Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

Tibetan Nomad Material Culture Documentation Project Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
CFCH.TNP
Creators:
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Dates:
2016
Languages:
The documentation project contains two Tibetic languages:
Amdo Tibetan
(ISO-639-3-adx), and
Rma
(
Northern Qiang
; ISO-639-3-cng). The metadata is translated into English.
Physical Description:
4.4 Terabytes
4050 videos, 1301 photographs
born digital
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Tibetan Nomad Material Culture Documentation Project collection contains 4.4 terabytes of born digital video and photographic material collected by four teams in four traditionally Tibetan counties in three provinces in Western China.
The materials document traditional nomadic life: herding, gender roles, the making of household items like baskets and textiles, clothing, games, foodways, religious events and celebrations, traditional tools, and the history, social life, and struggles of each community as expressed through interviews with community members.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The files in this collection are arranged in chronological order within four series, named for the four fieldworkers or fieldworker teams and containing their respective video and photographic documentation. The four series are as follows: (1) Lhamo Drolma, (2) Puhua, (3) rGyalthar and Nathaniel Sims, and (4) Wuqi.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
The Nomad Material Culture Documentation Project holds documentation from five different culturally nomadic communities in Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan Provinces, China. Starting in 2016, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage contracted local researchers, filmmakers, community members, and scholars to document aspects of current nomadic life, including customs, tools, traditional knowledge, and ways of life.
All materials have been shared with the originating communities.

Administration

Author
Khamokyi and Cecilia Peterson
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials in the Tibetan Nomad Material Culture Documentation Project Collection were created in 2016 by local researchers, filmmakers, community members, and scholars Llamo Drolma, Nathaniel Sims, Puhua, rGyalthar, Tsehua, and Wuqi. Their work was supported by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. After the fieldworkers completed their projects, their documentation, associated metadata, and trip reports were acquired by the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives in the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in 2017.
Processing Information
The Tibetan Nomad Material Culture Documentation Collection was processed by Khamokyi and Cecilia Peterson in 2017-2018. Upon recieving the files in 2017, Khamokyi and Cecilia reviewed metadata provided by fieldworkers and made it consistent. Khamokyi, a native speaker of Amdo Tibetan, reviewed all video materials and added detail to existing descriptions. Descriptions for video materials in the Rma language relied on extensive written documentation in English and Chinese submitted with the materials by the creators, rGyalthar and Nathaniel Sims. Keywords in English, Tibetan, and Chinese were derived from existing metadata as well as Khamokyi's review of the materials. Metadata was then embedded into every file's IPTC fields using Adobe Bridge. Embedded metadata is primarily in English, with some Tibetan and Chinese. Due to the high volume of photographs, out-of-focus or mistaken shots were removed from the collection when good alternatives were available. Multiple, nearly identical shots were also reduced to the best examples. Files were then renamed and are now digitally preserved in the Smithsonian's digital asset management system.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Tibetan Nomad Material Culture Documentation Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Access
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

More Information

Shared Stewardship of Collections

Shared Stewardship of Collections
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.

Bibliography

Bibliography
Curated materials from the Tibetan Nomad Material Culture Documentation Project can be viewed through Lag Zo: Making on the Tibetan Plateau, a trilingual online exhibition—in English, Chinese, and Tibetan—produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The exhibition draws in part from the vast archive of digital materials acquired by the Center through the community-driven research of the Tibetan Nomad Material Culture Documentation Project and the Ethnic Tibetan Artisans in China Documentation Project.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Tibet, Plateau of Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Qinghai (province) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gansu (province) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sichuan (province) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nomads Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Material culture Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oral history Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
foodways Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Crafts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Domestic life Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Religious life Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Herding Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hand tools Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Games Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clothing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fieldwork Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
digital photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
digital moving image formats Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Weaving Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Basket making Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
hide and skin processing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
600 Maryland Ave SW
Washington, D.C.
rinzlerarchives@si.edu