Lawrence Kajy
ENG 1020
Project 3
When you think of the word Chaldean, what do you begin to think? Do you know who they are? Do you begin to think of Christians from Iraq? Well, that’s exactly what they are Christians from Iraq. However, not many people know who Chaldeans are. When Chaldeans immigrated to the United States, they typically moved to one of two states; California or Michigan. People of the other 48 states haven’t heard of Chaldeans and if they have they typically don’t know much about them. Chaldeanis an ethnicity but it also has its own language, separate from Arabic. Chaldean’s were one of the first civilizations on earth. They were present around 600 B.C. in Babylon. The characteristics, culture, and tradition of Chaldeans are a bit different from other ethnicities. Not only are they different but they have also been around for generations. A few components that are different are a Chaldean’s history, their religion, their loyalty to their family, types of foods they eat, and their parties and holidays.
Something unusual about Chaldeans is that they are Roman Catholic, which means they believe in the Bible and in Jesus Christ. This is unusual because Chaldeans come from Iraq which is a country that practices Islam. Iraq is also surrounded by other countries, such as Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, which also practice Islam. With all these Islamic people surrounding them, Chaldeans were not influenced to convert religions. Still, there are a few other people in Iraq who are also Catholic; Assyrians for example are Catholic. When Chaldeans immigrated to the United States they started to build their own churches. By building these churches they had a place of worship, which they could go and it would be spoken in their own language. So unlike all their Muslim/Arabic neighbors Chaldeans are quite different.
The history of Chaldeans goes back a long time. Chaldean’s were one of the first civilizations to invent a language and an alphabet and they were also one of the first on this earth. The language that was spoken was called Aramaic which is the same language that Jesus Christ spoke. Their history goes all the way back to about 600 B.C. Chaldeans lived in the region that was known as "the fertile crescent” which extended from the Persian Gulf into what is today known as southern Turkey and northern Israel. Most Chaldeans lived in their capitol city, Babylon, which is now present day Iraq. Chaldeans didn’t immigrate to the United States until 1920. When they first got here they would work in stores selling anything they could and send the money back to their family in Iraq. Today Chaldeans have a variety of jobs and business, ranging from doctors to store owners.
Chaldean’s are extremely loyal to their relatives and friends. When someone in the family needs something and they ask another family member to do it, it is their obligation to do so. Family members and friends trust each other enormously. When someone is sick and can’t go to work, another person from their family will take their place at work. Chaldean business owners usually have family members or other Chaldeans working for them. It is rare to have people of other ethnicities or cultures working for them. They feel as though family members and other Chaldeans can be trusted since they are all raised the same way. Chaldean families are typically a lot closer to their family and friends than many other ethnic groups. They will attempt to live as close to each other as they possibly can and see each other as much as they can,regularly on Sundays. Even if they separate, they try to stay as close to each other as they possibly can. When Chaldean families get together, a lot of food will be made.
The food is a big part of the Chaldean culture. The people, who prepare the food, usually the older woman, put a lot of time and effort into their food. They might even get offended if someone doesn’t eat or doesn’t enjoy their food. The recipes for these foods haven’t changed in years, because the recipes have been passed down throughout generations. Chaldean/Arabic food is very healthy; the recipes tend not to have a lot of unhealthy ingredients such as butter. Almost all Chaldean/Arabic food is served with rive. One very common dish, which is served with rice, is meat and vegetable stew. The stew can be made with a variety of different vegetables such as, okra, peas, green beans etc. The vegetables that are added into the stew tend to change the name of the dish, for example if you were using okra the dish would be called bomya. Another very popular dish that everyone seems to love is dolma. Dolma is rice mixed with meat and spices wrapped in grape leaves or stuffed in certain vegetables such as onions or peppers. This dish is very popular at family gatherings because everyone loves it. However, one specific dish [usually served on Christmas] that not many people of different ethnicities or cultures enjoy is pacha. Pacha is clean lamb stomachs and intestines stuffed with rice and meat and sewn shut. This is cooked in a specific broth which is served with the stomachs and intestines. Sometimes the tongues and head of a lamb are also used in the broth, the tongue is a delicacy. Unlike pacha, there are many other foods that everyone tends to enjoy which can be eaten at Middle Eastern restaurant. Middle Eastern restaurants can be found in many locations in Michigan. Some of the Middle Eastern food can be compared to American food. For instance, one of the foods is called chicken cream chop, which can be compared to cut-up chicken fingers because it’s basically breaded chicken. Another example is beef tuka, which are basically pieces of steak cut-up into little pieces. The last example is beef kabob. Beef kabob is mainly hamburger meat, usually shaped in a long rectangular form. From the rice to the grape leaves, approximately all of this food is healthy and beneficial.
