The idea that the United States is a melting pot where arriving immigrants shed their national identities and turn into homogenized Americans has never been true, and it shouldn't be, according to Alma Plancich, executive director of the Ethnic Heritage Council.
Speaking in the council's office on the third floor of the Seattle Center House, Plancich sees immigration in this country from a different perspective. "It's like a salad bowl," is how she put it. "There's nothing wrong with that. I think it's what makes this country so unique."
But Plancich can also draw from her own experience. She arrived in America as a child from Croatia with a few stops along the way, and she settled with her family in a tight-knit fishing community in Anacortes. "It was like a village from Croatia had been transplanted there," she said.
She remembers singing Croatian songs in church and while cleaning crabs, and Plancich took it for granted that her cultural identity would be preserved. "But when I was in college, I realized it was very, very fragile."
That led to the formation of a Croatian dance ensemble, and her college years in the early 1970s also exposed Plancich to other ethnic groups such as Finns, American Indians and African Americans, she said.
"We were all going through a similar experience, like this could all be gone," Plancich stated.
By 1979, Plancich was one of numerous volunteers from various ethnic groups in the Seattle area, and they were meeting on a regular basis in an effort to preserve their cultures and exchange ideas. "I was one of the founding people," she said.
The group also held a three-day conference that, among other accomplishments, produced "CONTACT, A Directory of Ethnic and Cultural Resources in Washington State."
Originally, there were only a few hundred listings, but the publication is in its fourth edition this year and has listings for around 1,200 organizations and ethnic groups in the state, she said. "So that was one way to get the word out."
That effort was followed up in the 1980 with the formation of the non-profit Ethnic Heritage Council.
"It started out we had under 100 groups we represented," Plancich said. "Our membership ballooned."
One of the first things the council organized was a cultural festival at the Northgate shopping center, where numerous groups would set up informational booths and food kiosks, she said. "This was a perfect way for ethnic groups to share their information with the community at large."
But a change in ownership of the shopping center after 20 years put an end to the festival because food booths were no longer allowed, Plancich added.
"It became the Winter Worldfest when we brought it down here (in 1999)," she said of the annual three-day celebration in the Seattle Center House.
There were already seven ethnic festivals taking place each year in the Center House when the Heritage Council opened its office in the building, Plancich said. "They really caught on." In fact, there are now 18 each year.
The council helps the new groups get organized and form non-profits, she said. "We will incubate them, so to speak." The council also evaluates the festival participants to make sure they are fulfilling the organization's mission and staying culturally relevant, Plancich added.
"Often, they do a great job starting out," she said. Other groups don't, and the council has had to discourage them from participating, Plancich admitted. That might be because a group could be made up of one family that doesn't necessarily represent an entire ethnic community, she said.
The Heritage Council also has deal with the fact that some ethnic groups can't stand other ethnic groups, and there are even squabbles within individual groups, Plancich said with a frown.
Countering those hassles - at least to some extent - is the location of the festivals in Seattle. "The Seattle Center... [is] considered neutral territory that belongs to everybody," she said. "That's the beauty of it. I think that's one of the drawing cards."
"We're trying to make room for more," Plancich said of ethnic festivals, and there is a waiting list of willing participants such as Pakistanis and Macedonians, for example. The waiting list also includes South End communities of Russians, Ukranians, Bosnians and Somalis, she said of other examples.
The Heritage Council has organized the annual three-day fall Cultural Crossroads festival for the past 15 years at in the Bellevue Crossroads shopping center as well, Plancich said.
But the group also produces the Fourth of July Naturalization Ceremony at the Seattle Center. "That's my favorite thing, being a naturalized citizen myself."
The Ethinc Heritage Council is celebrating its 25th anniversary at its annual meeting and banquet in February. Like other non-profits since 9/11, the council has had to scramble at times to raise money, she said. But Plancich remains optimistic. "My hope is the organization will continue and prosper."
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.
[[In-content Ad]]
