To wear the dress or to not wear the dress, that is the question.....

When one works in the activist world the topic of  cultural appropriation comes up sometimes. This is about people taking on things from other cultures because they look cool or neat. Often things or objects are taken from minority cultures by dominant cultures and are used in inappropriate ways without regard to the feelings of the people who usually use them.
 
I do think about this. I know for certain that it will never be appropriate for me to have an Aboriginal Jingle dress made for myself and to wear it in a healing dance no matter how beautiful I think that they are.

So, when  I came to Iraqi Kurdistan and fell in love with the beautiful fabrics in the bazaar and the traditional jili kurdi that are made from the cloth,  I was cautious about thinking about having a dress made for me.

I  Googled  cultural appropriation and found an article by Jarune Uwuwjaren called The Difference Between Cultural Exchange and Cultural Appropriation. here She states, "That’s what cultural exchange can look like – engaging with a culture as a respectful and humble guest, invitation only."

Even before I read her article I knew that things were OK here with my Kurdish friends and me.  The first time I went to my friend Nishtiman's house for the Nawroz picnic the whole family invited me to wear an extra dress they had. It was my first experience with wearing the elaborate dress that Kurdish women delight in wearing. I did get extra attention due to my sneakers I wore on my feet. High heels are much more usual attire, but my size 10 feet did not fit any of the sister's shoes.

Since then I have attended weddings dressed in my usual skirt and blouse and have been told politely that wearing a Kurdish dress would be so much nicer. And last year my friend Gul and her daughter Nishtiman gave me a gift of some cloth to create a dress for myself. I did need to find the shiny fabric for the bloomer type underwear as well as other cloth for the long over coat. But Nishtiman introduced me to her seamstress who quickly  sewed  these for me in time for this year's Nawroz celebration.

That does not  include the beautiful green dress and shiny vest that Hershu, the wife of our team mate, had waiting for me when I returned to Sulaimani this time. So this Nawroz I had two dresses to choose from and one to lend to a team mate.

The final clincher for me was when a group of us visited with relatives of our Kurdish friend Rezhyar. His grandmother sat with us at the picnic and looked at two visitors who did not have Kurdish clothes. She said, "if only I had known you were coming and that you did not have jili kurdi. I would have brought you some so you could have some too".

I believe that we show respect and honour for the Kurdish culture by wearing the clothes that they love to wear.

 

Nawroz: Happy Spring and Happy New Year-2712

Last week Kurdish people joined together with Persian people (and many others around the world ) to celebrate the biggest holiday of the year- Nawroz. A friend I was visiting explained it to me. " There are 4  things you need to know about Nawroz and why it is so important. 1. It is the first day of Spring, 2. It is the first day of the New Year in the Iranian calendar, which is 2712 here. 3. It is a very ancient festival from the days of Zoroastrianism, a very ancient religion. 4. It is the time for Kurds to celebrate being Kurdish. Immediately after he told me this the local news station announced that Canadian Primeminister had spoken Kurdish and wished all those celebrating a Happy Nawroz!!

 

The celebration for Kurds has several facets: It is a time to dress up in traditional Kurdish clothes. Often the women get a brand new Kurdish dress for the celebration. It is a time to light fires in formal displays in the middle of towns and cities.  And it is a time for families to gather and go out of the towns and cities to have picnics. These feasts are most often made of dolma (rice and meat wrapped in vegetables), chicken breast skewered and roasted over a charcoal fire, bread and raw vegetables. Of course, the tea pot comes along too to provide many cups of sugary tea.

I was invited to join long time friends of CPT Iraqi Kurdistan who live in a smaller city about 1 1/2 hours by bus away. I stayed for 3 days and participated in all the busy preperation.

Nishtiman books bread for the next day so no one will have to stand in line early in the morning.

She bought the greens to eat at the picnic, green onions, parsley and other ones too.

Across the road from the bread baker these young men lit a simple hot air balloon.

Khalid and Nishtiman

Making tea at the picnic

Nishtiman with Khalid's aunt who was visiting from Iran.

The people from Raniya are fortunate to have an area that has been reforested with pine trees to have their picnics. Many families created simple swings from the tree branches.

All over the world, when there is meat and fire involved, the men do the cooking.

Lunch time with dolma and vegetables and chicken and bread.

Nishtiman's sisters lent me a Kurdish dress for the day. Lukasz wore our friend Ramyar's Kurdish suit and a traditional head covering.

A proud grandmother with her two month old grandson resting in the small tent.

Most of Nistiman's family

Even the cows came to the picnic. I don't think they ate the chicken though.