September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
Traditions and Identity
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Fotene Yiappos September 2015
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
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September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
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September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
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September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture Form, Change, Connection, Perspective, Reflection As human beings we have different traditions that preserve and add to our personal and cultural identity. Greek people have a strong identity that is recognized everywhere you go. Festivals, food and culture helps to preserve this identity. Culture is very important and special to the Greek community of Wellington. Cultural identity is strongly linked to traditions. This connection keeps culture alive. Greeks have a strong connection to their religion. So what is it that enables Greek people to keep their culture alive in the world today? My group has investigated into the central idea rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture. Our key concepts are: Form, Change, Connection, Perspective and Reflection. I have used these to kick off my investigation about how traditions preserve Greek identity. In this investigation I talked to members of the Greek community, QMC community and family.
Traditions Traditions are events in time and ways of doing things that happens once in a while that can be practices, speaking or beliefs, which is passed down through every generation. According to the Oxford dictionary it is the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice (dictionary.com). Also, traditions are practices and beliefs that are passed down between generations of a certain family, culture, or other group (Whyzz). Some traditions are expressed with family and some are cultural and religious. Christmas and Easter are both annual traditions that Christians all over the world celebrate. Every year in my family a tradition and ritual that happens in Christmas is that we open presents first thing in the morning. Then we go to my cousin’s grandmother’s place for lunch and then my auntie’s and uncle’s place for dinner. This is because different religions hold different beliefs, so they celebrate in different ways. Most families in Wellington obtain their culture by sending their children to Greek school, doing Greek dancing, going to Church, attending the Greek Food Festival, visiting Greek families, learning Greek language, showing up to Weddings, Birthdays and Greek Christmas parties, doing Easter egg painting, celebrating name days and visiting Greece and 5
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture Cyprus. This picture is of a Greek celebration in the Greek hall. The people in this photo are: Nicolaus, Elizabeth, Anthea, Angelica and me. Some strong and famous cultural Greek traditions in New Zealand are Greek Christmas parties and the Paniyiri Food festival. Around Christmas time there are many Greek Christmas parties that are held in many different places in Wellington. During these Santa comes in and gives each individual child a present and play games such as musical chairs and pass the parcel. A Greek father at the Christmas party dresses up like Santa and do traditions. I have been to the Paniyiri food festival with a magnificent selection of food and Greek dancing. The Paniyiri Food festival is held at Mt Victoria on the 28th of February annually. For a special treat, boys at the Greek school does a traditional Greek dance and they smash plates to the ground. Some traditional food that is served is: •
Souvlaki- a kebab with meat on it
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Spanakopita- spinach pie with cheese
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Tiropites- cheese in pastry in the shape of a triangle
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Baklava- flaky pastry with a cinnamon-spiced nut filling with sweet syrup coved all over it
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Domates Yemistes - rice stuffed into a tomato
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Tsoureki- A classic Greek bread
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Kourabiethes - A Greek almond biscuit coved in icing sugar
These are the most famous ones in my inner and outer family. Eating this traditional food at home we are helping to keep our culture alive. Many traditions in Greece are celebrated in New Zealand. Some traditions and festivals in Greece are: •
Easter
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Christmas
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January 1st, the New Year's Day
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The Carnival-
3 weeks of feasting and dancing. They are the most important in Patra, Xanthi, Corfu Island and Rethymno with outgoing parties •
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The Festival of Epidauru-
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture Celebrated the hobgoblins that was seen on Christmas •
The Film festival of Thessaloniki-
In Thessaloniki cinemas are represented well •
Patmos International Film Festival 2015
Movie festival •
Syros International Film Festival 2015
