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Roatan and Bay Islands Discussion List Archive
| Posted On: | 21-Apr-2005 |
| From: | David Evans [dkevans.....edu] |
| Subject: | Re: [roatan] dead little boy |
Good morning, Mark I am certain many people in many places, and many different times have sought the preserve their culture. Perhaps, if I had to select some who have came the closest to suceeding it would have to be the Garifuna. But, unfortunately, it cannot be done. There are places on the planet a century or two behind the rest of the world in terms of cultural change. But they will be found to be, as often as not, using 21st Century technology. Culture changes in bits...first there will be things creeping in that make life easier...next behavioral rules will change regarding ownership, then followed by dress, and then religious ways will medernize a bit. Finally, they will discover that their very language has been eroding away bit by bit, and with it their morals and self respect as to who they really are. They will then take a look around them and discover that in spite of all their changes, the rest of the world has moved on and they are still a second or third class society, looked down upon...not even "interesting" or "quaint" as they once were when first "discovered" by the mainstream societies about the planet. If they are lucky, as the Garifuna have been, and realize this very early because they had used their differences as a survival tool long ago, they will have enough built into their culture to use to continue and go on surviving...selling their dance, their art, etc to the outside world...but even then they will find that their language is slipping away as their young, walking about University campuses with their cell phones like everyone else, begin to ignore their ancestral language, and their parents- imperfrct speakers themselves- find it too difficult to continue teaching it to them. At the center, the very core of all cultures is language. If the language changes rapidly so will the culture. If for some reason the language is slow to change, the core of the culture likewise will be slow to change...but change it will! In fact Change is the only thing in the Universe that is certain. There isn't even such a thing as time...there is only change, and no culture will ever totally escape it and be "preserved", no matter how much some of us wish it could be. As for preserving the culture of the Bay Islands, and as a reply to your statement below...it has already been lost...only bits and pieces remain, and they will vanish as well as the present generation goes. All the best..dke http://www.thejudasbird mark zeh wrote: > It is my opinion that the best way for Roatan and the Bay Islands to > preserve their culture would be through Independence. > http://www.roatanet.com To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/roatan/ roatan- : | |
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