Time and space are unique concepts because people are bound in earthly terms to particular time/space experiences. Time and space are well philosophized (Agnew and Corbridge, 1995; Gupta and Ferguson, 1997; Lefebvre, 1991; Lynch, 1972). Culture groups may measure and record both time and space, but individuals will always have difficulties reconciling their own short life spans to the immense temporal length and spatial range of human history. Imagination is one possibility for filling in the gaps of knowledge outside of personal experience (Lia Rumantscha, 1990; Ursch, 1979). In many ways, the past is more like a belief system built on notions of faith and tradition. Many of these pasts are a complex mixture of beliefs and interpretations combined with different influences including current social issues, changing environments, and even tropes of documentation (see Decurtin, 1989; Duncan, 1993; Luck, 1985; Maisson, 1998; Weishaupt, 1992; Wolf, 1982).

Cultural groups mold their past with a little imagination to construct the geo-historical frontiers concerning human origins and territories (Lia Rumantscha, 1987; Ursch, 1979). A cultural frontier is both an exact delineation as well as a non-discrete boundary between the known and the imaginary (Prescott, 1978; Weiss, 1961). In cultural terms, the frontier and/or border is the distinction between groups, for examples, the non-abstract differences such as language and religion (Murphy, 1988; Wagner, 1974). These frontiers even if imaginary or contestable as actual boundaries fit their needs none the less as the desire to define ones culture predominates historical accuracy (Cole and Wolf, 1974). Once someone articulates cultural differences and heritage, they become part of the material and symbolic environment. These imaginative and creative efforts result in another layer of meaning in the cultural landscape. While very little is actually known about the Roman province of Rhaetia or the people living there at the time, the Romansh claim a lengthy presence on the land because of how scholars interpret Roman documentation of the name (Dyson, 1985; Whittaker, 1994). This Roman—Rhaetian connection is just one of many elements in the representations of Romansh history and geography, and it inevitably pulls the discussion of human and natural roots very far back in time (Bechert, 1999; Degen, 1987; Purcell, 1990).

The human and ecological past of the Grischun is the subject of this chapter. I explore some of the geo-historic frontiers that have particular cultural meanings for the Romansh. This chapter generally follows a chronological order except for the first section. In the first section, I introduce my term "heritage epoch" and elaborate on this trend of modern societies looking to the past for authenticity and traditionalism. Then, I discuss the environmental history of the region taking into account physical geography and human settlement of the Alps. Environmental history is a relatively new academic pursuit, and according to Brimblecombe and Pfister (1990:6), it is particularly weak in Europe. My purpose is simply to present some background to the ecology and human origins of the region. Finally, I discuss the three heritage epochs: Retica, Grischuna, and Svizra. Instead of an exhaustive list of people, dates, and places of the last two thousand years, these epochs are really components of understanding towards Romansh history. The important aspect is the meanings the Romansh themselves attribute to the past in each of these differing epochs such as ethnic origins and democratic traditions.

Cultural History

The human past in Grischun is fascinating because it goes so far back in time that it defies easy interpretation of landscapes. For example, many places in the canton have terraces on south facing slopes, and they appear so natural that some people do not notice them. Archaeological research date some of them to around 3000 years old (Rageth, 1986), so local people attribute them to their ancestors and think their community is thousands of years old. At the same time, locals mention how they had to plant crops on the terraces during the war, so I suspect the terraces were modified with mechanical means.

The landscape evokes very complex and even contradictory responses when it comes to understanding the past. One of the more important functions of articulating the past is to define or clarify the complexity, and hopefully, the result is a clear picture of identity and territory. The Grischun reflects more human and cultural mixture than any pure this or that, and from a linguistic point of view, there is this complex Romance/Germanic language frontier. In this section, I momentarily put landscape in the background and discuss heritage as a crucial human aspect of the past.

