Preserve or Revive?

Earlier this year on February 21, the Ao Kaketshir Mungdang observed an event to mark World Mother Language Day. As part of the event, AKM declared the results of a village wise competition. The competition was a long drawn affair and was based on documentation of indigenous Ao Naga household items. The winning village had documented about a 100 household items and it included, along with the names of the items, their usage, how they were made and why they were named so. It was a very productive initiative by AKM and a brilliant one at that.

Today, April 18, is World Heritage Day. The theme for this year is “Heritage and Climate.” This column had earlier on February 10 talked about our cultural heritage. As mentioned then, there are three aspects of heritage – the tangible, the intangible and the natural. This year’s theme for the World Heritage Day aligns with the third aspect, natural heritage.

As stated on February 10 in this column, our cultural heritage provides us clues to our past and allows us to peep into the process of our progress, while linking the past to the future. More importantly, it helps us understand our own history and thereby helps us develop an awareness about ourselves. Cultural heritage in its totality is, therefore, the cornerstone of our culture, identity and our future. Given the fact that our natural heritage is fast disappearing, it is discouraging to note that there is no discourse happening on this matter.

Fortunately, the Department of History, Jubilee Memorial College, is observing the day with Padma Shri T. Senka Ao and it is a given that the students will be immensely enriched after spending a session with him.

We often hear or talk about the importance of preserving or cultural heritage. Cultural heritage preservation, generally speaking, means keeping the artifacts and traditions of a community intact against factors trying to change them or wear them away. Some common examples are restoring historical buildings, passing on an ancient craft or recording traditional tales.

It may also include documenting and studying languages; preserving and restoring historic relics significant to a culture or heritage; and encouraging the preservation and use of indigenous or tribal languages.

Cultural heritage is central to protecting our sense of who we are, and it allows us to identify ourselves with each other and deepen our sense of unity, belonging and collective identity. However, most of our heritage has disappeared without us realizing the gravity of the situation. Our depleting forest cover and polluted river system, for example. Our language, heirloom seeds, knowledge system, values, artifacts and other heritage are in danger of being phased out. Thousands of years of cultural knowledge is on the verge of disappearing.

It is in this context that one wonders just how long the phrase “preserving our cultural heritage” would even remain relevant. How long before it becomes “reviving our cultural heritage”? That which no longer is cannot be preserved, it can only be revived. Of the close to hundred household items documented by the village as stated above, most of them are no longer in use and are placed as “relics from the past” in the village museum. That’s how grim the situation is.

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