The identity of Tatars in America
Even thousands of kilometres away from Tatarstan, their homeland, during the summer Tatar communities in the United States held cultural training camps for children and young people aged 5 to 20. The message: you can belong to this Russian people anywhere, in Russia as well as in America.
New York (AsiaNews) - While in Russia the teaching of national languages in schools in federal regions, where there are many different ethnic groups, is being systematically reduced, in the United States 10-day training camps called Tatar Alani were held during the summer in various shifts, bringing together children and young people from Tatar families.
Without any subsidies or support from other institutions, the initiative was carried out by the director of the online Tatar school Alima Academy, Alima Salakhutdinova, who has been living in Canada for several years.
Alima is keen to point out, in an interview with Idel.Realii, that ‘these were not holiday camps, but study and training camps, all in the Tatar language, although the company was certainly pleasant’.
In the homeland of Tatarstan, a Russian republic in the Urals, summer camps for children are a tradition and are now particularly recommended for instilling a “patriotic spirit” and military training, but gathering thousands of young Tatars thousands of kilometres away for the second year in a row is certainly no easy feat.
This year, 50 children and some of their parents participated in Tatar Alani, in a family format for students aged 5 to 20, divided into three age groups with one director and three counsellors per group, the older children being those who know the Tatar language best.
They spoke in Tatar and English, trying not to use Russian, the common language for those coming from Tatarstan. The programme was bilingual, with lessons in English and cultural programmes in the native language, and for children who did not know Tatar, someone translated directly into English.
A show in the Tatar language was also staged, “Memories of Gulanda” (a Turanian female name) by Amirkhan Eniki, describing the activities of the famous “Oriental Club” of the Hermitage in St Petersburg, with a script adapted for children, who were invited to take part in the performance by playing the various heroes of popular legends, accompanied by the melodies of the Tatar composer Salid Sajdašev, performed by the professional musician Ramila Saubanova, who lives in the USA.
Parents and children then prepared a Tatar wedding scene, with traditional rituals and decorations, to show how even far from home it is possible to establish and celebrate the life of a true Tatar family.
There were also dances and competitions of the Sabantuj, the festival marking the end of spring agricultural activities, typical of the Turanian peoples, Tatar cooking contests, concerts, games and competitions that awaken spontaneous forms of “national self-awareness” in children, as Alima assures us.
Last year, the focus was particularly on the history of the Tatars, while this year the underlying theme was “what it means to be Tatar”, even without a real knowledge of the language, but “to give everyone the opportunity to leave the training camp saying to themselves with conviction: I am a Tatar”.
The director assures us that “children cannot lie, they really say what they feel”, and after a few days, a young girl went to her and said: “Alina Apa, I realised that there are many others like me, and they are so interesting! I didn't think I would find so many friends”.
To be Tatar, Salakhutdinova emphasises, ‘you don't necessarily need to know the language and profess the Muslim religion’; it is a way of relating to others with respect and attention, developing a particular sensitivity to the problems of the world and society.
The Tatar people ‘are a nomadic community who have always travelled everywhere in search of happiness: you can be Tatar anywhere, in Russia as in America’. Several scholars of history, economics, religion and Eastern cultures from various American universities and institutes also participated in Tatar Alani to learn from the Tatars how to be good Americans.
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15/04/2016 16:40
