Saturday, November 3, 2007
Do you think we should put our culture in a time capsule and move on?
I have heard a lot of comments about modernizing and forgetting about our culture as it has become obsolete. For example, should our traditional chiefs continue to hold a parallel position of power with our modern leaders? Why or why not? Also discuss our customary practices like ngasech, kemeldiil, etc. Are these practices just too much and unnecessary for today's society, or are they still very vital in our lives as Palauans?
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28 comments:
Well first of all I am a proud citizen of Palau and I will die for my country. To me modernizing our island itself for better economics and life for the future is great, but forgetting our culture is absurd. Our culture was passed from our ancestors to the other and all the way to us youth, it is a vital part of our circle of life. We might be able to live without it, and if we do and when our grandchildrens children will come of knowledge all they can do is read and hear about it. Our life has been with tradition since I have grown and to see that vanish is sad. Chiefs and Goverment officials have been working together not as with power but respect cause of our tradition. I just speak on my behalf that culture shows us and teaches us who we are and what kinda of people we are, all I know is that we are who we are and who is it to take that from us. They can take that away if they will, but they will never take away our pride and dignity and the knowlege we have about our culture. My children will know our heritage how we came to be and the tradition of our community. We are Palauans and that will never change....................
well first of all, this name ngelekel belau speaks for itself. You are proud to be from palau right? ok. What is Palau? It's an island where women celebrate their first child birth with a huge ceremony. where the mother is half naked and relatives showers her with water,herbs,and money. Where funerals are held for days and houses are biult with relatives basically paying for the mortgage. It sounds like a great expense for oneself, but on the other hand that is what defines us as palauans. So should we put our culture in a time capsule and move on, and one day a white guy walks up to you and say, "what are you?" what would you say? palauan-american? the "palauan" in the title just basically explains the color of your skin? What I'm trying to say is, our culture is what defines us as people of this country. We want our kids to have their own ethnicity and their own sense of belonging. We want them to be able to do contemporary dances, and traditional dances too, which I think is a healthy balance for this modernized world we're living in today.
i agree! when we introduce ourselves to other people (those who live abroad or just visiting) the first thing that we say is "I'm from Palau." that sentence alone holds so much history, pride, cultural significance and traditions, and it set's us apart from the rest of the world. there have been attempts to discredit traditional chiefs; or what about comments people post on OKEDYULABUU that suggest to the next president that he should make our traditional chiefs work 8hrs/day by picking up trash from one end of the island to the other. it seems to me that money and greed fuels this ideology of the chiefs being useless. at the end of the day, we should never forget our roots and that they are part of the palauaness that's a dominant part of our identities. i don't want my children or their children to just claim they're palauans and not practice the rituals and learning the values of "melengmes", "mengull", etc that i value so dear to my heart. i want my children to see a real chief and a real ourot el mechas, and attend a real "ngasch" with grass skirts and all. i think we make a fool out of ourselves to think that we should put our culture in a time capsule or on a shelf at a museum and move on.
i want to comment to the person who said that the chief should work 8hours picking up trash from one end of island to another. first of all i'm from koror, truely native of koror there is no way i would let my chief to pick up trash anywhere. the next president should be the one to pick up the trash, because he works for national goverment.or people from honto should pick the trash around koror because there are the one who loves to or claim to be korornians. thank you
and I'am racism toward people from honto.
to the last anonymous:
as you can see, i name myself as an elbacheb in koror. i too am a from koror with no questions asked. however it's interesting to know that animosity and racism still exists towards "rechad ra honto." first of all, there's no such thing as a pure kororian anymore, we can argue and argue all night and you'll still find honto in your blood. it's not "irechar" anymore where they tried to marry within their towns to preserve their race, that minds set is so outdated and obsolete. i do agree with you about not wanting to see my chief pick up trash because it's just ridiculous. however it's sad to know that you feel that way because it only shows that you're ignorant and naive. so live and learn my dear because when you get out into the world, being a "kororian" just doesn't cut it.
This will be the death of us, our culture is our identity and without it we are lost souls. Look at the Chamorro, Hawaiians, African American, Native Americans. WE are unique because of our culture; to destroy it will kill the Palauan spirit that gives us strength and love.
