http://entrelib.org/conferences/2013-conference/scheduled-presenters/ Project APRCH (Agency in the Preservation of Refugee Cultural Heritage) asks refugees to speak in their own voice (agency) about how they wish to document (record for posterity), perpetuate (ongoing practice/survival) and disseminate (make accessible) their cultural heritage. By using a “scholarship of dialogue” approach, we seek to be culturally competent in this endeavor. –Nora J. Bird, Assistant Professor, UNCG Department of Library and Information Studies –Clara M. Chu, Professor, UNCG Department of Library and Information Studies –Fatih Oguz, Assistant Professor, UNCG Department of Library and Information Studies

1. PRESERVING REFUGEE CULTURAL
HERITAGE: TAKING COMMUNITY
AND CULTURE INTO ACCOUNT
Nora J. Bird, Clara M. Chu and Fatih Oguz
Department of Library and Information Studies
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

2. Documentation and scholarship as a
process of empowering the “Other”
 “…multicultural and globalized digital libraries would
guarantee the right for all cultural voices to be included,
would acquire the necessary funding to pursue multicultural
projects, and would enable underrepresented voices to speak
for themselves, to determine what cultural heritage and
community (including individual) experiences are to be
digitized, and how the information will be accessed (limited
or full access, language, interface, etc.)” (Chu, 2008)
 scholarship of dialogue is “a framework for rethinking and
reformulating who will conduct…research, how it will be
conducted, what the focus of the research will be, how it will
be disseminated, who provides the leadership and who
speaks for the diverse constituencies.” (Chu, 2005, p. 430)
 respect, critical thinking, praxis, and conscientisation

3. Scaffold
AGENCY
PRESERVATION
REFUGEE
 “intangible” CULTURAL HERITAGE
project APRCH

4. Agency

5. Objects of exile (abandonment and loss)
A clue to her mother’s circumspect nature arrived
inadvertently when Ms. Vang stumbled upon an
unopened suitcase in her closet. It contained the
tattered embroidered jacket she wore as a girl the
night she had to flee her Laotian village. Such
tangible remnants, which she [Vang] calls “objects
of exile,” triggered her mother’s concealed
memories. (Brown, 2011)

6. Agency through writing
(Brown, 2011)
Coming to terms with their parents’ experience, from Laos
to Fresno, and preserving it in the printed word is the
major impetus for Soul Choj Vang and his colleagues:
Now, here I am, adopted citizen,
Not rooted in this land, unable to taste
The spirit in its dust,
To sense its moods in the pollen.
How do I begin my song?
“Our parents will never write,” Ms. Vang said. “So
we write for them.”

7. Preservation

8. PRESERVATION
 What must be preserved can’t be determined by
well-meaning information professionals focused on
building a system to organize and house.
 We must ask what and observe how intangible
cultural heritage objects are used.
We must ask, “What does the Laotian cloth coat means
to Ms. Vang’s mother and how would she want it to be
preserved.”

9. Authentic Preservation
 Document (record for posterity) in a manner that fits
the objects and the producing community
 Perpetuate (ongoing practice/survival) within
community (and outside, as appropriate)
 Disseminate (make accessible) to the producing
community and the wider community, including
members of the diaspora.

10. Refugees

11. Refugees as a “Group”
 Cannot assume common
issues for refugees as a
group but do they exist?
 Same country but different
ethnicities, tribes, loyalties,
religions, languages.
 Same culture but of
different religions
 Some cultures are oral/pre-
literate
Image: http://www.worldreliefmn.org/about-refugees/who-are-refugees/

12. Special needs – 1st generation
 Not the same as voluntary immigrants
 Experiencing culture shock, post-trauma (war,
displacement, refugee camps)
 Stress of poverty in U.S.
 Language issues
 Social isolation
 Education
 Health impacts
 Family power structure – women’s roles

13. Special needs – 2nd Generation
 Impending cultural loss from aging first
generation
 Need to feel success, to not deny their
culture
 Cultural integration

14. Working with Refugees
Build trust, be involved in activities
Helpful activities: soccer team,
cultural activities, craft group
Work with cultural or religious
organizations and service agencies
to connect with communities
Image: http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/assets/0000/5490/Volunteer_With_Us_-_Refugee_Action_-
_Gwen_Jones_2011_overview.jpg?1366126700

15. The UNESCO Definition
(Intangible) Cultural Heritage

16. Traditional, contemporary, and
living at the same time
Represents not only inherited traditions
but contemporary rural and urban
practices

17. Hmong Story Cloth
Touger Vang’s personal collection

18. New Traditions from Refugee Camp
Science Museum of Minnesota staff member Mr. Sue Thao writes:
"Story cloths are a commercial product of the
refugee camps in Thailand, depicting people's
life stories. It is not traditional Hmong stitching.
And it is not how our elders pass stories from
generation to generation. Our stories are passed
down orally generation to generation." (The Hmong
Foundation)

19. Inclusive
Expressions are passed from one generation to
another and evolve in response to their
environments.
They link the past, present, and future.

