Something from the resource library at Leeds GATE. One for good - TopicsExpress

Something from the resource library at Leeds GATE. One for good readers, shared in hope of aiding us to think straight in the face of colonialist media onslaught. Forgive slight abbreviation. Why Cultural Action? -Gearoid O Riain; A Heritage Ahead; Pavee Point, 1995 The exact nature of colonisation is unclear. We do not know when or how it started. It was probably not a premeditated, once-off act. Rather more likely is a gradual, seeping cultural domination. The coloniser may not have been from a foreign land but came instead across the border between nomadism and sedentarism.... ...One of the principle legacies of colonisation is the is the depletion in the sense of self worth of the colonised. This externally imposed self devaluation serves to maintain the status quo by weakening the resolve of the colonised to work for change. It turns anger inwards and contributes to low self esteem and divisiveness among the members of the community and can manifest itself in delinquency and break down of the fabric of the society. The maxim “Divide and Rule” comes to mind.... ....As with overt colonisation: (i) Laws have been made to prohibit Travellers from the use of the traditional lands and force has been used to implement them. (ii) Travellers are seen as a problem, and obstacle to progress. Attempts are made to control them in order to render them unobtrusive to settled people, becoming something which, at the best of times, is only “tolerated”. (iii) The very existence of their cultural identity is denied or is seen as primitive, uncivilised or even savage and stuck in the past Charitable members and institiutions of the dominant group set about civilising and rehabilitating them “ for their own sakes”. ...the seeds of Irish independence were sown in cultural action and that for Travellers there must also be a cultural revival if they are to achieve justice, human rights and control over their own lives. ....in other words the symbols of Irishness which had hitherto been devalued, marginalised and were in decline (which in the eyes of the coloniser were primitive or even savage) were rising from the ashes to help restore the collective sense of self worth of the people. The oppressed people, who tend to accept and internalise the negative, inferior status bestowed upon them by the oppressor were beginning to shake off the symptoms of the disease. ..[There is a need for] communicating two key concepts. The first is that Travellers have a past. Travellers have their own story to tell, which hitherto had been ignored, forgotten or distorted to fit the settled people’s way of explaining Travellers existence. . The second one is that Travellers have a future; that Travellers aren’t just an unfortunate group that have suffered and are more or less finished. But that they are a dynamic, evolving, resilient society, highly skilled at adapting to new and hostile circumstances. .......no matter what form they take it is important to use whatever opportunities present themselves to resource Travellers in celebrating their identity and in deepening their awareness of their own heritage. The older generation of Travellers are a particularly rich resource to the younger generation. There have been huge changes in Travellers’ lives in the past three generations. This crystalises the importance of facilitating communication between them before the memories are gone forever and future generations are left vulnerable to assertions that they have no past as Travellers and therefore no future as Travellers. Cultural questions are central to the problems facing Travellers. Cultural actions, thus, must be woven into the overall project to create a society which respect and validates Travellers for who they are.