Well, 1st of all let me just write this little piece of mind of mine. After reading all the above and well typed points of view, I come to a single point in which I declare "What's the use?".
This culture in which we all Palauans carry on our shoulder which we're born with have come to use it in advantage.
Shall we say " greedy for the greens".? Or shall we say, who powers the clan itself yet comes to needs.
This is a debate in which we all carry with us and our future pipol of Palau, This issue will never die aslong as we live.
So, in closing, let me just say, Do what you think is right, it's a free will and it's a choice to take part in the "Elsang", Cause I have seen where some have put so much for others, and pthers do least back. So why stress over this,if you have what you got to give..give, if not, then move on.
Sulang and have a great day..
Buik
First of all, I'm really offended by the question itself. If we put our culture in a time capsule and move on, we lose our sense of identity and lose our values that helped in who we are today...And no, we should NOT put our culture aside and move on. Our Palauan culture and history are the only lifelines that will ultimately help us to move on towards a better future as one Palau by looking backwards to our history, our people (the elders) and helping in strengthening our ties to each other.
"Palauan Pride", there's your answer, so why should we? Outdate the Palauanness and move on, I mean. Elaborate on it all you want but it's what identifies and separates a Palauan from another islander. Some of the Pacific Islanders have somewhat similar cultures and customs like ours but theres no place on earth that celebrate "ngasech" the way Palauans do and it's the little things like that that's part of our cultures that differentiate us from other islanders. We may change names from Belau to Palau(which is a small town in Spain) Oreor to Koror and others because we're influenced by outside world but again it's the culture that differentiate us from the neighbor islands. And to the Kororian who's racist on the people from Honto, I can tell you're immature & ignorant because I myself is from Koror and meteet but never will I speak to my fellow Palauans that way regardless of where they're from, even if they're from echang. Lelak ar metaiou eterua techa bo moldurch er tir but I can tell you're not from the meteet clan that's why you're immature & narrowminded. And when all the westerners look at us we're all the same from the 3rd world countries and that's why we need to keep our "palauan pride" to differentiate us from "rechad ra ruk".
to that whoever say from koror, and meteet who cares about if your meteet or what! i'am too but i dont mention it on the website, i'll keep it in my heart and i too is come from a clan family, but i didnot mention it because i can careless about it.so once again no matter what you say i will still be racist toward people from honto.anyway you right that i'am inmature and ignorant but that wont change anything who i am. and for palauans we should keep our traditional,and culture because that's who we are as palauans and we should be proud that God blessed our island, and that is why we dont experience anything like wrath of God, such as witch fires, tornado,tidelwaves,and huricane.thaank yooo...
This is in response to the immature and ignorant, the only reason why I mentioned meteet because I was trying to make a point, it doesn't matter to me either because you cannot take it with you anywhere in the world with that kind of attitude and succeed in life. It's funny how you mention God and your racist comment in the same paragraph. I sure hope you lose that attitude when you step out of Palau, because if you don't you'll get jumped, if you know what I mean. And the honto people aka Babeldaob folks are just as much a Palauan as you want them to be and there's nothing you can do with your racist comment to change that. So like it or not they can come to Oreor anytime they want and do whatever they please as long as they don't bother others. And what makes you think that Belau is immuned from natural disasters... hello, global warming!!! Why do you think it's extremely hot in Oreor and folks are stroking left and right. I bet your true roots are from honto and you're ashamed to admit it. Grow up and get off your high horse and get your spelling right. For someone with such attitude, your sh***t sure stinks. "Mngai a dechil a medam ra uchei 'r omolai a dechil a medal a chad." God bless you so you can change your hatred heart and cleanse you from being a racist.
