Clayton Hamilton George John

OPLANTS

O. R. Dathorne Rums Gorin

II. Clayton Hamilton George John

David Katz

John

Licorish

Alex Raphael,Jr.

Kenneth

Ross MargaritaRoss Lester Sullivan

Dera Thompkins

Garvin_J. Williams Festivals

Magazine

Trinidad Express

Newspapers

Iron

Range

HistoricalSociety,

Gilbert,

MN

Beverly Kippley Alice Kivi

I.oon Lake

Community

Center, Palo.

MN

Palo-Markham Laskiainen Committee

Paul Williams

Tom

Adler

Chip

Albertson

American

Folklife Centerat the Library ofCongress

Pat Barkaloo Syd Blackmarr Louise M.

Booth

Jane

Brown

IraBryant

Thomas

E.

Gary

FredFussell Kathy Fussell Blake

Hays

E. Miles Herter SharonA. Lewis Charles

MacRaven

David

Malcolm Glenda McCann

AI

McKinney

Sarah ^P.

McCarary

Peter

Nabokov

M. Jane Naglich

Nancy Pye

Beverly

Robinson

SusanSechler Dick

Seymour

Arts

Experiment

Station

Deborah

K.

Whatley Wendell

H.

Wood

CliffAlper

Martha

Barrett Michael Barrett

Voha Chuon

Southeast AsiaCo-Operative, Inc.,

Providence, RI

Indochinese

Community

Center Indochinese

Refugee

Action Center

Sam

Jackson

Pho

Ba

Long Holman Massey

WilliamA.

Noonan

KarlSignell, Ph.D.

Joyce Smith

Heang Kim Seng American Red

Cross DavidCasey,M.D.

Samuel

Dove, M.D.

Jim Johnson, D.D.S.

highlands ofLaos,

who

have brought with

them

the ancient traditionsof embroidery, applique,batik,

and

silversmithing.

The Hmong

are

mentioned

in Chinesetexts dating

back

almost

2000

years.

They

are

famous

for theirorganization, independence,

and

initiative,

and

for their folkart.

The Hmong

livedin

mountainous

^areas, usuallyat elevationsof over

3000

feet.

The

various

subgroups

ofthe

Hmong,

such asthe green, the white, andtheblack are differentiated

by

costume.

The women make

kilt-like skirtsof

many

smallpleats.

The

materialitselfis anintricate

combination

^of brightcolors

—

^{reds,greens,black,}

^and

^white

—

with an underlying levelof subtlebatik.

The

batik^is

made by growing

cotton or

hemp and weaving

^itinto

cloth.

Wax,

gathered from wild

bee

hives,isapplied inan intricatepattern.

The

cloth isthen

dipped

intoa vatof natural indigo dye. (Indigoisa plant that

grows

ⁱⁿAsia

and

Africa

whose

stemsare

fermented

in acrock

and made

into the

deep

bluedye.)

Where wax

has

been

applied tothe fabric, the

dye

does nottake,

and

a subtle pattern

emerges when

the

wax

is

removed.

Tlie

Hmong

arealso

famous

fortheir applique

and

reverse appliquework.

Smallpieces offabric are

sewn on

top ofeachother,

and some

arecut

and

foldedback toreveal layersofanothercolorunderneath. Forexample,the clothis cutin aspiral shape

and

foldedbackto

produce

a

narrow even

spiral shapein acontrastingcolor.

Hmong women make

cloth carriersfor their infantsconsisting of

rows

ofapplique with batik

underneath and

red cloth cross-hatchingoverthe batik.

They

also

do

skillful

embroidery

with silk thread,

which

becauseofthecloseness

and

precision of thestitching,often looks like

beaded

work.

The

beautyof the

Hmong costume was

also important during the

New

Year's festivities

when

boys

and

girls tosseda clothball back

and

forth.Tlie person missingthe ball

would

havetogivethe person

who threw

it

an

embroidered

beltor silver necklace. Laterthey

would meet

to return the items; this

was

part oftheircourtship.

