Keepers of Tradition

Come learn about the annual Rains Retreat Ceremony, which marks the end of Buddhist lent. The Lowell Folklife Series has organized a guided visit to the Wat Buddhabhavana  led by the Head Abott, Venerable Ajahn Mangkone on Sunday, October 16, 2011. 

The End of Rains Retreat ceremony, which is held close to the first full moon of October, marks the end of a 3-month period of time coinciding with Asia’s rainy season. Traditionally, it is a time when monks must refrain from traveling and remain at the temple. It has evolved into a time of intense spiritual practice for the monks, as well as a time when the laity has more access to the monks.

During the ceremony, lay people bring offerings to the temple, in gratitude for a good harvest. Attending the End of Rains Retreat ceremony is both a chance to make offerings to the temple and to receive blessing from the monks. People bring offerings in the way of home cooked food, fruit, packaged food, candy, gifts, donations, and money.

As outside guests, we will be invited to observe the ceremony, which includes chanting, an offering, a potluck lunch, and blessings from the monks. We are also invited to end the day with a walk on the beautiful grounds which include a bird sanctuary. Participants are encouraged to bring a donation of food, money, or gift for the temple.

Schedule: October 16, 2011  

9:45 am     Welcome and overview of ceremony by Venerable Ajahn Mangkone

10:00 am  Auspicious chanting and taking Three Refuges and Five Precepts

10:30am     Thuk Baht (offering food to the monks) followed by a Dhamma talk (sermon) and the monks commence to eat their meal

12:00pm     The lay people select their lunch (buffet style) and can eat either in the Hall or, weather permitting, outside

Due to limited space at the temple, reservations are required. Wat Buddhabhavana is located at 25 Milot Road in Westford, MA. Transportation is not be provided.

Reservations and directions, contact David Blackburn at 978-970-5055

The Lowell Folklife Series is co-sponsored by the Lowell National Historical Park and the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Folk Arts & Heritage Program.

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The Lowell Folk Festival is best known for its spectacular array of traditional music and ethnic food. Perhaps less well known is the Folk Craft & Foodways demonstrations that take place every year in the shade of Lucy Larcom Park. From watching fishing flys being tied and seeing how Abenaki baskets are woven, to handling newly constructed Puerto Rican musical instruments, it’s an area that encourages a special kind of hands-on interaction that kids especially enjoy.

Folks that stopped by the letterpress printing tent got the chance to set metal type in a composing stick and then pull an impression (i.e., print) their own name on a table top  press.

Samnang Khoeun explained the carving and casting ofan element of Cambodian ornamental design known as kbach.

Just across from the craft demonstrations was the large Foodways tent. Here, people had a chance to watch cooking demonstrations and sample noodle and pasta dishes from five different cultural cuisines.

The demonstrations started at noon with Jewish noodle kugel. Hannah Hammond Hagman and her mother Lynn Hammond, shared a recipe which has been handed down in their family for four generations.

Ronnie Mouth shared her mother’s recipe for cold Cambodian noodle salad.

Other dishes that were presented over the weekend included Italian pasta and peas by Regina Sibilia Sullivan, Polish pierogi by Dottie Flanagan and Carol Matyka, and Pennsylvania Dutch chicken corn noodle soup by Millie Rahn. In addition to the welcome shade of the tent, the crowd seemed to enjoy hearing stories about  family traditions, cooking tips, recipes. . .

. . . and those delicious samples!

All photos by Maggie Holtzberg

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The priest used to come to every house to bless the food . . . They’d go from house to house, all by foot too.    Mary Dudek, Holy Trinity Polish Church 

Our good friend and colleague Pauline Golec is a native Lowellian who, for many years, has done much of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into producing the city’s festivals. If you’ve come to the Lowell Folk Festival and enjoyed the enticing array of ethnic food for sale by community groups, you have Pauline to thank.

Pauline is also a long-time member of Holy Trinity Parish, the designated mother parish for the Polish Community in the Merrimack Valley. So it made sense that we pay attention when she alerted us to a local Polish tradition at Holy Trinity. Having cleared things with the monsignor, Pauline invites us to the “blessing of the food,” which is done on Holy Saturday at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 am.

