User:Jyamisha/Damigha

Background: According to some estimates, there are between 3M - 5M Circassians (and individuals of Circassian decent) living in the world. The vast majority of these individuals live as Diaspora. Fortunately, whether they live in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the United States, or in their historical homeland (presently part of the Russian Federation), Circassians are well integrated, and proud citizens of their respective countries of birth. Sadly, this state of integration has come at the expense of Cultural Assimilation. The Circassian Language-- which most Circassians feel is the key to their culture, is slowly fading from every day use; some argue that is is slowly joining the ranks of extinct languages.

With the very key to their culture slowly fading from existence, Circassians around the world struggle to retain their sense of national identity. To varying degrees, this is achieved at the community level through the preservation of Circassian Folk Dance. At the individual level, this is achieved via an ad hoc set of personal actions and choices. Among these many actions is the research, preservation and dissemination of Circassian Damighas.

The word Damigha is taken directly from the Circassian language, and does not easily fit any direct translation in the English language. As an historically illiterate people, the Circassians used their Damighas as a means of identification. While often branded on live stock, the Damigha was more than a brand. It would clearly identify individual families, but rarely rose to the level of complexity often associated with European family crests or coats of arms. Damighas were much simpler, often written by hand and serving as proxies for personal signatures. At the same time, and despite their appearance and use as family monikers, Damighas were never used in quite the same way as Egyptian Hieroglyphs or the Runic Alphabet.

They were simply Damighas... and they were used by Circassian families for as long as their collective memory can recall. Following their mass exodus from their historical homelands in the Northwest Caucuses, these Damighas began to fade from memory. Living primarily as refugees, lacking a written language, and largely unfamiliar with the native languages of their newly settled lands, the vast majority of these unskilled individuals had more pressing challenges to face.

Today, where ever they are found around the globe, Circassians enjoy nearly universal (albeit relative) peace, stability and prosperity. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of Communism, Circassians in the Diaspora (accounting for up to 85% of all Circassians, by some estimates) were finally able to reconnect with their long lost kinsmen. Despite nearly two decades of open access, this reconnection is still at its infant stages, driven (in part) by language barriers. Circassians around the world speak a number of languages and employ a number of alphabets. (English, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew and Russian, each with their respective scripts.) At the same time, even among Circassians with a strong command of the spoken Circassian language, most Diaspora are illiterate, and the many dialects of the Circassian language are all but mutually unintelligible.

Hence the fascination and interest with Circassian Damighas as a (relatively) simple means of personal cultural preservation.

Despite this fascination, there exists today, neither any (English-language) references to Circassian Damighas, nor any graphical archives of what these symbols look like. Damigha books are in existence throughout the Circassian Diaspora, but they often suffer from a number of issues, including:

 Short supply: Few Damigha books enjoy ISBN identifiers, and are often printed in short inventories. They are all but impossible to come by, and often in poor shape due to frequent lending and rough treatment as eager individuals race to find their (often long lost) family symbols. 

Legibility issues: The wear and tear referenced above often only serves to aggravate the fact that many Damigha books are of poor quality to begin with. Sometimes "printed" (or hand drawn) without government sanction (a large issue in Turkey and some parts of Syria until the end of the last century), even Damigha books in relatively good shape are often difficult to read. The quality of the paper, ink and binding simply have not stood the test of time. 

Linguistic barriers: As noted earlier, Circassians are spread out all over the world. In the off-chance that an American Circassian (for example) were able to source a Syrian Damigha book, he or she might not be able to read the Arabic script. Likewise, a Turkish Circassian would not likely be able to read the Cyrillic script, were he or she to find a Russian Damigha book. 

Shifting of family names: In a number of countries, and for a number of reasons, many Circassian family names have been lost, or modified to fit the cultural context of a specific country. The latter is the case in the Russian Federation, were a majority of Circassians now have a Slavic-ized family name, while the former is more true in Turkey, where many family names have been lost, or changed as they were preserved orally (and surreptitiously). 

Incomplete catalog: If there is one defining characteristic of every Damigha book (other than its author's passion and commitment), it is a preamble (regardless of the language or place of origin) stating that the Damigha book is incomplete, lacking large swathes of Circassian Damighas.  

Thus, for all these reasons and more, the only thing greater than the interest of Circassian Damighas, is the lack of references on them. As of the initial inception of this article (15 July, 2009), a Google search of the term "Damigha" turns up 0 results.

Forward: Copyright law serves an important role in our modern Democratic and Capitalistic societies. It is the foundation of personal property, and taken very seriously in the context of this article. That said, the lack of information on Circassian Damighas is driven by a lack of research materials. As of the time this draft of this article, and unless specified, all content appearing henceforth will be translated from the unpublished work of