Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day!

What is Indigenous Peoples’ Day?

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Established in 1977, this holiday serves as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day, highlighting the mistreatment and misrepresentation of Indigenous or Native peoples in relation to Christopher Columbus’ exploration of the Americas. Some people choose to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day, while others commemorate both. Regardless, it is important to recognize and celebrate the contributions and culture of Native peoples in our country.

Understanding diversity in the United States

Diversity refers to the presence of a wide range of different people, backgrounds, and ideas coexisting together. The United States is known for its diversity, and understanding it can help us honor and appreciate our differences.

What is Diversity?

Diversity encompasses a variety of different people, things, or ideas. When we discuss diversity in the United States, we often focus on different races and ethnicities. However, it also includes other groups such as those defined by religion, sexual orientation, gender, ability, and age.

Diversity is not solely about differences; it also involves how these differences can benefit a community. Additionally, equity and inclusion are crucial concepts to consider when discussing diversity.

Equity refers to ensuring that all individuals receive what they need for fair treatment. Achieving equity may require providing additional support to some groups to level the playing field.

Equity is not the same as equality. Equality is when people receive the same opportunities.

Inclusion is about including people from different groups and giving them opportunities. It also means respecting and valuing their experiences and contributions. This is important for those who have typically been excluded. Their input is valuable in community discussions and decision-making.

Research shows that diverse workplaces are more creative and innovative. They are also better at making decisions.

Among the world's largest clusters of nations, the United States ranks first in diversity, comprised of many ethnic and racial groups. An ethnicity, or ethnic group, is defined as a group of people sharing an identity based on cultural features such as language, religion, traditions, customs, common ancestry, and history. In contrast, race refers to a group of individuals who share common physical characteristics, as recognized by society.

It's important to note that race and ethnicity can sometimes overlap. For example, Black Americans not only form a racial group but can also be considered an ethnic group due to their shared culture. Conversely, certain racial groups, such as Asians in the U.S., may have a less cohesive sense of shared identity due to their diverse immigrant origins, and thus may not function as a unified ethnic group.

As of 2020, non-Hispanic whites comprised 58% of the U.S. population and are often referred to as the majority group, while other racial groups are considered minority groups.

Let’s create a space for mutual respect and coexistence on this small blue planet. We believe that we need more ambassadors for the world, and we seek your help in encouraging and training individuals to respect cultural diversity and promote understanding. I am eager to collaborate with those who engage with the world, as together we can transform this vision into a powerful narrative.

Mongolia is a Country of Unique Diversity.

Understanding cultural diversity is essential for creating a just and equitable society. This statement holds true, especially in the case of Mongolia, which is renowned for its unique diversity. The country features a variety of landscapes, a mix of ethnic groups, and a fusion of nomadic traditions with modern urban life, making it a culturally rich and fascinating place to explore.

Key points about Mongolia's diversity include:

Ethnic Groups:
Although the majority of the population consists of Khalkha Mongols, significant minority groups such as Kazakhs, Buryats, and smaller indigenous communities like the Tsaatan (reindeer herders) also contribute to the country’s diverse cultural tapestry.

Geographic Variety:
Mongolia spans vast landscapes including the steppes, the Gobi Desert, high mountains, and forested areas, offering a wide range of natural environments.

Nomadic Lifestyle:
A significant portion of the Mongolian population still maintains a traditional nomadic lifestyle, living in yurts and herding livestock, which is a unique aspect of Mongolian culture.

Cultural Practices:
Mongolian culture is rich with distinct traditions including the Naadam festival (featuring wrestling, horse racing, and archery), throat singing, and unique folk music.

Naadam is a national festival celebrated annually from July 11 to 13 across Mongolia, focusing on three traditional games: horseracing, wrestling, and archery. This festival is deeply connected to the nomadic civilization of the Mongols, who have long practiced pastoralism on the vast steppes of Central Asia.

In addition to the sports, Naadam features oral traditions, performing arts, national cuisine, craftsmanship, and cultural forms such as long songs, Khöömei overtone singing, Bie biyelgee dance, and Morin khuur fiddle performances. During the festival, Mongolians follow special rituals, including wearing unique costumes and using distinctive tools and sporting items.

Participants honor the athletes—both men and women—along with children who compete, and winners are awarded titles in recognition of their achievements. Ritual praise songs and poems are dedicated to the contestants in the events. Naadam encourages everyone to participate, fostering community involvement and togetherness.

The three types of sports are closely linked to the lifestyles and living conditions of the Mongols. Traditionally, the skills for these sports have been passed down through home-schooling by family members, although formal training programs for wrestling and archery have developed in recent years. The rituals and customs of Naadam also emphasize respect for nature and the environment.

Indonesian Batik

Batik is definitely an identity of Indonesia’s culture. As with many cultural forms shared in the world, its origin is now obscure, but Indonesia is sharing the world ownership by layering a strong fixture on to it, to make batik something Indonesian.