Heritage is a word that carries different connotations for different contexts. Academic interest of heritage follows two paths. One reason for scholarly attention is the contradiction between a scientific historical accuracy and a humanistic value of the past. Lowenthal (1996:127) mentions this aspect of how accuracy and values can be at odds. The second path of interest is how places are using heritage to distinguish themselves and shape the landscape for interpretation. For the average person, heritage usually includes the positive, defining stories from the past that serve some useful purpose. Furthermore, there is a collective aspect in the way people mention "our ancestors" or the "Rhaetians" did such and such. In a way, it reminds me of Wagner's Geltung hypothesis at a group level, whereas a collective entity is trying to evoke appreciation and acceptance from others (Wagner, 1996). Implicitly, there are different scales of heritage. At the global scale, heritage is the humanity of all people along the spirit of humanistic thinking.

Another scale of heritage is at the national level where a strong convergence of communication and culture has gravitated around. In modern Europe, there is a special relationship to the rural past because it is a recent memory for many urbanites who maintain an attachment with rural places and family relatives (Lowenthal, 1997). A complex mixture of actual experience with and collective projection of values onto the rural produces a rural-looking heritage for a decidedly urban society such as in Switzerland. Since these modern urban societies are searching for meaning and creating heritage with a particular image of rurality, they simplify many human qualities and explanations of the past into relatively few categories. The word epoch is flexible enough to accommodate this vagueness of heritage, so I selected it instead of other possible names. Next, I define my term heritage epoch and apply it to the Romansh, and then I introduce the main mythological image that drives heritage in Switzerland.

Heritage Epochs

Foremost, a heritage epoch is a portion of the past that corresponds with ethnographic observations. The time period is vague and not similar with historical periods that historians could articulate. Although the epochs are non-exact periods, it is possible to assign some specific dates and events. In some cases, people associate heritage with features of present day culture including material attributes in the landscape. I see an epoch as having both a sense of time and identifiable landscape and ethnic components. Individuals often indirectly refer to these epochs as they describe the past. Yet, if you asked someone to describe an epoch, you would probably get a blank stare. These are my categories to put ethnographic observations and regional literature into some semblance of order.

Epocas Rumantscha: The Romansh past has three distinct epochs that stand out as important components to understanding the current situation. Figure 11 is a diagram of the three epochs organized by their relationship to the present. I use the Romansh names of Retica, Grischuna, and Svizra, which are equivalent to Rhaetian, Bündner, and Swiss, to avoid any unintended associations. In particular, Rhaetian is a word used with the other Rhaeto-Romance languages especially the Dolomite Ladin. Switzerland is a modern State with 26 cantons in its contemporary boundaries, but for the people of Grischun, it is also the most recent time period.

Figure 11 – Diagram of Heritage Epochs
GRAPH

The first epoch is Retica, and it provides the ethnic and linguistic background that Romansh attribute to their past. It covers the Rhaetian origin stories and the Romanization of the people and region. As part of this epoch, I highlight an interesting phenomenon I call the invention of Rhaetian ethnicity. The Rhaetians have become the human face of pre-history, and any image of pre-Roman culture tends to be projected onto Rhaetians. The Rhaetians are an integral part of Romansh places as they are the human dimension of first settlement and longevity of place. Unfortunately, what appears to be a solid truth of local history is in all likelihood a constructed reality. The lack of evidence concerning the Rhaetians is notable, and it is compounded by an incoherent story of settlement.The lessons to learn from the Rhaetian component to Romansh ethnicity are firstly the minimal constraints on imaginary elements in an ethno-genesis process and secondly a culture group’s need to anchor their past.

The second epoch is Grischuna, and during this epoch a "Bündner" cultural complex develops. The regional identity and territory becomes very well defined and distinct from neighboring regions during this time period. The formation of Bündner-ness incorporates the cultural and environmental diversity of a large alpine area. An interesting question is how a single politico-cultural label, Bündner, does not exclude minorities? The terminology of using Bündnerromanisch or Bündneritalien is considered inclusive even though it is in German. Despite the complex language situation and divisive religious affiliations, the political system did not disintegrate. The Grischuna epoch coincides with the historic Freestate, traditional democratic rites, and the current cantonal geographies.

Svizra is the final epoch, and it is more exact in a temporal sense as Grischun formally became a Swiss canton in 1803. The epoch begins with the political turmoil and transition associated with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wartime years. Svizra represents the era of rapid change that begins in relative poverty and ends in incredible prosperity. The epoch also coincides with recent diminishment of the language as human mobility changes the contact patterns between languages and German becomes the majority language in the canton. In response, Romansh launch efforts to preserve the language, which include a literary revival and political success/reaffirmation in terms of constitutional recognition.

