SHARING TRADITIONS - Frank LaPena

Frank LaPena, who lived from 1937 to 2019, was born in San Francisco, California. He went to a special school for Native American children in Nevada. He got a degree in art in 1965 from Chico State and later earned a Master's degree in Anthropology from Sac State in 1978. He often talked to people about Native American traditions and culture, especially those from California.

LaPena worked as a teacher in art and also as the head of Native American Studies at California State University, Sacramento. He was an artist who made paintings and sculptures, and he also wrote poetry that showed how much he loved his Native American heritage. He helped start a group called the Maidu Dancers and Traditionalists, which aimed to bring back and protect Native American arts. He wrote many books of poetry and even wrote about modern California Native American art for a magazine called News from Native California. He was really interested in Native American arts and traditions. He worked on a book called "Legends of Yosemite Miwok" with another person named Craig D. Bates, and he wrote another book called "Dream Songs and Ceremony: Reflections on Traditional California Indian Dance" in 2004.

His essay, "Sharing Tradition," talks about how we pass our culture and values to the next generation through stories told by our elders. It reminds us of the importance of listening to what our older family members have to say.

SUMMARY:

In his essay "Sharing Tradition," Frank LaPena discusses the challenges of preserving cultural traditions, especially as traditional elders pass away. He highlights the importance of oral traditions in keeping cultural values alive, noting that this form of knowledge sharing is an art in itself. As elders die, their unique roles in the community are often hard to replace, and their knowledge must be distributed among multiple people to maintain cultural practices.

The essay reflects on the recent deaths of traditional people and the challenges of preserving tradition. It emphasizes the importance of oral tradition in keeping cultural values alive and recognizes it as an art form. As elders pass away, younger generations take their place, but maintaining these traditions is difficult. Not everyone can fulfill the roles of the elders, as some have created unique roles or niches in the community that are hard to replace. The knowledge and responsibilities of these elders often need to be shared by multiple individuals to continue their cultural and religious practices.

LaPena also reflects on the generational gap, made wider by modern technology and societal changes, which complicates the transmission of traditions. He notes that many young people don't realize the value of learning from elders until it's too late. Additionally, he criticizes the reliance on formal education over oral traditions, which can lead to the spread of inaccurate information. He advocates for humility and a willingness to seek knowledge from those who are more experienced.

Young people often don't think much about growing old, but they regret it later when they realize they missed out on learning from their elders. Many older people wish they had paid more attention to the advice and stories of the previous generations. There will always be a gap between generations, made wider by new technologies and changes in the world, such as the loss of natural resources and increased urbanization. With so many worries like violence, drugs, and environmental destruction, it's challenging to keep traditions alive. The world today is very different from the one our great-grandparents knew.

We should remember that some things are passed down through generations, and the power of this truth lies in sharing knowledge directly from one person to another. Oral tradition plays a key role in teaching us about the natural world.

In modern society, people often learn through formal education rather than oral traditions, focusing more on earning degrees than pursuing genuine interests or community benefits. Researchers may gather misleading information because people sometimes tell them what they want to hear, or they may misunderstand and alter the information. This leads to incorrect information being published. Printed works often make authors appear as experts who feel pressured to provide answers, even if they are unsure, resulting in fabricated responses. We should be willing to admit when we don’t know something and seek knowledge from those who do, like elders who take time to consider their responses and value everyone’s input. Errors in books are hard to correct once published.

A living oral tradition allows for corrections because listeners already know the stories. Today, some stories might be harder to verify if they're based on fantasy. The accuracy of information depends on its source and how it's shared. To truly understand the information, one needs to be patient and gather it over time. Insiders of a group usually receive accurate information since it directly relates to their lives and interests, making it important to get it right.

An artist's work is influenced by oral traditions, which shape how stories, characters, designs, and colors are visualized. The artist wonders if changing these traditions might be disrespectful to the elders who taught them. They question whether abstract art remains true to the original stories and when an artist starts to relate to their source conceptually instead of representationally. This raises the question of whether such changes are good or bad. The artist also considers how modern life and new elements can coexist with traditional ways and symbols, acknowledging that each individual has the power to choose their path.

