The Feeling of Home: The Importance of Cultural Identity

By Elena Dell'Accio, Capacity Building Intern

When thinking about the things in your life that make you feel at home, what do you think of? A family tradition or holiday, a specific recipe or drink, a song from the past, a symbol? When thinking about what played an instrumental part in creating who we are, looking at the culture we grew up in can provide insight into the factors that make us unique. 

The people who have submitted to this gallery were asked to think of something that represents their cultural identity. Below you will see photos of amazing looking dishes, videos of beautiful songs, and photographs of important memories. You will also be able to read the significance that each of these items have on the individuals who submitted them, and how something that may seem like an everyday thing can have so much meaning behind it. That is where culture comes into play.

You may be asking yourself, what exactly is culture? Culture is something that many of us have heard of and are familiar with, but many of us might struggle to actually explain or describe. In a  New Yorker article culture is broken down into three parts: “there is culture as a process of individual enrichment, as when we say that someone is “cultured” … Culture as a group's particular way of life….and culture as an activity pursued by means of the museums, concerts, books and movies…”. As you look through the gallery, I invite you to ask yourself how each submission falls under this specific definition, and how you would express your own culture.

Leo Leo Lee
Cultural ties: Hispanic
 "Leo Leo Lee is a song I heard playing my whole life"

Bodh Goya | Cultures connected to: Buddhism. - Bodh Goya is a very important buddhist pilgrimmage site

Cultures connected to: Honduran - The picture above shows one of our typical foods. I feel it represents me and my culture very well since it is something that I feel really proud of

Cultures connected to: Judaism - A very happy memory, something all of us siblings now share, a big accomplishment, an opportunity to be recognized by the Jewish community - Jenna Epstein

Babi Nicaraguense | Cultures connected to: Nicaragua - My mother is from Nicaragua, and one of the traditional dishes to cook is Baho! We cook it in banana leaf, and it includes beef, plantains, and Yuca. It’s also topped with a salad like mix. Every time we get together with our Tia’s that’s the first dish to wake up to cooking in the kitchen:) I love my culture and our island style of cooking!

Enchiladas | Cultures Connected to: Guatemalan and black culture. - It’s a typical Guatemalan dish called enchiladas and their one of my favorites

Tostones | Cultures Connected to: Latino - Dominican Republic - Photo of fried green plantains (know as tostones) with avocado slices. It is a staple in a lot of Caribbean cuisine. A dish normally eaten with a protein. Represents an important part of a lot of Dominicans' upbringing.

Zutaten | Cultures connected to: European/Swiss and American - This is a common food staple in Switzerland, especially in Zurich (where I live). Its something you can find in practically any Swiss restaurant, from the restaurants up on the mountains seemingly in the middle of nowhere to expensive restaurants in 5 star hotels in Zurich. I chose it as it's one of my favourite dishes and I feel immediately at home when I eat it!

Bûche de Noël | Cultures connected to: American, French, Scandinavian/ Norwegian, German - The Bûche de Noël or Yule Log is a cake made around Christmas time but particularly for the winter solstice in most north Western European countries. It represents when families used to light a real log and had to keep it lit all night to prevent demons and evil spirits from entering the house through the chimney. - Céleste

Cultures connected to: Southern African coloureds. my grandfather built the first hotel for coloured people in the 1960s- in Walvis Bay, Nambia. So I have a deep affinity to. my culture. - Eusebio Omar van Reenen

Every fall, my grandma, mom, aunt, and I buy bushels of roasted green chiles and prepare it for the year to come. We peel them, grind them up, portion it, and freeze it to have ready for our favorite dishes all year round. The whole house smells like chiles for days after we do this. It's one of my favorite traditions and brings in our culture through food and being together.

Prayer Song 
Cultral Ties: Judaism 
"The song I attached, Is a pray the Jewish people are saying on Friday night, when they “welcome” Shabbos which is the holy day, and a rest day for Jewish people. The song speaks about to holiness of the day, that people should remember it, and prepare for that day with their best outfit as this is a very special day."

