans, 898 Pakistani Americans, 957 Punjabi Americans, 1000 Thai Americans, 1111 Viet Kieu experience, 1219–1220 Reparations, Guam and, 902–903 Repatriations, 202, 218–219, 958 Restaurants Cambodian Americans, 198–199 Chinese Americans, 275–277 Filipino Americans, 363 Indian Americans, 463, 490 Indonesian Americans, 537–538, 557–560, 564 Japanese Americans, 600 Korean Americans, 679 Laotian Americans, 733 Malaysian Americans, 788 Nepali Americans, 852, 864 Okinawan Americans, 885 Pakistani Americans, 975 Punjabi Americans, 999–1000, 1015
Thai Americans, 1083, 1084 Vietnamese Americans, 1187–1188 Return of the Dragon (film), 290 Reverse racism, 82 Reyes, Isabelo de los, 402 Reyes, Severino, 394 Rice-feeding ceremonies, 869 Richmond, W. Edson, xxxv–xxxvi Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (TV show), 45 Rigg, Kate, 26–27 Rites of passage Afghan Americans, 123–126 Burmese Americans, 57, 136, 166–167 Cambodian Americans, 213–214 Chinese Americans, 309–310 Filipino Americans, 348–349, 403–405 Hmong Americans, 440, 448–450 Indian Americans, 505–507 Indonesian Americans, 560–562 Japanese Americans, 638, 639–640 Korean Americans, 704–706 Laotian Americans, 752–754 Malaysian Americans, 804–806 Mongolian Americans, 816–817, 842–844 Nepali Americans, 868, 869–870 Pacific Islander Americans, 944–946 Pakistani Americans, 989–991 Punjabi Americans, 1030–1033 Sri Lankan Americans, 1074–1076 Thai Americans, 1113–1114 Vietnamese Americans, 1206–1208 See also Death and funeral rituals Rituals and ceremonies Burmese Americans, 166–167, 168, 170–171, 172–173 Cambodian Americans, 191–193, 211, 212 Chinese Americans, 229, 238, 266–267, 305–306 Filipino Americans, 350–352, 373–374, 374–376 Indian Americans, 510–511 Indonesian Americans, 521, 522 Japanese Americans, 579–580 Laotian Americans, 739–742, 750–751 Mongolian Americans, 831, 842 Sikhism and, 1038
I-39
I-40
Index Rituals and ceremonies (continued) Sri Lankan Americans, 1074 Thai Americans, 1091 Tibetan Americans, 1152 Vietnamese Americans, 1180, 1209–1210 See also Rites of passage Rizal, Jose, 365, 394 Roberts, Warren, xxxvi Rohmer, Sax, 277 Romance of Three Kingdoms, The, xxxviii–xxxix, 279, 589 Romantic love, 79–80, 984 Roofs and supports, Chinese American architecture and, 326 Root quests, 76–77, 409–410, 685–686, 1022 Ros, Saphan, 187 Rosaries, 350–351, 921 Rosca, Ninotchka, 368–369 Rumi, 986 Russian Mongolians, 812, 813 Ryoan-ji Zen garden, 653 Ryu Gwan-soon, 681 Ryukyu Kingdom, 877 Sacrificial rituals, 375, 378, 426, 442, 983 Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (Coerr), 629 Saed, Aohra, 119 Sai Baba festival, 1058–1059 Said, Edward W., 73, 278 Sa-I-Gu, 658, 693 Saints, feast days of, 336 Saka Dawa festival, 1137 Sakai, Kimiko, 582 Sakya’s Eloquent Advice (Pandita), 1145 Salwar kameez, 466, 964–965, 1053 Samarasan, Preeta, 790 Samoa and Samoans, 893–894, 899, 915, 946–948 Sampot (sarong), 188 San Francisco earthquake, 303 Sand mandalas, 1153–1154 Sansei generation, 7–8, 78 Sanshin (musical instrument), 886, 887, 888 Sanskrit language, 1070, 1071 Santa Marian Kamalin statue, 911, 913, 920