Frank LaPena, in his essay "Sharing Tradition," concludes by saying that as an artist, he won't try to answer questions about art because the answers are shown in artists' works and their understanding of it. He emphasizes that artists make their own choices in their work and life. If they change traditional ways of presenting art, it shouldn't just be for personal recognition. Instead, they should respect the origins of their inspiration. If the work is based on tradition, it's important to honor the elders and the responsibility they gave us by passing down these traditions.

SHORT SUMMARY:

The essay "Sharing Tradition" by American writer Frank LaPena talks about a concept called "oral tradition." Oral tradition means passing down knowledge, art, ideas, and cultural stuff by speaking and listening from one generation to the next. It's like telling stories or talking about the culture and values of a group of people.

In oral tradition, older people are the speakers, and younger people are the listeners. Both play important roles in keeping their culture and values alive. The knowledge that older folks have about their culture, traditions, religions, and values is shared with the younger generation. When the older generation passes away, it's up to the younger generation to take their place and continue passing on this tradition through talking and listening. This way, the oral tradition keeps culture and values going from one generation to the next.

However, there are some problems in keeping oral tradition alive:

1. Difficulty in filling up the ‘niche’ of elders: It's tough for younger people to do what the older generation did because the older people had a special role in the community. Some elders have enhanced their life by creating special position (niche). The task of filling their position by the younger becomes very difficult in this situation too. The young people may not have their interests toward their culture because the elders' strongly follow their religions, ceremonies, dance etc. which are difficult for the young people to follow. In modern time, young people don't prefer to listen to them and maintain culture and tradition. The niche of elders has become hard to fill up therefore there is a problem in passing oral tradition from generation to generation.
2. Impact of modern technology in human life: Today, we have lots of new technology that replaces old things and ideas. People are busy with modern life, and sometimes they don't have time to listen and learn the old ways. Each generation is faced with new and modern technology which replaces the old things and concepts. The population of the world is growing fast. To fulfil the demands of them modern technology is necessary. In the name of development, natural resources are disturbed. Traditional things are replaced with new things. People are seen very busy in modern technology. They must use modern technology to run their life smoothly. They must leave useless traditional things. Human life is also busy because of modern technology. In this situation, it is difficult to maintain traditional and cultural values through oral means due to the lack of active listeners or followers.
3. Impact of modern education system: Nowadays, people learn from books and research, not just from talking. Some people don't trust oral tradition because it can change over time, and they prefer written information. This makes it hard to pass on culture and values through speaking and listening. The knowledge in the present time is perceived through making researches and collecting data. The researchers do not agree with oral materials because they may not be correct. They lack validity and reliability so the information related to oral tradition is even modified while printing. But, the information of oral tradition can be modified or even corrected through oral means. The educational process forces people to accept the information from the printed pages which are full of errors and very difficult to correct. Therefore, the published information related to cultures and values creates a problem in passing on cultures and values from generation to generation orally.
4. Source of information and way of perceiving it: In oral tradition, the information is passed orally. It completely depends on oral means. It doesn't have any writing records as a literary tradition. Sometimes, when information is passed orally, it can have mistakes or be misunderstood. Over time, this can turn true stories into myths or fantasies. Trust and understanding between speakers and listeners are really important to keep oral tradition accurate. Due to the gap between generations, the truth of the elders' historical information might turn into fantasy for the listeners. In this situation, it becomes quite difficult to validate oral tradition or traditional stories. There must be a proper understanding between the speakers and the listeners. The listeners must have belief on what they are listening to. The way of perceiving and transmitting information must be made keeping trust on our traditions and elders.
   

In short, oral tradition is a way of passing down culture and values by talking and listening. It's crucial for preserving the traditions of a community. Elders pass on their knowledge, and young people listen and learn. When the young people grow up, they do the same for the next generation. It's a way of sharing tradition from one generation to the next, but it can be tricky because of modern life, technology, and the need for trust and understanding between generations.