Manx in DC – A Month at the Smithsonian Institution

 

Earlier this year, I was granted an incredibly exciting opportunity – the chance to spend a month in Washington DC. This opportunity came in the form of a successful application to the University of Glasgow’s Early Career Mobility Scheme, a grant which enables PhD and other Early Career researchers to participate in knowledge exchange visits with many of Glasgow’s partner institutions around the world. Come September 2022, I would be working with Dr Mary Linn and her colleagues at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, part of the Smithsonian Institution. 

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (or CFCH) is a research centre that works with communities within and outwith the US to “encourage the understanding, appreciation, and vitality of humanity’s diverse living cultural heritage” (CFCH website). CFCH has various avenues through which it works towards this goal, one of which is the annual Folklife Festival. The Festival has been held every summer since 1967 on Washington DC’s National Mall, and involves bringing together artisans from cultures across the globe “for performances, workshops, and demonstrations of living cultural expression” (CFCH website).

[Picture: Myself with one of the Festival posters decorating the office. Image Credit: Erin McNulty]

Walking around the Center’s offices (just off the National Mall), I was met with a treasure trove of cultural objects from Folklife Festivals past. There were all manner of objects created by artisans and craftspeople from cultures all across the globe. Just walking around the office to make a cup of tea (or coffee – when in Rome!) was an exercise in cultural enrichment. One of the highlights had to be the wheel of a space shuttle that had actually been in space! Some of the objects were from much closer to home – this carved stone and curling stone were brought by Scottish delegations in the past. It was very comforting to see a little piece of Scotland every time I walked to my office!

[Picture: A stone carved by a Scottish artisan at a past Folklife Festival. Image Credit: Erin McNulty]

Whilst at the Smithsonian I had the joy of working with many people working with minoritized languages in North America and beyond. This included Dr Mary Linn, the Curator of Language and Cultural Vitality at the Center. Dr Linn has an extensive background in language revitalization, having worked to support various Indigenous language communities across the US, as well as in Europe through her work with the SMiLE (Sustaining Minoritized Languages in Europe) project. Her advice and experience was invaluable, and led to my developing new perspectives on my own work with and in the Manx-speaking community.

I also worked with Hali Dardar, who hails from Louisiana, where climate change poses an existential threat to communities, particularly Indigenous communities, living in coastal areas. Hali is the Program Coordinator of CFCH’s Language Vitality Initiative, which aims to support linguistic and cultural vitality in Indigenous and minoritized language communities. I attended the weekly Language Vitality meetings to keep up to date with the project and the important work being done to support minoritized language communities in North America and across the globe. I also had the chance to chat to fellow graduate students working with minoritized languages, including Peter S. Buck Predoctoral Fellow Maura Sullivan, a linguist from the Chumash Nation working in language revitalization.

[Myself with a group of North American legends: (left to right) Erin McNulty, Dr Mary Linn, Hali Dardar, and Maura Sullivan. Image Credit: Dr Mary Linn]

Sharing a workspace with others engaged in work with minoritized languages led to many interesting discussions about language revitalization in North America and in Europe. We talked about what success might mean in the context of language revitalization, and different ways that we might think about the success of a language reclamation initiative. We also discussed differences in the kinds of language we use to talk about minoritized languages either side of the Atlantic – how appropriate is the oft-heard “death” metaphor in this context? It was also elucidating discussing the similarities and differences in the challenges faced by the minoritized language communities we are part of or worked with, and ways these challenges might be overcome. We also shared our experiences of the delicate balancing act that is engaging in language revitalization work or research in a community of which you are a member, and the unique challenges this brings.

I also had a chance to meet another researcher working with the archives at the National Museum of Natural History, namely Magdalena Guziejko, a PhD researcher at the University of Warsaw, and former curator at the National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw. Magdalena was also spending a month at the Smithsonian exploring best practice for decolonising non-European collections in Poland. Dr Linn, Magdalena and I had a thought-provoking conversation on the place of archives and material objects in language revitalization – what do archives and objects mean to language community members, and what challenges are there with regards to access to these materials? We also discussed object repatriation and ethical returns, and the role of museums in working with and for minoritized communities across the world in service of decolonization efforts.

[Picture: Myself and PhD researcher Magdalena Guziejko (left). Image Credit: Dr Mary Linn]

One of the highlights of the trip was being able to share my work on Manx with others working in the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. I was asked to give a talk, in which I discussed the context of the Manx language, including its minoritization and current reclamation, as well as the questions my PhD explores. This opened up yet more discussion with the folklorists and anthropologists who work with other aspects of cultural revitalization, such as art and music.