Movie festival In a festival in ancient Greece, Greeks believed that the Gods would keep them from illness and grows crops faster if they would throw festivals for them, offered them gold silver and animal sacrifice. Most festivals that they held were once every four years, or annually. The Greeks worshipped them in sanctuaries and other religious places. A famous god that was worshipped was Apollo at Delphi. When he was frustrated he would cause the plague and was filled with light and healing. Traditions are part of family heritage. Traditions include rituals if it has more than one activity. In Christenings a ritual is babies get dump in a large silver bowl with no clothes on. Traditions may include the naming of children. Usually Greeks name their children after the children grandparents. I was named after my grandmother and because I am older than my sister I have the name from my father’s side. This is because most Greek older children are named in the father’s side and the younger, the mother’s side. A tradition in weddings at the Greek orthodox community is to bless the bride and Groom with two Crowns tied together finished with a ribbon. Another big tradition is that Greeks go to Church in the morning and in the night most of the adults go to the night party, were the wedding cake and speeches are. Also the flower girls and brides mads go to but usually don't stay the whole night. Through looking at this I found out that everything is the same each time so it is a tradition and sometimes rituals. Also there are cultural traditions as well as family traditions. Some cultural traditions are: cooking traditional cultural food and going to festivals and other special ceremonies. Greeks go to church and some people have shrines in their home. Young Greeks go to church on some or every Sunday and on celebrations like Christmas, Easter and name days. Name days are days that celebrates your name that comes from a Greek god. On the day people obtain money from relatives and sometimes presents. Some Greeks pray before they go to bed and also before they eat. These are all traditions that Greeks living in New Zealand celebrate here in Wellington. Before Greeks were in New Zealand they were in ancient Greece. Religion is a major part in Ancient Greece and the festivals in took place annually or very 4 years. All homes in Ancient Greece are sun dried bricks, with small windows and couches 7
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture made of wood. When a baby was born it lay in the hands of the father not the mother. Ancient Greeks usually ate bread and porridge with cheese, vegetables, fish, eggs or fruit. The majority of Greeks back then were farmers for a living. Most Greek citizens lived outside of the city because it provided their income. They mostly farmed grapes for wine and olives. Olives were crushed into oil and were picked by hand or knocked out by a wooden pole. Crops were harvest by sickles that are curved knives. Education in ancient Greece was also different as well as everyday life. Men went to school at 7 and woman did not. At the ages of 12-13 children were considered adults and gave their toys to the God Apollo and the goddess Artemis because they had finished their childhood. Men went to school and at home mothers taught their daughters spinning, weaving and how to run a home. The rich girls could afford a private tutor could learn just like school. In Ancient Greece the Men had traditions that they did military, theatre or discussed politics every single day. Woman were not allowed to watch theatre performances so men also played woman roles. Spinning, weaving and other domestic duties was want woman did for jobs. Woman stayed in the house with no access to the outside world or societies. The lives of woman were set to a limit. Children played with toys for entertainment. Ancient Greeks played marbles, dice, checkers and knucklebones for games. Woman didn't do much physical activity and it is a tradition that boys play games like hockey naked so girls were not allowed to watch. This is very harsh I think because we are all human beings and no different to anyone else. I took a visit to the classics department with Josephine and interviewed Dr. Jude who teaches classics at Victoria University. We looked at old Greek artifacts in the museum section. All the artifacts tell a story and the main one we looked at was a vase with a picture about how the vase was created. The shape of the vase is made in many sections. It was hand crafted and shaped into a vase. Jude told me that then they are placed into an oven that is specially designed for clay and other materials that are crafted. After a while the different materials turns black so then they are put back into the over with a design on it. When it comes out of the oven the design is red and also colourless on some sections. Sometimes pottery is put to close together to another piece so it is red instead of black. Jude also told me about a classical Greek paper that was made of thread. The treads would go portrait so it was easier to write on with a quill. What is thought to be a contract at Victoria University has threads going upwards so the text is bolder and messier to read. I thought this was very interesting because of the difference between morden day writing and ancient writing. The ones that were kept there were brought from a tomb because they are easy to find 8 Â Â
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture there. Most things we have today are based off ancient Greek items. We looked at some oil bottles and Jude told me and Josephine about the background behind this ancient artefact. In ancient Greece they didn’t have a bathroom but they would have a local bath house nearby. People would tie a sickle around their wrist and head down to the local bath house. They then would pour oil down themselves and get into the bath. Once they were finished they would put on oil perfume. That is how perfume came about Jude told me. Also the drinking cups she showed me came in 6 sizes. 5 of them got smaller to bigger. The 6th one was like a plate now days, but with curved edges. If you look at the red circle you can see the 6th drinking cup and if you look at the blue circle you can see the 5 other drinking cups.
My visit was well worthwhile and when I am older I hope I can learn more about this in the classics department!