The word batik is thought to be derived from the word 'ambatik' which translated means 'a cloth with little dots'. The suffix 'tik' means little dot, drop, point or to make dots. Batik may also originate from the Javanese word 'tritik' which describes a resist process for dyeing where the patterns are reserved on the textiles by tying and sewing areas prior to dyeing, similar to tie dye techniques. What is clear is that in the 19th century batik became highly developed and was well ingrained in Javanese cultural life.

Seated on a low stool, the batiker dips her small copper cup or canting (chan' ting) into the hot, melted wax, and blows lightly on the tip of the spout. With smooth, sure movements, she guides the tip along the lines of the intricate pattern on the cloth. As the wax cools, she dips her canting again … and then again … in a day filled with a meditative rhythm. The fabric that they are working on is draped over light bamboo frames called gawangan to allow the freshly applied wax to cool and harden. The wax is heated in the wajan until it is of the desired consistency. The artisan then dips her canting into the wax to fill the bowl of the canting.

Indonesian women have been making these beautiful cloths, in just this same way – for centuries. A cultural and artistic legacy that goes far beyond cloth as a mere commodity to be bought and sold in the marketplace, though the importance of that marketplace cannot be denied as well.

For more information about "Indonesian Batik Transforming into Mongolian National Outfit," please contact Dr. Ambassador Battsetseg Shagdar directly at: ambassadortotheworld.attw@gmail.com

Batik cap (chop) is waxed with the copper stamp called a cap. This also takes skill to create an even pattern on the cloth, but it's much faster to make than batik tulis. You'll notice a set thickness to the lines because they're all the same from the width of the copper strips. Also, if you open the cloth and let your eye blur slightly, you can sometimes notice the shape of the stamp is separated a bit from the one next to it. Batik cap is the least expensive of hand-processed batiks. Each cap is a copper block that makes up a design unit. Cap are made of 1.5 cm wide copper stripes that are bent into the shape of the design. Smaller pieces of wire are used for the dots. When complete, the pattern of copper strips is attached to the handle.

Today, batik quality is defined by cap or tulis, the second meaning hand-drawn designs which use a canting, or kombinasi, a combination of the two techniques.

Cuban Guyabera

Ernest “Papa” Hemmingway sported one famously. And so did, at one or another, U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama. Guayabera shirts have long been identified with the people of Cuba and other Caribbean, Central American, and Southeast Asian countries. They have been associated with a sort of casual, elegance that allow the wearer to don this four-pocketed, loosely worn shirt on both formal and informal occasions. So popular are the shirts that they exist in one form or another in several different iterations. In the Dominican Republic they are called “chacabana” shirts. In Jamaica they are known as “bush jackets” and so forth and so on. Hence, begins the many versions of how the guayabera came to be. Here are few of the guayabera’s origin stories.

The Cuban version of the guayabera’s history is that they originated around 1893. The tale goes like this: a poor seamstress sewed large patch pockets on her husband’s shirt so that he would be better able to carry guavas home from the field in which he worked. In another iteration of the same story, it is claimed that the wife of a Spanish immigrants from Granada named Encarnación Núñez García made the shirt for her husband so that he could carry the items that he used while working such as writing tools, cigars, etc.

The Pilipino Origin Story Some believe that the shirt originated in the Philippines and made its way to Cuba via Mexico. There the shirt is called the barong. However, the barong does not resemble the guayabera much in that it has no large pockets and the embroidery on it is very different. As a result of these obvious differences, many scholars doubt that the barong and the guayabera were ever the same shirt. There are other origin stories surrounding the guayabera as well. No matter which story you believe, the fact remains that the Cuban guayabera is often imitated but seldom duplicated.

Men wearing guayaberas are a familiar sight in Latin America and the Caribbean. A traditional piece of menswear, the shirt is distinguished by its four front pockets and two vertical stripes of pleating and/or embroidery. Its widespread usage and distinctive appearance has made it the most iconic piece of clothing associated with the cultural life of Latin American and Caribbean populations worldwide.

Despite this far-reaching popularity, the circumstances concerning the guayabera’s origin and stylistic evolution are indeterminate and widely dispersed across a number of sources. The Guayabera: A Shirt’s Story weaves together the threads of the shirt’s history from an array of different legends, archival records, advertisements, historic photographs, articles and other sources from different centuries.

The guayabera is a men's summer shirt, made of linen, silk, or cotton, and appropriate for hot or humid weather, guayaberas are popular in Cuba, the Caribbean (especially the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico), Mexico, Central America, South America, Southeast Asia, the south of Spain and Portugal.

For more information about the "Cuban Guyabera," please contact Dr. Ambassador Battsetseg Shagdar directly at: ambassadortotheworld.attw@gmail.com