Epical Meaning: The division of the cultural past into three epochs has a wider meaning than organizing the past into blocks of time. All three epochs are alive as different components to the Romansh speakers of today. As one talks to people about the past, they associate specific meanings or attributes to very generic categories like the ones I have presented. Retica refers to the really distant past, and people say that is when their language was formed. The Rhaetian Freestate (Bünden), in the Grischuna epoch, was our independence era. Naturally, they say, we are Swiss. While it is easy to find inconsistencies in both personal and collective ideas, they still return to these three basic categories with an emphasis on political freedoms.

Mountain Heritage

One of the strongest themes in the Romansh past that transcends all epochs is the alpine environment. Many cultural activities are seasonal and follow either agricultural cycles or the Christian calendar. Some of the more prominent examples are traditional ceremonies related to transhumance, especially moving animals up to and down from their summer grazing areas. The busiest months for alpine farmers are between June and September when they have to accomplish specific tasks that can only be done then. The only holiday in summer is the Swiss national day on August first, which has only recently become a major celebration. On the other hand, numerous Christian ceremonies are held during the many winter months when fieldwork is impossible. The whole sequence of Christmas—Easter falls in a slow period for many farmers, and the Catholic communities in particular tend to have major events such as Three Kings parades.

Springtime: The harshness of Winter brings about an emotional hope for an early Spring and fruitful growing cycle. There is a widespread ritual of planting and displaying flowers on windowsills and of course spring-cleaning, which includes airing out the animal stalls. The best known celebration is "Chalandamarz," which exists in every Romansh community in the Engiadina (Lia Rumantscha, 1996). The public ritual is for the school age boys (and girls in some places) to march around the village with large cowbells to scare away the Winter. Traditionally, they entered individual houses to scare away any bad spirits that maybe hiding. They serenade the crowds with songs about agriculture and local pride. In most places, the school children actually organize Chalandamarz, and many of the activities emanate from the schoolhouse such as the selection of leaders and Chalandamarz Ball. Informants mentioned to me how important Chalandamarz has become, and it is clearly significant if not the highpoint of the school year for the children. Chalandamarz does extend beyond Engiadina as it has diffused into some neighboring valleys. The origins or at least the question of origins produces an interesting contradiction because there are a few different stories about the origins. Many attribute it to being an indigenous, Engiadinaise custom, while others call it Roman because it falls on the Roman new year (March 1^st). The association with Romansh speaking communities and the singing of Romansh songs can be confirmed.

Free Mountain Men: There is a peculiar alpine identification with a stark but simplified image of the past. The dominant image is one of a Free Mountain Man (FMM), who negotiates his communal liberty as surefooted as he traverses an Alp (Figure 12). FMM combines some powerful notions of political ideology and environmental determinism, which is where one critiques it. The political ideology is tied to Swiss nationalism insofar as it can be called nationalism. Nationalistic events in Europe clearly influenced the Swiss in how they represented themselves, but they still argued for a liberal democratic model of freedom and independence. The environmental determinism associates mountains with communal liberty and personal freedom in contrast to the centralized, oppressive flatlands. The last side of the triangle is to link Switzerland or at least its image with the mountains, but the Swiss also created an institutional structure of a militia army (farmer-soldier) to perpetuate it. FMM has those three reinforcing sides: he is Swiss, he lives in the mountains, and he is free.

Figure 12 – Images of Free Mountain Men

Photo, Fontana Monument in Chur (dedicated in 1899 on the 400 year observence of Calven/Chalavaina)

    Wilhelm Tell Monument in Altdorf (Uri)                    Grischun wappen with Madonna, knight, and the "wildman"

Despite widespread appreciation of the natural qualities, there are many misconceptions about ecology and human settlement in the Alps. One source of confusion is that localities use fragmentary archeological evidence to imply a long continuous human presence. Another element of confusion is that the current transportation network and tourist patterns have become the dominant cartographic image of regional geography. Whereas the present agro-settlement structure is mostly a function of the Middle Ages (Bundi, 1982), and many older trade routes have been forgotten as automobile and train networks dominate personal mobility (Planta, 1987).