Identity Identity is how you are recognized and how people see you. Everyone has an identity and can be showed in many ways. You have many identities and they are: personal identity, cultural identity and family identity. But how do you preserve your identity? Greeks in New Zealand keep their cultural identity in festivals, food and more. The Greek community of Wellington is a vast way Greeks preserve their identity. It has a Greek school, church, and hall and is on 1, 3 & 5 Hania 9
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture Street (Cultural Centre, Church, and School) Mt Victoria, Wellington 6011. At church weddings, christenings and Christmas and Easter services. In christenings the baby gets dumped into a silver bowl with no clothes on. In weddings the bride and groom both are blessed at the end guests throw dried rice at them. Christmas and Easter services are around the day and on the day. Guests sit down and listen to the stories and reason why we have Christmas and Easter in Greek and Latin. In the hall ceremonies are held when someone dies and food is served. Other special ceremonies are also held there as well. In my interview with Eirini Antonogiannaki that teaches the Greek school I learnt about her life and how she keeps Greek identity here in New Zealand. I talked to her because she use to live in Greece so I wanted to know how she keeps Greek culture and how she teaches her students to keep Greek culture. She said came to join her husband that was in NZ 2 years before she came. He came here as an engineer to help out with the big Christchurch earthquakes. Eirini was a secondary teacher in Greece, for 5 years and she decided to teach Greek as a foreign language. During this degree Eirini found very fascinating the way to preserve and maintain the Greek language because she realised it was a heritage language. So when she was here Eirini tried to find the Greek community and she started worked there as a volunteer. Then Eirini realised it was something she wanted to do. Her main goal was to develop and improve the language skills of her students. Secondly to help them understand Greek culture and try to understand the Greek identity. She said it is very challenging teaching Greek when we are so far away. So to be able to teach Greek and to be able to transfer the children to Greek culture Eirini always stands in the middle of the map and show them were Greece is. She said they make a joke that it's in the middle of the world and then the national map of Greece with all the island and sea, that’s always very helpful. Eirini uses technology and visual presentation and use a lot of videos to help them understand what Greece is. And she also makes little art creations to help them understand. Eirini brought little presents from Greece like an anchor and a shell. Eirini finds it hard here because the biggest difference between here and Greece is the weather. She finds the weather here unstable and that it's hard to realise the differences between the seasons. Eirini loves it in Greece because the weather is stable and she loves the sun and beach etc. Eirini told me New Zealand is very friendly and also the hospitality in Greece is open and friendly as well. Eirini thinks we share the same mortality. 10
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture Andrea Yiappos and Stav Soulis shared their opinion about taking their children to Greek school which got me thinking about the differences between the teacher and parent’s opinion. Andrea Yiappos’s opinion started with that she takes her child to Greek school so they know their heritage and the family's history of where their parents and grandparents came from so they can pass it on to the next generation. Also so they are able to communicate with their extended family in Greece and the older Greeks in NZ that don't know very good English. Also to learn the: Language, and songs, dancing, Greek history and religion, special traditions and celebrations e.g. Easter and spending time with other Greek children. Andrea considers herself a Greek New Zealander. She believes you don’t have to choose to be one or the other. Even though she was born in Cyprus and raised in the Greek cultural way, Andrea still has a strong connection to New Zealand because she grew up here and went to school here and made a lot of friends here. Stav Soulis’s opinion was that she thinks they learn the Greek language and get to interact with other Greek children, and the Greek culture and the significance of religions. Also what the meanings of things like what festivals celebrate. Also so they learn the language and culture. Even though she were born in New Zealand Stav probably relates to Greek culture more than they do to the kiwi way of life. Probably the result of her parents having make sure that we are with lots of other Greek people and maintaining education about her history, maintaining to speak the language at home, learning a lot about traditions that they have and even though were New Zealanders born in Greece probably Greek New Zealanders is what she defines herself.
