Toponymy and Cultural Heritage The 1st Regional Training Program in Toponymy including Marine Toponymy Manila, 19—24 March 2018 United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) Multamia RMT Lauder & Allan F. Lauder Department of Linguistics Universitas Indonesia UNGEGN & the Relationship between Toponymy and Cultural Heritage • Interest in the relationship between cultural heritage and toponymy has grown in UNGEGN since its establishment in 1960. In 2002, a working group was established to address the promotion and use of indigenous, minority and regional language names. • In 2012, this working group was changed to a working group for the issue of geographical names as cultural heritage (Kerfoot, 2015, Watt, 2015). Kerfoot, Helen. 2015. Tracing UNGEGN's Evolving Interest in Geographical Names as Cultural Heritage. In Geographical Names as Cultural Heritage: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Toponymy, Seoul, 7-9 November 2014. ed. Sungjae Choo, 15-39. Seoul, Korea: Kyung Hee University Press. Watt, William. 2015. Getting the Names Right: Geographical Names as Cultural Heritage and Activities of UNGEGN Working Group. In Geographical Names as Cultural Heritage: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Toponymy, Seoul, 7-9 November 2014. ed. Sungjae Choo, 40-48. Seoul, Korea: Kyung Hee University Press. UNGEGN Sources on Cultural Heritage • Contributions to the discussion of culture in UNGEGN are to be found in various documents resulting from the ten UNGEGN Conferences from 1967 to 2012 and other publications including Kadmon (2000), UNGEGN (2006) and Helleland (2006). Kadmon, Naftali. 2000. Toponymy: the Lore, Laws, and Language of Geographical Names. New York: Vantage Press. UNGEGN. 2006. Manual for the National Standardization of Geographical Names. United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names. New York: United Nations. Helleland, Botolv. 2006. The Social and Cultural Values of Geographical Names. In Manual for the National Standardization of Geographical Names. ed. United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, 121-128. New York: United Nations. Qualities of Culture • The ‘classic’ qualities of culture are that: – it is learned, not innate; – it is a set of norms shared by a community or group; – it is a system we use to structure the world and give meaning to it; – its parts function together as an integrated whole; – it helps us to adapt to the world and thrive; – it is in a state of constant change (Nanda and Warms, 2012). Nanda, Serena, and Warms, Richard L. 2012. Culture Counts: A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. 2nd Edition. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning/Wadsworth. Other Dimensions of Culture • In cultural anthropology two aspects of culture are distinguished. – The first is ways of thinking, ideas and values. – The second is behaviours, practices and skills (Eller, 2016: 21, Haviland et al., 2011: 27). • Culture can also be defined in terms of: – its mobility, its ability to move into new geographical or social spaces; – its production through human cognition and action in specific locations. Eller, Jack David. 2016. Cultural Anthropology: Global Forces, Local Lives. 3rd Edition. New York: Routledge. Haviland, William A., Prins, Harald E. L., McBride, Bunny, and Walrath, Dana. 2011. Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge. Thirteenth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Types of Cultural Heritage • Cultural heritage is the cultural legacy of past generations. This can include – tangible products of heritage such as built structures, tools and fabricated items; – intangible heritage such as folklore, oral history, traditions, language, and indigenous knowledge; – natural heritage, which refers to works of nature with cultural value, and with which humans interact meaningfully (Vecco, 2010). Vecco, Marilena. 2010. A definition of cultural heritage: From the tangible to the intangible. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 11(3), 321-324. UNESCO & Intangible Cultural Heritage • UNESCO has also been influential in the definition of what cultural heritage is, building awareness of the value of cultural heritage, and in how it should be preserved (Labadi, 2015). • The 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICHC) departed from previous conventions by giving the intangible aspects of cultural heritage precedence over its tangible manifestations such as movable cultural property, monuments and sites (Blake, 2009: 45-46). Labadi, Sophia. 2013. UNESCO, cultural heritage, and outstanding universal value : value-based analyses of the World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage Conventions. Archaeology in society series. Lanham, Md.: AltaMira Press. Blake, Janet. 2009. UNESCO’s 2003 Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage: The implications of community involvement in ‘safeguarding’. In Intangible Heritage. eds. Laurajane Smith and Natsuko Akagawa, 45-73. London & New York: Routledge. Safeguarding Cultural Heritage • UNESCO has offered some protection for the endangered languages of small indigenous communities and their oral traditions, arts, social practices and traditions. • These things are all part of their intangible cultural heritage and relevant to toponymy (Marrie, 2009: 169-170; Kurin, 2004). Marrie, Henrietta. 2009. The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the protection and maintenance of the intangible cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples. In Intangible Heritage. eds. Laurajane Smith and Natsuko Akagawa, 169-192. London & New York: Routledge. Kurin, Richard. 2004. Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in the 2003 UNESCO Convention: a critical appraisal. Museum international, 56(1‐2), 66-77. The Study of Cultural Heritage • The study of cultural heritage is highly multi-disciplinary (Convery et al., 2014; Stefano et al., 2012) ): – Dealing with tangible cultural heritage, such as the discovery and preservation of cultural artefacts, buildings and sites is the business of archaeology, history, heritage management, and heritage tourism. – Intangible cultural heritage, such as oral traditions and endangered indigenous languages, can be studied by analysing inscriptions or written historical sources. – Natural heritage meanwhile is studied in geography, ecology, geo- diversity and eco-tourism. – Cultural heritage also involves legal aspects: the study of law with respect to the establishment and enforcement of rights, and of conflict studies and criminology for the illegal trading and destruction of cultural heritage. Convery, Ian, Corsane, Gerard, and Davis, Peter eds. 2014. Making Sense of Place: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. Stefano, Michelle L., Davis, Peter, and Corsane, Gerard eds. 2012. Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. TOPONYMS & CULTURAL HERITAGE Place Names are ‘Cultural Artifacts’ • Place names are names that reflect language-users’ perception of and relation with their environment. Place names are ‘cultural artefacts' produced by complex interactions between mind, culture and environment (Taylor, 2016: 70). • Most place names also have a historical dimension. They were coined at some time in the past and reflect the geographical, cultural, cognitive and attitudinal aspects of human life at a former point of time. • Place names are part of the cultural landscape (Alderman, 2008) and of its cultural heritage. Taylor, Simon. 2016. Methodologies in Place-Name Research. In The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming. ed. Carole Hough, 69-86. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Alderman, Derek H. 2008. Place, naming and the interpretation of cultural landscapes. In The Ashgate research companion to heritage and identity. eds. Brian Graham and Peter Howard, 195-213. Burlington, VT: Ashgate. Geographical Names and a Nation’s Cultural Heritage • Three reasons have been put forward for the link between geographical names and a nation’s cultural heritage: – First, geographical names provide information about natural and cultural conditions at the time they were coined and thus represent a memory of places, and this can act as historical documentation. – Second, they are part of the local language and history. – Third, they represent a link between communities and their environment (Helleland, 2006: 121). Helleland, Botolv. 2006. The Social and Cultural Values of Geographical Names. In Manual for the National Standardization of Geographical Names. ed. United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, 121-128. New York: United Nations. UNESCO, Human Rights and Indigenous Languages and Names • The right to use and develop one’s native language is a basic human right, ratified by such leading international groups as the United Nations and UNESCO. The United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted 13 September 2007, gives specific rights to indigenous groups to promote their languages, as specified in Article 13, section 1: Article 13 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons. Grenoble, Lenore A. 2011. Language Ecology and Endangerment. In The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages. eds. Peter K. Austin and Julia Sallabank. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Loss of Global Linguistic Diversity and Its Consequences • Global linguistic