Santo Nin˜o Festival, 405–406 Sargent, Inge, 155 Saris, 466, 1052 Sasaki, Sadako, 629 Satdjadham project, 738 Satire, 142, 143 “Saving face,” 1041–1042 Say, Allen, 17, 582 Schonberg, Claude Michel, 53 Sculpture, 611, 624, 625, 628–629, 854 Seashore Story (Yashima), 598 Season of Grace, A (Gonzalez), 366 Second and subsequent generations Afghan Americans, 109 Burmese Americans, 167–168 Cambodian Americans, 220–221 Chinese Americans, 225, 245, 286, 294, 307–308 Japanese Americans, 570, 571, 623, 642–643, 650 Korean Americans, 691, 692, 698, 706 Laotian Americans, 724, 744 Malaysian Americans, 798, 799, 806 Mongolian Americans, 811, 814–815, 835 Nepali Americans, 859, 874 Okinawan Americans, 888–889 Pacific Islander Americans, 908, 931 Pakistani Americans, 957, 958, 979, 988 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife, 7–8, 8–9, 77–79 Punjabi Americans, 1011 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053–1054, 1066, 1076 Thai Americans, 1083–1084, 1095 Tibetan Americans, 1145 Vietnamese Americans, 1179, 1188, 1196, 1218 youth culture and, 61 Secret History of the Mongols, The, 828 Seeds from a Silent Tree: An Anthology by Korean Adoptees, 685 Segregation, mixed race Asian Americans and, 95–96 Sejong, King, 681 Self-deprecation, 24, 28 Selvadurai, Shyam, 1067 Senanayake, Don Stephen, 1063
Index Senge, Lobsang, 1143 Seo, Dae, 662 Sep Noi music, 431 Sep Nyai music, 431 September 11 terror attacks Afghan Americans, 117–118 Burmese Americans, 151 Filipino Americans, 334 Japanese Americans, 609, 613 Pakistani Americans, 958, 980, 988 Punjabi Americans, 1011 Sepyan (curry), 147 Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories (Yamamoto), 651 Sex trafficking, 200 Sexuality Asian fetish and, 26–27 Chinese American literature and, 256–257 folklore and, xxxvii Hinduism and, 1031 interracial/interethnic marriage, 102–103 Pakistani Americans, 993 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife, 79–84 popular culture and, 32–33 queer folklore and folklife, 35–41 queer studies and, 41–46 Sri Lankan Americans, 1067 Shadow music, 1100 Shah, Idries, 115 Shalsa, Sat Bir, 1040 Shamanism, 414, 445–446, 446–448, 450–451, 704 Shapiro, Sophiline Cheam, 190, 200 Sharma, Akhil, 486 Shea, Peggy Deitz, 422 Sheik, Shaheen, 475 Sherpa people, 860 Shiatsu massage, 648–649 “Shimchong, the Blind Man’s Daughter” (Korean folktale), 700 Shin-byu (rite of passage), 57, 136, 166–167, 172–173 Shinoda, Michael Kenji “Mike,” 5, 8, 610–611, 640–641 Shintoism, 583, 584, 622, 637, 638 Shiren, Kokan, 652
Shoes, removing, 707, 871, 1115, 1209 Shopping and materialism, 18–21, 21–23 Shurangama Sutra, 64–65 Shwe Hlaing Dwa, 165 Siamese twins, 1081 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). See Buddha; Buddhism Sidhwa, Bapsi, 981 Sikhism children’s literature and, 1007 death and funeral rituals, 1009 festivals and celebrations, 1013 Indian Americans, 470, 476, 503, 504 literature and, 1023–1024 Malaysian Americans, 761 names and naming practices, 1024–1025 Punjabi Americans, 1000, 1010, 1011, 1015–1016, 1022, 1029–1030, 1033–1039 rites of passage, 1032–1033 temples and worship spaces, 1028 Silang, Gabriela, 365 Silk Road, Pakistani folktales and, 984 Singaporean Americans, 763–764 Singh, Baba Deep, 1019 Singh, Bhagat, 1024 Singh, Bhai Mani, 1007, 1019 Singh, Gobind, 1007, 1019, 1024, 1035, 1037 Singh, Jawala, 1004–1005 Singh, Ranjit, 1007 Singh, Udham, 1024 Single Shard, A (Park), 665 Sinh (Laotian skirt), 721–722 Sinhalese people, 1045, 1050–1051, 1063, 1068, 1071 Sirena legend, 929 Skin color, Asian American dating and, 103 Sky burials, 471, 1135, 1152–1153 Slack-key guitars, 901, 927, 928 Slametan (Indonesian death ritual), 530 Slang, 177, 566, 618, 849 Snapshots: This Afghan American Life, 119 Social etiquette and customs Afghan Americans, 109, 111, 123 Burmese Americans, 167–168, 169–170 Cambodian Americans, 207–209, 214–215 Chinese Americans, 254, 311–313 Filipino Americans, 395–396, 406–408, 410
I-41
I-42
