VOICES: The Journal of New York Folklore, Vol. 32: 3-4

Volume 32
Fall-Winter
2006

Gabriel Bol Deng performs with the Lost Boys chapter of Syracuse at the Emerging Traditions folk arts forum in Auburn, New York

Karen don dancers Dain Moo and Naw Phaung Phaung

New York Folklore Society
P.O. Box 764
Schenectady, NY 12301
518/346-7008
Fax 518/346-6617
nyfs@nyfolklore.org

3	Report from the Field: A Dialogue on Immigrant and Refugee Issues by Laura R. Marcus and William Westerman. Introduction by Eileen Condon.
16	Dance and Diaspora in Brooklyn by Kay Turner and Nicole Macotsis
20	The Narrow Escape: The Facts of My Life by Gabriel Bol Deng
26	The Don Dance: An Expression of Karen Nationalism by Heather MacLachlan
35	Calico Indians: Festive Play in Acts of Resistance by Roger Abrahams

2	Announcements
15	E-Resources by Kathleen Condon
18	Upstate by Varick A. Chittenden
19	Downstate by Steve Zeitlin
25	Reading Culture by Tom van Buren
33	Foodways by Lynn Case Ekfelt
34	Play by John Thorn
42	Good Spirits by Libby Tucker
43	Books to Note

Cover: Dressed in traditional handwoven Karen vest and the military fatigues of the Karen Resistance Army, musician Saw Noven performs don dance music on electric guitar during the January 16, 2006, Karen new year celebration at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Utica, New York. Photo: Felicia McMahon.

FROM THE EDITOR
The Fall-Winter 2006 issue of Voices contains a unique collection of essays that range from historical research and theory by eminent folklorist Roger D. Abrahams to fieldwork by ethnomusicologist Heather MacLachlen. Abrahams writes about the Anti-Rent War, intercultural imitation, and the Calico Indians, an early vigilante group that operated as social bandits, while MacLachlen discusses her work among the Karen people in a refugee camp in Thailand. We are especially honored to publish an autobiographical essay by Gabriel Bol Deng, a young Dinka dancer who escaped from the civil war in Sudan. Essays by Laura Marcus and Bill Westerman, speakers at the 2005 New York Folklore Society Folk Arts Forum on Immigrant/Refugee Issues, underscore the needs of new immigrant and refugee communities. I know our readers will also find inspiration in the account written by public folklorist Kay Turner and her colleague Nicole Macotsis, who work with immigrant groups living in New York City.

This issue presents to our readers some of the issues at stake for folklorists working with refugee and immigrant communities. The next issue of Voices will include a new section, “Artist Profiles,” which will showcase the work of individual folk artists. I urge you, the reader, to submit your interviews and biographies of the folk artists with whom you are currently working.

Felicia Faye McMahon, Ph.D.
Acquisitions Editor
New York Folklore Society