Cultural Exploration

Prompted by a class I'm currently taking, I've been thinking about my cultural heritage. This always kind of irks me, because for a "white-washed" multi-gen American my heritage is A. as varied as the microbiome of a bathroom floor and B. largely unknown. I have no particular lineage with which I closely identify. I have no language, customs, traditions, or dogma derived from my ethnicity. So with what am I left? Where do I go from here when asked to explore my culture?

I look to the culture I have made for myself. It is more nucleus, more central. It consists of my family, my hometown, the people with whom I grew up, the beliefs and traditions I have created for myself, the society around me, and the heritage I am just now beginning to explore. 

A picture of a picture: family portrait, 2005.

This is my nuclear family. It consists of my dad, my mom, my maternal grandmother, and my maternal aunt. My mom's family grew up in Anchorage, which is why my grandma and my aunt were in closer proximity than my paternal family, who live in Colorado. My close relatives are part of my culture.

Piggy bank from my childhood

This piggy bank represents a few things about my culture. It's style is from the 1980's and is from Japan. These figurines were popular during this time, the decade during which I was born. More than this, however, it represents my growing up and cherishing a few things that I have had for a long time. It reminds me of my mom, who values passing items down as heirlooms and putting meaning towards certain objects. Sentimentality is part of my culture.

Three necklaces and a ring I've worn since 2007

The necklaces depicted here represent my belief system. I was raised Protestant Christian and was very into my faith throughout high school. Yet when I attended (a Lutheran) college, my beliefs were challenged and I was able to reconsider what I was told to believe and instead fashion a set of beliefs that were truly mine. The ankh ("key of life") is from Egyptian hieroglyphs and is a symbol for various aspects of life. The cross here contains an Irish triple spiral, which has been adapted to symbolize the Holy Trinity. It was a gift from my dad when I was a teenager. The birch tree pendant represents nature, a fundamental part of my belief and value system. This was more a part of my innate understanding of the world than any other religion or philosophy. It is why I am studying naturopathic medicine; nature was my first teacher and my constant friend. The ankh, the cross, the tree, and personal religion are part of my culture.

My birthstone

This is an opal and gold ring that belonged to my maternal great-grandmother. It is the only possession I have from that far back in my lineage. My great-grandmother moved to Seattle from California and raised my grandmother in Queen Anne. My ethnic heritage on this side of the family is a bit of a question... my grandmother's father's information is not well-known. I hope to track his records down somehow so that I can investigate that part of my lineage. Undeniably, however, the Pacific Northwest is part of my culture.

Newspaper from Minnesota

 Of course, my culture is shaped by being a "Millenial." I helped shape the internet into what it is today; my teen years relied on hotmail, I had to wait until I had a collegiate email address to get Facebook, and I voted in this (above) and the previous election. Obama and the Obama generation is part of my culture.

23andMe Family Tree

In fact, part of the brilliance of this modern era is that it is possible, through DNA analysis and various internet resources, to not only piece together one's family tree, but use DNA comparisons to find potential cousins across the globe. I have found lineage that traces back to Albany, NY in the 1700's... a heritage about which I had absolutely no idea until I mapped it out and started investigating grave stones via a user-driven internet database. Indeed, I have found a distant cousin in Minnesota through the creation of this family tree. The Internet is most certainly my culture, as is the Oothoudt family line.

Tokens from Japan

 My culture is borrowed. I grew up learning and living Japanese. I traveled to Japan twice in elementary school, then studied there for a semester in college. On the one hand, having no direct Japanese relatives I cannot claim this culture to be my own. On the other hand, it is the closest to any culture I have that has been passed down to me in language, traditions, etiquette, and food preparation. Yes, I have acquired some of these aspects through American culture, but I find that not having ceremonial dress in particular makes American culture lacking. There is no equivalent to a tea ceremony or a kimono in American culture. Japan is part of my culture.

Another aspect of this culture is the immersion program culture. I grew up in a very different and unique schooling situation. It sets me apart from my fellow American colleagues; those students who went through the Japanese Immersion Program share distinct similarities in our educational and childhood experiences. Japanese Immersion is part of my culture.

Sacred objects

These two pictures represent my innate culture. "Spirit" is a concept that has transcended the various faiths I've claimed; it's the universal foundation I've always understood and cherished. It's meaning is not limited to a godly being, nor an ethereal one, but it can also describe the liveliness of one's character.

The grouping of items represent the traditions and ceremonies I have created for myself. I was never taught these things; my parents never instilled in me a profound respect for nature, a love of Native flute music, or the desire to burn incense as an 8-year-old. I have loved the mysticism of stones and the power of prayer and energy and intention since I was a child. Especially now, at a time where I am learning that it is important to recognize and honor one's daily ceremonies, I have given more respect for these things that have come naturally to me. I am happy to be in a community where it is not foolish of me to admit that I wear this bracelet (in the photo) on my left wrist when I am anticipating doing energetic body work on anyone in order to enhance the energy that flows through my hands. I am happy that I am in a place where it is easy to learn how to cleanse recharge stones under the moonlight and how to create sacred spaces around one's home. This sense of spirituality is, again, so innate that to ignore or downplay it would be doing a disservice to myself--it would mean being dishonest with my soul. My culture is a collective of traditions and ceremonies that I have pieced together like a patchwork quilt, coming from not one but many sources and have made my own.

blended culture

Though I've been married for just four years, I've been paired for nearly eleven. We are our own culture. We are a family that, whether we know it or not, has already begun traditions and established values that will be passed on to our children. We both have begun exploring our lineages, in order to better understand what we will offer our children; to help them anchor their places in this world. We both share the feeling that we don't really know our roots or our culture, and in fact Nick's perception of his ethnic heritage has already changed through the DNA testing and subsequent family tree investigations. Ultimately, our children will learn our culture from us--whatever we decide to pass on to them as they grow up. My culture is shared.

Here I am: Scandinavian, English, maybe Polish? maybe something else? all-around American. I should make the distinction, too, that I am Alaskan, which provides more cultural context than the bloodlines listed above. Alaskan life has provided me with a vast deal of my culture. 

I have short hair. This represents, among other things, the freedom I've had since childhood to choose the way I look (even if that means radical decisions and tomboy appearances) with my parents' full support. My parents raised me to be pretty balanced in respect to gender stuff and/or because I was interested in everything, I never let the "boy-girl" lines keep me away from reading dinosaur books, playing with trucks, playing dress up, or with dolls. It was all fair game and I was facilitated with opportunities to explore all aspects of learning, play, and interaction. I was able to play sports and do dance recitals, get music lessons, shoot guns, and get dirty playing outside and swimming in the lake. My culture growing up involved valuing unbiased learning and living opportunities, supported by my parents. My culture now is largely the same.

 This was a fun introspective little project that I would like to expand upon in the future as I continue to explore and discover what I consider my "culture."

Thanks for reading!