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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1996)
a c Season of tradition, Traditions: People need sense of unity ■ Continued from Page 1B “What it does really is give us a sense of continuity. You’re linked to anything that hap pened the year before and the year before and the year before.” Traditions also give people hope about the continuation of cultures, she said, because they create bonds of unity among individuals. “When you have a family hol iday that you know other people are celebrating - like Thanks giving, like Christmas or Hanukkah - you feel a connec tion there with not only your own family, but the fact that all these others - that you know when you’re sitting down for Christmas dinner that there are all those other families sitting down for Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving dinner, give or take an hour or two. So the notion that you’re doing that in concert with a lot of other peo ple is a very nice feeling.” How deeply a tradition affects people depends on the length of the history related to it, Sher man said. Thanksgiving is an interesting example of an ancient tradition that has youth ful roots in how it is celebrated by Americans, she said. Historically, the harvest has been celebrated annually by agricultural people across the world. This ancient tradition of thanksgiving is celebrated dif ferently from location to loca tion, and the manner in which it is celebrated depends on peo pie’s diets. The United States’ current version of Thanksgiving is a younger holiday, originating only about 300 years ago. Like other harvest holidays, Thanks giving gives certain prominence to particular foods, such as the Native American triad of corns, beans and squash. Its purpose is also the same as that of other harvest holidays, she said. “In a sense it’s a thanksgiving for the crops coming in,” Sher man said. Despite its similar purpose, however. Thanksgiving in America is unique because of the way it has been standardized through marketing and media, Sherman said. But this doesn’t mean tradi tions are static, she said. All tra ditions change from year to year. Often people will maintain the basics of a family tradition but change one aspect of it to make it new, she said. Both the continuation of the tradition and the minute changes to it are integral parts of the process and reflect the changing culture, she said. “The reason that we recognize the tradition even though it’s changing is because at the core there is something recognizable that doesn’t change; or if it has a slight variation it may mutate into something else, but it is still recognizable,” she said. Traditional holidays can also take on greater popular meaning to reflect national culture, she said. Hanukkah, for example, is a holiday of lesser religious importance to Jewish people than Passover, yet it has gained a level of recognition similar to Christmas among Americans. Richard Chaney, associate professor of anthropology, said the changing ways traditions are celebrated, along with the changes in how they are per ceived by society, are indicative of larger societal issues. He said movements to empower people have helped raise awareness about what culture really is. “We are living through this huge transition in humanity,” he said. “We are recognizing that what we’ve called culture is really proposed worlds.” Traditionally, cultures have developed out of a sense of peo ple’s well-being and intentions, he said. Cultures presented ideals through traditions, which people used to interpret their own lives, he said. Sherman said traditions both reaffirm and frame who people are. Each time an event is cele brated by a group, the group is giving itself and each of its members a message for the future, she said. ‘ It’s a sense of identity. It’s a sense of identity with the past; it’s a sense of identity with the future, and it’s a sense of iden tity with the present,” Sherman said. “Who we are, where we come from and where we are going. And that’s very comfort ing. Tradition is the voice of wisdom in many ways.” •ATTENTION* INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS & SCHOLARS TRAVELING DURING THE HOLIDAYS New U.S. Immigration laws contain important provisions which may affect your ability to re enter the U.S. after a temporary absence. To better understand these new regulations, 1. Come to one of the workshops listed below 2. Pick up a handout in the Office of International Education & Exchange 3. See an International Student Adviser OIEE Advisers recommend that anyone planning to re-enter the U.S. have a 1. valid passport 2. valid U.S. visa stamp 3. unexpired & properly endorsed visa documents (1-20 or IAP-66) 4. letter certifying in-status 5. current transcript •WORKSHOPS* Workshops will be in the EMU-Gumwood Room Monday, Dec. 2 12:30-2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3 4:30-6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9 7:30-9:30 p.m. For more information, contact the Office of International Education & Exchange 330 Oregon Hall, tel.: 346-3206_ NO MATTER HOW FAR YOU TRAVF«~~ YOU’RE ALWAYS CLOSE TO CAMPUS. Oregon daily emerald on the world wide web"" '<£> http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~ode PLAY PAINTBALL Lane County's Largest Indoor 'aintball Arena ®*f|lfliS iilff Over 8000 Sq. 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