PSU Magazine Fall 2003

1 nomadic Somalis, they have retained a distinct look and have tended to be people apart. Nor have they adopted the customs of the dominant group. Gosha rituals originate in southeastern Africa, and some-such as ritual danc– ing and drumming ceremonies-have been viewed as offensive by Somalia's majority Islamic population. At a refugee camp in Kenya , Somalia Bantu girls learn about the culture they will soon join. (1'11010 B\ RI( II \\111)11 J Typically, the Gosha have been rele– gated to the countrys lowest paying jobs. They have had little access to education. Their living conditions are, compared to the majority, primitive. During the civil wars of the 1990s, Gosha property was regularly raided by bandits: women were raped and men killed. And although they sought refuge in Kenya and Tanzania, the Gosha Bantu have been kept apart there, too , as they are considered infe– rior. They have, in the resettlement camps, continued to be the victims of violent behavior. It is the Gosha Bantu from thejuba River valley who are being relocated to the United States during the remainder of 2003 and throughout 2004. D ew recent groups of refugees , Van Lehman says-with perhaps the exception of those from Southeast Asia and Sudan, who were relocated to the United States in the 1980s-have faced such extreme cultural challenges as will this group of Bantu. They will travel, in the space of an airline flight, from a minimally industrialized culture to the most highly mechanized country in the world. For many, belief systems and practices that are a strong part of their lives and identities-such as female circumcision, and animist beliefs involving curses, magic, and possession dances-will either be illegal or expressly discouraged in the United States. And in addition, Van Lehman says, the Bantu will be moving from a way of living that is based upon coopera– tion-where all members of a tribe or family assume responsibility for help– ing other tribal members-to a highly individualized society where people are expected Lo make it on their own. The success of the Bantu relocation, Van Lehman says, will depend on the quality of support systems available to them. In preparation for the Bantu reloca– tion Lo the United States, Van Lehman and Eno co-authored a study, "The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture," published by the Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C. , in February 2003, also available at www. cul tu ralorientation. net. One-third of the publication addresses resettle– ment issues. The Bantu people coming to the United States, the publication advises resettlement professionals, may suffer depression from the after-effects of violence and from living in a culture of inferiority. They may be confused by Western housing, conveniences, and food. The Bantu, as is true of many African cultures , do not communicate in a linear or sequential manner, and thus may be hard to interview. Medical practices may include "casting-out" of evil spells or burning holes in the skin to cure ailments. I}] espite this, Van Lehman and Eno say that the Juba River Bantu are hard working and eager to do well in their new country. Yet neither is unaware of the disquiet– ing truth that the United States might not be the most racially liberal culture for the immigration of 12,000 displaced Africans. "We have talked with them about prejudice in the United States," Eno says. "We have told them there will be prejudice against them because they are black. "lt may be less overt than it has been in Somalia and the refugee camps, we say, but it will be there. "The people just look at us and say, 'But after all , how could il be worse than what we have already experienced?"' D (Eva Hunter is a freelance writer based in Portland.) FALL 2003 PSU MAGAZINE 15