Introduction
Hey everybody! Welcome to my podcast. I’m Vivian and my umbrella project is on the marginalization of minorities. Before I get into my topic I must first explain what marginalization is, marginalization is the treatment of a person or group as insignificant. Stemming off of that my individual topic is over loss of indigenous culture and other factors that relate to it. Loss of indigenous culture relates to the marginalization of minorities because during the time of colonization and even into modern day cultural imperialism has ruled over indigenous cultures causing many cultures to be lost and many people without a secure sense of identity. This is an important topic because, although it isn't something that gets talked about, loss of indigenous culture is a serious problem for many people that can have lasting aftermath. This is also a topic I have a personal connection to, being a part of the Native community, and I know first hand what it's like not knowing about the culture you're born into.
Body
Of the six sources I’m using they can be broken up into two categories: effects loss of culture has on individuals and restoration of culture. Many of the sources talk about how cultural identity affects health, the article “Strangers in Their Own World: Exploring the Relation Between Cultural Practices and the Health of Older Adults in Native Communities in Chile” by Lorena P. Gallardo-Peralta goes into more detail on this by stating, “the results generally confirm that maintaining Indigenous medical practices, being resilient and engaging in intergenerational transmission of Indigenous culture are related with better health.” (Gallardo-Peralta et al. 1). Another correlation that could be made between loss of culture and health, pointed out by Ryan A. Brown, is the fact that in cities where indigenous communities aren’t as strong a high percentage of Native youth uses drugs or alcohol. (Brown et al. 2). This is also relevant to how strong cultural communities affect stress and obesity in youth, the article “Strong Cultural Identity Effects Stress Levels among Native American Youth at Risk for Obesity” by Melessa N. Kelley and John R. Lowe backs this up by providing the information “This study also validates that culture, family, and community can serve as a protective factor or buffer against negative health outcomes.” (Kelley and Lowe 4).
Another perspective on the topic “Loss of indigenous culture” is to talk about restoration of cultures. Many have tried to remedy the loss of culture in different ways, one solution talked about in “'We Need to Make Action NOW, to Help Keep the Language Alive’: Navigating Tensions of Engaging Indigenous Educational Values in University Education” by Michelle M. Jacob is using the education system to teach the youth about their culture (Jacob et al. 1). An example of cultures coming back from cultural imperialism would be the Eskaya culture in the Philippines. An excerpt from Kelly Piers article “Excavating a Hidden Bell Story from the Philippines: A Revised Narrative of Cultural-Linguistic Loss and Recuperation” details how the culture came about being saved, “...while other Filipinos were supposed to have been losing their literary heritage to the Spanish bonfires, Pinay took the precaution of hiding Eskaya writings in a cave, to be heroically rediscovered by Mariano Datahan. In turn, this rediscovery led to the recuperation of Bohol’s putative indigenous language and culture.” (Kelly 21). In the Cherokee culture, traditions uphold teaching the next generation about their culture as stated by Daniel Justice, “The survival of the People--of the nation itself--is thus directly linked to their thoughtful attention to their responsibilities as keepers of the sacred fire” (Justice 26).
Conclusion
Although a good bit of information can be found through extensive research there is still more to be learned about the effects loss of culture has on individuals as well as how to reverse the effects of that loss. Feel free to check out the articles mentioned and thanks for listening.
Works Cited
Brown, Ryan A., et al. “Cultural Identity Among Urban American Indian/Alaska Native Youth: Implications for Alcohol and Drug Use.” Prevention Science : The Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research, vol. 17, no. 7, Oct. 2016, pp. 852–861. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11121-016-0680-1.
Gallardo-Peralta, Lorena P., et al. “Strangers in Their Own World: Exploring the Relation Between Cultural Practices and the Health of Older Adults in Native Communities in Chile.” British Journal of Social Work, vol. 49, no. 4, June 2019, p. 920. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=edb&AN=137414756&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Jacob, Michelle M., et al. “‘We Need to Make Action NOW, to Help Keep the Language Alive’: Navigating Tensions of Engaging Indigenous Educational Values in University Education.” American Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 64, no. 1–2, Sept. 2019, pp. 126–136. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/ajcp.12374.
Justice, Daniel. Our Fire Survived the Storm: A Cherokee Literary History. University of Minnesota Press, 2006, https://www.upress.umn.edu, books.google.com/books?id=iTSz7tzo37QC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false.
Kelly Piers. “Excavating a Hidden Bell Story from the Philippines: A Revised Narrative of Cultural-Linguistic Loss and Recuperation.” Journal of Folklore Research: An International Journal of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, vol. 53, no. 2, 2016, p. 86. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2979/jfolkrese.53.2.04.
Kelley, Melessa N. and Lowe, John R. “Strong Cultural Identity Effects Stress Levels among Native American Youth at Risk for Obesity.” Journal of Cultural Diversity, vol. 25, no. 4, Winter 2018, pp. 127–131. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=mnh&AN=EPTOC133748734&site=eds-live&scope=site