Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
they said, to understand their ancestors, to re-create and
solidify their local culture. In the midst of a popular cul-
ture onslaught, the Makah sought refuge in their past.
Although the Makah wanted to hunt whales as their
ancestors did, their 1999 hunts took place in a completely
different context than that of a century before. This time,
the Makah hunted whales under the watchful eye of the
International Whaling Commission; they faced numer-
ous protests by Green Peace and local environmentalists;
and they found themselves in federal court with the
George W. Bush administration on their side supporting
the reinstatement of the whale hunt.
The Makah wanted to hunt with their traditional
canoes and harpoons because they wanted to hunt as the
tribe's elders and ancestors did. However, in the context of
the twentieth and twenty-fi rst centuries, the choice of tools
for the Makah's hunt was not up to them alone. Actors at the
regional, national, and global scale infl uenced not only
whether the Makah could hunt whales but also the methods
they used in their hunt. The International Whaling
Commission dictated that the Makah hunt gray whales with
a.50 caliber rifl e, arguing the rifl e would kill the whale more
quickly and humanely than the harpoons their ancestors
used. In May 1999 the Makah hunted and killed a gray whale,
using a.50 caliber rifl e. Soon after, the Makah whale hunt was
put on hold, as cases calling for a cessation of the hunt made
their way through the courts. In 2004, the Ninth Circuit
Court decided the Makah must submit a waiver request of
the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and in 2005 the Makah
did so. As of April 2011, the Makah's request was still under
review by the Northwest Regional Offi ce of NOAA.
American Indians are not the only Americans look-
ing to the customs of their ancestors to reinvigorate their
local cultures. Throughout the rural United States, small
towns were built by immigrants from Europe, and many
local cultures have defi ned entire small towns as places to
maintain their culture and to teach others about their cus-
toms and beliefs.
of their Swedishness to Lindsborg. From that base, the
townspeople began to celebrate their Swedish heritage in the
1950s, highlighting the “everyday existence” (the local cul-
ture) of the Swedes who immigrated to Lindsborg. During
festivals today, the townspeople, whether Swedish or not,
dress up in the peasant clothes Swedish immigrants wore in
the 1800s. Geographer James Shortridge refers to this as
neolocalism
, seeking out the regional culture and reinvigo-
rating it in response to the uncertainty of the modern world.
The Makah, the Hutterites, and the people of
Lindsborg have something in common: each is inundated
with a pulsating popular culture that challenges their place
in the world. Each has chosen to maintain or reconnect with
its local culture. For the Hutterites, the goal is to maintain
what they have, to adopt only those technologies that
advance their agricultural pursuits and ban those that chal-
lenge their religion. Central concerns for the Makah include
thinking in their own language, embracing their history, and
coming to know who they are despite what others have done
to subvert their identity. The people of Lindsborg seek to
celebrate the Swedish immigrants who made the place
unique and connect with others around them.
Urban Local Cultures
Some local cultures have successfully built a world apart, a
place to practice their customs, within a major city by con-
structing tight-knit
ethnic neighborhoods
. Hasidic Jews
in Brooklyn, New York, and Italian Americans in the
North End of Boston, Massachusetts, maintain their dis-
tinct local cultures in urban environments.
Runners of the New York City Marathon can see the
ethnic neighborhoods of New York City's boroughs fi rst-
hand. Running through Brooklyn, they pass through a
predominantly Mexican neighborhood full of Mexican
fl ags and mariachi bands, followed in sharp contrast by a
Hasidic Jewish neighborhood with streets lined with men
and boys on one side and women and girls on another all
dressed in clothes modeled after eighteenth-century
Russian and Polish fashions (Fig. 4.8).
In the North End of Boston, the Italian community
still celebrates the feast days of Italian saints. Twelve reli-
gious societies, each focusing on an Italian saint, hold festi-
vals between June and September. Members of the society
march through the North End holding a statue of their
saint, collecting money and adorning the saint with it. The
Romaband, an Italian band that has been in existence since
1919, leads each society through the streets of the North
End. The march ends with a street celebration, including
vendors selling everything from fried calamari to hot dogs.
Having their own ethnic neighborhood enables mem-
bers of a local culture in an urban area to set themselves
apart and practice their customs. Schools, houses of wor-
ship, food stores, and clothing stores all support the aesthet-
ics and desires of members of the local culture. The greatest
Little Sweden, U.S.A.
The residents of Lindsborg, Kansas, proclaim their town
Little Sweden, U.S.A. Geographer Steven Schnell asked
why a town of 3300, which a few decades ago had little or no
sign of Swedishness on its landscape, transformed itself into
a place where Swedish culture is celebrated every day in gift
stores on Main Street and in buffets in restaurants (Fig. 4.7).
Cynics would argue the reason is purely economic, but
there is more to it than that. Certainly, Lindsborg benefi ts
economically from tourists who fl ock to buy Swedish trinkets
and celebrate Swedish festivals. Nonetheless, as Schnell
found on a daily basis the people of Lindsborg benefi t from
promoting a sense of a shared history and a common place in
this world. In the 1930s, the townspeople shared stories about
the roles of Swedes in American history and the importance
