A HANDBO COUWTS 1 ETHNOGRAP OF THE CULTURAL GROUPS AQUlN VALLEY INTENDED AS A QUICK REFERENC COURT PERSONNEL TO PROMOTE CROSS-C L FAMBblAR1TY Institute for Court Management Court Executive Development Program Phase 111 Project May 4998 Robert N. Hallenbeck South Kern Municipal Court District Kern County, California Contents Introduction and Overview 1 Ethnographic Sketches Sikhs and Sikhism Quick Look Extended Historical Origins Religious Beliefs Early Immigration to California Language Arabs, Muslims, and Islam Quick Look 8 Extended 9 The Koran and Other Sources 10 The Law 10 The Yemeni 13 Quick Look 13 Extended 14 History - Ancient Times to Unification 14 People and Economic Activity 15 Migration and Life in America 16 Southeast Asian Peoples Introduction 19 The Hmong 20 Quick Look 20 Extended 21 History 21 Adapting to Life in America 22 Bibliography 24 Internet Sources 25 Other Sources 25 California’s great Central Valley is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse regions in the United States. Drawn by California’s own economic and climatic diversity, the people who have settled there have international origins. Technological advances in communications and travel have the effect of shrinking our world and exposing our citizens to a much broader range of races, religions, and cultural differences than previous generations have had to deal with. More socioeconomic terms such as “Third World” and “Pacific Rim” have crept into our vocabularies, and the cultural homogeneity of our neighborhoods is increasingly apparent. The courts and other public agencies in our civil and criminal justice systems are among the first to be exposed to this cultural diversity. A turbaned Sikh appears in court requiring a Punjabi interpreter; an Iranian family in flowing robes comes to pay a traffic ticket; a Farsi or Arabic or Tagalog interpreter is needed in a small-town courtroom. These occasions arise with increasing frequency. In any confrontation, the parties involved cannot avoid being influenced by their mutual knowledge or ignorance of each other’s cultural background. The same stimulus can elicit vastly different responses from people raised in different cultures. Cultural stereotypes are widespread and can only be overcome through knowledge and by making a conscious effort to familiarize oneself with the cultural aspects that shape a national character or attitude. This series of sketches is intended to serve as a reference for court and other public officials and employees to dispel some of the mystery and misconceptions in dealing with the less often encountered cultural and religious groups found in California’s Central Valley. The presentation format of the sketches is divided into two parts. The first is a single page overview of the culture and is meant to serve as a “quick look reference. The second part addresses the subject in a little more detail for those with the time and/or inclination to learn a bit more about the national origin, religion, economy, government, law, and cultural outlook of the subject. 7 Sikhs and Sikhism - Quick Look Sikhism is a religious movement founded in the Punjab in Northwest India in the mid-15th century and combines Hindu and Muslim elements in a single creed. The founding leader was Guru Nanak, who was followed by nine successors. These are recognized as The Ten Gurus. Sikhs believe in a single God who is the same for all people of all religions. Sikhs do not recognize priests, fasting, pilgrimages, or idol worship. They reject Indian caste systems, teach full equality of the sexes and the Typical Male Sikh-Americans brotherhood of all men. By tradition, every Sikh male’s last name is Singh and every female Sikh’s last name is Kaur. Their traditional language is Punjabi. Readily identified by their turbans, Sikhs do not cut their hair, nor do they smoke or use alcohol. Most Sikh men belong to a martial fraternity called the “Khalsa”. Turning the other cheek is not a Sikh trait and they have no problem with “unsheathing the sword” when an affair is past every other remedy. Khalsa members have vowed to keep the five “Ks”: long hair (Kesh), a comb in the hair (Kangha), a steel bracelet on the right wrist (Kara), soldier’s shorts (Kachna), and a ceremonial sword (Kirpan). This tradition persists to the present day, and every adult male baptized into the Khalsa will have these items on his person. Many Sikhs are nationalistic and favor the establishment of a Sikh nation (“Khalistan”). Many violent confrontations between Sikhs and Hindus have occurred in the state of Punjab and in 1984 the most important Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple of Amritsar, was attacked and heavily damaged and burned by Indian I The Golden Temple government troops. The Golden Temple Of Amritsar Aflame in 1984 R Sikhs and SlkhSsm - Extended Historleal Origins The Sikh movement was founded in Punjab in the Northwest of India by Guru