We arrive shortly before nine and see a gathering of parishioners. Though we spot a few children, most are older individuals. Some have grown up in Lowell’s Polish neighborhood; others are more recent immigrants from Poland and Russia. All have brought baskets of Easter food to be blessed.

It doesn’t take long to see the similarity of food items filling each basket — eggs, ham, kielbasa, horse radish, pickles, mazurek, (traditional Polish Easter cake), babka, (a sweet yeast bread), and butter lambs (wee lambs made of molded butter.) When asked, individuals talk about how each of these foods represents the meaning of Easter. The butter lambs represent Jesus, the lamb of God; the eggs symbolize life and Christ’s resurrection; salt his purification; horse radish, his bitter sacrifice; ham and kielbasa the joy and abundance of life. 

I’d been hearing about butter lambs associated with Easter for years, but had never seen one. Suddenly, here they are. Pauline points to some made by Dottie Naruszewicz Flanagan, “You see Dottie’s? She’s got a flock.” Indeed, these are some of the most impressive butter lambs in the room. She has made 20 to give to neighbors and friends, which she presents on a paper plate with colored eggs. When I comment on the attention to detail, Dottie explains, “I mold and my daughter swirls. And as she’s swirling (using a toothpick to simulate the lamb’s wool,) my grandson and I are doing the eggs.”

After admiring Dottie’s array of food, we meet Frank Markarewicz who has brought his food to be blessed. Rather than nestled into an Easter basket, his food is unceremoniously concealed in a brown paper grocery bag.  We all laugh as Pauline teases, “From the sublime to the ridiculous! Straight from Market Basket.”

We are introduced to Jane Markiewicz Duffley, whose butter lambs are much larger than Dottie’s. To make her butter lambs, she uses candy molds inherited from her father, who once owned Blue Dot Candy on Bridge Street. She kept the molds he used in making chocolate bunnies. “I use them for Easter to make the lambs out of butter. It’s a nice tradition. We’ve been doing this since we were little kids. The priest used to come to the house to bless the food.” 

There was a time when the Polish Catholic priest would visit each house to bless the food in Lowell’s Polish neighborhood. Not unlike the family physician making house calls, this is a thing of the past. Instead, the people come to the priest.

“Peace,” says Monsignor Stanislaw Kempa. Someone claps hands loudly to get everyone’s attention. Monsignor Kempa delivers the  special prayers for blessing the food, first in English, and then in Polish. When he announces, “Happy Easter. Hallelujah,” and procedes to sprinkle holy water while walking in amongst the assembled whose baskets of food line long tables throughout the hall. 

There is more visiting, exchanging of news, and cups of coffee. And then it is time to go home, blessed food and baskets in hand.

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On April 11, 2011, the city held a birthday party for itself, marking the 175th anniversary of its founding.

Lowell has been attracting immigrants ever since the 1830s, when the rapid growth of textile mills provided much needed employment. Yesterday’s parade was a physical manifestation of the city’s diversity, which continues to evolve.

Just before 4:30, people gathered themselves in groups, in preparation for the parade to city hall. Seeing those who turned out to march was a testament to the city’s changing demographics. Judging from the dress and the flags whipping in the wind, local participants had cutlural roots in in Italy, Greece, Lithuania, Quebec, Portugal, Israel, Columbia, Vietnam,Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, and Cameroon — and Lowell Pride.  

The celebration began with a parade.

Lowell High School’s Marching Band did a fine job providing the rhythm.

Approaching City Hall, a lion dancer teased the crowd.

And then it was time for speeches and cake.

The celebration continues throughout the year with special events.

All photos by Maggie Holtzberg

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Often, in our work as folklorists, we meet immigrants from various parts of the world who have resettled in the United States. Our impulse is to focus on their cultural traditions — the music, dance, crafts, and annual celebrations they left behind and how they are managing to hold onto them while making their home in a new and foreign land.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that new immigrants would also wish to fit in, to understand what holdiays are celebrated here in America, what foods are typically served, or why certain decorations perennially appear.  Why is everybody roasting turkeys? What’s up with all the lights?  Who is the bearded guy in the big red suit? And why is everyone fixated with buying gifts?

