Finding Pagan Events which are accessible for Deaf and Hard of Hearing attendees is indeed a challenge. Most Pagan Organizations operate on a shoestring budget, and must rely on volunteers to plan, coordinate, and run their events. They often don’t have the budget to pay for interpreting services, and finding individuals willing to provide such for free can be a challenge. There are some interpreters out there who are willing to donate their services, but these can be far and few between…and understandably, those services will likely be limited. It’s not realistic to expect one interpreter to give up an entire weekend to interpret solo for a conference or gathering – and to do so for free.
Part of the problem is that it becomes a “Catch-22″ situation – because no Deaf Pagans come forward and request that interpreters be provided, these Pagan Organizations don’t think about setting up such services…or about creating a budget to pay for such services. And because no interpreting services are provided, Deaf Pagans don’t show up for such events.
We as Deaf Pagans need to take responsibility to come out of the broom closet and start requesting that these events be made accessible so that we can participate. It is only by doing so that the Pagan Community will begin to realize that there ***ARE*** Deaf Pagans out there, and they ***DO*** want to be involved in these events.
Be aware that you will likely have to do A LOT of educating, and advocating, and probably a lot of the work in actually getting the services set up. The harsh reality is that most Pagans know very little about Deaf Culture and Deaf Services, and are going to need you to teach them what is necessary – be it interpreters, CART services, or whatever. They will likely complain about the cost…and try to convince you that there is no money in their budget, and since “everyone else who works with our event is a volunteer, why should we be expected to have to pay for interpreters? They should volunteer their time just like everyone else!!!” It’s hard to get these individuals to understand that interpreters are often self-employed contractors who must make their livelihood from their skills, and while it would be nice if they could occasionally do offer such services “pro bono,” it cannot be expected that they are always available to do so.
However, there are some events that I am aware of that have provided interpreters in the past. Whether they still do or not I am uncertain, as I have not attended either of these events in the last few years. I only know that they ARE experienced in having provided interpreters in the past, have advertised themselves as doing so, and may be more willing to accomodate Deaf participants.
Ecumenicon in the DC/MD area holds an annual conference that has provided interpreters in the past. Their chairperson knows sign language himself, and is committed to making the conference accessible, and there have been Deaf attendees in past years. I myself have attended this conference several times, and have enjoyed it. There are many different workshops that one can attend on a variety of different topics related to spirituality…not all focus on Paganism, but many of the attendees are Pagan or Pagan-Friendly. The 2007 conference is scheduled to take place April 19 – 22 in Baltimore. For more information, check their website at www.ecumenicon.org
Heartland Pagan Festival is an annual event that takes place in Kansas at Camp Gaea – a Pagan owned and operated camp about 45 minutes outside of Kansas City. This event has been taking place for over 20 years, and occurs during Memorial Day weekend in May. It attracts a large crowd…over 1000 attendees. It’s an outdoor event, and there is very limited cabin space, so I recommend bringing your tents and preparing to “rough it” for a few days. It is a nice camp with hot showers and flush toilets available, but there is no electricity, etc. for campsites. There’s music (which in the past has been interpreted), guest speakers (often nationally known leaders in the Craft), various workshops, and many vendors setting up booths selling various items. In the past, Heartland has had two certified interpreters available who were both quite skilled, and were paid for their services. However, I know that in the last few years no Deaf individuals have attended (I haven’t been able to go due to lack of funds or conflicts), and I don’t know if they still are offering this service. I think if you were to contact them and indicate that you would like to attend and need interpreters, they would be willing to provide such. Their next festival is scheduled for May 24 – 28, 2007. For more information, check their website at http://kchsa.org I used to live in Kansas City and played a role in helping to get these services set up, so if you mention that you were referred to them by “Ocean, the Deaf Witch” they will know who you are talking about.
These are the two that I personally am aware of. There may be others that I don’t know about. I know there are groups that have told me they would be willing to at least attempt to provide interpreting services if such are requested – but how successful they would be at doing so is questionable (I suspect it depends on their ability to find a “volunteer” willing to provide such).