The Hmong may

not

wear

their

costumes

everyday, buttheycontinueto

produce

applique

and

embroideries using

American

fabrics

and sometimes American

color

schemes and

stitches.

While

many

^{ofthe older}

women know how

to

make

batiks, itquitedifficultto get natural indigo inthe I'nited States.

It isnotonly the lack ofmaterials, however,that challenges the persistence oftraditionalcrafts,but also the available time.

A

large

and complex Hmong

textile

may

take

two

yearstocomplete.

The new

immigrants

do

not have

two

yearstodevote to these tasks. It issimilarwith thearts of

Cambodia.

In

2 smgSoulamani works onaloom constructed byher husbandInLaos shewovesilkbut here she has substitutedcotton threjd

3 likemanyotherCambodianstonecarvers.Doul Phuoc's designs^arederivedtromcarvingsatAngkor

\\atand^adaptedto praetiealobieets

-t Hmong womenweartheirdistinctive traditional costumeat agatheringinPhiladelphia

21

-.^•'

Mr!

htUtti.tili.nv,*mt,ltttll: 'ii'lllirriltrl vtlf.1»rt»f tf

Cambodia weaving was done on

a large rectangularloom;a scarfthus

woven

might take

one month. The

traditional

garment

for

men and women,

^the

sampot

might take

two

months. Vegetable dyes, available only incertain

months

are

mixed

foreach garment,

making

each

one

unique.

The most

complicateddesign, using pre-dyed multicolored threadtakes three months.

Along both of thesedimensions

—

availabilityof materialsand time frame

—

^the

folkarts ofSoutheast Asia will be

changed

by the pressures ofliving in the

I nitcdStates.

For the

new

arrivals to the United States

who

^left their

homes

so abruptly, the appliqued

baby

carrier, thesarong

woven

^ofsilk

and

^{silverthreads,}

and

the reed organare all treasured

mementos

ofthe past

and models

^forproduction and innovation offolkartistic forms.

The new

formswill be adaptedtothe

American environment — ^some

^{thingswill have tochange.}

^{A Hmong} man

^looks

at hissturdytwelve-inch

bamboo

flute

and

laughingly remarksthat the

bamboo

in the UnitedStates isvery skinny,

and

he continues toplay

on

hisold flute.

5 Aclose-upoltheimssstiuhilutdecoratestin tightlypleatedskirtol the Hmongcostume

(-> Hmongtextileworkincludesbatik,embroider)

applique.indreverse applique(Seethecoverstor examplesolthelattertwo )This typeolfinebatik work wouldhavebeendonewithbeeswax andnatural indigodyeinthehome village

7 Detailoltinbelt thatshowsthetiny,evenstitihes characteristic olHmongneedlework

8 AyoungHmongwatchesasan olderwomanworks onthesm.illappliqueand embroidery^{squarestlt.it} formthe longbeltolthecostume

9 Thisjutndaouseschainstitchtoformthe popular

"snail"motilandsatinstiulionthe flowers 10 Detailol chainstitchonpa ndao

II Anotherpart oltheHmongcostumi ^{is .in}elaborate silvernecklacelike theonepictured lure Intins countryHmongcraftsmenhaveturnedtoaluminum as

,iItssexpensncmaterial

Suggested reading

Ralahan,lohn (trans ^{) 1}ietnamese^I<-lkPoetrv.

Greensboro ^lnicornPress,19"7t

\1i\ \l.i\koIbih.ir.i Sraya KfjmerVillage in

(amhodiaAnn Arbor ^I niversityMicrofilms <olumbia

i ni\ PhD..1968.

