Snow
and Fire in the Fourth World: Perspectives
on Western Preservation
and Hopi Cultural Preservation Initiative
Philip
Cryan Marshall[1],
Associate Professor, Historic Preservation Program,
School of Architecture,
Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island
May I suggest we consider a profound change in the way we approach preservation, whose very definition changes when we consider our work in a broader context and -- if possible-through different worldviews. We often refer to preservation as the physical result of our saving and interpreting a building or a site. But preservation of cultures (here, indigenous, non-Western cultures) extends beyond physical bounds to include much, much more.
I am pleased that I have been allowed to share a few images of Hopi, for – typically -- such photographs may not be taken -- much less broadcast -- by non-Hopi. I made it brief because I did not want you to be lulled into a romantic view of this world and this work with additional visuals that might otherwise distract us from more important issues, which can never be seen.
I apologize for preparing a written text: In deference to oral tradition, I should probably speak unaided-as written words can serve as an epitaph to cultures sustained by oral tradition, song and ceremony. And our efforts of documentation, using images and writing, can be seen as an epitaph to our respect for privileged information and confidentiality.
All of us here, today, are indeed privileged, yet we barely know its full meaning. Advances in information dissemination have empowered many.[2] Yet, our information age does not engender an “information sage” Remember T.S. Eliot’s query, "Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?"[3] As mindful crusaders in this information age, we cannot be content with the notion: "I don't care how much you know until I know how much your care." Knowledge, like seed corn, should not be consumed or indiscriminately broadcast. For some tribes, knowledge is not employed to wield power but to sustain a strength through the interdependence of clans, each a keeper of privileged information[4] Here, a breach of confidentiality may be a breach of religious duty.
So, in our efforts, consider seeking -- and preserving – information, knowledge and wisdom, tempered by care, confidentiality, and respect for privileged information. I sincerely hope my efforts here today meet this intent -- for you, for Hopis.
Hopi may begin a conversation with the preface: "In my village...." Today, my words are "from my village." They do not necessarily reflect the view of those on the Hopi mesas or of the Hopi Foundation.
As
architectural conservator and associate of the Hopi Foundation, and with
reference to Western and non-Western worldviews, I wish to address some
principal preservation concepts relevant to today's conference: (1) the act of
preservation; (2) preservation standards and charters; (3) economics and
property values; and (4) conservation.
Here, the act of preservation is not a treatment, but a process whose workings must be considered in the greater context of non-Western worldviews. Here, preservation of architecture is not an end goal but a means to preserve culture at large and to develop greater wisdom and capacity. In light of this broad understanding, the act – the process -- and the meaning--of preservation expresses principles of respect and care that extend well beyond work on architecture --on "objects, buildings, and landscapes” – to all that we do.
The Aristotelian worldview of Western civilization and its adherence to an object-oriented view obscures a process -- and systems-oriented approach. As such, it is so very, very difficult to explain preservation as a systems-oriented process within the framework of Western culture, constrained by its Cartesian coordinates.
Vincent Scully once asked, "How can we perceive the architecture of the American Indian who has such an entirely different view of men [sic] and nature than the one we hold? …Here even the apparent deficiencies of language serve our turn.”[5]
The principles of `linguistic relativism' help us understand this profound difference -- and the need to preserve language, above all.[6] As summarized by Dell,[7] according to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis,"the nature of one’s language significantly affects what one can think and therefore, how one perceives and orders ‘reality’. Sapir, Whorf’s mentor and colleague, claimed that ‘we see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation.”[8]
Importantly, Dell notes, "The essential notion of linguistic relativity lies not in the words of a language, but in its grammar. Grammar is inherently metaphysical because it delineates how aspects of ‘reality’ are related. Western languages, for example, which provide an analysis of phenomena into subjects and predicates, lead their speakers to believe that this grammar objectively reports the true structure of the world.... Hopi language has a relational grammar that describes the world in terms of process..."[9]
The Aristotelian reality (a term that comes from the Latin root res, or thing) is one of time, space, and matter. While, as described by Dell, the Hopi world includes four parameters: space-time (together), events (or, more properly, "eventing," because an "event" itself is too discrete), intensity. and preparing.