And I suppose it’s also not surprising to learn that here in Lowell, within the Cambodian community, some believe that part of becoming “American” is learning to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. With the blurring of religious beliefs and commercialism, one can hardly blame them.

Along these lines, we were asked to address a group of Cambodian elders that were gathering at the  Coalition for a Better Acre for a holiday program. Everyone seemed to enjoy the lunch, which was a fitting mix of American and Asian dishes: roast turkey, sweet potatoes, corn, pickled mustard with pig ears, pad thai, and rice.

We had hosted some of these same Cambodian elders for a tour of Lowell National Historical Park in September. This time, we were meeting on their territory. CBA invited us to lunch and requested that we briefly explain the history and customs of Thanksgiving and Christmas to the mostly non-English speaking audience. David Blackburn did the honors, seen below holding a plate of turkey and sweet potatoes.

Turns out that hardly anyone in the audience was familiar with the Thanksgiving holiday. Christmas, on the other hand, many were aware of — and it would be difficult not to be, given how pervasive the marketing of the holiday is and the fact that schools and businesses are closed on December 25th. One man asked in Khmai, “What is the purpose of Christmas?” David offered this answer, “It depends on who you are.  For Christians, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of the savior, Jesus Christ.” Despite its Christian origins, the secular celebration of Christmas is ubiquitous in America. David spoke of the German origins of the Christmas tree and the custom of bringing evergreens into our homes at the darkest time of the year.

I wonder how many immigrants think all Americans celebrate Christmas regardless of their religious beliefs, cultural heritage, or family traditions. Hanukkah, Eid, and Kwanzaa fly just under the radar of mainstream American popular culture. Perhaps it is the immigrant’s remove from certain holidays, and their struggle to understand them, that is quintessentially the American experience. After all, it is the complexity of American diversity that makes this country what it is.

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The days are getting shorter, the weather colder. Pumpkins are in abundance and grocery store shelves are brimming with packaged candy. Also to be expected are skeletons and ghosts, jack o lanterns, gravestones on people’s front lawns, ghoulish storefront windows, and, come Sunday, hoards of costumed kids roaming their neighborhoods in search of treats.

Halloween has been commercialized for so long that some youngsters may not know that this very American of holidays has cultural antecedents around the globe. For example, the ancient Celtic festival of the dead, Samhain, the Italian All Soul’s Day, the Japanese Festival of Lanterns, Obon, the Mexican Dias de los Muertos, and the Cambodian Ancestor’s Day, Pchum Ben. Common to all of these autumnal festivals is the belief that the souls of the departed return to the world of the living for a short period of time. All of them also involve offerings of food. Although Halloween takes place on the last day of October, and Obon in late August, the Cambodian Ancestors’ Day usually occurs in mid-September and lasts for a lunar cycle. The latter, a 15-day observance, is regarded by Cambodians as a time to commemorate and be reunited with deceased relatives. It is an especially important day for those with bad karma who have yet to be reincarnated and are trapped in the spirit world. 

Search the internet and this desciption by Vathany Say pops up from 2003 on the Khmer Institute website:  “Before sunrise on the morning of the Kann Ben [the 14 days leading up to Pchum Ben], special food is prepared for the ancestral spirits to enjoy. Favorite dishes of various flavors and colors are offered. They range from the simple and traditional nom ansom (sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves with assorted fillings) to the more elaborate and rich amok (steamed fish fillet marinated in a complex mix of spices and herbs).

As a gesture of kindness, the hosts also prepare bai ben (steamed sticky rice mixed with sesame seeds and then formed into balls) to be thrown into shaded areas about the temple grounds. This mixture is an offering to the hungry souls who have been forgotten or no longer have living relatives to make them offerings.”

This description of Cambodian foodways associated with Pchum Ben was written about contemporary practice in Cambodia, but it could easily apply to ritual practice here in the United States. Indeed, we observed just this sort of alimentary offering in the shaded area of the parking lot of the Triratanaram Temple in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Founded in the 1990s, Triratanaram temple is home to Buddhist monks in the Merrimack Valley and is an important place of worship for the Cambodian community of Greater Lowell.

