Omohundro - The Evolution of a Tradition

The basis of this article by Omohundro is how traditions change. He focused on the early Irish settlers of Newfoundland, and how they adapted their European traditions to a place that was not as advanced.

The foundation of this article is not something that is unique to early settlers. It is something that happens on a regular basis; people moving from an advanced situation to a primitive one. It occurs when a student moves away from mom and her well stocked fridge and into an apartment with possibly only condiments on the shelves. It happens when someone moves to a different country and can no longer find the foods they're used to at their local grocer. The people who find themselves in these situations simply adapt to their surroundings, substituting ingredients and preparation methods to suit the circumstances, Omohundro refers to this process as "devolution," I don't necessarily agree with this process being a step backwards, in the case of the Irish settlers, the student and the traveler, that all left their advanced traditions to pursue the next steps in their lives. In all the cases exhibited the subjects did not have the resources to carry out the advanced traditions, they did not lack the knowledge. They adapted to their new environment and did their best to keep their traditions alive.