Index Social etiquette and customs (continued) Hmong Americans, 452–453 Indian Americans, 508–509 Indonesian Americans, 562–563 Japanese Americans, 579–580, 641–643 Korean Americans, 706–707 Laotian Americans, 754–755, 758 Malaysian Americans, 809 Mongolian Americans, 844–845 Nepali Americans, 870–872 Pacific Islander Americans, 915 Pakistani Americans, 991–992 Punjabi Americans, 1026–1027, 1041–1042 Sikhism, 1017–1018 Sri Lankan Americans, 1047, 1076 Thai Americans, 1114–1116 Tibetan Americans, 1154–1156 Vietnamese Americans, 1208–1209 Social relationships, bowing and, xxxvii–xxxviii Social status Cambodian Americans, 214–215 Filipino Americans, 390 Indonesian Americans, 548–549 Japanese Americans, 641 marriage and, 100 mixed race Asian Americans, 95 Nepali Americans, 859 Pacific Islander Americans, 949 Sri Lankan Americans, 1070 visual culture and, 58 Social stigma, suicide and, 11 Social technologies, 30–31, 50 Social welfare activities, 49–50, 150, 307–308, 460–461 Socializing, 22–23, 460, 725, 823–824 Society Islands. See Tahiti and Tahitian Socioeconomic status Cambodian Americans, 181–182, 194–195 Chinese Americans, 225–226 Filipino Americans, 334 Hmong Americans, 436 Indian Americans, 461, 466, 488, 490 Malaysian Americans, 761 Pacific Islander Americans, 898, 951 Pakistani Americans, 957 Sri Lankan Americans, 1056–1057
Vietnamese Americans, 1161–1162, 1163, 1196 Sodhi, Balbir Singh, 1039 Soka Gakkai International (SGI), 637–638 Solomon Islands, 933 Song, Cathy, 695 Soul-calling, 447 South Asian Americans, 87, 96, 103. See also Indian Americans; Pakistani Americans South Asian culture, 113 Soviet Union, Afghanistan and, 107 Spagnoli, Cathy, 186–187, 205 Spanish influences, Filipino Americans, 333, 362–363, 389–390, 391 Speech and language Burmese Americans, 176–177 Cambodian Americans, 207–209, 219–221 Chinese Americans, 233–234, 246–247, 324–325 Hmong Americans, 457–458 Indian Americans, 512–513 Indonesian Americans, 566–567 Japanese Americans, 642, 649–651 Korean Americans, 710–711 Laotian Americans, 757–758 Malaysian Americans, 808–809 Mongolian Americans, 848–849 Nepali Americans, 873–875 Okinawan Americans, 892 Pacific Islander Americans, 935–936 Pakistani Americans, 996–997 Punjabi Americans, 1022, 1041–1042 Thai Americans, 1122–1125 Tibetan Americans, 1157–1158 Vietnamese Americans, 1215–1218 See also Proverbs and maxims Spices Burmese American foods and, 147 Cambodian American foods and, 198 Filipino American foods and, 378 Hmong Americans, 433, 434 Indonesian Americans, 559–560 Nepali Americans, 864 Pakistani Americans, 974 Punjabi Americans, 1014 Sri Lankan Americans, 1062
Index Spirits Burmese Americans, 133–134, 141–142, 152, 156, 157–158, 169 Cambodian Americans, 210–211 Chinese Americans, 260–261 Filipino Americans, 336–337, 351, 372–373, 385–386, 393 Hmong Americans, 414, 416–417, 417–418, 425, 426, 442–443 Indian Americans, 461–462, 509 Indonesian Americans, 520–521, 522, 552, 563 Japanese Americans, 573, 576–577, 594, 622, 623, 644 Korean Americans, 708 Laotian Americans, 716, 718–719, 723–724, 726, 754 Malaysian Americans, 775 Mongolian Americans, 821, 838 Thai Americans, 1085 Spiritual healing, 408–409 Sports Burmese Americans, 130–131 Japanese Americans, 602–603 Malaysian Americans, 790 martial arts, 248–249, 290, 618–619, 689–690, 731, 885 Mongolian Americans, 814, 824, 833 Pacific Islander Americans, 948–950 Pakistani Americans, 975 Sri Lankan Americans caste system, 1049–1051 clothing and jewelry, 1053–1054 cultural identity, 1064–1066 dance, 1059–1061 death and funeral rituals, 1054–1055 families and communities, 1055–1057 festivals and celebrations, 1058–1059 foods and cooking, 1061–1062 heroes and heroines, 1063–1064 history, people, and culture, 1043–1047 home decoration, 1048–1049 literature, 1066–1067 names and naming practices, 1069–1071 proverbs and maxims, 1076–1077 religious beliefs, 1051–1052, 1068–1069, 1071–1074