Holidays are a very important time for Chaldean’s. On almost every holiday, all of the family is together, usually until the late hours of the morning. The most important holidays for Chaldean’s are Christmas and Easter, because they believe in Jesus Christ. Because most business close on Christmas, Christmas is the one day that Chaldeans can truly get together as a family. Chaldeans prepare a great amount of food on holidays, but usually the main food is pacha, which was described earlier. Going to church is a very important part of these two holidays. Most people will go to church on ChristmasEve so they can spend the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas day preparing food and spending time with the family. Easter and Good Friday have generally the same concept as Christmas, going to church is the main part of the holiday and it’s very important to Chaldeans.
Weddings and other parties are absolutely huge for Chaldean’s. Weddings are very extravagant for Chaldeans. Chaldean’s don’t know the meaning of a small wedding; they invite just about every person that they know. Even if the person doesn’t know that family very well, most will still go out of respect for that family. However, only close family will attend the actual wedding at the church and everyone else will just go to the reception. Thereceptions are usually in a big banquet hall. This banquet hall usually must be able to seat a large number of people and have a big dance floor. A very popular dance that is done at weddings is line dancing, in which the people hold hands and go around the dance floor in a circle. There are usually about five to eight hundred people at these weddings, sometimes more or less. The reception is usually done in a specific order. When arriving at the hall, hundreds of pictures are taken. After that, the bridal party is introduced and then the bride and groom. After they are introduced, they head to the table where the cake is. They cut the cake, feed each other and then they feed they cake to their parents. After the cake they begin to dance for almost an hour. Following the dancing, dinner is served; they sit down and eat which takes up about another hour. While eating the best man and maid of honor perform a speech. After all that is done, they dance for about another two hours all the way until the party finishes. These weddings are far from cheap, they are very expensive. Usually one of these weddings will cost between 25,000 to 50,000 dollars. However, the wedding present that the guests bring is money, so that helps pay for most of the wedding.
In conclusion, Chaldeans aren’t just Catholics who came from Iraq. They are much more. They are a very interesting ethnic group with many traditional customs. Keeping traditions alive is an important conceptfor Chaldeans.Not much of their traditions have changed over the years, which is how Chaldeans want things to be. Food recipes, family values, marriage and religion are a few things that are very traditional and don’t change much. Their history is sometimes taken for granted. Just the fact that they were one of the first people on earth and were one of the first to make an actual language and alphabet made their history says a lot about them. The Chaldean’s loyalty to their friends and family is a very significant part in the way they are raised. They are very close to their friends and family and they always have family gatherings, at least once a week. The food is one of the main ways that Chaldeans are identified. They take a lot of pride and put a lot of effort into the food they make and they always try to make it healthy. Holidays are usually a very happy and enjoying time for Chaldean’s, this is the time where the whole family can spend time together. This is also an important part of their Catholic religion. The Chaldeans weddings are very extravagant; they spend a lot of time and money planning these weddings. The word Chaldean stands for a lot of different things like loyalty, or family and religion. Chaldeans are typically taken for granted and not many people know about them. Chaldean’s have been around forever. Their characteristics and their traditions are still around and don’t look to be going anywhere soon. Chaldeans should not be unknown and hopefully many other people will know about them one day.
Works Cited
"Chaldeans." Chaldeans.org. 14 Mar. 2008 <
Kajy, Aniss. Personal interview. 13 Mar. 2008.
Kajy, Lawrence. Personal interview. 13 Mar. 2008
Sengstock, Mary C. Chaldeans in Michigan. Lansing: MichiganStateUniversity
Press, 2005.