Nanak in the late 15'h and early 16th centuries in reaction to the perceived fanaticism and intolerance of the Muslims and the meaningless rituals and caste prejudices of the Hindus. Nanak was followed by nine Current Map of India. Punjab is in the Northwest. successors, the last of whom (Note City of Amritsar, Location of the Golden Temple) was Guru Gobind Singh, who gave a distinctive identity to the Sikhs by creating the Khalsa and its baptism ceremony at the end of the 17thcentury. Guru Gobind Singh's assassination in 1708 began a long period of Muslim persecution of Sikhs and warfare against the Muslim Mogul empire, founded by descendants of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, which dominated India until overthrown by the Sikhs and Hindus in 1799. The Sikhs then laid claim to a large part of northwest India known as the Punjab. The British moved into the Punjab in the mid-lgth century, defeated the Sikhs in the Sikh Wars, and annexed the Punjab in 1849. Sikhism did not recover until the 20th century when Sikhs were given control of their holy places. 4 When India was partitioned into India and Pakistan in 1947, the western Punjab became Muslim dominated Pakistani territory and the eastern Punjab became part of India. This separated the Sikhs, subjecting them to communal rioting, and about 2.5 million Sikhs moved from Pakistan into India. Since that time Sikh nationalism increased. There were demands for greater autonomy for the Punjab. Punjab has always been described by Indian rulers as the most prosperous State in India. It has the highest per capita income and a high growth rate. Its prosperity is recognized as an aspect of the spectacular progress in agriculture known as the Green Revolution which attained its peak in the early 1970s. Punjab became an economic showpiece in India. Though a Sikh was elected President of India in 1982, this was a largely ceremonial post and was viewed merely as an attempt to pacify the Sikh nationalists. As violent demonstrations continued and fighting between Sikhs and Hindus became widespread in Punjab, the central government took direct control and in 1984 occupied Punjab with 50,000 troops. The leader of the Sikh nationalist faction took refuge in the Golden Temple of Amritsar, which was then attacked and severely damaged and burned in the fighting. Many loyal Sikhs died in the defense of the Temple. Prime Minister lndira Gandhi was later assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation, after which mobs attacked Sikhs throughout India. Unrest in Punjab continues today and great bitterness exists between Sikhs and Hindus. Rellgiors BeIPefs The elements of Sikhism are presented in the "quick look section preceding this discussion. For a deeper understanding of the Sikh perspective, it is interesting 5 to contrast the Sikh religious ideology with the common perception of the Hindu holy man, who shuns riches and personal possessions, retires from society and denies the outside world in order to commit oneself to a life of fasting and meditation in search of enlightenment. The Sikh ideal, on the other hand, consists of a more practical livelihood, earning an honest living, and rendering service to humanity by sharing their earnings with the needy. Riches and personal possessions are no hindrance to living a spiritual life for the Sikh, who rejects the ideology of fatalism and pessimism and enjoins its followers to practice self-determination, self-respect, and self-defense. “Turning the other cheek has no place in the Sikh way of life. As Jews have the Torah, Christians the Holy Bible, and Muslims the Koran, the Sikhs also have their holy scripture. It is called the Guru Granth Sahib and is an object of deep reverence as the symbolic representationof the Ten Gurus, and its compilation was completed in 1604. It is written largely in verse, which is less likely to be altered by copyists throughout the years. The basic teaching of Sikhism is a strong belief in monotheism. The Sikhs believe, as do the Hindus, in the immortality of the soul, but are opposed to austere asceticism and prefer to achieve saintliness through one’s actions as a member of society. Early lmmlgratlor to Califomla The Punjab province of India provided several thousand immigrants to California in the early 20thcentury, with most of these immigrants Sikhs. Although a much smaller number of these immigrants were Muslim and Hindu, all arriving immigrants were termed “Hindus”. Many of the immigrants had agricultural or military backgrounds, and came seeking railroad, lumber, and agricultural jobs on the local sugar beet, fruit, and rice farms. The migrant laborers in the Sacramento Valley were called “Hindu crews”. Many restrictive immigration laws were passed as the immigrants were perceived as a competitive economic threat to native farmers (“ ...a group of laborers becoming landowners and threatening the monopoly of the majority group”).