kulcha

Alone of all the races on earth, they seem to be free from the 'Grass is Greener on the other side of the fence' syndrome, and proudly proclaim that Australia is, in fact, the other side of that fence.
- Douglas Adams

 

Australia, to some, appears to have less culture than a tub of yoghurt.
However, this is merely due to the fact that culture is a misunderstood concept - it's certainly not as My Fair Lady would have you believe - french champagne, opera and art galleries. In fact in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in 'Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions'. For me food, music, sport, dance, architecture, language, sex, fashion, flora & fauna, humour...it all goes into the tub, each variation creating unique yoghurt flavours cultures.

Australian culture is certainly bent, borrowed and stolen from its older, fatter, uglier siblings, Great Britain and the mighty U-S-of-A, but we have certainly carved out a very distinct Vegemite flavoured niche of our own.

I recently read an interview with Wade Davis, an anthropologist "who studies the most remote corners of the world".
I took particular interest in Davis' observations on nations and peoples which have managed to successfully preserve and nurture their culture,  where others have discarded theirs and opted in favour of tv dinners eaten to nightly viewings of Two and a Half Men (the most facile & inane show ever created).

Researching cultural preservation a little myself since, I have come to view it as the cornerstone of community. It is a measure of our contribution to biodiversity as a global community. Each time a language or culture is lost, we lose an irreplaceable and exquisite way of being.
So I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are a number of individuals, communities and nations taking measures to ensure these irreplaceable cultural threads are preserved.

In Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, an independent Society has harnessed local knowledge, some of it ancient, to manage local fisheries. Traditional cultural methods for managing ecosystems are extremely sophisticated and practical - so both culture and ecosystems benefit.

Greenland has also made the initiative by prohibiting snowmobiles. They must instead go by dogsled, kayak or foot as was done by their Inuit ancestors.
Instead, their native husky breed was emblematic of their Inuit heritage. Most have embraced the ban, as a result they’ve seen Greenland’s native breed prosper. It's an impressive & inspiring example of an indigenous community making a conscious choice to maintain their culture.

So Aussies, if push came to shove, what facets of our culture would we deem the most 'Australian' and choose to preserve? Are we too multicultural & young to have something so generic represent us?

As an ex-surf life saver, a life long beach lover and self-confessed summer addict, I would suggest we have already made a small step in Surf Life Saving Australia's decision to keep the red and yellow caps.
While some newbie life-savers object to them on the grounds that they are "uncool", they are practical and an iconic symbol of Australian culture.

Each time an art, skill or trade is lost, or a sacred site is paved over, a strand of culture is frayed. Sadly globalisation is creating a mono-culture, so now more than ever these tenuous threads need darning.

However, as fair dinkum' Aussies if we preserve vegemite, utes, bogans, burgers with beetroot, thongs, tinnies, dunnies, dingoes, hills hoists, holdens, barbecues, budgie smugglers and our insistence on abbreviating everything with an 'o' we will ensure that no matter where you are in the world a simple "G'day" will assume a tribal-like identity!