We had come to view the stupa which had been built for the Triratanaram Temple by Yary Livan and Samnang Khoeun.

But we had no idea that our visit on September 24 would coincide with Pchum Ben. Before entering the Temple, Maya Men, an employee of the temple, gave us a brief tour of the grounds. At the edge of the parking lot we noticed six plastic bowls filled with food and incense. Maya explained that today was a special celebration – Phum Ben – the end of a two-week ritual celebration memorializing the dead. Samnang notes, “It’s a celebration of our ancestors.” Maya adds, “It’s like Halloween. In our culture, we believe that the dead – we don’t know whether we go up or down. There are three levels to Hell. At this time of year, they let out all of the dead for 15 days. People who have committed a lot of sins, they cannot see the sun.”

“Like vampires?” I ask. “Yes. During this time, they let them out from the underworld, before sunrise. You call for them. The food is an offering to the dead – a way of placating them so they won’t cause you harm.” Indeed, these poor souls, known as Priad spirits, are said to fear light and can only recieve prayers, food, and be reunited with their living relatives during the darkest day of the lunar cycle, which is the day of Pchum Ben.

Maya explained that the monks only eat before noon. A breakfast and a lunch. We headed toward the Meditation Hall and could hear the chanting, which was amplified. Samnang explained that he would bow three times – once for the Buddha, once for the darma (the Buddha’s teachings) and once for the monks, but assured us that we did not have to, “If you don’t believe.”

Removing our shoes, we enter.  Inside are monks and nuns and laity, sitting on the carpeted floor facing the abbot, Venerable Sao Khon Dhamathero. Many of the women wear white blouses adorned with delicately embroidered white scarves. The chanting and prayers were loud. It was difficult to hear Maya and Samnang explain what was going on and what things meant. The sweet, pungent smell of incense filled the air. At the altar were several statues of Buddha besides the main marble one from Burma. Behind this large Buddha was a round disk emitting colored flashes of light. Below, an assortment of food and liquid offerings included cooked rice, mushrooms and coriander, bananas, a bottle of ginger ale, and a Starbucks Frappuccino coffee drink. A metal bowl was filled with 49 rice balls – symbolic of the 49 days the Buddha fasted before becoming enlightened. Honey-colored, shiny paper spires reached toward the sky.

The chanting and prayers ended soon after noon. We were invited to join everyone for lunch. We accepted, a bit embarrassed to be imposing. Everyone sat on the floor to eat, circling many bowls of various dishes – noodles, caramelized pork, vegetables, fried banana, banana leaf wrapped around bean paste and sticky rice, and soups. 

When we left, we were offered a goody bag of sorts – two large gold-colored shopping bags filled with what appeared to be donated food and supplies: a box of Yogi cereal, a huge bag of low-fat potato chips, flavored instant coffee, toothbrushes, toothpaste, Motrin, Dove soap, and a loaf of packaged bread. All items had been blessed by the abbot. Leaving with the overflowing bags was an uncanny reminder of trick or treating, but with a Cambodian twist.

All photos by Maggie Holtzberg, 2010.

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Great weather and great programming! We suggest heading down to New Bedford this weekend for the 7th annual Working Waterfront Festival. This year’s theme is All in One Boat: the Cultural Mosaic of New England’s Working Ports

In addition to the focus on cultural diversisty, the festival programming speaks to the common challenges facing fishing communities around the globe, especially in light of recent changes in fisheries management. Come enjoy live maritime and ethnic music, listen to tales from Cape Verdean Longshoremen, try your hand at mending a fishing net, watch a coast guard rescue demonstration, walk the decks of a scalloper, eat fresh seafood, and immerse yourself in an insider’s view of the local industry that brings seafood from the ocean to your plate.

We are happy to see that retired fisherman, Marco Randazzo, who we met years ago in Gloucester, will be demonstrating his knot tying and rope sculptures on Sunday.

Marco Randazzo with some his rope sculptures. Photo by Scott Alarik, 2000.

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The 24th Lowell Folk Festival will feature cooking demonstrations in the Folk Craft and Foodways area of Lucy Larcom Park and a chance to buy a variety of ethnic cuisine at three performance stage areas.

