Yie Hue Vang (third from left) Hmong Qeej Master OHS  Folklife Program Photograph S 2-3180

You might not think to look for folklife under the Morrison Bridge, but venture out on Saturday and you will find teenagers riding skateboards. They share a particular clothing style (extra-large t-shirts, baggy shorts, and backward baseball caps), identity (counter-authority), spaces (knowledge of sites such as bridge underpasses spread by word of mouth and in secret), material arts (painting their boards), and performance (the skating itself). On one hand, skateboarders are pop-culture icons; on the other, their work may appear in art museums. At heart, they are a folk group creating a culture of resistance. Like many communities at the edge, skateboarders offer insight into mainstream culture.

On Saturday night, music fills the city’s clubs, streets, and concert halls.  Any of those venues might support folk music, as the context for “folk” can shift.  Internationally acclaimed Irish fiddler Kevin Burke, for example, might play at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall or in a local bar. Burke, who received a National Heritage Award in 2002, was born and raised in London in a family originally from County Sligo in Ireland.  When he settled in Portland, Burke was already widely recognized.

Sunday mornings give rise to quieter but equally vital musical traditions in Portland. Roam the city and you will find a range of meeting places: Catholic and numerous Protestant churches, Mormon and Buddhist temples. Focus on gospel music in North Portland and the voices resonating from the Mount Olivet Baptist or Emmanuel Temple Church. Gospel music emerged in the early twentieth century, when blues and jazz transformed traditional hymns and spirituals. In Portland as in other communities, debate revolves around the proper place for gospel. Sacred feelings and strong voices follow singers from Mt. Olivet and other churches to the GospelFest at the very secular Rose Festival each June.

Spiritual life is, of course, not relegated to Sabbath observance. Each religious group offers guidance for how to live. Spiritual practices are an essential aspect of folklife, often combining institutional and folk versions. Anthropologist Robert Redfield contrasted two types of traditions: “great”—the classical forms often associated with literacy, elites, and cities—versus “little”—vernacular, often oral forms associated with villages and neighborhoods. Mexican and Mexican-American women command the “little” tradition of altaristas (home altars) for their expressions of faith and cultural heritage. Often, el niño Jesus or La Virgen de Guadalupe forms the altarista’s center surrounded by votive candles, flowers, and images of family. Here, women pray for health, family, and community—a direct communication outside official church structures.

For the Hmong community, qeej (pronounced gaeng) musicians similarly speak directly to the spirits through this reed wind instrument of bamboo pipes joined by a wooden chamber. Originally from China, the Hmong migrated to Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand to escape political oppression. Many arrived in Portland after 1975 when the U.S.-supported Royal Lao government collapsed. Yie Hue Vang is a qeej master, communicating with the other world about the soul of the deceased at funerals; without such intervention, the dead cannot trace their ancestral roots to find a resting place. Beliefs about life and death vary tremendously from culture to culture, finding form in folk arts and folklife. Different approaches to death underscore how essential and how “naturalized” our rituals and practices become.

If a week of exploration in Portland whets your appetite, take a year to experience the range of seasonal festivals and other activities throughout the region. Such regular displays of ethnic, occupational, or other folklore identities create windows into the varied cultures of Oregon.  Some events are private, reinforcing an internal sense of “us” as a group; others are public displays, offering the broader community an insider’s view of a culture.

© Joanne B. Mulcahy, 2005.

Themes: Social Relations,Arts,Religion,Folklife

Regions: Portland Metropolitan Area

Date: Present

Author: Joanne B. Mulcahy

Summary:
Weekends in the Rose City are filled with folk groups creating culture.