From social bonds to cultural identity. Changing meanings of Na dances in tourism context and heritage-making

Abstract

This paper examines a situation of tourism development and heritage narratives in southwest China as it unfolds among the Na people, known for their matrilineal and matrilocal system. To investigate sociocultural changes, I compare festivities and dance performances of two villages, one visited by tourists and the other not. I ask to what extent the dynamics of tourism have reshaped the meanings and values underlying dance gatherings and what heritage processes suggest about these transformations. By outlining the contradictory understandings of tradition and culture by locals with heritage narratives, the article emphasises the agency of Na inhabitants. Largely left out of the processes of heritagisation but negotiating ethnic representations and new livelihood opportunities through tourism, the Na attempt to carve out a place for themselves in the state’s modernist agenda by showcasing dances.