Oddly enough, elevation is a misunderstood element among some informants despite the obvious limitations to growing crops and crossing passes. Perhaps this misunderstanding coincides with individual and communal transition away from agriculture towards service-oriented activities and the presence of modern transportation. Yet, a close look at the ecological record reveals some important clues to settlement, and there is a broad synchronicity between climate and population (Viazzo, 1989:137). In the next section, I discuss the alpine environment, which provides a prelude to the Rhaetian origins and settlement questions.

Environmental History

The origins of the Alps were once a mystery in need of an explanation (Figure 13). There were seashells and fossils found at very high elevations; there were dramatic landscapes with towering mountains, waterfalls, and active glaciers. On top of this physical phenomenon, humans had effectively settled most of the valleys, utilized the natural resources, and explored the limits of survival. The powerful attraction of these mountains so close to Europe's core areas has left an impression in Western thought on the artist's canvas, inside the geologist's laboratory, and in the philosopher's dreams. The explanation of the Alps may begin with the physical mountains, but its everlasting significance is in the more recent human-environment interaction. A good place to begin is with explaining the actual word alp.

Figure 13 -- [Map] Overview of the Alps

Las Alps

The word alp has an interesting background that sheds light on its meaning. An alp (or alm in the eastern Alps) refers to the higher altitude meadows that farmers use for summer grazing, and the word has evolved into a general term for mountain (Figure 14). The Rätische Namenbuch (Schorta, 1964:377) says that "alp" (re)entered the Romansh language as a German etynom, but the origin of the word predates the Roman period. As evidence, Schorta (1964:377) provides the following pre-Roman etynoms that survive in Romansh: "alb" (mountain), "alv" (white), and "alpis" (mountain meadow) as part of current place-names as well as a complete fauna name "albulana" (snow rabbit). Schorta (also in the RNB 1964) points towards an old Celtic origin for the word that could have been adopted by Germanic, Rhaetic, and Italic speakers through contact. The Handwörterbuch (Bernardi et al, 1994:50) points out that the current usage of the word is closely associated with cows and grazing in the alpine cheese economy, which may explain why it reentered the language as a Germanic element. As a word in the contemporary landscape, alp refers to a Summer milking facility whereas a high elevation area has a name like valley.

Early research and "Grand Tour" tourism in Europe globally dispersed the term "alp" through scientific and other means. Alp can be found as a toponym in such places as the Japanese Alps on Hokkaido and the Southern Alps in New Zealand and as adjectives like alpine for downhill skiing or Alpinismus for mountaineering. Research called mountain environments (e.g. Mountain Research and Development) or high altitude physiology/medicine fall under the rubric of alpine studies, and the word alpine is found in the titles of academic journals such as Revue de Géographie Alpine.

Figure 14 – Alp Es-cha

Photo1, Val d' Es-cha (above Madulain)

Photo2, Es-cha Dudains (Alp facility)

Photo3, Alp Es-cha building

Physicality: The physical presence of the Alps is both a topographic reality of mountains and a mental construction of natural barrier. Physical science can go a long way in understanding the processes of mountain building as well as the counter effects of gravity and weathering that denude mountains. The origin of the Alps is explainable with Wagner’s plate tectonics theory, whereas the collision of the European and African continental plates created enough force to build mountains not to mention thrust sea sediments to high altitudes. Where more recent physical processes do not conceal the bedrock, one can see the folds and thrusts that resulted from those incredible compressional forces. The subsequent reversal of plate movements created the space for the Mediterranean Sea. More thorough accounts of Alpine development are available; for example, Bätzing (1991:11-14) simplifies the formation into five stages. The timeframe of alpine formation is measured in millions of years, to be exact between 100 to 5 million years before present. Relative geological stability characterizes the current physical period. While tectonic plate movement is not a factor, the Alps are still active in terms of occasional earthquakes. An additional consideration is surface rebounding due to the unweighting effect of melting/retreating glacial ice from the last glaciation.

Compared to the time scale of uplifting, it is more recent climatic and geomorphic events that distinguish the landscape. Clearly, the most dramatic events are periodic glaciation. Glacial ice significantly shapes the Earth's surface—creating U-shaped valleys, horns, and terminal moraines. Less dramatic in a visual sense but extremely consistent are fluvial processes with erosion and deposition and sudden changes associated with mass wasting and avalanches. Taken in its entirety, the physical geography of the Alps provides a spectacular backdrop for human activities when glacial ice is not in the way.