IUt-son KathenncPleeson lamI<>lk-!<»<<•!Farther India.NewYork FlemingH RevellCompan) 1899 Graham David<rockett SongsandStoriest>Jthe Ch'uan Mian Washington,^I)< Smithsonian Institution 19*5i

Steinberg DavidJ Cambodia,itsPeople,itsSociety,its Culture New Haven HKAI Press. [959

HuynhSanhThi >ng TheHeritageoJ ^IietnamesePoetry New Haven Yale^I niversityPress l"~^l> 23

Talking Reeds and

Singing Voices:

Music from ^{Laos, Cambodia,} and Vietnam

By Amy Catlin

l IIn Hmongiimih inginstl

mm

nl Inlii (In ttiHnilMi. Irr\ing(

1 IIns In. i...1lliiu r

Mm

VngSamiiaincdⁱ

njangitjaw'h harp^.!••.icourt lefthandthisy-oungmanhold*

.im ii>rtheinstrumtnt

sone<>tman) wind in>trnmrnh

playm^<amhiidia

Amy(at/inreteifed betdmi<>>\ii, in

etbnomusuotogyfrom Brinvn^'nirersity.June, I'JHO \/f, hasdonefieldworkinIndiaand

nesiaandwith Southeast isians inProvidence Kbr/del^tanii Shewas^'ifieUlivttrkei andpresenter fortin-Indianprogram andl"in<>!theI'Jy(>

i '/(/;<anr'tilklife

Music

from

SoutheastAsia tan be heard throughout the I'nited Statestoday.

Most regions inthe UnitedStateshave Lao,

Cambodian,

Vietnamese,

and

Hmong

cultural associationsthatorganize festivalssuch as

New

Yearcelebrations,

where

music isperformed. Here the

many

traditional activities are

mixed

with

modern

elements,

and

visitors are

welcome

toobserve

and

participate.

At the Festivalof

American

Folklife, however,

we

areconcentrating

on

the music thatrepresents the older strands of^tradition; those strandsthat

stem

primarily

from

^village and

home

life

One

ofthe basic instrument typesfound throughout the region isthe free reed,

whose

simplest

form

isaleaf heldin the hands orlips and

blown

to

produce

noise, or, inthe case of the talented, music.

Tlie

Hmong

and

Cambodians

are

known

^fortheirskill atplaying tunes

on

such

a leaf,

which

isa popular

worldwide

folk instrument.

Anotherfreereed instrument is the

jaw

^harp,

^made

^{ofathin stripofcane or}

metal thatis attachedat

one end

toa frame

and

plucked at the other.

Of

course, this

must

be held at the

mouth

(jaw)while inhalingor exhalingateach rhythmicstroke to

produce

music.

By

changingthe shape of the

mouth

cavity, the various notesofthe

melody

are amplified toan audible level.Tlie jaw harp

is found throughouttheworld; it isalsocalled aJew'sharp or guimbard.

Southeast Asian jaw harps are different in their basicdesign, however, because the vibrating"tongue" ofthe instrument is usuallycut only ahair'sbreadth from theframe surroundingit. Also, this

tongue

is often

shaped

likean extremely enlongatedtriangle,

sometimes

with

two

additional points Hanking theapex

Tlie

Hmong

use the jaw harpto

convey

messages in courtship.

A young man

serenades the

one

he has chosen by

composing

histhoughts into

words

and then expressing

them

through the jaw harp.

The young woman

replieswith her

own

instrument.

Hmong

^is atonal language with eight tones, so it is

possible to

produce

therising, falling, orstraight tonesat the appropriate high, middle,or low pitch levels

on

any melodic instrument. Thus, the "talking

drums"

ofAfrica havea counterpart in the "talkingreeds" of the

Hmong.

A

free reed

may

alsobe inserted into the side ofa

horn

or pipe.

A

delicate

sound

^is

produced

by coveringthe reed withthe

mouth and

alternately blowing and sucking with firm,gentle pressure.

These

free reedpipes

measure

from a few inchestoseveral feet in length and

produce

a low. haunting tone Elaborate

ornamented

melodiescan be played by the addition of finger holes Again, the

Hmong

melodies are based

upon

the rising

and

^fallingcontoursof speech. Courtship

may

^{be thesubject of}a player's thoughts, orother personal poetry

may

^be transmittedthrough these talkingreeds

Tlie singing ofthe

Hmong need

^not always he translated intoinstrumental form.