How is it possible to put aside your identity and move on? How do you introduce yourself? How would you interact with the rest of the world without a sense of identity. Our culture is our identity as a whole society. We are not doing our best in the globalizing world if we do not maintain our values which would be our "CULTURE". (not to mention the many aspects of our society such as traditions, language, rituals, etc.) It's a difficult task for the people of Palau when our island is as small as it is, we lack the capacity and tools than those of larger more developed nations. But that does not necessarily mean we can't keep our cultures with us as we move along. Respect is something you can teach your children. So, No, I don't think Culture is an issue when it comes to developing our country. I think the issue is with the people. Can we strive for the betterment of Palau's economy and development with the globalizing world without losing our sense of being "ONE"? A uchul me ke de mo omdasue el kmo a siukang er kid a mechu remiid le kid el chad el mo soad a imerikel e mo meruul er kid el meliakl er kid ra dodengei el siukang er kid ra irechar el mei. Kid el meklou a mesuub el olisechakl ra re mekekrei a ikel lulsisechakl er kid a remechuodel ra irechar el mei. Sel de mei me dosaod a iltetet e domasech a ikel ungil er kau el imol chad e seikid a kau a mla bes ra klechibelau er kau. Aldu meng ngarngii a ilteet le irechar e tirkel meteet a medengei a tekoi e dirrek el mle tir a olsisechakl e omecheliu ra beluu. Meng diak omei mem du ke meteet el racist el kirir a rechad ra honto le rengum eng honto er ker? Honto ra beluu ra Belau el belau er kau me ngak me tir me tirkei. "KLECHIBELAU" can only exist when we all think of ourselves as part of one whole. Mem bai please e mluut el mo mesuub a tekoi ra klechad, coz obviously "ke ngesonges".
to my dear immature and ignorant:
gee you sure have earned a name..lol i see that you now agree to being ignorant after your back lash (refer to JUST A TIP comments.)I still don't understand your hardheadedness. but sadly as it may seems, this very same attitude you have reflects a reality of the palauan society. there are indeed people like you still roaming around. you're like the white supremacist who refuse to change. i wish i know what makes you think you have the right to be prejudice toward rechad ra honto. i think it would be so much better if you explain not just your feeling but what it is that makes you feel that way; because clearly a lot of people just can't see things your way. another thing that i don't understand is bring ilteet into this topic. my understanding is that "a remeral meteet a ngariou a rengrir e meduch el olngesenges." so please don't use it very loosely. a person may be meteet from birth but it's his/her personality and values that makes him/her a "meral meteet," le rechad er a beluu a mo sorir el orrenges e mengull erngii. and please don't argue with me about it this time because i have done my homework, i learn from the elders and learn the values that the community share. one thing that you should know, you say your in the U.S., out here, you're the chad ra honto (you and all of us.)so i still tell you to grow up even when you're "well-educated licensed practical nurse," because you obviously see a glass half empty.
Isn't it just ridiculous how there are some really narrow-minded, ignorant and racist people still lurking around. I personally think that the modernization of our country in terms of the economy and way of life is something inevitable. Of course, we are striding into the future and so there will be some sacrifices that need to be made. One thing that we must never forget as Palauans is where we came from, our roots and our heritage because thats what gives us our sense of direction as to where we want to be as a nation and as individuals. However, I do believe that these changes and sacrifices should be made sparingly so our culture does not diminish completely.
hello, this is to ngemelis,i totally understand where you coming from. you know what even though you said that i'm ignorant again, and i sure i got new name that doesn't mean anything to me, i wont get offended about it because no matter what that person said i'm laughting because i wish i meet her face to face and see. but what you've said was right and i'll take it all back. because it's so true that ar a rourot ra beluu a kirir el ngariou a rengrir e olngesenges a tekoi, so i agree for comment you said. to tell you the true i have friends from all over some of them are chad ra honto. but their are good ones and sometimes i bring the topic like why do some of you have their own property back home meaning honto, and they dont build their house on their property and rather lease the land in koror and built their house and stay and never go home and visit. thats how i feel toward them. if i'm from there i'll build my house and stay and be proud that i'm glad i'm from this place. and take the bilas and go to work in koror or drive.but to tell you i'am closer to become an R.N.thank you
to that a alekong meteet, let me make some senses to you how do i know that belau is hot, because to me belau is always hot becuse we are closer to the equator on the map, so what are you talking about, humidity. and to my understanding is that there is a changes of rising sealevel in palau and because of glacier ice melting in the northpole. and so you dont mantion a global warming bedcause you dont have any idea global warming. the sealevel is effecting rigth now in palau when i's full moon. and in ten years from now tirkel chad el kieie era across ra suresave mart will have to find higher place to live. so you think you otta smart,me but hello! i sure have friends from honto i mean babeldaob. NNNNNNNNNNN aaaa!.
