CJAHS and Cultural Connections Program

The Chicago Japanese American Historical Society (CJAHS) is proud to be in partnership with the Field Museum's Cultural Connections Program. This partnership provides CJAHS with opportunities every year to pursue its mission of documenting, preserving and sharing the history and legacy of Japanese Americans in Chicago.

CJAHS has worked with many cultural and educational institutions citywide through the Cultural Connections Program. Since its inception in the late 1990s, CJAHS has appreciated many opportunities to share Japanese American culture and tradition with the public. Through a coalition of 23 ethnic museums and cultural institutions, these partnerships form a dynamic venue for everyone to experience and understand the city's rich diversity.

Administered by the Field Museum's Center for Cultural Understanding and Change (CCUC), Cultural Connections events allow participants to become an "urban anthropologist" to "examine artifacts, observe cultural traditions, sample ethnic foods, and participate in lively discussions." This experience is designed to lead participants to appreciate cultural differences and to discover cultural similarities among ethnic communities.

Following are among the most recent Cultural Connections events of CJAHS.


Different Drummers: Heartbeat of Mother Earth and Rolling Thunder of Identity

On October 21st, the Chicago Japanese American Historical Society (CJAHS) joined forces with the American Indian Center in a lively and well-attended demonstration and dialogue. Our organizations along with over 20 other ethnic museums, historical societies and cultural centers participate in The Field Museum’s Cultural Connections program. Each year, the member institutions select a theme that helps explore Chicago’s rich cultural diversity. This year’s theme was “How We Teach …Teaches.”

By examining how contemporary Powwow drumming and ensemble taiko are taught, we explored how our communities use drumming to teach different values and beliefs about identity, gender and intergenerational relationships. For example, for American Indians, the drum is the “heartbeat of mother earth.” Men receive the gift of the drum from women as a symbolic way for them to create a heartbeat when they play. In Chicago, Native American drumming circles are for men only; in other regions of the country women now sit at the drum.



Ansel Deon, Criketthill (Powwow drum group), American Indian Center, Chicago, Oct. 21, 2006

By contrast, both men (and boys) and women (and girls) participate in ensemble taiko. Drumming in our community has become a vehicle to express ethnic identity— something equally relevant to males and females.



Hide Yoshihashi & members of JASC Tsukasa Taiko, American Indian Center, Chicago, Oct. 21, 2006

As one of the original member institutions in Cultural Connections, CJAHS has shown the value of collaborating with other ethnic and cultural groups to promote understanding of Chicago’s rich diversity. And in the process, we make clear to ourselves how our culture is always changing.

For an “audio archive” of this program, please access WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio at the following website:

http://chicagopublicradio.org/programs/amplified/amplified_audio.asp?partnerID=6

To purchase a video copy of this program, please contact Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV), 322 South Green Street, Chicago, IL 60607-3544

Different Drummers: Heartbeat of Mother Earth and Rolling Thunder of Identity



Left to right: Kimiyo Naka,, Warren Perlstein, Alice Murata, Ansel Deon, Jean Mishima, Mary Doi, Tatsu Aoki and Laruel Fujisawa, American Indian Center, Chicago, Oct. 21, 2006

Narratives: Doorways to Our Communities (Theme for 2004-2005)

In November of 2004, CJAHS partnered with the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture to host an event entitled "EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About Us!" The two groups explored how the ethnic press addresses issues that are important and of interest to the communities they serve. Both groups presented two kinds of newspapers - those that serve old immigrants and other papers that serve younger, more recent arrivals. The groups invited the public to discuss how news coverage of these papers differs from the American mainstream press, what news stories from home countries are included in these papers, and other topics.

Traditions of Transitions: Understanding Rites of Passage (Theme for 2003-2004)

In February of 2004, CJAHS partnered with the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian to host an event entitled "From Sky to Earth - Star Quilts and Origami Cranes." The two groups discussed how a particular object can play an important role in various ceremonies that mark transition in life. CJAHS shared the Japanese American tradition of origami crane while Mitchell Museum presented the star quilts craft tradition of Native Americans. Participants learned the meaning and history of the two objects and the roles they played in such rites as birth, marriage, graduation, naming, wedding anniversaries and death. They also discovered how the symbolism of these objects has changed over time through exposure to other cultures and commercialism.



CJAHS volunteer Nancy Mugushima (from left) and CJAHS board members Mary Doi, Jean Mishima and Frances Chikahisa present a Japanese American origami crane object at the kick-off event of the Cultural Connections Program at the Field Museum in the fall of 2003.




Japanese and Japanese American origami crane objects presented by CJAHS at the Mitchell Museum of American Indian in February of 2004.

With Our Hands: Crafting Culture (Theme for 2002-2003)

In March of 2003, CJAHS partnered with the Polish Museum of America to hold an event entitled "Kirigami and Wycinanki: Paper Art Forms in Context." The two groups discussed the differences and similarities of Japanese Kirigami paper cutting and Polish Wycinanki paper folding and explored these two crafts as a tool to transmit culture and tradition. Those who attended learned how to create these two crafts that originated on opposite sides of the globe while understanding their history and symbolism.



CJAHS Board President Jean Mishima and CJAHS volunteers help participants learn how to create a Kirigami work at the 2003 Cultural Connections event at the Polish Museum of America.

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CJAHS appreciates the opportunity of being part of this meaningful and valuable educational program. The CJAHS Board enjoys working with the staffs of the CCUC at the Field Museum and colleagues from other partner institutions.

According to the CCUC, teachers can receive 2.5 Continued Professional Development Units (CPDUs) as approved by the Illinois State Board of Education for each Cultural Connections program attended. Teachers can also enroll in the Professional Development course for Lane Credit and/or CPDU, which begins in October and March each year. For more information about the Cultural Connections Program, visit: http://www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/ccuc/default.htm