Again…the bottom line is that it depends on US. We need to come out of the broom closet and indicate our desire to participate in these events – conferences, workshops, gatherings, public rituals, etc. We need to educate the Pagan Community on how to make these events accessible. And we need to ATTEND these events. It makes me sad that Heartland Pagan Festival has set aside the funds to provide interpreters for the past couple of years, and no Deaf Pagans have taken advantage of such.
This has to change, or we will find Pagan Organizations will stop making the effort. Then whose fault will that be???
If you know of other Pagan Events that have provided interpreters and/or other accomodations for Deaf participants in the past, or are willing to do so…please comment below! I’d like to see a list of such events made available for all Deaf Pagans.
If you are a Sign Language Interpreter who would be willing to provide interpreting services for Deaf individuals to attend these types of events, please make a comment below! Not to brag, but I am nationally-known as the “Deaf Witch” and I do occasionally get emails from Pagan Groups asking if I know of any interpreters in their areas who might be willing to provide services for their events.
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
Glad to find this article! I have to agree with you big time! Often I would send an email to express my interest in going and make a request for an interpreter. Often than not, I’d get an email that they couldn’t even afford an interpreter. Ecumenicon is wonderful! I had gone there twice back in ’98 and ’99. I was delighted to be involved! I also had gone to the Gathering of the Tribes in ’99, ’00, and ’02 (twice a year if possible). Two interprters attended the gathering so I didn’t even have to ask for an interpreter. The coordinator for that gather had discarded the cost of entrance for the interpeters (her way to make it easier- I think.) Now I am in Colorado, it’s harder to find an interpreter for pagan events because a lot of intrpreters here are very closed-minded. Trust me, I tried. Even one interpreter said that she couldn’t interpret because she felt uncomfortable about “weird differences of your religion”(her words) despite the pagan event was very willing to get an interpreter.
To be honest with you, I can’t wait to return back to Maryland/ DC this summer!
Most Welcome, Wolfers…and many thanks for your comments!
I’m happy to see that I am not alone in the struggle for better access to Pagan Events – that “we can’t afford an interpreter” argument is one that I’ve gotten over and over again myself. Granted, most Pagan organizations don’t have a lot of money and do in fact operate their events on shoestring budgets, but this still is not a suitable excuse. There is something called FUNDRAISING, ya know. I also discuss this whole issue of providing and paying for interpreters in my blog “Providing Interpreters for Events” – which hopefully more and more Pagan organizations will READ!
It’s not that I am unsympathetic to the financial issues that these organizations face…but the attitudes that I sometimes face leave something to be desired. It’s not just that these folks don’t understand; they won’t even admit that they don’t understand, and when you try to educate them to that honest fact, they become quite defensive and start accusing YOU (the Deaf person) of having or being the problem. I’ve come up against this on a number of occasions when trying to advocate for my needs. It seems that the view is that we as Deaf people are not supposed to “challenge” the perspectives of these event organizers, who of course know what they are doing! And if we try to tell them otherwise, we become “the bad seed” – argumentative, hard to please, uncooperative, you name it.
As you mentioned, sometimes one can be fortunate enough to find interpreters who will be attending the event and are willing to donate their services. This does make it easier on us, but sometimes it does become a “juggling game” of determining how to assure that your own needs are met, while allowing the interpreter to have sufficient opportunity for their own participation and enjoyment of the event. This is especially true if only ONE interpreter shows up – it can’t be expected that just one individual can handle an entire weekend event (or even just an all day event) solo…interpreting is hard work!