rites of passage, 1074–1076 traditional medicine, 1078–1079 St. Malo, Louisiana, 388 “Star Maiden, The” (Filipino folktale), 1226–1227 Step from Heaven, A (Na), 665 Stereotypes Afghan Americans, 112–113 children’s literature and, 15 Chinese American literature and, 256–257 Chinese Americans, 226–227, 277–278 gay men and, 38 humor and comedy, 23–24, 25, 26 Japanese Americans, 604 model minority stereotype and, 69–71 popular culture and, 30, 32 Sri Lankan Americans, 1069 theatre and, 53 Stone Goddess, The (Ho), 205 Story cloths, xxxviii, 453–455, 456 Storytelling festivals, 932 Street food vendors, 559 Student groups, 763–764, 782, 853, 959, 988, 1143 Student immigrants, 813, 822, 1081, 1095, 1159–1160 Studying abroad, Malaysian Americans and, 806 Submission of Rose Moy, The (Li), 51 Suematsu, Dyske, 34 Sufism, 963, 984, 986, 988–989 Sugar industry, 331–332, 601–602, 656 Sugita de Queiroz, Chizuko, 611 Suharto, 538, 541 Suicide, 10–14 Sukarno, 538, 539–540, 541 Sukarnoputri, Megawati, 542 Sukhbaatar, D., 832 Suleri, Sara, 981 Sumo wrestling, 833 “Sun and Moon, The” (Korean folktale), 699–700 Superstitions and taboos Burmese Americans, 169–171 Cambodian Americans, 205, 215 Chinese zodiac and, 251 Hawaiian Natives, 924
I-43
I-44
Index Superstitions and taboos (continued) Indian Americans, 509–510 Indonesian Americans, 549, 562–563 Japanese Americans, 643–644 Korean Americans, 672, 707–709 Laotian Americans, 754–755 Malaysian Americans, 806–807 Mongolian Americans, 816, 838, 844, 845–846, 847 Nepali Americans, 871–872 Okinawan Americans, 891–892 Pacific Islander Americans, 942, 949 Pakistani Americans, 960–961, 992–994 Thai Americans, 1115–1116, 1119 Vietnamese Americans, 1209–1211 See also Ghosts and the supernatural Surf and surfing, 948–950 Suriyothai, Somdet Phra Sri, 1103 Surnames, 837–838, 983, 1105, 1146, 1202. See also Names and naming practices Sushi, 599, 600 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 542 Swastikas, 86–88, 483 Swin Tien Lo Company, 241 Symbols and slogans, 66–68, 86–88, 483 Taarof (hospitality), 109 Tae kwon do, 689 Tagalog language, 371, 409, 410 Tagawa, Cary, 610 Taglish, 410 Tahiti and Tahitian, 897, 950–951 Tai chi, 249, 255 Taiko drumming, 595–596, 610, 644–646 Taiwanese Americans, 313–316 Taj Mahal, 483 Tajiri, Satoshi, 635 Tale of Kieu, The (Nguyen), 1219 Tales of Chinese Children (Far), 14 Taliban, Afghanistan and, 107 Tamil people caste system and, 1050 death and funeral rituals, 1054–1055 heroes and heroines, 1063 immigration and, 1056–1057 Muslim Sri Lankans and, 1068 names and naming practices, 1070
proverbs and maxims, 1076 Sri Lanka and, 1044 Sri Lankan Americans, 1065–1066 Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), 1044, 1045, 1065–1066 Tan, Amy, 33, 71, 227, 246, 316–318 Tanabata celebration, 598 Tanaka, Seiichi, 646 Tantric Buddhism. See Vajrayana Buddhism Taoism Chinese Americans, 307, 318–319, 324 feng shui and, 266 Filipino Americans, 334 Japanese Americans, 622–623 Malaysian Americans, 764–765, 766, 802–803 sexuality and, 36 Taiwanese Americans, 313 Vietnamese Americans, 1173, 1197, 1204 yin and yang, 329–330 Tarian lilin (Malaysian dance), 784 Tatami mats, 646–647 Tatara, K. T., 26 Tathagata Meditation Centre, 164 Tattoos, xxxvii, 900 Tea, 148, 734, 829, 974, 1078, 1141 Tea ceremony (chanoyu), 579–580 Tegh Bahadur, Guru, 1019, 1035 Television, 28, 29–30, 32, 290, 1094 Temples and worship spaces Burmese Americans, 136, 164, 172–173 Cambodian Americans, 183, 194, 211–212 Chinese Americans, 231–233, 255, 254–255, 313–316, 326 Indian Americans, 478, 479–482, 487–488, 496 Japanese Americans, 638 Laotian Americans, 728–729, 749 Mongolian Americans, 840–841 Nepali Americans, 869 Pacific Islander Americans, 941 Punjabi Americans, 1005, 1011, 1017–1018 Sikhism, 1028 Sri Lankan Americans, 1072–1073, 1073–1074 Thai Americans, 1088–1089, 1089–1090, 1096, 1108, 1110