Again, Ms. Kororian, well-educated, wanna be RN. Read and spell-check your comments before you post. I don't understand what you're saying because your English don't make sense. Moluches el tekoi er Belau mel sebechek el understand. Also read my comments ra "Just a tip".
Sulang,
Bilung
By the way, what took you so long to respond? Did you have to do your research on-line to find out what "global-warming" is? You write "otta smart"?? Let me correct you, it should be "out-smart". Kamoskau, ngdiak el sebechem ra rebuik ra honto!!! Tilcha 'l iltetem a diak a belkul. And what makes you think I am a "her"??? And how do you know I'm not one of your honto friends? Tilechaikid el predudice er kau omchitii lengdi tomellau e merkong. This will be my last comment to you because I'm wasting my time on you. Don't want to stoop down to your level.
Good bye & God Bless you,
sechal Bilung
yaaaah...! rigt you dont understand me or is it that you dont know anything about what i was talking about. i dont do research like you and you sounded like big fat ugly woman. meteet wanna be. i dont know me at all and it's sad, plus who cares about my english! is not my language so what.i have a better things to do than to chat with a out-smart person like you good by dont get into an accident . this is it for me.
It's not that. It's because you claim to be well-educated soon to be RN but you don't write or speak like one. You act like a 2 year old throwing tantrums and you can't take a heat when it comes your way. I understand that English is not our language and we may speak it with accent but if you're educated you should write it well. You can't even debate on important issues nor can you agree to disagree with others in this forum e di kot e blast ra Ngemelis ea uriul e ke kiss ass when he/she put you in your place. Now you're speaking childish language like me being "fat & ugly woman". I really didn't want to come down on you like this but you invite these type of behaviors to yourself for making racist comments. And until you wise up a bit and change your way of thinking, you will continue to be treated this way. So even though, I don't like your attitude because of the way you present yourself in here, I still care about you as a person because you're a Belauan and that's why we need to keep our culture and show our younger generations what it's like to be a Belauan. Omengull, omelengmes, Olengesenges e diak doltuub ra rechad because of where they come from. God Bless you because you need help and Good luck on your career.
Sulang,
Bilung
instead of puttin it into a time capsule we should revive our culture because its slowly beginning to drift off from our hands. our culture is our identity and without out it we are nothing. it is to separate us from other nation because of the uniqueness of our culture. i ask that we should learn to preserve and keep our culture going, pass it on to our younger generation. lets make the time to talk to our elders and learn our culture by heart. lets put an emphasis to keeping our culture alive.
there are two sides to a quarter. so i can say we can hold it off because it has eaten us alive with all the elsang and all the money spending. and palau today does not have a good economy. our paycheck does not fit to the lifestyle of Palau. the cost of food, living, electricity is so expensive that it eats up all the whole paycheck. and to make it even worse for us to live is the siukang. kede meral di help others by giving so much and in return they don't even it out. and it hurts, and we know that we can't approach someone and tell them that i helped you big time so you should do that in return, no...kede di mengchii a luuk e mecherei.
on the other hand, our culture is definetely our identity. it gives us the name and face to who we are and where we're from. so losing it will be a great lose of what we have.
so just a little idea. maybe if we keep our culture we should like state it out and clear that if we give so much in return we should help out big. just so we even out our differences.
thanks!