Dell notes, "The Aristotelian worldview creates dualism between the material and immaterial, the discrete and the connected, the real and the unreal, the instantaneous and the ongoing. Prom this perspective, worldviews that emphasize process, connection, and the immaterial can only be pejoratively labeled subjective, mystical. or metaphysical."[10]
So, if we are to take a different, non-Western view of our culture and heritage or -- more importantly -- that of others, we must go beyond the idea of documenting, restoring and interpreting objects of the past and beyond the: concept of discrete historic events. It's about time.
At times, we may consider preserving structures or sites to a particular time, to a target date. Perhaps this is in response to what Gombrich observed that "it is the rapidity of change which increases the psychological needs for permanence." To non-Westerners, this approach may be off target.
With preservation as a process, this Western concept of restoration has little relevance. For preservation is the act of sustaining the vitality and self-determination of a culture, whose many physical, social, environmental, and spiritual traditions are so interdependent. The metronome of this ongoing preservation process is the cycle of seasons, the cycle of death and birth, and the nature of impermanence and change.
This concept is to be found in many millennia-old traditions in the Southwest and Mesoamerica, Robert Kaplan recently reviewed Neil Baldwin's "Legends of the Plumed Serpent," which is a history of Quetzalcoatl. Kaplan notes. "Quetzal (bird) and coatl (snake) are metaphors for the sky and the earth in the Nahua language of the Aztecs. But the myth of the Plumed Serpent-the snake that rises upward, symbolizing rebirth after death and thus history as a cycle rather than linear process-originated long before the Aztecs, at the time hunter-gatherers became sedentary in the New World and husbandry allowed maize to rise from the ground in Spring."[11]
To paraphrase Ken Wilber, "When the woman hoes, there are Goddesses; When the man plows, there are Gods."[12] In a postmodern age, but grounded its horticultural roots, Hopi engenders a hybrid vigor by combining gender equality with universal equanimity. This spring, Hopi families wait for their blue corn to germinate.
William Baer, at Goucher College’s ‘97 conference on historical significance, addressed the subject of Western time in relation to its impact on the future. He notes the reflexive (or self-referencing) activities of preservationists, who dwell in the present yet reflect upon the past, and of planners who “view the present in light of the reflected-upon future.” Represented as separate loops, extending from the present to the past and future, respectively. Baer suggests that this fails to represent the subtlety that occurs in which "our cognitive maps and reality become fused.” He suggests forming a mobius strip to represent the continuum of past and future and the fusion of our cognitive maps and reality.[13]
However, Baer is quick to recognize that this modernis, cognitive map considers history as linear, in which people and events (both object-oriented) are unique. This is in marked contrast to traditional cultures, including Hopi, which consider “history”, or time as a circular or recurrent process, and preservation as the act of sustaining a culture, in careful balance with the environment, which shares with us its cycles.
Whorf suggests that a Hopi who only knows Hopi language “has no general knowledge of time as a smooth flowing continuum in which everything in the universe proceeds and an equal rate, out of a future, through a present, into a past.” Whorf continues, “After long and careful study and analysis, the Hopi language is seen to contain no words, grammatical forms, constructions or expressions that refer directly to what we call ‘time’, or to past, present or future…either explicit or implicit.”[14]
Whorf describes Hopi metaphysics with two grand cosmic forms, which we might approximate as manifested and manifesting, the former being the sensory, historical, physical universe, “with no attempt to distinguish between present and past, but excluding everything we call future.” The latter, manifesting, “comprises all that we call future, but not merely this; it includes equally and indistinguishably all that we call mental – everything that appears or exists in the mind, or, as the Hopi would prefer to say, in the heart, not only the heart of man…[but]… in the heart of nature… [and]… in the very heart of the Cosmos, itself.”[15]
Some people think preservation is nostalgic. But, from a non-Western perspective, preservation may not be just a longing for the past. Here "nostalgia" becomes important – but not as a reference to the past. Nostalgia comes from the Greek nostos, meaning "a return home." Through preservation, we return home -- as Hopis return to their architecture as one means of preserving their culture, today. In this context, preservation of architecture becomes very important. Yet, traditionally, preservation -- in its greater sense -- did not necessarily mean saving architectural elements, or even entire rooms and clan houses.
