By Dennis Hines
The Midweek (Illinois, USA)
Area residents will soon have an opportunity to take a glimpse at Cambodian culture.
Officials from the Northern Illinois University Anthropology Museum are currently working on establishing a Cambodian exhibit. NIU officials received a $115,000 grant in 2005 from the Henry Luce Foundation in New York to help develop the exhibit.
During the past few years, NIU officials have worked with representatives from the Cambodian American Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial to establish new exhibits for their museum.
The anthropology museum's Cambodian exhibit is set to feature tools and equipment that are used in every-day Cambodia such as fishing traps and fishing baskets. Ann Wright-Parsons, director of the NIU Anthropology Museum, said fishing is an important part of Cambodia's culture.
“It's important in the ecology and the economic life and agriculture,” Parsons said.
The exhibit also is set to include Cambodian children's games, clothing, school books, puppetry and instruments.
“Puppetry is not done so much anymore, but it was, so we have a fair amount of puppets that we will put up,” Parsons said. “And what we plan to do is show folk stories that were a part of children's learning.”
Other items that will be featured in the exhibit include tools that Cambodians use for cooking and preparing food. Parson said one of the more unique tools that Cambodians use are coconut scrappers. She said the Cambodians use coconuts in many of their recipes.
“A lot of their dishes use fresh-graded coconuts, and then they add a little water after they grade it, and then they squeeze it, and milk comes out, and it's boiled with fish or pork or chicken, and spices are added, and it makes a wonderful stew,” Parsons said.
The exhibit also will feature various craft items such as bowls, food containers and baskets.
“What's happening as Cambodia gets more into the global economy is these craft items are changing,” Parsons said. “They are using plastic twine instead of going out and looking for it from the vines in the forests, or they are weaving. There is one basket that is stripped full of plastic, and it is woven into a basket. So they're still weaving, but they're using plastic, because it's more durable, and it lasts longer.”
Parsons said religion is an important part of the Cambodian culture. She said the exhibit will include several items that are related to religion such as robes, incense and bowls and water bottles that are used by the monks. Parsons said the monks often store their food in different types of containers.
“Southeast Asians don't like their food all mixed up, so what they do is they put the rice (in a large container), and then they will put curry and other items in a small, plastic container,” Parsons said. “Then, the monks take the food back and share it with the other community members at the temple.”
Parsons said many of the Cambodian women prepare meals for the monks.
“The Cambodian women, who are deeply religious, will get up at three in the morning and cook fresh food,” Parsons said. “You can't give a monk leftovers. You have to give him the first portions of fresh-cooked food. So they will get up and prepare something special, and these monks go around daily, and the first portion of the cooked food will be given to the monks.”
Other exhibits that have been hosted at the anthropology museum include Western Kenya pottery, African masks and Central American culture. Several of the exhibits have been established by faculty members and anthropology graduate students.
The museum also includes a prehistoric exhibit which features neanderthal bones, animal bones, rocks, modern human bones and fossils. One of the more unique items that is featured at the museum is a mastodon jaw bone, which was found on a farm in southern DeKalb County in the 1970s. Parsons said the mastodon lived about 10,500 years ago.
“Our land was swampy and part of the last ice age, and a lot of the land must of been pools. So somehow this mastodon died and was covered in muck, and the skeleton was really well preserved,” Parsons said. “Anyway, the farmer called in an NIU team, so graduate students and a couple of faculty members went out and dug up the skeleton pieces.”
The museum also includes an interactive exhibit which explains how people who lived during prehistoric times used the sun to determine when to plant their crops.
“The whole idea is to get kids thinking about the importance of the sky and how looking at the location of the sun was used to tell time in order to know when to plant, before we had clocks or radios to tell us about the weather,” Parsons said.
The NIU Anthropology Museum is located in the Stevens Building. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and by appointment.
Officials from the Northern Illinois University Anthropology Museum are currently working on establishing a Cambodian exhibit. NIU officials received a $115,000 grant in 2005 from the Henry Luce Foundation in New York to help develop the exhibit.
During the past few years, NIU officials have worked with representatives from the Cambodian American Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial to establish new exhibits for their museum.
The anthropology museum's Cambodian exhibit is set to feature tools and equipment that are used in every-day Cambodia such as fishing traps and fishing baskets. Ann Wright-Parsons, director of the NIU Anthropology Museum, said fishing is an important part of Cambodia's culture.
“It's important in the ecology and the economic life and agriculture,” Parsons said.
The exhibit also is set to include Cambodian children's games, clothing, school books, puppetry and instruments.
“Puppetry is not done so much anymore, but it was, so we have a fair amount of puppets that we will put up,” Parsons said. “And what we plan to do is show folk stories that were a part of children's learning.”
Other items that will be featured in the exhibit include tools that Cambodians use for cooking and preparing food. Parson said one of the more unique tools that Cambodians use are coconut scrappers. She said the Cambodians use coconuts in many of their recipes.
“A lot of their dishes use fresh-graded coconuts, and then they add a little water after they grade it, and then they squeeze it, and milk comes out, and it's boiled with fish or pork or chicken, and spices are added, and it makes a wonderful stew,” Parsons said.
The exhibit also will feature various craft items such as bowls, food containers and baskets.
“What's happening as Cambodia gets more into the global economy is these craft items are changing,” Parsons said. “They are using plastic twine instead of going out and looking for it from the vines in the forests, or they are weaving. There is one basket that is stripped full of plastic, and it is woven into a basket. So they're still weaving, but they're using plastic, because it's more durable, and it lasts longer.”
Parsons said religion is an important part of the Cambodian culture. She said the exhibit will include several items that are related to religion such as robes, incense and bowls and water bottles that are used by the monks. Parsons said the monks often store their food in different types of containers.
“Southeast Asians don't like their food all mixed up, so what they do is they put the rice (in a large container), and then they will put curry and other items in a small, plastic container,” Parsons said. “Then, the monks take the food back and share it with the other community members at the temple.”
Parsons said many of the Cambodian women prepare meals for the monks.
“The Cambodian women, who are deeply religious, will get up at three in the morning and cook fresh food,” Parsons said. “You can't give a monk leftovers. You have to give him the first portions of fresh-cooked food. So they will get up and prepare something special, and these monks go around daily, and the first portion of the cooked food will be given to the monks.”
Other exhibits that have been hosted at the anthropology museum include Western Kenya pottery, African masks and Central American culture. Several of the exhibits have been established by faculty members and anthropology graduate students.
The museum also includes a prehistoric exhibit which features neanderthal bones, animal bones, rocks, modern human bones and fossils. One of the more unique items that is featured at the museum is a mastodon jaw bone, which was found on a farm in southern DeKalb County in the 1970s. Parsons said the mastodon lived about 10,500 years ago.
“Our land was swampy and part of the last ice age, and a lot of the land must of been pools. So somehow this mastodon died and was covered in muck, and the skeleton was really well preserved,” Parsons said. “Anyway, the farmer called in an NIU team, so graduate students and a couple of faculty members went out and dug up the skeleton pieces.”
The museum also includes an interactive exhibit which explains how people who lived during prehistoric times used the sun to determine when to plant their crops.
“The whole idea is to get kids thinking about the importance of the sky and how looking at the location of the sun was used to tell time in order to know when to plant, before we had clocks or radios to tell us about the weather,” Parsons said.
The NIU Anthropology Museum is located in the Stevens Building. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and by appointment.
1 comment:
A wonderful opportunity for Khmer to show up our culture! Thanks professors at NIU, Khmer in Chicago and donors who support and fund the exhibition.
A student at NIU.
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