An endangered culture is dying out. It’s when an indigenous culture loses its identity and spirit- when a region’s heritage (including language, people, traditions, rituals, etc.…) dies out due to new practices and globalization. The endangerment of culture involves a loss of information, language, art, loss of cultural heritage, loss of identity, social structure, and ways of living, and possibly the genocide of a whole indigenous group. “An estimated 15,000 cultures are remaining on earth, many doomed or significantly threatened by the erosion of cultural integrity, loss of habitat and environmental quality, and the ravages of disease and socio-economic infections.”
“Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (genetic variability), species (species diversity), and ecosystem (ecosystem diversity) level. “Now it is good to keep in mind that biodiversity is not the same thing as genetic diversity. “Biodiversity is distributed into different components based on the level of differences. Genetic Diversity – It is the diversity expressed at the genetic level by every single person in a species.” Human biodiversity or HBD is both genetic and organizational differentiation. For example, a group that is mostly born with darker skin, while another group mainly has fair skin traits; or when a region has more liberal ideas than that of their neighbors, etc.
Luckily Tajikistan doesn’t suffer mass cultural endangerment or absence/ reduction of biodiversity. The majority identify as being Tajik and having the proud Tajik ethnicity in their veins, that being of blood, history, and/or nationality as the populace is integrated with Turkmen, Uzbeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Bukharan, and European Jews- which shows the mass scale of biodiversity. The traditions and views of these people have fairly remained the same, developing over several thousand years. As the region is influenced by Islam, Tajikistan has encased the old(conservative) social mannerisms and traditions. An example of a social manner is the custom in which a female could not be held in the same quarters as a man alone. This has kept the sexes segregated, sadly lending to the mass inequality of women. An example of long-kept traditions (still practiced today) is the festival, also known as the Navrus. A festival which was initiated into Tajikistan culture before Islam started to shape it. “has its roots in the ancient traditions and practices of celebrating the harvest and planting seasons. Navruz, for example, falls at the start of the spring season, which is historically the time for planting new crops. In Tajikistan, this festival is observed for a total of 4 days, from March 20th to March 23rd of every year. To celebrate Navruz, the people of Tajikistan get ready for the new season of growth and fertility by getting rid of old household goods, playing games outside, and visiting friends and family.” There are continuous examples of lasting culture- the instruments still used today are made with the same wood and animal skin their ancestors used to create them (unlike the united states where we have changed by making electric guitars, etc); as in olden times dancing (the arts)- way of connection to nature/ the imitation of nature (idea practiced as a way to be closer to the earth, to religious figures)- is still a form of ceremonial worship/practice today; through literature, they have been able to preserve their ancient language; and like many countries, the cuisine has kept Tajikistan cultural identity alive in Persian dishes.
by: Bella Noah
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/
Biodiversity – Wikipedia
emilkirkegaard.dk/
www.vedantu.com/biology/biodiversity
Endangered cultures | World Problems & Global Issues | The Encyclopedia of World Problems (uia.org)
The Unique Culture Of Tajikistan – WorldAtlas