Many

^people are expertsat

performing spontaneous sung

poetry,

which may

express longing, nostalgia, andlove of nature or one's village. Courtship is

often

conducted

by singingalternately for hours inorderforthe couple to understandeach other's feelings andthoughts. For shyercouples, however, the voice is

masked by

the talkingreed. Interestingly.

Hmong

children

do

not sing becausesinging'sfunction istocourt and toexpress

deep

^{thoughts;although} parents

do

sing lullabies to their children.

Cambodians

also use various types of^free reed horns

and

pipes

The pey pork

^isplayed by inserting the entire

end

ofthe pipe containingthereed into

the

mouth and

cheek. It producesgentle,ethereal melodies that

accompany

melancholy

dance Two

basic

ensemble

^{types are used} for festivalsand dance;

the

mohori and

thepinpeat.

The mobori ensemble

contains mostlystring instruments, such asthe

bowed

spikedfiddle(tro)

and

^the

plucked

chapei.

The pinpeat

containsxylophones, metallophones,

gong-chimes

or horizontal setsof small tunedgongs,drums, finger cymbals,

and

the penetrating

oboe

(seralai). This

ensemble accompanies masked

dance, classicaldance,

and

the

shadow

play.

The

^{folkversion of}

shadow

theater,(ayang), usessmall

translucent leather puppetstotell

humorous

stories,with improvised dialogue and

contemporary

satirepredominating.

When

several freereedpipes are joined together, thereed organ isformed,

which

^isfound from Bangladesh toBorneo.

The Hmong

grtt>rtg isplayed at celebrations

and

funeralsby older

men who

^often

dance and perform

acrobatic feats,such assomersaults,while continuously inhaling

and

exhaling intothemouthpiece.

Sometimes

several

gaeng

players

compete, and some Hmong

people

dance

ⁱⁿgroups along with the players. Theirdances havetitles

such as

Welcome

andFriends.

The

Lao counterpart (kaen). ^{unlike the}curving

Hmong

instrument,has straightpipes. It isplayed forcourtship,

shadow

puppetry,

and

to

accompany

expert singers

(mawlum).

Often

two

singers will improvisea dialogue

on

a romantic or philosophical topic

and dance

to the

kaen music between

each response. Percussion instruments

may

join in

some

^forms.

The kaen

also participatesinthelanat ensemble,

which

contains xylophones,fiddles,fipple flute,gong-chimes, drums,voices,

and

fingercymbals. This

ensemble

playsfor group dances at festivals

and

celebrations.

Many

^ofthese instruments

produce music

that isaudibleonly inintimate groups,but their delicacy of

sound

^istreasured.

The Vietnamese monochord dan ban

issuch an instrument. Its single stringis stretched

by one hand

to

changeitspitch afterbeingreleased(not struck)

by

astickheld intheother hand. All thetones

produced

areharmonics,as inthe jawharp.Thus, it

must

be played inquiet placesandin close

company. The

bat

truong

quart is

another

monochord,

butit canbe heard outdoors

where

^it

accompanies

groups ofboys

who

callout theirchallengingriddle-songs to anearby

group

of

girls

who must

^reply.

The

singlestringisactually arope about eight feet long strungtautlyoverapitthree feet

wide and

braced

up

in the center.

The two

sides oftherope are struckwithsticks in arhythmic drone.

The

pit is lined with seashells toincrease itscapacity forreflectingthe sound.

Of

course,theseinstrumentsand

ensembles

represent onlya tinyfractionof the traditions thatoriginated inLaos,

Cambodia and

Vietnam,

and

that arc-

continually being broughttoAmerica.

