ITEMS

Ka Mar holds Thanaka while his daughter Ma Se Ma applies some Thanaka to her face, Logan, Utah, May 15, 2015

Ka Mar holds Thanaka while his daughter Ma Se Ma applies some Thanaka to her face. I had asked Ka Mar what the designs were on the youth and his wife's face when we arrived at the apartment. The youth, including Ma Se Ma, had applied a swirl on each cheek, one on her forhead, and a dot on her nose. Ka Mar's wife, Sa De Da had a square on each cheek. Ka Mar brought out this Thanaka to try to describe it to us. Thanaka is used for beauty, to cool the skin, and some sources say as a sunscreen. I did not make this connection until we interviewed our translator Har Be Bar. Unfortunately the youth and adults wearing the Thanaka rubbed it off when they entered the house. Likely because they saw us and we, I would think, would be considered foreign to their community.

Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives, Cache Valley Refugee Oral History Project, FOLK COLL 68

2015-05-15

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Cache Valley Refugee Oral History Project

An inventory for this collection can be found at : http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv67618

Cache Valley Refugee Oral History Project Digital Collection

http://digital.lib.usu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16944coll14/id/128