UW forum explores passing cultural traditions to next generation

None has a face: no eyes, no noses, no lips.

People of the Oneida nation make their cornhusk dolls that way to illustrate an important point about putting your own interests aside when the community has a need.

The very first doll had such a beautiful countenance that she spent all her time gazing at its reflection in a pool of water. Her vanity cut sharply into the time she spent doing her assigned duties for the community.

According to Kim Cornelius Nishimoto, a member of the Oneida, the Creator was so annoyed with the doll that her lovely face disappeared, leaving a blank. So to this day, Oneida cornhusk dolls have no faces.

“That’s to remind us that we each have a duty and a responsibility that we’re supposed to do,” she says.

Nishimoto, based in De Pere, Wis., recorded that story at the Smithsonian Institution in 1998. She and her mother, Amelia Cornelius, will recount that tale and others as they demonstrate the art of making cornhusk dolls on Tuesday, July 15, to inaugurate the 2003 University Summer Forum at UW–Madison.

Corn is a cherished crop to the Oneida. With beans and squash, it comprises the “Three Sisters,” an agricultural triumvirate that helps nourish the Oneida and has medicinal, ceremonial and artistic uses as well.

“Cornhusk dolls show how important corn is in Oneida culture, and how they didn’t want to waste any part of the corn,” Nishimoto says. “They found a wonderful way to use the husks by making dolls.”

Nishimoto’s own children currently are learning to fashion cornhusk dolls. Their participation brings to five the total number of generations who have learned the craft.

“Passing on traditions connects each generation to their own past, and gives them a sense that they are grounded in something larger than themselves,” says Ruth Olson, associate director of the UW–Madison Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures and organizer of the forum.

“Knowing cultural traditions can be one way to know something about ourselves, not only about our pasts, but about our competence – for good reason, a person is proud of being able to make a sweetgrass basket, play the concertina or create complicated foods,” she adds. “Having an ethnic identity adds texture to your own personal identity, and acts as a safety net for the culture itself.

“In short, passing on these traditions creates a web of meaning across both time and space.”

Other sessions in the 2003 forum are:

* Polish Traditions: Norm Dombrowski and Marie Kubowski, Thursday, July 17. Dombrowski formed his Happy Notes polka band and began recording on the Stevens Point Gold label in 1960. His daughter Marie, who joined the Happy Notes in the late 1970s, appears with him here.

* Norwegian Traditions: Jean Giese and Becky Lusk, Tuesday, July 22. Raised in Monroe County, Giese began painting her immigrant father’s woodcarvings and experimenting with rosemaling while still in her teens. Giese’s daughter Becky has followed in her grandfather’s footsteps, carving since the age of 14.

* African-American Traditions: The Southern Starlights a Cappella Gospel Singers, Thursday, July 24. Three brothers, originally from Arkansas, celebrate their Christian faith in song, as have members of their family before them. The trio’s teen-age daughters also have a gospel singing group. All now live in Madison.

* Filipino Traditions: Rufino Licos and daughters, Tuesday, July 29. Licos, director and choreographer of the Madison-based PAMANA (Philippine-American Association of Madison and Neighboring Areas) dance troupe, Licos, his wife and daughters perform as the Philippine Culture of Madison and the Licos Sisters.

* Latvian Traditions: Vera and Mara Mednis, Thursday, July 31. Mother and daughter from Warrens, Wis., expert weavers of Latvian folk sashes as well as other folk arts.

* Hmong Traditions: Joe Bee Xiong and sons, Tuesday, Aug. 5. Xiong learned to play the qeej, a traditional instrument typically played at Hmong new year’s celebrations and other important events, in his native Laos. His teachers were his father and grandfather; today he is passing his skills on to his two sons.

* Indian Traditions: Sheila and Radhika Shah, Thursday, Aug. 7. Specializing in Ras and Garba dance traditions, this mother-daughter team performs often at Indian-American functions in Chicago and surrounding areas.

Each session of the 2003 University Summer Forum series begins at 7 p.m. in 1100 Grainger Hall. Lecture/demonstrations are free and open to the public. They also are available for credit through the UW–Madison Division of Continuing Studies; call (608) 262-1152 or visit http:www.dcs.wisc.edu/summer. For more information about the series itself, contact Ruth Olson, (608) 262-8180; reolson3@facstaff.wisc.edu.