I was looking for something to write about or maybe photos to share to acknowledge Hispanic Heritage Month. So I went to the Olympic Peninsula Community Museum project. It is an online project done a number of years ago and is linked to the University of Washington Digital Archives/Library. There you can find online exhibits of the Forks fire and video interviews as well as read copies of a Quileute Tribal newspaper called The Quileute Independent that was published in La Push around 1908, and so much more.

I found the “People Without Borders” online exhibit and then I found a tab called Latino Community. There are photos there and newspaper clippings documenting many activities of the Hispanic community and then as I was scrolling down I saw audio and text versions of an interview with Elena Velasquez that was done in 2005. I started reading it and thought this is wonderful!

I contacted Elena and asked if she minded if I used the content of that interview for a story and she was good with it. I also asked her if she could give me a little recap of her thoughts since that interview was done almost 20 years ago and I put it all into a story that appears this week on page five. There are other interviews on the Latino Community tab there too that are well worth checking out!

Some of the points Elena made in her 2005 interview about her Americanization can relate to so many cultures and how sad it can be to lose that connection. Even immigrants who came from Europe in the late 1800s and early 1900s lost their heritage as they became more “American.”

Even my grandfather and his siblings had great Danish names and as soon as they could they became Americanized. Thorvald became Jack, Viggo became Victor, Holgar became Larry and then there was Larry, Moe, and Curley …Well that is another family and even the Threes Stooges Americanized their names!

So what is lost is sometimes gained in the cutural diversity that follows when new traditions are embraced and different food and music is incorporated into America.

Americanization has also come at a cost. The dominance of Western norms can lead to the decline of indigenous cultures and languages.

Americanization creates a complex balance. While it promotes the exchange of ideas and traditions that make society more interesting, it also risks diluting the cultural heritages of many including minority and indigenous communities. As America continues to evolve, finding ways to celebrate cultural diversity while preserving unique traditions remains a challenge.

So as we look at heritage this week I guess I am more happy than sad that my Danish heritage does not translate over to foods that came over with my ancestors like …

Beef tartar, Caramelized milk and monkfish liver, Boiled cod egg sacks sliced on bread: Also known as torskrogn, Blood sausage: A uniquely Danish food, Stjerneskud: A lesser-known but popular smørrebrød, or open-faced sandwich, made with rye bread, fried plaice, shrimp, lettuce, and caviar.

But …there are some good Danish foods too, like Danish pastries and Havarti cheese!

Christi Baron, Editor