New Zealand Greeks Costumes are a great way to keep traditions alive when you are living in different countries. Some traditional costumes are: Children's costumes- Children wore lots of different types of costumes. The main one is the only one worn most in ceremonies in NZ. Girls wear a sky blue skirt that goes down to the toe. A Crimson- Red cardigan with yellow strips cover the white shirt. The costume is finished with a hat the same colours as the cardigan. The boys 11
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture outfit starts with shoes with the base black, red and green thrown into it. The white socks go passed the knees with a white skirt covering the rest of the legs. A red waist belt wraps around the hips, tied at the side. A blue vests lays onto of a white shirt that goes passed the hand lastly a red round hat sits on top of the head. Some other pieces of clothing are: Shoe Cops- a red diamond shaped shoe with a white pom-pom sitting on the end. Some other costumes are: White long skinny dress with some gold lines and a pink cape with a gold headband. Another one is a yellow/golden skirt with a white shirt and purple coat. And the last one is a white shirt tucked into a thick black belt and a black coat hanging on the top with red baggy pants, black shoes and a red hat. I have a child costume because I also like to keep culture alive this way. Central Greece costumes- Central Greece's costumes are very similar with each other. 3 central Greece boy costumes are: A white short skirt, shirt and socks with a black and gold vest shoe cops (a red diamond shaped shoe with a white pom-pom sitting on the end) and a black round hat. The next one is a white shirt, black leggings and a red thick belt around the waist with a black and red striped vest finished with a black rounded hat. The last boy costume has a white shirt with plain black pants and also a vest with a red tie, black hat and shoe cops (a red diamond shaped shoe with a white pom-pom sitting on the end. One of many girl costumes are: A pair of shoe cops with a black maddens skirt and a white shirt with green and red strips on it finished with a black striped gold and dotted white vest and a golden necklace. Another girl costume is a white dress that covers the arms and black heels with a red apron and a golden necklace and a white hat that goes down the back. Crete costumes- One Crete boy costume is a black skirt and shirt with a red waist belt and a red and gold vest finished with golden boots. A girl Crete Costume is a red skirt with a white shirt and a black cardigan over it with a red long hat. Epirus costumes- A boy costume is a white skirt, shirt and socks with a black vest, leggings, hat and shoes. One of many girl costumes is a white long-sleeved dress and a black vest that goes down to the knees and a red and gold skirt. Ionian-islands costumes- A boy costume is a white shirt socks with a black overall and a white waist belt. A girl costume is a white dress with gold strips and a black vest with a red see through skirt. Peloponese & Mani costumes- A girl costume is a white shirt and a blue and red dress.
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September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
Next I wanted to see how many Greeks have been in New Zealand over a period of time. The population of Greeks in New Zealand is always increasing and growing through the years.
This is an X Y scatter chart that shows the number of Greek citizen in New Zealand between 1874 – 2006
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September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
Number of Greek ci.zens in New Zealand Between 1874-‐2006 3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0 1860
1880
1900
1920
1940
1960
1980
2000
2020
After this I wanted to take it to the next level. So then I found out the population now all over the world!
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September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
Festivals happen everywhere, they are all over the world. Two festivals I think are great examples is the kite festival and Pancake Day. To start off the start of summer season in Lebanon they throw a kite festival on the beach. Kite festivals are celebrated all over the world. People can make their own kites at the festival or can make them before the festival. In 1760 kite flying was banned in Japan because people preferred kite flying than work. Pancake Day is on a Tuesday, around 40 days before Easter. It is a special tradition that happens annually. On the day you eat pancakes, toss pancakes and play in pancake races. Most people now celebrate Pancake Day no matter what religion they are. I hope to compete in one, one day! 15 Â Â
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
Ancient Greece The alphabet: The Greeks created a writing system called the alphabet around 1000 BC. It was divided into two sections: the Ionic (eastern) and the Chalcidian (western). Our alphabet is based off the Chalcidian alphabet now days in New Zealand. The Chalcidian was used in the Italy Etruscan alphabet the 8th century BC and then used for more Italic alphabets like Latin. Now this style is used for European alphabets. In Athens they were the ones who started using the Ionic alphabet in 403 BC and was written in Miletus. 