To quote a passage from Kiiyamuy, from the stabilization Guide, "Changes in our understanding of preservation during the past century reflect a dramatic change in our approach to traditional building construction. In the past, deteriorated houses(kiihu) were seldom stabilized temporarily; they were taken down. But during the process, many building materials were carefully disassembled, to be reused for reconstructions done in response to the ever-changing needs of clans and villages. In this way, though a house might be destroyed, building materials and craft traditions were preserved.”[16]
Such
actions preserve the capacity of Hopi to embrace impermanence and partake in
change as a means to preserve the Hopi Way. To quote David Lowenthal
“Destruction and preservation are, in the most profound sense, bound up in a
cyclical process.”[17]
Today, national organizations proclaim their intent through slogans such as
“protecting the irreplaceable”[18]
or “it is no small thing to outwit time.”[19]
Instead of responding as Gombrich has described, and saving the material past as
a psychological reaction to increasing change, preservationists might embrace
what Thich Nhat Hahn has advised: “Long live impermanence.”
Standards of preservation extend well beyond those developed by the Secretary of the Interior, whose work largely affects the physical fabric of a structure or site. These standards are a valiant, worthwhile effort that, coupled with Federal funds and legislation, provide a carrot and a stick, with the Standards serving both guide and limit the actions of property owners in America: a nation dedicated to its declaration of independence, rather than a declaration of interdependence.
From my experience in Hopiland, the Standards serve not so much as a standard, but as a double- edged sword; some standards are helpful, while others deny the greater cultural context in which building preservation must act especially as, in the Standards, "Preservation is defined as the act or process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of an historic property.”[20] I feel that these do not embrace the process of greater cultural preservation. The National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, has provided an opportunity for tribes to augment their cultural preservation programs by developing Tribal Historic Preservation Offices to conduct the maintain their own cultural resource management initiatives, assisted and funded, in part, by the NPS Tribal Historic preservation Office. In this context tribes can address this critical issue of the Secretary’s Standards.[21]
Leaving greater judgment to Hopi and other tribes, I will take the “fifth” for the fifth standard references craftsmanship. This craftsmanship should not be considered as a noun, representing extant decorative elements, but as a verb describing the intentional, sustained process of crafts tradition. In 1991, working on the logistics of site assessment, conservation and training, I asked a clan member how Hopi house-building was undertaken. The reply was, "With blessing."
To quote Albert Einstein, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." In the same spirit, we must develop and uphold new standards, standards in the context of cyclical, process-oriented, non-Western worldview. Standards that affect our human condition and its greater unity with the environment. Standards of self-determination, respect, confidentiality, trust, and responsibility. These standards, or guides as defined in Kiiyamuy, serve as the foundation for building and for maintaining, where the bonds of "brick and mortar" -- or o’wa and tsoqa, stone and mortar in Hopiland -- where these bonds serve as a paradigm for the bonds between families, communities, and our greater natural and spiritual world.
The Burra Charter[22], with its wise emphasis on "cultural significance" and "place," and its emphasis on the conservation process -- even though Western -- seems to have been tempered by the Australian reference (while not quite deference) to Aboriginal needs. Preservationists, through such efforts, may engender a greater consciousness. But, we cannot do it alone. Fortunately, Australia may now be claiming such responsibility nationwide. While Australia grapples with its Western cultural identity -- its choice of staying the monarchy or forming a republic -- it is actually more invested in a reconciliation with its Aboriginal stewards. Recently, Prime Minister Howard observed, "As I go around Australia, I find a greater unanimity of support for [constitutional recognition of Aboriginal occupancy] than I do on the issue of the republic."[23] With such increased national consciousness, the Burra Charter holds even greater potential. Yet we must recognize that cultural significance of place" is in the "I" of the beholder. It can not based on the visual perception of voyeurists seeking to experience, if not appropriate, the integrity and authenticity of other cultures --for lack of these qualities in their own. This "I" of the beholder must be personified by a tribe's own understanding of its worldview and its relation to preservation, not ours.