I am very excited to see the issue of cultural identity be discussed so thoroughly on this website. I for one am dealing with Palau's Cultural Identity verses their National identity. A cultural identity includes a persons ethnos, geographic location etc. It is his/hers customes,traditions and everyday life. Culture is the foundation of every individual, and sets the walls up for his/her home of their heart. I believe the larger issue in this debate on modernization stems from Palau's National Identity. National identity tends to be politically motivated and has a global audience. As "Palauans" the Republic of palau presents itself as an up and coming nation state, which can and will sustain itself and its people socially, economically, and culturally. But there is an identity crisis when Nationalism is concern. For example, the New Capitol Complex in Melekeok exemplifies this identity crisis. It is truly a westernized form of architecture, with the typical dome structure and westernized division of government, but it ornaments its walls and friezes with Palauan mythological creatures and attaches a "round" structure to the entire complex for the tribal chiefs. I don't get it? To me the New Capitol complex represents a foreign tourist wearing palauan jewelry. I have made it my goal to try and critically analyze how can palau present a national identity to our global society in a more "true" cultural representation. I believe that the capital city should stay in Koror and hopefully through my research, i can provide what could have been a better capitol complex in an existing city(Koror); and keeping Palau's sustainable sensibilites of the environment intact.
To Ngemelis, Anonymous, and Bilung....
Sechelei, please take your fighting and backlash somewhere else! Or please post another blog that's designated for Palauans to meet and talk smack about each other. Ak meral merur! Kede melasm el mer tiang e mesaod ra beluad ma lmuut el meklou a belkul el tekoi e kemiu a uaisei? Don't you think you're all being irrational and need I say, childish? So please, m'ngai a rengmiu el moriou e bo bechei a ikang e dolasem el input a uldasu el kirel a meklou a belkul tekoi le altang mo sebechel ngosukid el rokui ma beluad.
Sulang
to anon above:
i don't see your point. i agree that it might have gone a little bit out of control but if you look closer, i wasn't fighting at all. anon was honest about his/her feelings, and i responded because that's how a dialogue is supposed to be. at the end, he/she explained her stance at least to me; and that's the goal, we opened each other's mind toward the issue. saying i'm childish without even seeing the big picture is actually irrational. if anything i reached a common ground with anon and left it at that. my goal was to understand why he/she thought that way and he/she explained. that's all i have to say.
Reading from your comments, it is good to hear that all of us are proud of our culture and our heritage. This is who we are and where we are from. How can you erase who you are? I don't believe that we should put our culture on hold because no matter how strong the outside influences are, we need to stay true and strong on our culture and if anything, continue to strenthen and encourage the younger generation to respect and adhere to them. Would we rather hold our culture and what, start adopting outside cultures? I don't believe that we should. We must trust and hold on strong and NEVER EVER think of changing or putting our culture in a time capsule. We must believe in who we are and we must stand strong. Sure the times are changing but we shouldn't change with the times. We are Palauans and there is no other like us. So WE MUST always be PALAUANS in all apects.
I definitely agree with Okerduul.
And to the person who was responding to me, Ngemelis and the racist, I agree with you that maybe my dialogue between myself and the racist went a little too far but that's exactly the point I was trying to make. When a person puts another person or a group of people down because of who they are or where they're from without really knowing a person for who they are, we get defensive and the conversation becomes chaotic and it creates tension. Ngemelis and I were simply reacting to the comment "I'm racist against rechad ra honto". So go back and read the previous posts and understand that this is a public forum and we can voice our opinions freely. We're all proud of who we are and where we came from and that's why we react to negative comments like that. And that's the reason why we should NOT, NEVER EVER "put our culture in a time capsule and move on"!!!! NEVER EVER. Maybe we can make some adjustments or improve our culture such as customs so that others won't be overburdened by the obligations but we should NEVER just move on without it. It's our PRIDE!!! Make it a GREAT DAY and God Bless.
Bilung
well first off...how will palau define 'modern'... what will that mean 2 an average palauan elder? what will that mean 2 an average palauan youth? according 2 commentary it would seem 'modernization' wont include stuff like childbirth ceremony. already, i see how palau abandoned tattoo since they succumbed 2 dogmatic practice by a foreign male-created ideology... but moving on... hypothetically (4 instance), we could 'modernize' ngasech simply taking it 2 a spa, upgrade 2 a sauna, get good grade herb, etc...and still call it ngasech. so when u speak about modernization, how 'modern' do u really mean? r u saying we wont smoke fish any more cuz we went modern? r u saying we will pack up shop, become christian fascist right-wing types and start killing palestinian ppl 4 a false-prophet? i sure wont...so help me on this- define modern first...cuz i cant imagine y anybody would actually abandon their identity unless they were like hitler, who did just that.
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