They

contribute

immensely

to the richness ofour kaleidoscopiccultural quilt,

and we welcome

the opportunity tolearn from them.

k ^||H^H

Community Events

and Rural America

By Dennis Coelho

Bothprofessional people, they

had worked

until the last minute,

and

then

left their jobs inAtlanta torthe long, hot drivethat

September

Saturday afternoon. Mrs. Betty Highsmith

remembered

the disquiet at being unable to personally prepare any food.

The

family,the neighborhood,

and

^the

eommunity would

^all be gathered at

Old Empire

Primitive Baptist

Church

ⁱⁿ southeastern Berrien County, Georgia, forthe yearly

Homecoming. There would

be singing, dinneron-the-grounds. preaching,

and

the

chance

to visit the graves of triends

and

relatives just across the

new

road

from

the church.

Decades

of

parked wagons

hadfinally

worn

a path that separated the

church from

the cemetery.

Recent

county improvements had

brought pavingto the path

and

put a bridge overthe little stream, thereby eliminating the

bothersome

shoesotl trek through the creek.

As they

drove

south through the heat of theday, Mrs. Highsmith recalled

Homecoming

meetings at

Old Empire

that she

had

attended as a little girl. She

remembered

her fatherstanding outside^the

church on Sunday

morning, inviting each returningpilgrim to dinnerat the farm.

Once,

over

60

people accepted hiscordial hospitality.

The

family

had

all

worked

fordays to prepare the household,

and

a half-century later, the

memory

of hospitality gladly given

and

receivedstill shineswithout tarnish food, family,

and

fellowship all

mixed

nostalgically inher

mind

asthey

approached

Tifton. Mrs. Highsmith

was

uneasy

it

would

not be rightto

come

to

Homecoming

without

some

kindof food.

26

Dennisⁱoelhois(.«/r»mfin tin-s,,„thGeorgia lolkltfe Project ^.1program"Il/n Arts.Experiment

iiti \hrahamRalilwin igricttlturalCollege n: ft/ton.Georgia He^isaPhD candidateat the

1 institute'itIndiana^I'niversityamiis

completingbisdissertation<m ^IIk Search

i im Misioni.il1rsii\.iKand IInir

1 Plate-i»ltrjdniun.ilfoods servedat adinneratMt ZionBaptistChurch Damascus,Geiirgia 2 Dinnerontingrounds Royal family singing convention,Mystic,Georgia

3 Array^<>ihomemadedesserts preparedi<>rannual homecomingatBethelBaptist<hurch,Worth<ounty, Georgia

Fulling into Tifton,they

drove

quickly across

town

to the courthouse square.

Thank

the Lord, the hakery

was

stillopen.

They dashed

inand, with her husband's

encouragement,

she

bought

every cake

and

piein the store

—

^nearly

S^S.OO worth. Alter carefullyloading the food inthe car, theyset off

on

the final 30 miles to the church.

They

felt readyto

do

their part.

Throughout

rural America,

community

eventssuch as

Homecomings

act as centripetal forces pulling

members back

intothe centerofvalues,of behaviors, of

world

view all tiedtogether inactivities that reinforce the past

and

tailor thefuture.

While Homecomings

inthe southeast tendto be

most

strongly

developed

in a sacredorreligious context, secular formsexist as well, blossoming forth tocover all the symbolic territoryin

ways

that accomplish

some

manifest goals and, at the

same

time,present

community

style,i.e., the appropriatebehavior in theappropriate fashion.

Human

society is built

on

theexpectation ofpredictable behavior.

Community

eventsin

America

reinforce

and

restatethe

expected

style of

behaviorin attemptingtoreintegrate distant

members

to the

community's

values.