This year “Foodways” looks at how beans are prepared in several cultures. Often called the “poor man’s meat,” beans are rich in protein and have long been the traditional Saturday night supper in New England. Native Americans introduced slowly cooked beans to early settlers, and like many foodways, recipes were adopted and transformed by immigrants who added their own traditions and ingredients. Folklorists Millie Rahn and Maggie Holtzberg have connected with five cultural representatives, who will share their insights with the audience. Festival visitors are invited to sit down and watch how this simple legume can take on such different flavors. Ask questions. And be sure to sample the beans made by our various cooks –

 12:00  Faith Izevbijie, Nigerian beans

1:00    Guida Ponte, Portuguese beans

2:00    Sellou Diaite, Senegalese bean fritters

3:00    Jeanette Rodriquez-Cumpiano, Puerto Rican beans

4:00    Kurt Levasseur, Franco-American beans

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As the Folk Arts and Heritage Program begins its 12^th year at the Massachusetts Cultural Council, we are excited to tell you about some changes. Through a unique partnership with Lowell National Historical Park (LNHP), state folklorist Maggie Holtzberg has been temporarily assigned to the Park to support the development and expansion of traditional arts programming serving the public. We will continue our work in running a vital state folk arts program – doing field research, maintaining an archive, database, and website, and providing grants to individual artists. This new endeavor is an exciting opportunity to explore cross-cultural understanding within in the context of a National Park based on ethnic heritage, occupational folklore, immigration, and industrial history.  

The goal is to engage visitors and more of the region’s immigrant and ethnic populations by offering a robust variety of culturally-relevant public programs at the Park year-round. Though the MCC Folk Arts and Heritage Program has worked with the Lowell Folk Festival for over a decade (providing potential crafts artists and musicians, emceeing on stages, etc.) we will be more actively involved in the planning and presentation of folk arts than ever before. This summer, look for “Folk Craft and Foodways” in Lucy Larcom Park where we will showcase some of the extra-musical aspects of traditional folk culture.

The plan is to build on the energy of the festival — the high-quality, traditional arts performances that are the hallmark of the Lowell Folk Festival — and offer similar experiences throughout the year. Special exhibits and interactive presentations of craft, foodways, performing, and expressive traditions will be developed based on both previous and new folklife field research within the region’s many diverse communities. There is even the possibility of re-establishing a folklife center at the Park.

 Keep your eye on this blog for further postings from Lowell . . .

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Baby Sira was born just over one month ago. Her family invited friends and relatives for a celebration at their home in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Her father, Habib Saccoh recently befriended balafon player Balla Kouyaté, who in addition to performing with his band, World Vision, carries on his family’s tradition of performing for domestic ceremonies within the local Mandinka community. (The Mandinka are one of the largest ethnic groups found across much of West Africa.) “Even though Habib is from Sierra Leone,” Balla explains to me,  “he is still of the Mandinka people.” For such a momentous occasion, Habib and his wife, who is American, wanted to celebrate like he would, were he home in Sierra Leone.

Dropping by the all-day party was an opportunity for me to witness the role of a djeli (a.k.a. griot) in the context of his own culture. Djelis are the oral historians, praise singers, and musicians who are born into the responsibility of keeping alive and celebrating the history of the Mandinka people. Balla Kouyaté’s family lineage goes back over 800 years to Balla Faséké, the first of an unbroken line of djelis in the Kouyaté clan. Indeed, his family is regarded as the original praise-singers of the Mandinka people. To have him present at a celebration such as this, is a way of bringing together a community far from home, reminding them where they came from, holding the culture together.

And what a party it was. Although I had parked my car several houses away, I could hear Balla’s music from the street.

Stepping inside the spacious Victorian foyer, I immediately spotted where the action was. A large parlor room off to the right was alive with colorfully dressed men and women dancing to the music.

The music was cranked up really loud and some little people were not pleased.

Servings of African cuisine, fresh fruit, nuts, and beverages were plentiful in the kitchen.

Occasionally, people would offer cash to the musicians, in appreciation of their dance music and praises being offered, which went on for over six hours.

No question, this is a rich cultural heritage in which to grow up.

All photos by Maggie Holtzberg

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