Index Vietnamese Americans, 1205–1206 See also Churches; Mosques “Ten Suns, The” (Chinese legend), 298 Teng, Vienna, 271 Tenglish language, 1123 “Tepuk Amai-Amai” (Malaysian folk song), 769 Terrence, Krissada, 1100 Tet festival, 1172, 1180, 1184, 1192, 1210–1211, 1211–1213 Tethong, Lhadon, 1143 Textiles Burmese Americans, 133–134 Cambodian Americans, 188 Filipino Americans, 338, 347, 380 Hmong Americans, 415, 418–420, 453–455, 455–458 Indonesian Americans, 523, 526–528 Malaysian Americans, 774 Mongolian Americans, 833–834 Pacific Islander Americans, 904–905 Pakistani Americans, 962 Punjabi Americans, 1006 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048–1049 Thai Americans, 1086 Tibetan Americans, 1129 See also Clothing and jewelry Thai Americans ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, 1084–1085 clothing and jewelry, 1087–1088 cultural identity, 1103–1104 dance, 1098–1099, 1116–1120 death and funeral rituals, 1092–1093 ethnic communities, 1120–1121 families and communities, 1088–1090, 1095–1096 festivals and celebrations, 1096–1098 foods and cooking, 1101–1102 heroes and heroines, 1102–1103 history, people, and culture, 1081–1084 home decoration, 1085–1086 literature, 1086–1087, 1106–1109 mass media, 1093–1094 music, 1099–1101, 1116–1120 names and naming practices, 1105–1106 religious beliefs, 1091–1092, 1109–1112
rites of passage, 1113–1114 social etiquette and customs, 1114–1116 speech and language, 1122–1125 traditional medicine, 1121 Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC), 1121 Thai language, 757, 1103, 1104, 1123, 1124 Thai Town, 1096, 1120–1121 Thaiglish language, 1124 Thailand, 35–36, 414–415, 733 Tham, Hilary, 790, 794–795 Thant, U, 149, 155 Thao with the Get Down Stay Down (musical group), 1184 Theater Cambodian Americans, 190 Chinese Americans, 241–246, 269–270, 285–286, 294–295 Filipino Americans, 396–398 Indian Americans, 486 Indonesian Americans, 534–535, 544–545 Japanese Americans, 596, 610, 618, 628 the Monkey King and, 297 Pacific Islander Americans, 932 Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 51–54 Punjabi Americans, 1015–1016 Sri Lankan Americans, 1061 Theravada Buddhism, 1150 Burmese Americans, 136, 156–157, 171 Cambodian Americans, 191, 202, 210 Laotian Americans, 718, 723, 746, 748, 749–750, 750–751 Sri Lankan Americans, 1072 Thai Americans, 1110 visual culture and, 55, 56 Thoms, William, xxxv “Three Feats of Strength, The” (Guamanian folktale), 934 Threshold designs, Indian Americans and, 510–511 Throat-singing, 826, 836 Thumbun (making merit), 1083, 1085, 1091, 1097 Tianhou/Mazu, 315, 316, 320–322 Tibet, Mongolia and, 846–847 Tibetan Americans arts and crafts, 1128–1130
I-45
I-46
