ALL
kuro
ICH Elements 4
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Traditional wrestling - ‘Kurosh’
Kyrgyz wresting ‘Kurosh’ is one of the most ancient types of wrestling of the Kyrgyz people. Athletes wear belts and white loose pants without a shirt on. Wrestlers stand one in front of another and hold each other by the belt with both hands. A wrestler must have at least one hand on the belt of his opponent during the match. One cannot grab opponent’s legs with hands but foot sweeps are allowed. The one whose thigh, body or head touches the ground first loses. If athletes fall simultaneously and it is unclear who touched the ground first – the match starts over.
Kyrgyzstan -
Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese, notably for the celebration of New Year
WASHOKU is social practice based on a comprehensive set of skills, knowledge, practice and traditions related to the production, processing, preparation and consumption of food. It is associated with an essential spirit of respect for nature closely related to the sustainable use of natural resources. WASHOKU has developed as part of daily life and with a connection to annual events and is constantly recreated in response to changes in human relationship with natural and social environment. Basic knowledge, social and cultural characteristics associated with WASHOKU are typically seen in New Year’s cerebrations when Japanese people immerse themselves in their tradition transmitted from generations to generations, thus reaffirming their identity and continuity. WASHOKU in New Year’s celebrations are regionally rich in diversity, given that each province has its own historical and geographical specificity. People make various preparation to welcome the deities of the incoming year; pounding rice cakes, preparing special meals such as beautifully decorated dishes called Osechi, Zoni and Toso, using fresh locally available ingredients each of which has a symbolic meaning. These dishes are served on special tableware and shared by the family members, or shared collectively by the community members, ensuring peoples’ health and social cohesion. This provides an occasion for elderly persons to teach the meanings contained in this social practice to the children. In daily life, WASHOKU has important social functions for the Japanese to reaffirm identity, to foster familial and community cohesion, and to contribute to healthy life, through sharing traditional and well-balanced meals.
Japan 2013
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“Sanjyra”
Sanjyra is the oral listing of ancestors on the straight male-line. It was compulsory for everyone to know his ancestors as the Kyrgyz identified themselves through a link with clan and tribe. Sanjyra provided answers to the questions such as: “Who are you?”, “Who were your father, grandfather?”, “From which family are you?”. That is why there is a saying: “Those who do not now their ancestors will become slaves”. The Kyrgyz genealogy consists of three large groups: right wing (on), left wing (sol) and the ichkilik (inner) group. Similar to many genealogies of other nations, it represents a sprawling crown of a tree (tree of life). Intertribal hierarchy was built on the male-line by giving the male names to the titles of tribal clans.
Kyrgyzstan -
Fijian Pottery from Nakoro Village, Noikoro District of Nadroga Province
About 3000 years ago, a group of highly mobile ocean-going foragers arrived in Fiji from the west, bringing with them a distinctive pottery tradition that archaeologists now call Lapita. Although pottery styles and decoration have changed over time, the art of pottery-making has persisted in the Fiji islands to the present day. The village of Nakoro in Noikoro district, central Vitilevu is located at least 20 miles from the nearest village in Tholo West. In the Fijian village of Nakoro, traditional pottery-making was used in barter in former times. It is still bartered to- day, but to a very limited extent. An elongated form of kuro (cooking pot) has been exchanged for mats with some people of Tholo West. Noikoro is famous for its elongated cooking pot. Clay deposits vary from district to district. In Nadroga, terracotta clay is at foot level or found on river banks. The cleaning of clay differs from one district to another. In Noikoro, male assistance is needed, as clay has to be carried on horseback. The clay deposit is in Vusu, an old village site about one and a half miles away from the present village.
Fiji
ICH Materials 14
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2011 Field Survey Report: Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in Marshall Islands
Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some Pacific countries (2009-2013), this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Palau, Vanuatu and Federated States of Micronesia. The summary focuses mainly on ICH safeguarding systems, safeguarding policies, and ICH inventories as well as on pending issues and the urgent safeguarding needs of these countries. Moreover, information on the main entities in charge of ICH safeguarding and opinions of each country on the issue of community involvement are provided. To give a quick overview these countries’ participation in ICH safeguarding at the international level, some additional information related to UNESCO is specified as well. Apart from the main topic, information on the situation of intellectual property related to ICH safeguarding in each country is included. This survey report offers a large sample of the diverse ICH situations in Pacific countries. Each country has a different background on the issue of intangible heritage. Although all countries participating in the survey are concerned with the threats facing their ICH, most of them haven’t defined ICH and haven’t established inventory national ICH list or inventory. However, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding ICH, sharing experiences, and participating in international cooperation efforts. Compared to some Asian countries, Pacific countries seem to be well aware of the emerging intellectual property issues related to ICH. This might be related to the internationally publicized infringement and violation of intellectual property rights by outsiders on the Pacific’s traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, and genetic resources . Moreover, these countries appear to collaborate closely with the World Intellectual Property Organization on various awareness-raising and capacity-building activities on protecting traditional culture in a broad sense. To date, out of the eight Pacific countries participating in the survey, five countries (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Palau, and Vanuatu) are drafting laws on the protection of traditional knowledge and expressions of culture. Furthermore, in terms of technical terminology, the Pacific countries tend to use “traditional knowledge” and “expressions of culture” as equivalent terms to “intangible cultural heritage”. Pacific countries are also conducting cultural mapping projects, which is another common point that they share. Finally, the Pacific region has the highest rate of indigenous populations of any other region of the world and the highest rate of customary or traditional land ownership.\n\n- Has not ratified the ICH Convention yet; conducted survey in 2011\n- As of May 2013, has no elements on the ICH Lists of UNESCO and no accredited NGOs
Marshall Islands 2011 -
Lialiaci Publication 2020 - 2021
Lialiaci is a publication of the iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture, Ministry of iTaukei Affairs. Lialiaci means to ponder or reflect upon deeply. \nThat is the intent of these articles and perspectives on culture.
Fiji 2020