ALL
potato
ICH Elements 25
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KARTOSHKA-BIRYON
Fryed potatoes - a kind of hastily dish. Cut potatoes will be fried with meat or egg in the oil.
Tajikistan -
Bja-wo Karma Nya-ru: Conjunction of the Pleiades and the full moon Festival
In earlier times, Bhutanese traveled as far south as possible to buy salt, spices, and other basic products in the nearest border towns. Pasakha (formerly the southern gateway) was an important business center for the people of western Bhutan because of its proximity to the nearest Indian towns. After an arduous journey of more than 20 days through the high mountains and after nights spent in the cold, dense jungle, the villagers then reached their home, bringing their daily supplies. A young man from the village of Bja-wo once set out for Pasakha to buy supplies. Upon his return, as he prepared to spend the night in the forest, he lay down under a large tree, placed the heavy basket under his head to rest, and stared up at the sky. He saw the bright moon almost smiling at him and the stars twinkling around him. He thought about the number of nights he would have to spend like this, and wondered if the stars and moon would keep him company during his journey home. He continued his journey home during the day, spending each exhausting night under bushes and trees. Each evening he looked up at the sky and noticed that the brightest star seemed to get closer and closer to the moon each night. When he returned home a few days later, the young man, suspecting an interesting observation in the sky, wanted to know how close the star had come to the moon. The following night, he looked up at the sky and found that the star had come so close to the moon that it almost looked like it was interacting with the moon (this was the narrator's exact interpretation). It was a unique discovery that symbolized a happy moment. Incidentally, the day he made this discovery was the 15th of the 10th month, one of the most auspicious holy days in the Bhutanese lunar calendar. Therefore, the festival of Bja-wo Karma Nya-ru (conjunction of the Pleiades and the full moon) is believed to have originated in Bja-wo village and is still celebrated with great enthusiasm. Nowadays, it is also popularly known as Dogar Nya-ru. Nya-ru is celebrated on the 15th day of the 10th month of the Bhutanese lunar calendar and is considered a special occasion where family and friends scattered all over Bhutan gather on this day and celebrate the auspicious day in each and every home with festivity and joy. On the 13th and 14th day of the 10th month, people who work in the cities, students, businessmen, relatives and basically all people who are from the village gather to celebrate Nya-ru. In this village of Nyo-yue dhuen (old name) or Khamda Sali Chiwog (sub-block) as it is commonly known today, people prepare for the big event by washing their clothes, cleaning themselves, tidying their houses and the men discuss archery that will take place during Nya-ru while the women prepare the menu for the special day in the house and make preparations for Ara (locally brewed wine) and other drinks.
Bhutan -
Asham: Maize Cultivation
Agriculture is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock and over centuries, rise in agricultural has contributed in the growth civilization. Early people have developed and improved varieties of plants and till date the practice is considered to be the important aspect of Bhutanese livelihood. It is one of the sources of income as over69% of the population here, directly depends on it for their livelihood (MoAF, 2011). In 2011, agriculture sector accounted for about 17.7% of the total GDP of the country (RNR Statistics, 2012) Asham (Maize) plays a critical role in the entire life of given economy and is a pre-dominant cereal crop for the eastern part of the Bhutan for many years contributing to more than half of total maize production in the country. Asham cultivation was one of the main cereal as well as cash crops that supported and supports lively hood for major households in the part of the country. To these days, the practice and culture of maize cultivation is one of the main live hood and sources of income. Most communities in the eastern part of the country depend on cultivation of Asham to produce following products: •\tKharang- grits, grind maize used as staple food •\tAsham me-gogni- roasted corn •\tAsham bokpi- corn flour •\tTengma- roasted and pounded maize •\tAsham mu-nang- a local term for popcorn •\tZhu- brewed alcohol Apart from above products, asham is also used as cereals for bartering during the olden days to exchange with wooden and bamboo products produced from other parts of the Dzongkhags. Moreover people also used to exchange with rice, chili, meat and dairy products within or outside the community. People used to offer asham, kharang and bokpi to monks and gomchen(great meditation masters) as they visit begging for cash and kind. Asham and its product were also used during the religious rituals at households. Crafting of Torma (Sacrificial ritual cakes) and Sur (Smoke offering) during the rituals were done by using corn flour. There has been lots of transformation in the culture, practice and process in cultivation maize in the region due to introduction of hybrid seeds, improve in tools and technologies used compared to old and traditional ways of cultivation.