Index Tibetan Americans (continued) clothing and jewelry, 1131–1132 cultural identity, 1144–1145 dance, 1138–1140 death and funeral rituals, 1134–1135 families and communities, 1135–1137 festivals and celebrations, 1137–1138 foods and cooking, 1141–1142 heroes and heroines, 1142–1143 history, people, and culture, 1127–1128 literature, 1145–1146, 1147–1148 music, 1130–1131, 1140–1141 names and naming practices, 1146–1147 proverbs and maxims, 1148–1149 religious beliefs, 1133–1134, 1149–1153, 1153–1154 social etiquette and customs, 1154–1156 speech and language, 1157–1158 traditional medicine, 1156–1157 Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom (TCCW), 841–842 Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), 1139 Tibeto-Burman foodways, 147 Tiger Tales: Hmong Folktales, 423 Tiger’s Daughter, The (Mukherjee), 492 Tihar (Nepali festival), 860 Tikki Tikki Tembo (Mosel), 272 Tilhari (Nepali wedding necklace), 856 Tirupati Temple, 481 Toelken, Barre, xxxv, 237 Toki, Higa, 883 Tonga, 900, 915 Tongan Americans, 944 Touring theater companies, 242, 285–286 Tourism, 937, 951 Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), 174 Traditional medicine Burmese Americans, 152–153, 173–176 Cambodian Americans, 216–217 Chinese Americans, 322–324 Filipino Americans, 408–409 Hmong Americans, 418, 440, 446, 450–451 Indian Americans, 462, 463–465, 511–512 Indonesian Americans, 563–565 Japanese Americans, 647–649 Korean Americans, 709–710 Laotian Americans, 755–756
Mongolian Americans, 815, 846–848 Nepali Americans, 872–873 Okinawan Americans, 884–885 Pacific Islander Americans, 918–919 Pakistani Americans, 994–995 Punjabi Americans, 1036–1041 Sri Lankan Americans, 1062, 1078–1079 Thai Americans, 1121 Tibetan Americans, 1156–1157 Tran, Truong Van, 1215–1216 Tran Ham, 1167, 1190–1191 Tran Trong Kim, 1218 Transgendered persons, 35–36, 39 Transliteration, of Chinese names, 299, 300 Transnationalism children’s literature and, 17 Filipino Americans, 399 grocery stores and, 22 Hmong Americans, 436 Indian Americans, 476 Japanese American National Museum, 612 religious beliefs and, 50 youth culture and, 61 Transportation, 384, 452, 871–872 Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book (Kingston), 289, 294, 296, 303 “Troubled” youth, 60 Truc Ho, 1167 Trung sisters, 1213–1215 Truong Van Tran incident, 1215–1216 Tsagang Sar (Mongolian New Year), 823–824 Tsam (Mongolian dance), 825 Tsampa (barley flour), 1141 “Tum Teav” (Cambodian folktale), 206 Turbans, 1027 Turntablism/mobile DJs, 359–361 “Twin laws of folklore,” 237 “Twinkies,” “Bananas,” and “Coconuts,” xxxix, 88–89, 224, 685 “Two Ladies Trung, The” (Vietnamese folktale), 1236–1239 Two Rice Cakes, The (Vietnamese folktale), 1186 Tzu Chi Compassion Relief Society (Ciji), 314–315 Uchida, Yoshiko, 582, 617 Uchinaguchi language, 877, 892
Index Uegaki, Chieri, 582 Ukuleles, 927–928 Unani medicine, 1040 Under the Starfruit Tree (Vietnamese folktale), 1185–1186 Ung, Luong, 205 United States, Pacific Islands and, 895–896, 896–897, 902–903, 947–948 Uno, Roberta, 52 Upadhyay, Samrat, 854 Urban legends, xxxix, 217–219, 238–241 Urdu language, 996 U-Shway Yoe (Burmese dance), 142 Utada, Hikaru, 597, 603 Vajrayana Buddhism, 171, 1134, 1150, 1151–1152 Values, 325, 395–396, 551, 552. See also Social etiquette and customs Vampires, xxxvii Vang Pao, 435 Vanuatu, 895 Ve Van Dan Viet (The Pride of the Vietnamese), 1164 Vedic literature, 489, 502, 857 Vegetarianism, 1014 Velarde, Mike, 402 Ventura, Cassandra (Cassie), 361 Verghese, Abraham, 486 Video games, xxxviii–xxxix, 279, 589, 634–636 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnam War Amerasians and, 97 Cambodian Americans, 179 Hmong Americans, 414–415 Laos and, 713–714 Laotian Americans, 736, 744 Vietnamese American literature and, 1199–1201 Vietnamese Americans, 1159, 1190 Vietnam War Memorial, 291–292 Vietnamese Amerasian Homecoming Act (1988), 98 Vietnamese Americans arts and crafts, 1165–1166 Asian American dating and, 103