The Historic Scotland Guide to International Conservation Charters, authored by Dr. Duncan Bell in 1997. surveyed over seventy statements of conservation principles. Bell identifies one concept as “Rights of the Indigenous Community” Dr. Bell notes, “As yet, though UNESCO and the Council of Europe refer to the problem, only ICOMOS New Zealand has seriously tackled the issue.” The New Zealand Charter of 1992 recognizes, in part, that indigenous conservation, “is conditional on decisions made in the indigenous community, and should proceed only in this context.”[24]
Guided by this respectful understanding, other nations must include such language as a banner – no, a banner cry -- to any standard involving indigenous preservation.
Next
October, the ICOMOS General Assembly should consider carefully its adoption of
the Principles of the Cultural Tourism
Charter, which states at the onset that natural and cultural heritage
"...has an important role in modern life and should be made physically,
intellectually and/or emotively accessible to the general public." This
intent unfortunately endorses a Cartesian modern life that disrespects some
cultures.[25]
Economics and Property Values
At times the economics of preservation is co-opted and dictated by the profit motive: dollars and cents. Instead we might profit from the right motivation: common goals and common sense. Consider this: the word economics comes from Greek, oikos, which means house or home, and nomos, which means management. Economics is, at its root, closely related to ecology. While ecology is about the study of the home, economics is about managing it. So, really, the economics of preservation is about the management --the stewardship of our home, our village, our global village.
James Howard Kunstler, in The Geography of Nowhere writes, "American land law was predicated on the paramount principle that land was first and foremost a commodity for capital gain."[26] Kunstler then quotes Tocqueville who, touring America in l83l, wrote, "Individualism, at first, only saps the virtues of public life; but in the long run it attacks and destroys all others and is at length absorbed in selfishness.”[27]
Enabled by the Land Ordinance of 1785, surveyors sectioned off their newly claimed land, guided by the Cartesian coordinates of longitude and latitude, their modernist, representational paradigm,[28] and a demand for individual landownership. Eventually, surveying teams came to Hopiland.
Concern was expressed in March 1894, in a Hopi petition to the “Washington Chiefs,” and signed by 123 clan and village leaders from all three Hopi mesas: the leaders asserted the following, in response to Federal and land allotment initiatives. I quote:
“The family, the dwelling house, and the field are inseparable because the woman is the heart of these, and they rest with her. Among us the family traces its kin from the mother, hence all its possessions are hers. The man builds the house but the woman is the owner, because she repairs and preserves it; the man cultivates the field, but he renders its harvest into the woman’s keeping.”[29]
In Hopiland, the concept of real estate – alone, much less as a commodity upon which we can place a monetary value – is meaningless. There is no individual land ownership as we know it, nor any capitalist economic investment intended to increase property values.[30]
As
stewards of harmony and balance in the Universe, Hopi is not an economically underdeveloped
third-world nation, but of the fourth world – the same world
referenced by other indigenous tribes – a rich world whose currency extends
far beyond our limited investment in property and time, physical fabric and
target dates.
Quoting Kiiyamuy, “Today, deteriorated houses are still torn down. Except now, historic materials are discarded off the cliffs and replaced with concrete block and other off-reservation material. Meanwhile our centuries-old houses have assumed so much more significance; for their intact preservation practices are valued as a means to safely preserve our traditions through the process of preserving our houses.”[31]
Today, the Hopi Nation and other indigenous, millennia-old cultures worldwide, seek to maintain their ways, at times considering Western conservation treatments, technology, and materials. But, however great the intention, contemporary preservation practices should never be introduced at the expense of the culture within which these traditions belong.
In preservation, we speak of "minimum intervention," referring to our efforts to sustain the integrity of a structure or site – with as little physical change as possible.[32] More importantly, our efforts at "minimum intervention" must extend to our effect on culture at large. Otherwise our preservation efforts may be accomplished at the expense of the very culture in which they exist.
