This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

071216Z Jul 06

UNCLAS PARIS 004659 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USMISSION TO UNESCO PARIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM UNESCO OEXC SCUL
SUBJECT: UNESCO: N. SCOTT MOMADAY DISCUSSES CULTURAL PRESERVATION 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  UNESCO's Social and Human Sciences Division of 
Foresight, Philosophy and Human Sciences hastily organized a June 22 
symposium on human dignity and art with N. Scott Momaday, UNESCO 
Artist for Peace and Native American poet, novelist, painter, and 
story-teller, which focused on the importance of cultural heritage. 
Momaday was in Paris for the opening of the French Quai de Branly 
Museum of indigenous art and culture.  His work focuses on the 
preservation of indigenous culture, and outreach to indigenous 
youths who find it difficult to hold on to their cultural identities 
in modern society. To take advantage of Momaday's presence, Mission 
also organized a lunch in his honor, where Momaday spoke on the 
importance of his relationship with UNESCO in addressing the plight 
of indigenous youth worldwide and the significance of its neutral 
platform.  Mission would recommend Momaday to posts worldwide as a 
gifted speaker and excellent source of information on Native 
American culture.  END SUMMARY. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
MOMADAY ON INDIGENOUS CULTURE AND UNESCO: 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  At lunch, Momaday discussed his work with UNESCO and Native 
American culture in general.  Momaday and a French Anthropologist in 
attendance explained that he first engaged with UNESCO to 
participate in a 2001 UNESCO Seminar on Indigenous Identities, Oral 
Written Expressions and New Technologies, which is where he met 
Katerina Stenou, director of the office of cultural policies. 
Momaday commented that his status as UNESCO Artist for Peace brought 
three key benefits:  the UNESCO neutral platform enabled him to 
conduct outreach to indigenous youth in countries such as Russia, 
where he might not otherwise have access. UNESCO also put him in 
contact with an existing network of indigenous experts, and UNESCO 
was partnering with him on an archive project with a Native American 
tribe in Oklahoma. In Russia, Momaday stated that indigenous youths 
in Siberia face similar challenges to Native American youths in 
terms of connecting their contemporary identity with their culture 
and history. Story telling, he commented, helps these young people 
to learn about their heritage and past history. 
 
¶3.  UNESCO staff expressed to Mission privately in advance of the 
lunch that Momaday's wife had told them he opposed the Cultural 
Diversity Convention. However, when asked about the Convention at 
lunch, Momaday answered vaguely that he thought its significance was 
important and that UNESCO does an excellent job on cultural issues 
in general. 
 
---------------------- 
HUMAN DIGNITY AND ART: 
---------------------- 
 
¶4.  At the June 22 symposium on Human Dignity and Art, Momaday 
discussed how ethnologists, anthropologists and ordinary citizens 
can better approach native cultures today.  The audience was moved 
by the youth leader who described the difficulties of growing up as 
an Inuit and trying to grasp his identity while society changed 
around him.  Debate focused on how different cultural groups 
distinguish themselves as "superior" or "inferior" in relation to 
others.   (COMMENT:  Although no one specifically mentioned 
colonialism, the European anthropologists were clearly grappling 
with its legacy and how experts from industrialized nations could 
engage with indigenous cultures without stealing something from 
them.  END COMMENT.) 
 
------------------------------ 
FUTURE ENDEAVORS WITH MOMADAY: 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  Momaday expressed interest in the World Digital Library 
initiative, and he asked to be put in touch with the U.S. Library of 
Congress.  He also noted that he would be in Russia this August and 
was interested in contacting the American Embassy in Moscow. 
Mission notes that Momaday is an excellent speaker, a Pulitzer 
Prize-winning author, expert on Native American culture, and a 
thoroughly devoted advocate of cultural heritage. Mission hopes to 
welcome him again to UNESCO in the future and would encourage other 
posts to consider him as a speaker.  More information on Momaday can 
be found at: 
 
UNESCO Artist for Peace: 
Please google Scott Momaday and UNESCO Artist for Peace, as Mission 
clout system cannot exceed 55 characters without a space or a 
return, making it impossible to send the url. 
 
Buffalo Trust: 
http://www.buffalotrust.org/scott.htm 
 
 
KOSS