clothing and jewelry, 1170–1171 cultural identity, 1195–1196 dance, 1181–1184 death and funeral rituals, 1174–1177 ethnic communities, 1198–1199 families and communities, 1177–1179 festivals and celebrations, 1179–1181, 1211–1213 foods and cooking, 1187–1188 heroes and heroines, 1189–1191, 1213–1215 history, people, and culture, 1159–1165 home decoration, 1191–1192 Hurricane Katrina and, 1193–1195 literature, 1185–1187, 1199–1201, 1236–1239 music, 1168–1169, 1184–1185 names and naming practices, 1201–1202 proverbs and maxims, 1202–1203 refugee groups, 1166–1168 religious beliefs, 1171–1174, 1196–1198, 1204–1206 rites of passage, 1206–1208 social etiquette and customs, 1208–1209 speech and language, 1215–1218 superstitions and taboos, 1209–1211 Truong Van Tran incident, 1215–1216 Viet Kieu experience, 1218–1220 Vietnamese language, 1216–1218 Virgin ghost folktales, 660 Virgin Mary, 920, 921 Filipino Americans, 365 Vishnu, reincarnation and, 75 Visibility, queerness and, 44 Visual arts Burmese Americans, 131 calligraphy, 246–247 Cambodian Americans, 186 Chinese Americans, 231, 284 Filipino Americans, 380 Hmong Americans, 453–455, 456 Indian Americans, 483, 510–511 Japanese Americans, 611 Korean Americans, 661–662 Laotian Americans, 720 Nepali Americans, 855 Pakistani Americans, 977–978
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Index Visual arts (continued) Pan Asian American folklore and folklife and, 54–58 queer folklore and folklife, 38 Sri Lankan Americans, 1048 Tibetan Americans, 1129 Vietnamese Americans, 1191 Voices of Vietnamese Boat People (Cargill and Huynh), 1167 “Vorvong and Sorvong” (Cambodian folktale), 206 Voting rights, Samoa and, 948 Wahid, 542 Waiting (Jin), 281 Wakahiro, Shoichi, 633 Wall, Lina Mao, 186–187, 205 Wallace, Stewart, 246 Wandering Souls Day, 1180, 1210 Wang, Wayne, 82 War babies, 93–94, 97–98 War brides, 657, 878, 889, 1082 War Brides Act (1945), 6, 237 War crimes, 203–204, 668–669 War dances, 381–382 War of 1812, 388 Watada, Ehren, 626–627 Water buffalo, Guam and, 912–913 Water puppets, 1165 Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose, 1167 Wat Thai temple, 1090, 1109, 1110 Wayang (shadow puppets), 534–535, 544–545 Wedding ceremonies Afghan Americans, 124–126 Burmese Americans, 167, 168, 170–171 Cambodian Americans, 188, 213–214 Chinese Americans, 252, 310 Filipino Americans, 381, 405 Hmong Americans, 432 Indian Americans, 466, 477, 507 Indonesian Americans, 561 Japanese Americans, 639 Korean Americans, 683, 704–705 Laotian Americans, 722, 737, 739–742, 753 Malaysian Americans, 804, 805
Mongolian Americans, 818, 843 Nepali Americans, 856, 862, 868, 870 Pacific Islander Americans, 944, 946 Pakistani Americans, 965, 992 Punjabi Americans, 1006, 1032–1033, 1042 Sri Lankan Americans, 1053, 1075 Thai Americans, 1113 Vietnamese Americans, 1170, 1171, 1207 See also Marriage Wells, Claudia, 790 Western cultures love and sexuality, 80, 81 myth of racial purity and, 91–92 orientalism and, 73–74 queer studies and, 43 “Twinkies,” “Bananas,” and “Coconuts,” 88–89 Western folktales, Malaysian Americans and, 797–798 Western medicine Indian Americans, 471 Indonesian Americans, 564, 565 Nepali Americans, 873 Pacific Islander Americans, 952 Pakistani Americans, 994, 995 Punjabi Americans, 1040 Sri Lankan Americans, 1078 Tibetan Americans, 1157 Western music, 2, 4 Whaling industry, Pacific Islands and, 896 Whispering Cloth, The (Shea), 422 White Americans, interracial/interethnic marriage, 102 White disease, myth of, 37 Who Killed Vincent Chin (film), 236 Widow ghosts, 1107 Widows, 907, 966, 1075 Wife (Mukherjee), 492 Wilson, Willard, 51, 54 Woman from Hiroshima, The (Mori), 620 Woman Warrior, The (Kingston), 71, 263–264, 288–289, 293, 302–303 Women. See Gender roles Wong, Anna May, 32 Wong, B. D., 52 Wong, Francis, 271 Wong, Jade Snow, 293