With
reference to the origins of Modernism, Anderson notes, “looking through his
telescope…Galileo epitomized the new Cartesian self, which could stand back
from the world and study it.”[33]
Conservators should not sustain this modernist paradigm by replacing Galileo’s
telescope with a microscope, whose objective lens is obscured by our
object-oriented view of preservation and of the world.
By considering preservation as a means, not an end, by considering preservation as a process, not simply a tangible product; by considering preservation as ever-changing and impermanent, not fixed in time and space, we broaden our capacity to understand, and we strengthen the capacity of those cultures in which, and with which we work.
By including standards that encompass the human condition, not only the physical condition, we will be less likely to have a disruptive effect and more able to consider contemporary preservation practices in keeping with traditions.
Here, preservation exemplifies the Hopi teaching of Itam naap yani – which means “doing the work ourselves.” Here preservation includes self-preservation through fostering self-reliance, self-determination, and a commitment to helping others help themselves. This is the process of preservation: at home, in the fields, at the table, through spoken work and song, in ceremony and custom.
In a society of nanoseconds and nanomangement, it is easy to respond quickly to perceived preservation needs with the latest techniques and technology. But, preserving millennia-old cultures takes hard work, a long time, and – critically – trust, respect, confidentiality, and understanding – the very values that we seek to preserve.
This is the foundation – the Hopi foundation – upon which we preserve. The Hopi Foundation’s name – Lomasumi’nangwtukwsiwmani – “signifies the process of furthering unity of aspiration blossoming into full maturity over time.” I hope we can all share in this unity of aspiration.
Kwak whai. Thank you.
__________
[1] Philip Cryan Marshall, Associate Professor, Historic Preservation Program, School of Architecture, Roger Williams University, One Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI 02809, Tel. 401.254.3061, Fax 401.254.3501, E-mail pcm@alpha.rwu.edu, Web <http://gamma.rwu.edu/users/pcm>, Publication © 1999 Philip Cryan Marshall.
[2] The Getty Information Institute’s October 21-23, 1998 conference entitled Communicating Culture addressed “the important role of culture in today’s evolving information society.” As reported in the NCPTT News, “Peter Schwartz of the Global Business Network urged institutions to deal with an apparent ‘fear of homogenization and trivialization of culture by digitization.” This fear is particularly acute for cultures who value confidentiality and privileged information. “Communicating Culture” in NCPTT Notes February 1999, Number 29:5.
[3] Skolimowski, Henryk. Ecoyoga: Practice and meditations for walking in beauty on the earth. London: Gaia Books Limited, 1994: 102.
[4] As noted in the recommendation number eight in the Executive Summary of the Senate Report No. 101-85, developed by the National Park Service, “Tribal needs for confidentiality of certain kinds of information should be respected.” Keepers of the Treasures Website, <http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tribal/keepers.html>, 3/12/99.
[5] Scully, Vincent. “Men and Nature in Pueblo Architecture” in American Indian Art: Form and Tradition, Walker Art Center and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1972:35.
[6] As noted in the Executive Summary of the Senate Report No. 101-85, developed by the National Park Service, recommendation number six affirms, “Federal policy should recognize the central importance of language in maintaining the integrity of Indian tribal traditions and the tribal sense of oral traditions should be established in conjunction with amendment of National Historic Preservation Act recommended below.” Keepers of the Treasures Website <http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tribal/keepers.html>, 3/12/99.
[7] Dell, Paul F. “The Hopi Family Therapist and the Aristotelian Parents” in Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, April 1980:123.
[8] Spier, L. Language Culture, and Personality: Essays in memory of Edward Sapir, Menasha, Wisconsin: Sapir Memorial Publication Fund, 1941: 123.
[9] Dell, Paul F. “The Hopi Family Therapist and the Aristotelian Parents” in Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, April 1980: 124.
[10] Dell, Paul F. “The Hopi Family Therapist and the Aristotelian Parents” in Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, April 1980: 125.
[11] The New York Times Book Review, February 7, 1999: 19.
[12] Wilbur’s reference reads, “Where females work the field with a hoe, God is a Woman; where males work the field with a plow, God is a Man.” Wilber, Ken, A Brief History of Everything. London: Shambhala, 1996: 51.