50 years later all the local Greeks used the Ionic alphabet even the ones who once before used the Chalcidian alphabet!! The whole country started using it and the Ionic alphabet was called the traditional Greek alphabet. This alphabet was written from right to left. The boustrophedon style was created because of this and then Greeks only write left to right like we do. The original alphabet had 7 vowels and 24 letters and it was divided into 3 sections. They are called uncial, cursive and minuscule. Uncial is better for printing and perfection and cursive and minuscule were better for handwriting and were very similar. Many people know the Olympics now days. The Olympic sports now are: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Canoe Slalom, Canoe Sprint ,Cycling BMX, Cycling Mountain Bike, Cycling Road, Cycling Track, Diving, Equestrian / Dressage, Equestrian / Eventing, Equestrian / Jumping, Fencing, Football, Golf, Gymnastics Artistic, Gymnastics Rhythmic, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Rugby, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Trampoline, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling Freestyle, Wrestling Greco-Roman, Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross Country Skiing, Curling, Figure skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboard and Speed skating. But before the Olympics now there was Olympics in ancient Greece. The Olympics was held to celebrate the gods. The main one in 700 BC is when the Olympics started to celebrate Zeus. Olympics take part every 4 years. Only Greek nationals could participate and woman were forbidden to watch. The Olympics is a five day festival. 100 oxen was offered to the gods on the middle day of the festival. On the second day they had the main events in the stadium. The other races are double the first one 384m and a long distance one from 1,344 m to 4,608 m. The last one is 384 m. to 768 m with people wearing full amour. This is to have more speed for military use. On other days Greeks did boxing. It was illegal to bite or genital holds. The aim of the game was to get your opponent to the ground three times on hips, shoulders or back. 16 Â Â
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture Case Study- Andrea Yiappos: Andrea Yiappos's family lived in Cyprus for all their years. In 1975 the Turkish soldiers invaded the north part of Cyprus, and that means no one could live there anymore. Then her family took a plane, and flew to the south part of Cyprus where no Turkish soldiers had been yet. Since they had no home or belongings they were labelled refugees. Then Andrea Yiappos was born so she was also labelled a refugee. Later they had decided to take a plane to New Zealand. They had no money so they borrowed it from the Red Cross. Sooner they would pay them back when they had gotten jobs. She was only one year old when she moved here in New Zealand. The biggest thing holding them back was the language. When they arrived in New Zealand they were offered a flat in Newtown because other Greeks lived in that area. Then Andrea Yiappos's dad got a job of painting with other Greek people so they could speak in one language. They made a little money so Andrea could go to school and learn in English. Every day after school Andrea Yiappos would come home and teach them some English and it could be through speaking, writing or reading. At school a lot of the time she would stay in at break times so the teacher could explain it more because Andrea didn't understand what the other kids were saying. The class she was in was a real advantage because the teacher was also Greek. She went to Newtown school because that was her local school and very affordable for her family. Andrea Yiappos found it hard to adjust to the kiwi way of life. She can't go to the beach every day like in Cyprus and the weather was different than sunny everyday just like Cyprus. When she was 9 years old, she and her family went to a ceremony to make people citizens of New Zealand. She had to stand for a period of time, put her arm up and say she would follow all the rules and be happy. Then a certificate was handed out to everyone in the room to say they are a citizen. Then for then on Andrea Yiappos and her family were citizen. Andrea Yiappos says “It’s nice that New Zealand keeps culture,” I agree with her because some places that I go, I see embassies or some other sort of cultural place. Despite the disadvantage of language, Andrea Yiappos has a very successful life. Now she is 39 years old and is very happy with what she has achieved. 17
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture
Identity and traditions can be decibed by many words and that’s why I made a tagxedo to help decibe what identity and traditions are.
In conclusion I have discovered that identity can be preserved through tradition. Greek people in New Zealand preserve their identity by having festivals, participating in the Greek community, food and other events. It is important for Greek people far away from Greece to preserve their identity because it keeps their culture alive and connects them to their homeland. As in the example of my mother Andrea culture is an important part of our identity so we should try to maintain our culture and identity. Even though Greeks do a lot of cultural activity in my opinion there should be more effort to do more in New Zealand.
Bibliography: Websites:
http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/elements_of_culture.htm http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Main Page/ http://www.deeperweb.com http://manyanswers.co.nz/searchresults.aspx?q=greece&t=all http://www.greek.org.nz/ https://online.clickview.co.nz/mylibrary/videos/ca5f85a2-39fd-0520-8513-16125f51d22d
Books Anita Ganeri (2003) Legacies from ancient Greece UK: Chrysalis Children's books John Ellis Jones (1983) Ancient Greece London: Kingfisher books 18
September 2015 Fotene Yiappos- Rituals, traditions and artifacts provide a window into the beliefs and values of culture (1992) Ancient Greece London: Harper Collins Publisher Michael and Jane Pelusey (2008) Family heritage Australia: Macmillan Education Australia (2008) World book G.8 Chicago: World book
Experts Andrea Yiappos- Refugee from Cyprus and opinion of taking you children/child to Greek school Stav Soulis- Opinion of taking your children/child to Greek school Greek school teacher- Eirini Antonogiannaki Classics department- Jude Deuling - Judy.Deuling@vuw.ac.nz
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