Bhutan -
Den-zha: Annual Offering to a Local Deity
The practice of Bon traditions was widespread in Bhutan long before the arrival of Buddhism, and it retains influence in Tshapey village. Previously people practiced animal sacrifice and had faith in nature. With the advent of Buddhism in the country, many elements of Bon dissipated even as Bon rituals continued. Taking on a fusion of Buddhism and aspects of Bon, this became known as Bo-kar, white Bon. This especially allowed Bon rituals to be performed without sacrificing human lives. Den-zha, a local festival in the village of Tshapey, is one of many such Bo-kar practices. This festival is about appeasing Ke-lha the deity of birth, or the local deity known as Nyep Dangnap, who is commonly worshipped as the protector of the Tshapey community. The deity's dark appearance is said to have given her the name Dang-nap, which is further exemplified by the deity's black mask that can be seen in the Lhakhang, temple, today. The Lhakhang, locally known as Haa Goenpa, or monastery. It is believed that the Goenpa was built on the spot where a dove miraculously landed. The dove is considered to be the Nob Denshap, heart emanation, of the Jowo image of Buddha Shakyamuni of Lhasa, Tibet. It is located about seven kilometers from the road. The most important Nangten, or relic, at the Lhakhang is a large statue of the Jowo Shakyamuni. It is said that any wishes or prayers made before the Jowo will come true. In earlier times, the Tshapey community took care of the Lhakhang, but in 1998 it was given to the Zhung Dratshang Central Monastic Body. It was severely damaged by an earthquake and renovated in 1992. Currently, eight people live in and around the Lhakhang - five Tshampa meditators, one Kunyer caretaker, and one Lopen or Lam the spiritual master. On this occasion, the members of the Tshapey community, including those who have moved away to other places, gather at the village Lhakhang to make Nyen-dhar monetary offerings. If they cannot come, they must come and make Shag-pa confession immediately after the festival period.
Bhutan
ICH Materials 31
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A Pact for Peace - A Pact for Peace A Journey to Kalinga
▶ Play 3. A Pact for Peace A Journey to Kalinga\nThis episode was first aired on Filipino television on April 18, 1996. This episode has been modified from its original format.\n\nAn animal was offered in the context of the Kalinga cultural ritual.\nHistorically, the Kalinga is a mixed group (Calinga, Kalingga, Kalina’), but it is now considered as a more or less homogenous group in the province of Kalinga. Subgroups of the Kalinga may also be found in the adjoining provinces of Apayao, Abra, Ilocos Sur, and Cagayan. There is a small group of people in the province of Ifugao also called Kalinga but who are not related to the central Kalinga population. The core area of the group is in the drainage areas of the Chico River and its tributaries in northern Cordillera. One of the ways in which this culture has been subgrouped is as follows: Balbalan (northern), Lubuagan (southern), and Maducayan (eastern). Another suggested subgrouping is: (1) Giad’an Balbalasang, (2) Sumadel, (3) Lubuagan, (4) Nabayugan, (5) Ablig Saligsig, (6) Kalagua, and (7) Mangali Lubo. In addition, there is a little-known highly mobile group in the Kalakad-Tupac area in east Tanudan.\n\nThe members form a mixed group of people thought to be descendants of migrants into the area from the Cagayan Valley to the east and the province of Abra to the west. There is a marked difference between the northern and southern populations due to the introduction of wet rice terracing in the south from Bontoc. An eastern grouping caused by eographic circumscription is also recognized. The society is organized into endogamous groups stemming from budong (peace pact) alliances. Because of their dress and personal ornamentations, the Kalinga have been dubbed the “Peacocks of the North.” Two distinctive features are the octagonal house in southern Kalinga, and the peace pacts that they enter into to preserve relationships between neighboring groups. Settlement areas are denser in the south.\n\nAgriculture is also carried on in terraces, though on a smaller scale than the Ifugao and Bontoc, and field preparation is done with the use of draft animals. Rice is the principal crop. Swidden crops include beans, sweet potato, corn, sugar cane, and taro. Coffee is a popular cash crop. The Kalinga are also known for their pottery, baskets, and metal craft.\n\nAlthough in the past, peace pacts had been common among the numerous ethno-linguistic groups, the budong of the Kalinga has caught the country’s imagination. Warring groups enter peace-enhancing arrangements through an elaborate procedure and the holders of each party keep token symbols from the other holders. These symbols ensure that the communities adhere to the terms of the pagta, the rules dictated by the pact.
