cultural perspectives

tell the story of your family's heritage

by wanda santiago-cintron

 

In my blood runs the history of three very proud traditions: African, Native Indian, and Spaniard. It is my responsibility to honor them by passing on the stories and the love I have for these cultures. Through my pages and my telling of the story of our lives, my children learn to embrace their rich cultural traditions and they are able to pass that on to their own children. By sharing a story, a recipe, a place visited that reminds you of another time, I am able to give my children a place in history. This is important to me because I moved my family to the United States when they were all so young that they did not get to experience all the things I experienced when I was growing up. The only way I’m able to share my experiences with them is through my story telling and pages. Digital scrapping has allowed me to expand on this even more because as we share the pages through emails and blogs, they are able to ask questions about things I would have otherwise forgotten. These questions often lead me to another story and another page, and the history of our family is told not only in the day-to-day things, but also as stories that are full of cultural content. This cultural content is deeply reflected in my art. The two languages I speak and honor are a reflection of this tradition.

This journey of sorts has lead me to make sure the pages I do in my album are all there to tell part of our story. My pages almost always have a cultural bent to them. I want my children to remember that the richness of who they are is part of a very strong cultural connection. That even if they have not experienced first-hand some of the things I talk about in the pages I create, they can look at those pages as part of the legacy of culture and pride I want to leave for them. We live in a nation so diverse and rich in all the cultures that are a part of it. Celebrating these cultures is what scrapbooking represents to me. It is a vehicle to celebrate and embrace our differences and our common ground. A bridge that can teach us some of the things we have in common, as well as the things that make us different. This page is of a street vendor deep in the beaches of Isla Verde selling the staple foods of our culture.

When I look at the work of people that have different traditions than I do, I learn so much. That is what makes this hobby so wonderful; seeing that reflected all over the world would be a dream for me. What I know is that being able to create and leave this legacy for my family has made my creative process a joy, knowing that the rich cultural ties and traditions will not die because I took the time to document them. This knowledge always makes me smile. What are some of the rich cultural traditions you have created for your family? I would love to see what you have created.