Dominic the Donkey 
Cultures connected to: Italian and American
"Christmas is an important time for Italians ."​

Evangeline
Cultural Ties: Canada 
"This is a French song of a women from Acadie in Canada that was separted from her love because of an invasion in the area. Her resilience through her grief is memorialized. Canadian history, female empowerment and music are all meaningful to me and important aspects of this song."

Cultures connected to: Southern African coloureds.
"When I think of culture, i think of my social identity ethnically connected to colouredas. these are a ,multiracial people group from Bantu and European people. And is a legally. defined racial. group during Apartheid. But it. is because of Apartheid that they were able to establish their own culture, language and identity. Now, Growing up just 30 yrs after Apartheid, I know the general scar. of oppression and violence, on the basis of race. So when I left for my studies to America, I became conflicted. with my racial identity. How could I say coloured when the very word is ostracized. But i decided to still proudly identify with it, my roots is all I have left."
​ - Eusebio Omar van Reenen

---

Cultures Connected to: Pakistani and American 
"This recipe for samosas is something I will never lose. I remember making them with my mom, sister, and nanijan at the counter. We wet our finger and wrap the beef in the dough, My mom would have them made as a special afternoon snack. I could eat probably 10 in one sitting! They are my favorite pakistani food and I always feel happy when I eat them." - Aliya 

Whether you are new to the United States, grew up in the United States with a multicultural background, have experience with being face to face with a new culture, or are interested in learning more about other cultures and creating a welcoming community, theories on inter-cultural engagement may be helpful. The model below offers two examples of helpful ways to understand what happens when people engage with different or multiple cultures. Click each heading below to learn more about the models. 

Cultural Adjustment model 

The Cultural Adjustment model first created by Sverre Lysagaard is one that is often used today to describe the patterns that people go through when adapting to a new environment. It is thought of having 3 distinct phases. Starting off with: 

• Honeymoon phase: feelings of excitement, optimisation and wonder often experienced when one enters a new environment or culture. The newcomer tends to focus on positive aspects and the pleasing differences of the new environment.  
• Crisis Phase: (culture shock) the anxiety and feelings of surprise, disorientation, or confusion one feels when operating in an entirely different cultural or social environment. It grows out of the difficulties in assimilating to the new culture, causing difficulty in knowing or going along with what is appropriate and what is not. Often this is combined with strong moral and aesthetic disgust with certain aspects of the new culture. This may gradually affect a person's mood over time. The length of time a person experiences culture shock depends on their level of self-awareness and the length of time they are in the culture.
• Recovery and Adjustment phase:the positive effects of cultural adjustment such as increased self-confidence, improved self-motivation and heightened cultural sensitivity. As you gradually begin to feel more comfortable in the new environment - feel more like expanding your networks and exploring new ideas. You will feel increasingly flexible and objective about your experience, learning to accept and perhaps even practice parts of the new culture while also holding onto your own cultural traditions.

Developmental model of intercultural sensitivity 

Another important model to be aware of when thinking about culture and adapting to new cultures is Milton J Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural sensitivity. This model speaks to the process one goes through when they are face to face with a new culture, starting in an ethnocentric stage (the view that one's own culture is the standard and all others are compared to it) and moving to an ethnorelative stage (the understanding that cultures are relative to each other and that behaviors are to be understood within a cultural context)  (Bennet, Milton J. 1993). Bennett describes these stages as follows:

• Ethnocentric stage: denial of cultural differences, defense against cultural differences, and minimization of cultural differences
• Ethnorelative stage: acceptance of cultural differences, adaptation to cultural differences, and then lastly, integration of cultural differences

With having this knowledge, can you think of a time where you went through these stages? Ask yourself how did you or others help move you along to the ethnorelative stages, and how could you help your family, friends, and coworkers be ethnorelative especially when they will be interacting with someone from a different culture?

REFLECTION QUESTION: If you are not someone who has had to resolve being a part of multiple cultures yourself, have you ever experienced being face to face with multiple cultures at once? Can you imagine some difficulties and benefits that come with it? If you are someone who is connected to multiple cultures, can you think of the specific things you did to help consolidate the two cultures? What does being multicultural mean to you and how might you best embrace and share your cultural identity