[13] Baer, William C. “The Impact of ‘Historical Significance’ on the Future” in Preservation of What, for Whom? A Critical Look at Historical Significance, Conference Proceedings, Goucher College, March 20-22, 1997: 1-2.
[14] Carrol, John M., ed. Language, Thought, and Reality, Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press 1956. Pages 57-64, reprinted in Tedlock, Dennis and Barbara Tedlock, eds. Teachings from the American Earth, Chapter 8, “An American Indian Model of the Universe,” New York, Liveright, 1975: 121.
[15] Carrol, John M., ed. Language, Thought, and Reality, Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press 1956. Pages 57-64, reprinted in Tedlock, Dennis and Barbara Tedlock, eds. Teachings from the American Earth, Chapter 8, “An American Indian Model of the Universe,” New York, Liveright, 1975:124-125.
[16] Kiiyamuy: Technical Guides on the Preservation and Maintenance of Hopi Clan Houses, Technical Guide No.7: Stabilization and Protection . Hotelvilla, Arizona: The Hopi foundation: Lomasumi’nangwtukwsiwmani, 1997: 6.
[17] Lowenthal, David. “Material Preservation and its Alternatives” in Perspecta: The Yale Architectural Journal, 1989.
[18] National Trust for Historic Preservation
[19] Employed by the National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property until it changed its name to Heritage Preservation.
[20] Weeks, Kay D. and Anne E. Grimmer. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Buildings, Washington, DC: Heritage Preservation Services, National Park Services, U.S.D.I., 1995:17.
[21] As noted in the Executive Summary of the Senate Report No. l0l-85, developed by the National Park Service, "Tribes have mixed experiences working with Federal agencies, State Historic Preservation Officers, and others government entities in historic preservation. Although they want to participate in the national historic preservation program, they want to do so on a government-to-government basis, in a manner that recognizes the breadth of their preservation interests and that does not attempt to impose standards, guidelines, and priorities on them that are foreign to the very cultural values they seek to preserve." Recommendation number three affirms, "Federal policy should require Federal agencies, and encourage State and local governments, to ensure that Indian tribes are involved to the maximum extent feasible in decisions that affect properties of cultural importance to them." Keepers of the Treasures Website <http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tribal/keepers.html>, 3/12/99.
[22] Marquis-Kyle, Peter and Meredith Walker. The Illustrated Burro Charter: Making good decisions about the care of important places. Australia ICOMOS, 1994: 69-81.
[23] Walker, Ruth “Australia split on monarchy,” The Christian Science Monitor, March 5, 1999: 9.
[24] The full reference reads "[Indigenous conservation] is conditional on decisions made in the indigenous community, and should proceed only in this context. Indigenous conservation precepts are fluid and take account of the continuity of life and the needs of the present as well as the responsibilities of guardianship and association with those who have gone before. In particular, protocols of access, authority and ritual are handled at local level. General principles of ethics and social respect confirm that such protocols should be observed." Bell, D. The Historic Scotland Guide to International Conservation Charters, Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 1997: 32
ICOMOS New Zealand's 1992 Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Heritage Value sections are quoted below:
2. Indigenous Cultural Heritage
The indigenous heritage of Maori and Moriori relates to family, local and tribal groups and associations. It is inseparable from identity and well-being and has particular cultural meanings.
The Treaty of Waitangi is the historical basis for indigenous guardianship. It recognizes the indigenous people as exercising responsibility for their treasures, monuments and sacred places. This interest extends beyond current legal ownership wherever such heritage exists. Particular knowledge of heritage values is entrusted to chosen guardians. The conservation of places of indigenous cultural heritage value therefore is conditional on decisions made in the indigenous community, and should proceed only in this context. Indigenous conservation precepts are fluid and take account of the continuity of life and the needs of the present as well as the responsibilities of guardianship and association with those who have gone before. In particular, protocols of access, authority and ritual are handled at a local level. General principles of ethics and socia1 respect affirm that such protocols should be observed.