Index Wong, Kenneth, 155 Wong, Kristina, 34, 101 Wong, Shawn, 293 Wood carving, 523, 719, 854, 1005–1006 Woodblock prints, 1165–1166 “Woodcutter’s Family, The” (Korean folktale), 1232–1233 “World music,” 3–4 World War II Daniel K. Inouye and, 605 Filipino Americans, 332, 368 Japanese American internment camps, 606–610 Japanese American National Museum and, 613 Japanese Americans, 571–572, 585–587, 602, 626–627, 630–631 Korean Americans, 668–669 Malaysian Americans, 794 Mongolian Americans, 812 Pacific Islander Americans, 902–903 Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival, 879 Worship. See Religious beliefs; Temples and worship spaces Writers. See Literature Writing systems, 420, 423, 757–758, 1217–1218 Wu long (Malaysian dance), 784 Wu shi (Malaysian dance), 784 Xieng Mieng stories, 738 Xiong, Ia, 422 Xiong, Tou Ger, 27 Yakudoshi (bad years), 639 Yamamoto, Hisaye, 602, 618, 651–652
Yamasaki, Minoru, 602 Yamashita, Yoshitsugu, 619 Yamauchi, Wakako, 617 Yan, Sophie, 271 Yang, Gene Luen, 74, 296–297 Yang, Heesung, 661–662 Yang, Jerry, 227 Yangge dances, 270 Yashima, Taro, 617 Yellow Turban Rebellion, 279 Yellowface, actors and, 32 Yeoh, Michelle, 790 Yep, Laurence, 294 Yike theater, 190 Yin and yang, 329–330 Yoder, Don, xxxvi Yoga, 512, 1040 Yokai (spirits), 576–577 Yolk magazine, 66–67 Yoo, Paula, 665 Youth culture, 45–46, 59–62, 183, 184. See also Children and youth YouTube, 184 Yuri origami, 629 Yusuf, Hamza, 976 Zapin (Malaysian dance), 783–784 Zeba magazine, 119 Zen gardens, 652–653 Zodiac, Chinese Americans and, 250–251 Zoning laws, 211–212 Zorig, S., 832 Zoroastrianism, 471, 503, 504, 507, 987
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ABOUT THE EDITORS
JONATHAN H. X. LEE, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies who specializes in Southeast Asian and Sino-Southeast Asian American studies at San Francisco State University. Lee’s family immigrated to the United States in 1981 when he was five years old. Lee self-identifies as being Chinese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese American. Lee received his PhD in religious studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2009. Lee is the Program Co-chair of the Religions of Asia section for the American Academy of Religion, Western Region (AAR/WR) conference. Lee’s publications include Auburn’s Joss House: Preserving the Past for the Future (The Auburn Chinese Ling Ying Association House) (2004); Hanford’s Taoist Temple and Museum (#12 China Alley): Preserving a Chinese American Treasure (2004); The Temple of Kwan Tai—Celebrating Community and Diversity (2004); and Cambodian American Experiences: Histories, Communities, Cultures, and Identities (2010). Lee’s research interests are in Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Chinese-Southeast Asian American histories, folklore, cultures, and religions. KATHLEEN NADEAU, PhD, is Professor of Anthropology and Applied Cultural Anthropology Coordinator at California State University, San Bernardino, who specializes in Southeast Asian studies, especially Philippine studies and Asian American studies. She has written a number of journal articles, book chapters, and two books, including Liberation Theology in the Philippines (2002) and The History of the Philippines (2004). Nadeau completed her MA at the University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines, to which she attributes her lifelong interest in Asian/Asian American Studies. She earned her PhD from the Department of Anthropology at Arizona State University in Tempe.
