 
What is a border? Is the border
a particular kind of region or social environment? If so, does the border
tend to produce a particular kind of culture? And what is the relationship
between this environment and its culture?
To answer some of these questions, the Smithsonian
Institution Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies presented
the Borderlands Festival program at the 1993 Festival of American Folklife
in Washington, D.C. Based on studies of rich and dynamic borderland cultures,
the Borderlands Festival provided a glimpse of life in these transitional
regions--their histories, diverse communities, local and regional identities,
music, arts, crafts, healing practices, foodways, and narratives. Contained
herein is part of the collection of stories and essays shared at the Borderlands
Festival. To find out more about borders and the Borderlands Festival, visit
the Borderlands
Virtual Festival on the Center's Web site.
Below are links to essays taken from the Borderlands
Festival Program Booklet, 1993
United States-Mexico Borderlands/La
Frontera
Living on the Border: A Wound That Will
Not Heal
Cultural Identities on the Mexico-United States
Border
The Problem of Identity in a Changing
Culture
Arizona-Sonora Border: Line, Region,
Magnet, and Filter
The Texas-Mexican Conjunto
Mixteco Women on the Migration Route
1993
Borderlands/La Frontera Virtual Festival Tour
During the Festival, many people of the borderlands shared
their ideas and stories of what it means to a person, a family, and a culture
to be divided by borders. Click on the icons below to hear what some had
to say. To hear the audio, you must first download the free realaudio
player.
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