20. Younger Generation
 Agency is crucial for the new generation.
 They can be encouraged to meld the past and
present to create their own sense of the future.
 Cultural heritage institutions can be the site and
impetus for this activity.

21. Knowledge of Traditions
Several weeks ago, Ying Thao,
29, discovered, while watching a
travelogue on Hmong TV, that his
mother was a master artisan in
Laos, celebrated for making hemp
cloth from scratch. “Here in
Fresno, she goes to Hancock
Fabrics, JoAnn or Walmart,” he
observed. “I sensed she didn’t want
to be reminded of herself.”
(Brown, 2011)
Image: http://www.floweringmoon.com/hmong7.JPG

22. PRESERVING MONTAGNARD REFUGEE CULTURAL
HERITAGE: UNDERSTANDING PRIORITIES THROUGH
INTERGENERATIONAL DIALOGUE
Funded Project*:
* Project is funded by a Coalition for Diverse Language Communities Fellowship
http://cdlc.uncg.edu

23. CDLC-funded project*
* Project is funded by a Coalition for Diverse Language Communities
Fellowship http://cdlc.uncg.edu
 The quote in previous slide is evidence of the invisibility
and silence around refugees passing down and sharing
their culture, creating a disconnect between generations
and the community at large.
 research and activities addressing the needs of the
refugee communities in the Piedmont Triad have tended
to focus on resettlement, employment, health, education
and social services.
 In a new homeland, refugees communities are not only
facing the adversity of being displaced and fleeing
persecution, but having to resettle with little else but
their culture and memories.

24. Why the Montagnards?
Image: http://backstrapweaving.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/more-progress.jpg?w=500&h=187
 Of the many refugee communities in the Triad, the
Montagnards were selected because as a traditional oral
community the preservation of their culture faces greater
challenges. Settling in the Triad since the mid-1980s,
Guilford County is home to the largest Montagnard
community living outside of Vietnam, whose culture consists
of at least 5 major language groups and various dialects.

25. Design (APRCH)
 a young Montagnard (12) will interview an elder
Montagnard (12) – snowball sample
 intergenerational approach strives to enhance authenticity,
cultural and linguistic respect, and learning within the
community
 Young Montagnards will learn about cultural heritage and
its preservation through interviewing elder about what
and how they wish to document, perpetuate and
disseminate their culture
 Survey and focus group prior to training workshop and
focus group post interview
 Montagnard culture event

26. APRCH: Impacts
 Intercultural dialogue between refugee groups.
 Diaspora connections for groups studied.
 Educational resources for the wider community.
 Model program of authentic preservation practices.
Photo by Andria Lo: http://newamericamedia.org/m_chang_hmong_500x279.jpg

27. Cultural Heritage Preservation: Our work
and selected resources
Project APRCH – A website for learning and sharing resources that uses
a community-grounded approach to learn, understand and conduct
preservation of refugee cultural
heritage. http://aprch.wordpress.com/
 folklife, traditional life
 Memory Projects: preservation, promotion, and
celebration of culture and history
 cultural heritage preservation

28. THANK YOU!
 APRCH website. http://aprch.wordpress.com/
 Bailey, R. (2005). New Immigrant Communities in the North Carolina Piedmont
Triad: Integration Issues and Challenges. In E. M. Gozdziak & S. F. Martin (Eds.),
Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a Changing America (57-86). Lanham,
Maryland: Lexington Books.
 Brown, P.L. (2011) “A Hmong Generation Finds Its Voice in Writing,” New York
Times. December 31, 2011. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/us/a-hmong-generation-finds-its-voice-in-
writing.html.
 Chu, Clara M. (2005). ‘Web-based communities scholarship: from silence to
dialogue’, Int. J. Web Based Communities, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 423–435.
 Chu, Clara M. Multiculturalism and Globalization: Implications for Asian Digital
Libraries (ppt). NDAP International Conference (National Digital Archives
Program, Taiwan), 18-20th March 2008; Taipei. Retrieved from
www.ndap.org.tw/96AnnualExhibition/.../ndap2008-chu-final.pdf
 The Hmong Foundation, Inc. Hmong Flower Cloth (Story Cloth). Retrieved from
http://www.hmongfoundation.com/page/show/182739-cultural-programs-and-
activities
 UNESCO (2012). What is Intangible Cultural Heritage? Retrieved from
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?pg=00002
Q & A
REFERENCES