12. Records
Records of the research and conservation of places of cultural heritage value should be placed in an appropriate archive. Some knowledge of place of indigenous heritage value is not a matter of public record, but is entrusted to guardians within the indigenous community.
14. Non-intervention
in some circumstances, assessment may show that any intervention is undesirable. In particular, undisturbed constancy of spiritual association may be more important than the physical aspects of some places of indigenous heritage value.
ICOMOS New Zealand's Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Heritage. Value,ICOMOS Website: <www.icomos.org/nz_92charter.html>, 3/14/99
[25] The full text of several principles follows:
1.1 The natural and cultural heritage is material and spiritual resource, providing a narrative of historical development. It has an important role in modern life and should be made physically, intellectually and/or emotively accessible to the general public. Programs for the protection and conservation of the physical attributes, intangible aspects, contemporary cultural expressions and broad context, should facilitate an understanding and appreciation of the heritage significance by the host community and the visitor, in an equitab1e and affordable manner.
4.2 While the heritage of any specific place or region may have a universal dimension, the needs and wishes of some communities or indigenous peoples to restrict or manage physical, spiritual or intellectual access to certain cultural practices, knowledge, beliefs, activities, artifacts or sites should be respected.
At best, this is patronage, not partnership. Otherwise, the charter appears to subordinate cu1tural self-determination to cultural tourism.
"Principles of the Cultural Tourism Charter" in Final Draft (8th draft), International Cultural Tourism Charter, published in US/ICOMOS Newsletter No.6, November 1998: 9-11.
[26] Kunstler, James Howard. The Geography of Nowhere: the Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993:26.
[27] Kunstler, James Howard. The Geography of Nowhere: the Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993: 27.
[28] In discussing the fundamental Enlightenment paradigm Wilber notes, “And the fundamental Enlightenment paradigm is known as the representation paradigm. This is the idea that you have the self or the subject, on the one hand, and the empirical or sensory world, on the other, and all valid knowledge consists of making maps of the empirical world, the single and simple ‘pregiven’ world. And if this map is accurate, if it correctly represents, or corresponds with, the empirical world, then that is the ‘truth’.” Wilber, Ken. A Brief History of Everything. London: Shambhala, 1996: 58-59.
[29] Reference provided by Terry Morgart, Associate, The Hopi Foundation, Hotevilla, Arizona.
[30] On October 13, 1998, The Brookings Institution's Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy hosted and cosponsored a seminar on the economic impacts of historic preservation. The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, a cosponsor, reported in NCPTT Notes. "George Treyz of Regional Economic Models, Inc. discussed distinctive features of the input-output model developed by his firm. Treyz refers to the REMI rnodel as an `integrated and dynamic' model for two reasons. First, the REMI model is unusual in that it attempts to quantify quality of life factors as well as measurable economic impacts. Second, the REMI model also incorporates equilibrium factors -- in essence, the long-term consequences of spending on a given project as opposed to only the initial impacts and economic data, which are generally compiled through the surveys. By accounting for such factors, the REMI model attempts to provide more dynamic interpretation of economic activity than comparable input-output models” Such models, upon refinement, would clearly be helpful in developing a method for assessing the broader impact of preservation investments – if we are to raise our understanding of economics above the bottom line. “A Seminar on Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation” in NCPTT Notes, February 1999, Number 29: 6-7
[31] Kiiyamuy: Technical Guides on the Preservation and Maintenance of Hopi Clan Houses, Technical Guide No. 7; Stabilization and Protection. Hotevilla, Arizona: The Hopi Foundation Lomasumi’nangwtukwsiwmani, 1997:6.
[32] ICOMOS New Zealand’s 1992 Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Heritage Value section 14 is quoted below:
14. Non-intervention
In some circumstances, assessment may show that any intervention is undesirable. In particular, undisturbed constancy of spiritual association may be more important than the physical aspects of some places of indigenous heritage value.
ICOMOS New Zealand’s Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Heritage Value. ICOMOS Website:<www.icomos.org/nz_92charter.html>, 3/14/99
[33] Anderson, Walter Truett. “The Human Factor” in Utne Reader, January-February 1998: 50.