Finding interpreters who are willing to interpret Pagan-related events AND do so voluntarily is a challenge indeed. And as you say, even when money is offered, some of these interpreters still won’t accept the job due to their “uncomfortableness” with the subject. In some cases, such as my interpreter friend explains in the above mentioned “Providing Interpreters” blog, it is a respectful concern that one can’t do justice to the message due to lack of full knowledge and understanding of the subject. But in other cases, it is indeed a paranoia about Witchcraft that keeps the interpreters away. I’ve had interpreters who have refused jobs for similar reasons – when I was attempting to find interpreters for a Goddess Gathering (a women only spiritual event honoring the Goddess), one interpreter told me straight to my face that she was not willing to interpret for “a bunch of naked lesbians dancing in the woods and staring at my breasts.” (Apparently she was under the mistaken belief that everyone would be in various stages of nudity and she would be expected to go skyclad herself…)
All we can do is keep educating, advocating, requesting, and assisting. I do believe that most Pagan Organizations want to do the right thing…they don’t intentionally mean to exclude Deaf participants, they just have never been made aware of the need, or taught how they can in fact accomodate us.
Folks like you and comments like yours can go a long way to creating positive change…
I am a hearie working in the Deaf Community, for a school. I must keep myself in the closet unfortunately because of working for the state, as well as working with kids, Parents are not usually “that” open minded…. I am Pagan, and have my degree in Sign Language Interpreting. I would like to see my services put to use at our Gathering, ((boasting) One of the top 5 in the country), and currently we do not “officially” have interpreters available…… Yet….. My issue is that I don’t have the “vocabulary” for pagan signs, I am quite skilled, and am sure that with the right vocabulary I could be an asset to the Deaf pagan community in our area. Im looking for some resources to help us, (my wife and I both have degrees and are pagan, and work in the Deaf Community). We would like the opportunity should it arise to use our skills at our festival. If anyone can help, please let me know. wolfepack215@yahoo.com.
For now you can check out our Festival at http://www.flapagan.org/ If you are interested, in attending contact the registration personnel and state that you are in need of Interpreting services. They are aware that we available and are willing to help to the best of our abilities…
Greetings, Celtic Shadow ~
I think it would be WONDERFUL if you could offer your skills to allow your Gathering to be accessible to Deaf Pagans!
I do appreciate the concerns you have about a Pagan Sign Vocabulary, and this is something that I am hoping to address this year. Truthfully, I have found even for myself that sometimes you just gotta “wing it”… create signs as you go along, and work with the Deaf individual to develop that vocabulary that you can both agree on and work with.
What I have found works best in getting Deaf Pagans and Like-Minded folks to attend a Pagan Gathering or similar event is A LOT of networking within the Deaf Community. Find those Deaf individuals who can help you get the word out…I would be more than happy to help you with this by writing up something on this blog site, and sending info out to those people I know.
Deaf people will travel to those events they have an interest in, if they know that such an event will be accessible. As an example, I attended an Ecumenicon conference which provided sign language interpreters, and while the event took place in the Baltimore/DC area, we had Deaf participants from as far away as the New England area, Minnesota, Florida, and Missouri. You have to take a “Field of Dreams” mentality – “if you build it, they will come.”
Secondly, you need to do A LOT of pre-planning. Try to get your Deaf participants to pre-register, and provide them with a schedule of events, so you can get an idea of which workshops, etc. they are interested in and provide the proper services accordingly. There may have to be a little compromising on both sides here – especially if you have a limited number of interpreters to offer. Try to get as much information about those workshops, presentations, etc. that will be interpreted in advance – so you can look over the vocabulary, work on developing some appropriate signs, etc.
Third, be aware (as I am sure you already know) that you will likely have to do A LOT of educating hearing folks at the Gathering about Interpreting, using interpreters properly, and about Deaf people. A lot of them just don’t have a lot of knowledge or experience in this area and you will probably have to help them learn.
I did take a look at your Gathering’s website, and I am impressed! You’ve got a good line-up of speakers, a number of whom I recognize. If I had the money, I would love to attend myself, but the bucks are tight these days and I’m having to pinch pennies.
However, I really do think that this is a wonderful opportunity for Deaf Pagans, and I really do hope that some of them will take advantage of it!