No

event,

no

matter

how

tedious, is all

work —

^{nor is anyfestivity all}

frolic. Perhapsthereis

something

in

humanity

that best transmits

and

receives

cultural statements as amixtureoffrivolity

and

determination. 2^

i SacredHarpsm^atGeorgia Agrirama

*5 I.mi session.11tin home^<iiPreston Newell,Tilt (ounty,Georgia

SuggestedReading s

ircw, Harry Childhood IBiography of a Place (BaconCounty. Ga.⁾ NewYork HarperandRow ^l0-T8

Id Kin and TamasHofer.Proper Peasants TraditionalLifeina Hungarian^{Village <hicago}

Milmi Publishingⁱ 1969

Gutowski lohnA AmericanFolkloreandtheModern imerican^<ommunityFestival ^{I '}aseStudy"/Turtle Days

m

ⁱhuruhusco, Indiana PhI) dissertation Indiana^I niversit) ^ll>"

Herring I I Saturday NightSketches StoriesofOld

»iregrussGeorgia Tifton,Ga Tin Sunny SouthPress I9~H( I'llHl

Mm.

^hi RoherlK mi Theoretical .Sociology New

•lurk lln Ini I'ns- Ii)(i"

The Homecoming

at

Old Empire

is an example. Each year, inpreparation for the event, the

church cemetery

receives its annual cleaning

and

arranging.

The

yearly pilgrim strollsthrough the ordered grounds, rarelysensingthat each August, nature. Sysiphus-like, nearlyrecaptures the

grounds

before being driven

back by

volunteers from the congregation. Cleaningthegraveyard is hot,dirty,

and

often

melancholy work

that nonethelessneeds to

be

done.

While few events areever total gaiety,

even

fewer areunrelieved work. In

South Georgia, land clearing

meant neighborhood

gatherings fora"logrolling"

(putting cut timber into pilesto be burned), while the

women

gathered

on

the porch or inthe

dog

trot

house

topiece andquilt for the

coming

winter.

Such

hard

work

days usually

ended

with a frolic.

More

recently,peanutshellings for seed, corn husking,

and even

the tobacco harvest

were

followed by a

covered

dish supper, singing,

and

old-styledancing. Luther

Creech

of Mitchell County, Ga., recalls

how

he

would somehow

lose the

bone-weary

fatigue ofday-long

work

inthe cotton fields

when one

neighbororanother

would

dispatch acar or

wagon

to fetch

him

to lead, teach, andcall adance.

"Seems

there

was

always

some

reason fora frolic,back then," he said.

28

InSolsberry, in

Greene

County, Ind.. the

community began

an annual fish fry to raise

money

for the volunteerfire department. Butthe event

was

so

successful that it

became

^{part ofthe} town's

sudden

self-consciousness and developing internalcohesivenessafteryears of gradual decline. After awhile, it

was

almost asifthe

money

raised

was

irrelevant.

More

importantly, the

community

pulledtogether to establish

and

continuethe event, local musicians

who

revivedold skillstoprovide entertainment suddenly found their activities spillingover into

church

functions

and

other

community

activities.

The

goal

was

to

buy new equipment

^forthe firemen, butalongthe way, Solsberrygained a

new

coherence.

Motivesfor publicevents are ofcourse subjectto the

winds

of

economic,

political,

and

social change.

From

the 1890s throughthe 1950s, rural

America

centeredsecular celebration at the local school.

John

^{R. GriffinofLenox, Ga.,}

now

83, fondly

remembers

playing his fiddle forschool closingseach spring^as the students filed out of the buildings

The neighborhood

school in fact

provided a center ^forthe yearlycycle of

opening ceremonies

^{in the fall,}

recitations

and drama

inthe winter,

and

frolics

and

^closingevents in the spring.

Some

ofthese activities

were

lost whileothers

were

transferredto local churches

when economics

forced the increasing consolidation^{of rural} school systemsafter

World War

^II

The

community and

its institutions are tied tothe

common

needsof its

members

^forfood, shelter, solace,

and

fellowship.

Whether cooking

for

Homecoming

or feeding the firemen, public participation ⁱⁿ

community

events validatesour

membership

in the cultural system,

and

providesa

common

sense-ofpurpose, ofcontribution, of

what

needstobe

done

and

how

to

do

it