Philippines 1996 -
A Sound for the Spirits - The Buklog of the Subanons
▶ Play Video 4. A Sound for the Spirits The Buklog of the Subanons\nThis is a shortened version of the Travel Time episode “A Subanon Celebration,” which was first aired on Filipino television on March 21, 1996. This episode has been modified from its original format.\n\nAnimals were offered in the context of the Subanon cultural ritual.\n\nThe Subanon or Subanun people of the upstream may be found on the western Peninsula. The population core areas are in Katipunan. The known subgroups parallel the linguistic variations and micro-adaptations to social and physical environment and comprise: (1) Misamis, (2) Lapuyan, (3) Sindangan, (4) Tuboy, and (5) Salug.\n\nThe cultural and technological adaptation is upland riverine. They practice swidden cultivation on mountain slopes. The traditional settlement pattern is highly dispersed with a few residential structures on top of ridges near potable water sources. The houses are placed adjacent to cultivated fields. They favor locations near springs where water gushes out of rocks over contiguous to streams.\n\nRice is the preferred food crop, but fields are also rotated and intercropped, planted with corn, sweet potato, and cassava. Land problems and soil degradation have forced some of the people to recourse to wet rice agriculture where the topography allows. Metal craft and backstrap weaving are practiced. They have maintained trade with coastal peoples for centuries, as indicated by the presence of Asian stone and ceramic trade wares. Present-day Subanon are usually nonaggressive. There are indications that in the past, the people were required to provide a “soul companion” for an important deceased relative.\n\nUnique to the Subanon is their set of rituals, the buklog, the main feature of which is a huge dancing platform (buklogan). This structure is raised some 10 to 18 feet high and consists of a highly resilient platform supported at the corners by upright posts. A long pole is passed through the middle of the platform and extends upwards like a maypole. Below it is a short thick hollowed log that lies above a trench filled with empty jars functioning as resonating chambers. The pole rises and falls when dancers rhythmically bounce on the platform. The booming sound invites people to come and join in the ritual and festival. There is feasting, wining, and dancing lasting for days, with as many as two hundred people dancing on the buklogan continuously, day and night.\n\nThe ritual consists of a complex set of rites performed before the culminating event, usually near waterways, and which serve to propitiate spirits. The buklog is a prestige ritual that has a multitude of functions, such as celebrating well- being and a good harvest, and giving thanks to appease spirits after an illness. It may also honor personalities, welcome back homecomers, or praise a new timuay (leader). Finally, it is held to pay respects to the spirits of the dead, for the final sending of the spirit of the ancestor and the death anniversary of a grandparent.\n\nThe Subanen form a subgroup and are related to the Subanon but are concentrated in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte.
Philippines 1996
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ICH Courier Vol.8 ICH AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AS AN OCCUPATIONAL LIVING
ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 8 is 'ICH AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AS AN OCCUPATIONAL LIVING.'
South Korea 2011 -
2019 Living Heritage Series: Tugging Rituals and Games
This book introduces the tug-of-war traditions of Korea and the three Southeast Asian countries mentioned as well as the tugging traditions passed down in Japan, Thailand, and Ukraine. The book presents studies showing various conditions and perceptions of tug-of-war in each country. So, it will be valuable research material for those interested in tug-of-war.
Japan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam 2019
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Foodways and FolklifeThe food we eat is an important part of culture. It is also an expression of community identity. As American folklorist Millie Rahn writes, The kitchen, historically, is the place where families gather and where the everyday and the ceremonial meet and overlap. Here families interact and share private traditions, expressing identity through their food to each other and to the world. Creativity is alive in this space, from daily mealtimes to more elaborate feasts that mark rites of passage, religious and secular holidays, and other special events. This is where knowledge is passed on, from traditional ways of preparing and using various ingredients, implements, tools, and techniques to legends, stories, anecdotes, and cultural exchanges that have become part of familial and regional folklife. We all eat, and associate different layers of cultural meaning to the food we consume. Explorations of food, then, can be an easy conduit into the complex world of intangible cultural heritage. This article gives several examples from the safeguarding initiatives of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador that have used foodways as a means to get people thinking about, and engaged with, concepts of cultural transmission and heritage conservation.Year2019NationSouth Korea
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Punnuk: Unwinding after the Harvest, the Tugging Ritual in the PhilippinesThe punnuk is a tugging ritual of the village folk from three communities in Hungduan, Ifugao in Northern Luzon, Philippines. It is performed at the confluence of Hapao River and a tributary as the final ritual after the rice harvest. Its consummation brings to a close an agricultural cycle and signals the beginning of a new one. \n\nThe punnuk is a ritual of pomp and revelry. Garbed in their predominantly red-col-ored attire of the Tuwali ethno-linguistic subgroup, the participants negotiate the terraced fields in a single file amidst lush greens under the blue skies. The tempo builds up as the participants reach the riverbank, each group positioned opposite the other. The excitement is sustained through the final tugging match, and the sinewy brawn of the participants is highlighted by the river’s rushing water.Year2019NationJapan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam