Martinique - Traditional Costumes

MARTINIQUE
Traditional Costumes.

Sent by Yann from Fort-de-France, Martinique.

Martinique - Traditional Headdresses

MARTINIQUE
Traditional headdresses of Martinique.

Sent by Yann from Fort-de-France, Martinique.

Oman - Omani Woman

Sultanate of Oman - Omani woman.

Sent by Adil from Muscat, Oman.
Terima kasih banyak-banyak (thank you very much).

France - Limousin - Celebration Costumes

Regional celebration costumes.

Sent by dams87, a postcrosser from Limoges, France.

Limousin (French pronunciation: [limuzɛ̃] (Occitan: Lemosin) is one of the 27 regions of France. It is composed of threedépartements: Corrèze, Creuse and the Haute-Vienne.

Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1, 2010, the Limousin comprised 742,771 inhabitants on nearly 17,000 km², making it the second least populated region of France after Corsica.

Forming part of the South-West of France, Limousin is bordered by the regions Centre to the north, Poitou-Charentes and Aquitaineto the west, Midi-Pyrénées to the south and Auvergne to the east. Limousin also forms part of Occitania. (Source)

Indonesia - Riau Province - "Persembahan" Dance Costumes

"Persembahan" Dance Costume of Riau Province, Indonesia.

Sent by Shinta from Semarang, Indonesia.

Moldova - Traditional Costumes

Moldova
One country's traditions are like pages in a history book. A book that makes the country part of the world heritage.
Moldovans follow their traditions religiously, throughout life.
Moldovan artisans use graphic arts symbolising various traditions from thousands of years ago. The Tree of Life, engraved in stone, symbolises human life and love.

Sent by Natallia, a postcrosser from Moldova.

Bhutan - The Mask Dance of the Drums from Drametse

Traditional mask dancer at a Bhutanese festival.

Sent by Ben, a TravBuddy friend from Bhutan.

The Drametse Ngacham (Mask Dance) of the Drametse community is a sacred cultural and religious mask dance performed during the Drametse Festival in honour of Padmasambhava, a Buddhist guru. It takes place twice a year, during the fifth month and the tenth month of the Bhutanese calendar. The festival is held by the Ogyen Tegchok Namdroel Choeling Monastery, situated in the Mongar district of eastern Bhutan. The dance features sixteen masked male dancers wearing colorful costumes and ten other men comprising the orchestra lead by a cymbal player. The dance has a calm and contemplative part that represents the peaceful deities and a rapid and athletic part, where the dancers represent wrathful deities.

Dancers dressed in monastic robes and wearing wooden masks with features of real and mythical animals perform a prayer dance in the soeldep cham, the main shrine, before appearing one by one on the main courtyard. The dance performance is accompanied by traditional instruments, which are played by an orchestra and by the dancers themselves. The orchestra consists of cymbals, trumpets and drums, including the bang nga, a large cylindrical drum, the lag nga, a small hand-held circular, flat drum and the nga chen, a drum beaten with a bended drumstick.

The Drametse Ngacham has been performed in this location for centuries. The form has both religious and cultural significance, because it is believed to have originally been performed by the heroes and heroines of the celestial world. In the 19th century, versions of the Drametse Ngacham were introduced in other parts of Bhutan. For the audience, the dance is a source of spiritual empowerment and is attended by people from Drametse as well as neighbouring villages and districts to obtain blessings.  Today, the dance has evolved from a local event centered around a particular community into something approaching a national art form, representing the identity of the Bhutanese nation as a whole.

Although the dance is highly appreciated among all generations, the number of practitioners is dwindling due to the lack of rehearsal time, the absence of a systematic mechanism to train and honour the dancers and musicians and the gradual decrease in interest among young people. At present, there are only a handful of expert practitioners with comprehensive knowledge about the traditional features of the dance. Moreover, the spreading of the dance to other parts of the country inevitably leads to its distortion. (Source)

Bulgaria - Folk Costumes

Bulgarian folk costumes,

Koprivshtitsa Festival

Sent by Simeon, a postcrosser from Varna, Bulgaria.

USA - Idaho - A Nez Perce' Child

IDAHO
This adorable child, dressed in ceremonial finery for a Pow Wow, is a member of Nez Perce' tribe that has populated the valleys of the Snake and Clearwater rivers for centuries. This famous tribe is known for its friendship and generosity to early explorers such as Lewis and Clark, and for the breeding and development of the Appaloosa horse, a symbol of the state of Idaho.

Sent by Sandra, a postcrosser from Idaho, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : The Nez Perce are Native American people who live in the Pacific Northwest region (Columbia River Plateau) of the United States. An anthropological theory says they descended from the Old Cordilleran Culture, which moved south from the Rocky Mountains and west in Nez Perce lands. The Nez Perce nation currently governs and inhabits a reservation in Idaho. The Nez Perce's name for themselves is Nimíipuu (pronounced [nimiːpuː]), meaning, "The People."

They speak the Nez Perce language or Niimiipuutímt, a Sahaptian language related to the several dialects of Sahaptin. The Sahaptian sub-family is one of the branches of the Plateau Penutian family (which in turn may be related to a larger Penutiangrouping).

Nez Percé is an exonym given by French Canadian fur traders who visited the area regularly in the late 18th century, meaning literally 'pierced nose'. The most common self-designation used today by the Nez Perce is Niimíipu. "Nez Perce" is also used by the tribe itself, the United States Government, and contemporary historians. Older historical ethnological works use the French spelling "Nez Percé," with thediacritic. The original French pronunciation is [ne pɛʁse], with three syllables.

In the journals of William Clark, the people are referred to as Chopunnish (/ˈtʃoʊpənɪʃ/). This term is an adaptation of the term cú·pʼnitpeľu (the Nez Perce people) which is formed from cú·pʼnit (piercing with a pointed object) and peľu (people). When analyzed through the Nez Perce Language Dictionary, the term cúpnitpelu contains no reference to "Piercing with a pointed object" as described by D.E. Walker. The prefix cú- means "in single file." This prefix, combined with the verb -piní, "to come out (e.g. of forest, bushes, ice)". Finally, with the suffix of -pelú, meaning "people or inhabitants of". Put all three parts of the Nez Perce word together now to get cú- + -piní + pelú = cúpnitpelu, or the People Walking Single File Out of the Forest. Nez Perce oral tradition indicates the name "Cuupn'itpel'uu" meant "we walked out of the woods or walked out of the mountains" and referred to the time before the Nez Perce had horses. Nez Perce is a misnomer given by the interpreter of the Lewis and Clark Expedition at the time they first encountered the Nez Perce in 1805. It is from the French, "pierced nose." This is an inaccurate description of the tribe. They did not practice nose piercing or wearing ornaments. The actual "pierced nose" tribe lived on and around the lower Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest and are commonly called the Chinook tribe by historians and anthropologists. The Chinook relied heavily upon salmon as did the Nez Perce and shared fishing and trading sites but were much more hierarchical in their social arrangements.

Taiwan - Adult Ceremony of Amis People

The Adult Ceremony, Taiwan Amis, Hualien.

Sent by Sophia, a postcrosser from Taiwan.

This is from Wikipedia : The Amis (Chinese: 阿美族; pinyin: āměi-zú; also Ami or Pangcah) are an indigenous people of Taiwan. They speak Amis, an Austronesianlanguage, and are one of the fourteen officially recognized peoples of Taiwanese aborigines. The traditional territory of the Amis include the long, narrow valley between the Central Mountains and the Coastal Mountains, the Pacific coastal plain eastern to the Coastal Mountains, and theHengchun Peninsula.

In the year 2000 the Ami numbered 148,992. This was approximately 37.5% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the largest tribal group. The Amis are primarily fishermen due to their coastal location. They are traditionally matrilineal..Traditional Amis villages were relatively large for indigenous groups, typically between 500 and 1,000. In today's Taiwan, the Amis also comprise the majority of "urban aboriginals" and have developed many "urban tribes" all around the island. In recent decades, Amis have also married exogamously to Han as well as other indigenous.

Germany - Freiberger Hüttenältester

Freiberger Hüttenältester.

Sent by Georg, a postcrosser from Freiberg, Germany.

Russia - Altai Republic - Altaian Woman in National Costume

An Altaian woman in the national costume. Altai, Russia.

Sent by Dinna, a postcrosser from Moscow, Russia.

This is from Wikipedia :  Altai Republic (Russian: Респу́блика Алта́й, Respublika Altay; Altay: Алтай Республика, Altay Respublika) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). Its capital is the town of Gorno-Altaysk. The area of the republic is 92,600 square kilometers (35,800 sq mi). Population: 206,168 (2010 Census).

The national autonomy for the Altai people was created on June 1, 1922 as Oyrot Autonomous Oblast (Ойро́тская автоно́мная о́бласть), part of Altai Krai. The original name for this region was Bazla. On January 7, 1948 it was renamed Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast (Го́рно-Алта́йская автоно́мная о́бласть). In 1991 it was reorganized into the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR). In 1992 it was renamed as the Altai Republic.

South Africa - Shaangan Warriors

Shaangan warriors.

Sent by Ana, a postcrosser from South Africa.

Lonely Planet - Muslim Girls in Lamu, Kenya

Smiles from two young Muslim girls wearing traditional buibui robes on the offshore island of Lamu, Kenya.

Sent by Aranya, a postcrosser from Chiangmai, Thailand.

Brazil - Pernambuco - Maracatu

Maracatu - Olinda - PE Brasil.

Sent by João, a postcrosser from São Paulo, Brazil.

This is from Wikipedia : Maracatu is a term common to two distinct performance genres found in Pernambuco state in northeastern Brazil: maracatu de nação (nation-style maracatu) and maracatu rural (rural-style maracatu). A third style, maracatu cearense (Ceará-style maracatu), is found in Fortaleza, in the northeastern state of Ceará. Maracatu also designates the music style that accompanies these performances.

Macedonia - Woman's Traditional Costume

Macedonian woman in traditional costume.

Sent by Ana from Macedonia.

USA - Arizona - Navajo Children

ARIZONA
Navajo children carefree and lighthearted carry on the tradition and heritage of the southwest native Americans.

Sent by Kristen, a postcrosser from USA.

This is from Wikipedia : The Navajo (Navajo: Diné or Naabeehó) of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the Four Corners area of the United States. The Navajo language is spoken throughout the region, although most Navajo speak English as well.

Until they came into contact with the Spanish and Pueblos, the Navajo were hunters and gatherers. They adopted farming techniques and crops from the Pueblo people, growing mainly corn, beans, and squash. As a result of Spanish influence, they began herding sheep and goats, depending on them for food and trade. They spun and wove sheared wool into blankets and clothing which could be used for personal use or trading. They also depended on their flocks of sheep for meat. Their lives depended on sheep so much that, to the Navajo, sheep were a kind of currency and the size of the herd was a mark of social status.

The Navajo speak dialects of the language family referred to as Athabaskan. The Navajo and Apache are believed to have migrated from northwestern Canada and eastern Alaska, where the majority of Athabaskan speakers reside. The Dene First Nations, who live near from Tadoule Lake in Manitoba to the Great Slave Lake in Northwest Territories, also speak Athabaskan languages. Despite the time elapsed, these people reportedly can still understand the language of their distant cousins the Navajo. Archaeological and historical evidence suggests that the Athabaskan ancestors of the Navajo and Apache entered the Southwest by 1400 CE. Navajo oral traditions are said to retain references of this migration.

Navajo oral history also seems to indicate a long relationship with Pueblo people[12] and a willingness to adapt foreign ideas into their own culture. Trade between the long-established Pueblo peoples and the Athabaskans was important to both groups. The Spanish records say by the mid-16th century, the Pueblos exchanged maize and woven cotton goods for bison meat, hides and material for stone tools from Athabaskans who either traveled to them or lived around them. In the 18th century, the Spanish reported that the Navajo had large numbers of livestock and large areas of crops. The Navajo probably adapted many Pueblo ideas into their own different culture.

The Spanish first used the term Apachu de Nabajo in the 1620s to refer to the people in the Chama Valley region east of the San Juan River and northwest of present-day Santa Fe, New Mexico. By the 1640s, they were using "Navajo" for these indigenous people. The Spanish recorded in 1670s that they lived in a region called Dinetah, about sixty miles (100 km) west of the Rio Chama valley region. In the 1780s, the Spanish sent military expeditions against the Navajo in the southwest and west of that area, in the Mount Taylor and Chuska Mountain regions of New Mexico.

In the last 1,000 years, Navajos have had a history of expanding their range and refining their self-identity and their significance to other groups. This probably resulted from a cultural combination of endemic warfare (raids) and commerce with the Pueblo, Apache, Ute, Comanche and Spanish peoples, set in the changing natural environment of the Southwest.

Indonesia - Dani Tribe

Dani tribe's youngsters wearing 'Sali', traditional outfits with beads made of seashells.

Sent by Juned, a postcrosser from Bogor, Indonesia.

This is from Wikipedia : The Dani people, also spelled Ndani, and sometimes conflated with the Lani group to the west, are a people from the central highlands of western New Guinea (the Indonesian province of Papua).

They are one of the most populous tribes in the highlands, and are found spread out through the highlands. The Dani are one of the most well-known ethnic groups in Papua, due to the small numbers of tourists who visit the Baliem Valley area where they predominate. "Ndani" is the name given to the Baliem Valley people by the Moni people, and, while they don't call themselves Dani, they have been known as such since the 1926 Smithsonian Institution-Dutch Colonial Government expedition to New Guinea under Matthew Stirling who visited the Moni.

A small fringe group of the Dani, living south of Puncak Trikora and presenting themselves as the Pesegem and the Horip tribes, were met on October 29, 1909, by the Second South New Guinea Expedition led by Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz, who stayed several nights in their village. First contact with the populous Western Dani was made in October 1920 during the Central New Guinea Expedition, which group of explorers stayed for six weeks with them at their farms in the upper Swart River Valley (now Toli Valley). The Grand Valley Dani were only sighted in the summer of 1938 from an airplane by Richard Archbold.

Sweet potatoes are important in their local culture, being the most important tool used in bartering, especially in dowries. Likewise pigs feasts are extremely important to celebrate events communally; the success of a feast, and that of a village "Big Man" (man of influence) or organiser, is often gauged by the number of pigs slaughtered.

The Dani use an earth oven method of cooking pig and their staple crops such as sweet potato, banana, and cassava. They heat some stones in a fire until they are extremely hot, then wrap cuts of meat and pieces of sweet potato or banana inside banana leaves. The food package is then lowered into a pit which has been lined with some of the hot stones described above, the remaining hot stones are then placed on top, and the pit is covered in grass and a cover to keep steam in. After a couple of hours pit is opened and the food removed and eaten. Pigs are too valuable to be served regularly, and are reserved for special occasions only.

Ritual small-scale warfare between rival villages is integral to traditional Dani culture, with much time spent preparing weapons, engaging in both mock and real battle, and treating any resulting injuries. Typically the emphasis in battle is to insult the enemy and wound or kill token victims, as opposed to capturing territory or property or vanquishing the enemy village. The Dani practiced cannibalism well into the 20th century, as documented by missionaries who were invited to witness tribe members dismembering the body of an enemy slain in battle the day before as the fallen warrior's kin watched from a nearby hilltop.

Changes in the Dani way of life over the past half century are tied to the encroachment of modernity and globalization, despite tourist brochures describing trekking in the highlands with people from the 'stone age'. Observers have noted that pro-independence and anti-Indonesian sentiment tends to run higher in highland areas than for other areas of Papua. There are cases of abuses where Dani and other Papuans have been shot and/or imprisoned trying to raise the flag of West Papua, the Morning Star.

Bulgaria - Folklore Traditions

Sent by Nadezhda, a postcrosser from Bulgaria.

Canada - British Columbia - Traditional Costumes of Native Villagers

NATIVE HERITAGE CENTRE, DUNCAN, VANCOUVER ISLAND
Colourful traditional costumes are worn on ceremonial occasions by our Native Villagers.

Sent by Debra, a postcrosser from Canada.