"Commoditization of culture in effect robs people of the very meanings by which they organize their lives."
Based on what you've experienced in the two countries, which is more important, esaving the actual culture, or saving the historic artifacts of the culture? Is there a difference? Are they sharing or selling culture?
Change is inevitable and saving an actual culture can be problematic. Cultures can be affected by so many kinds of changes from technological advances that change our daily lives to climate change which can also have dramatic effect on culture. But there is a definite difference between sharing a culture or selling it. Once you begin selling it, you've changed it by making it a commodity. Unfortunately some selling of it may be necessary to save it. But I don't believe there is a single answer to whether preserving a culture or it's artifacts is more important. It depends on the culture and the values of that culture.
For example in the Australian outback the values of the aboriginal culture in that area would speak to saving it. It appears to be important to them to maintain their culture and identity as is. Aund unfortunately many aboriginal cultures are already losI would say the American culture in general embraces change yet sees much value in preserving our historical artifacts. For us, Americans, history.... where we came from is important to our sense of identity, and one way of preserving culture is through the saving of historic artifacts and we do value that. And of course there are cultures within America such as native Americans who place a high value on maintaing their culture. But many American individuals-not everbody-are also fascinated by technology and the changes it brings. So again there is no single answer of what is most important.
There will always be some tension between the desire to save a culture versus moving forward to something new. The trick is finding the balance that serves the majority of the desires and needs of a particular culture.
The Australian outback is an excellent example of the strain of saving a culture by both sharing and selling it. I visited the Outback and both the olgas and Uluru. There is an obvious clash between what the nonprofit cultural center represented the aboriginals wanted....to preserve their land and honor its sacredness and what is represented by guides geared toward tourists. The Australian government took over Uluru but gave it back to its indigenous people in 1985 . Then the government leased it back and since that time it is a national park with an uneasy alliance between the two. The government demanded the access to climbing the rock remain open which aboriginals oppose, but the aboriginals then refused access to geologists which was a very smart move as it keeps it safe from mining. If that became available and precious metals discovered, I would guess it would be hard to preserve their culture.
In visiting the non profit cultural center outside Uluru , the posted quotes of the aboriginals make it clear the rock is sacred to them and they don't want anyone climbing it, while our Australian guide told us they don't mind the climbing as long as people don't leave garbage and are careful not to get hurt. The aboriginals create art that is sold to tourists which helps fund their needs but are still able to maintain their culture. The guides told us that the park is closed when there is an aboriginal funeral or ceremony and they are able to maintain a level of privacy.
Learning about cultures helps us save them. Working to understand cultures and respect them is important because if we don't we change them. For example I witnessed a lot of disrespect at Uluru ...not only climbing the rock but by littering.
The 3 Tao chapters I chose were #32 unity because when I was leader at the blue mountains it was hard to bring everyone back as a unit after being in separate cabins but I think the canyoning was a somewhat effective way of bringing people back together and having to help each other moving down the rock and being leader that day it was fun to jump off first then show everyone the best way to jump off. The second one I chose was # 37 doing little being a leader for me maybe it was just the days I got dealt but was just telling everyone what was on the agenda today and letting them do there thing and you just have to tell and get everyone in for dinner but other then that people were kind of on there own. The third one I chose was #81 the reward even on cook crew I felt like it was easier to not tell people but we were having so they couldn't throw in there idea for dinner and tell you what they want and don't want it was so much easier to just make the decision for them and not tell. It was fun seeing everyone's successes and growths in the trip, as the leader on the canyoning day it was fun to see the people who went up the canyon make it safely and see that they did it and just at the end of the trip just reflecting on my successes and everyone else's.
After Manley, we were off to the Blue Mountains which were stunning. Although it rained the majority of the time we were there, we still had fun. We saw many cockatoos , cookaburras and kangaroos as well as other wildlife. The best part of the Blue Mountains was canyoning. I was leader and so I got to do all the jumps first which was a bit frightening but fantastic. Jumping off 15 ft cliffs into unknown water is definitely a rush. Day Two in the Blue Mountains we hung out in Blackheath. Someof us went hiking and some went golfing but I had to print out my scuba homework so I stayed in town to do that. The bright side was I got to goto an aboriginal show which I thoroughly enjoyed. There were aboriginal dance performances and I saw someone play a dandaroo. I even got to paint on a wall of aboriginal designs. Before the show,we walked half of the 900 stairs down into the jungle by the 3 sisters. While waiting for everyone to get back from their activities, some of us watched the thunder and lightning storm roll in .....very crazy to watch. Then lightening struck nearby and we all felt the current through the rock. We heard later that some poor soul was actually struck by lightening. My camera got stolen and my pictures so far lost which is a bummer. Then we drove to Warrumbungles and saw a ton of kangaroos and it seemed like they were everywhere. We did some hiking and nearly eaten alive by mozzies. The rain forest camping was great and the Cascade jungle was fun aside from our getting covered by leaches. It was reminiscent of the scene from Stand by Me although these leeches were much smaller but still very gross. We had our own cook who made us a dish called bush tucker with kangaroo and crocs as well as some vegetarian sides and lemon myrtle ice cream. Won't be doing kangaroo meat again. Hiking in the jungle was fun, and we learned about mites and their mounds which are strong enough to stand on. They add to the ecosystem by breaking trees down. Crazy weather including thunderstorms canceled some of our plans but we were able to river raft including raids and waterfalls. We saw the giant lizards called monitors.
Then we went to Byron Bay. We started with surf lessons. The next day we started scuba and I focused on that the remainder of our school trip. I saw turtles and many other exotic fish.
Following Byron bay, I met up with family. We traveled to Sydney and toured the city including an exhibit on surfing that was awesome. Surfing is definitely a culture all it's own and this exhibit showed the "artifacts" of early days including long thick boards as well as the clothing music and lifestyle of the 60's. From Sydney we flew to Ayers Rock. We were able to do hikes around the rock and through the Olga's. I have never seen dirt as red as the outback. We drove to the rock at both sunrise and sunset to see the different effects of light and shadows. Now we are heading on to Melbourne and the areas around it..including the Great Ocean Road. I look forward to it.
I have wanted to visit this part of the world since 6th grade. I loved this trip. I admire the pace of life here. We met so many friendly people along the way who shared their adventures and stories. I will certainly come back here again.
Cary
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