The Alps have experienced numerous periods of glaciations since formation, and during an Ice Age significant movement of material occurs including removal of most biological matter. Therefore, after an Ice Age, flora and fauna must recolonize the Alps through a very long process of soil development and vegetative succession. During periods of glaciation, snowlines drop to around 1200-1300 meters in elevation which excludes all possibilities for human settlement (Trümpy, 1980). Significant ice accumulation occurs in distinct locations where the higher altitude massifs of individual mountain groups can produce more precipitation and hence heavier snowfall amounts. The resulting accumulation of ice eventually coalesces into broader ice fields completely covering all land, and the flow of ice away resembles continental glaciers in some areas.

Significantly, the movement of ice during an Ice Age determines the drainage patterns for the following interglacial period. In Switzerland proper, the broad pattern of ice movement reveals both channeled (alpine) and unchanneled (continental) ice flows, but the main channels are important because they are avenues for human resettlement. An interesting feature is how a geological fault line known as the Martigny—Chur line contributed to two main channels that move in opposite directions from each other. These two channels are the source areas for the Rhine and Rhône systems. Because mountain groups surround these two valleys on both the North and South sides, they tend to receive less rainfall than areas on the windward sides. Swiss researchers often classify these valleys as the "Inner Alps," and there are enough agricultural similarities to call this a distinct cultural region in of itself (Matheiu, 1992:13,233).

In Grischun, a majority of the valleys are in this inner-alpine zone including the En valley. Therefore, most all Romansh communities fall into this broad geographical anomaly with relative dryness and high elevations. In general, the Grischun has higher overall elevations than other Swiss alpine regions, and Trümpy (1980:7) states, "The Rhetic Alps of Graubünden show a maze of high lying valleys…" As a physical region, the Grischun occupies multiple drainage basins and the pass landscapes that connect them. This crossroads location is also apparent with the plant and animal communities. After a glacial retreat, two different ecological realms recolonize the Alps, one from North and another from the South. Today, those two ecosystems are mid-latitude forest and Mediterranean, but elevation significantly changes both as they come into contact creating unique ecotones and specialized sub-systems. It is also conceivable that the Alps were an East-West corridor for wildlife before extensive human settlement.

Topology: A quick survey of the major mountain groups and the important passes puts the Grischun in its geo-alpine situation (Figure 13). The Alps in Europe consist of a series of mountains or mountain groups that broadly form a continuous chain starting on the Ligurian coast and linking Europe’s highest peak, Mount Blanc, and one of the world’s best known peaks, Matterhorn; running through Rhaetia and Tyrol and extending eastward towards Vienna and southeasterly into northern Slovenia. Some of the alpine groups are notoriously popular through tourism such as the Berner Oberland and the Dolomites of Southern Tyrol, while others are only known by locals or by those who try to classify the alpine areas.

Typically, the Alps are divided into an Eastern, Western, and Southern/Maritime section, but I often use the term Central when talking about the Rhaetia/Grischun since the East-West line arbitrarily falls through the area (CIPRA, 1998:44). In Switzerland, the mountain groups tend to follow cantonal borders or encompass recognizable regions. From West-to-East, there is the bilingual canton of Valais/Wallis with the St.Bernhard and Simplon passes and well known resorts of Crans/Montana and Zermatt; the Bern Oberland is the southern part of the canton Bern with numerous sub-regions such as the Jungfrau and the important Lotschenberg rail tunnel; Central Switzerland includes the three original cantons (Urkantone) and the important Gotthard massive/corridor. The mountain groups around Grischun include: the Glarner Alps to the North, Silvretta/Rätikon separating Austria, and Bernina and Rheinwald groups on the southern flank of the canton.

The physical nature of the Alps creates a considerable obstacle to North-South movement, but it has not been an absolute barrier to human contact and communication. In fact, the Alps in their physical arrangement do provide traffic possibilities. The separation of high altitude massifs with one another provides the opportunity for a few spots with low enough elevations necessary for passes. In addition, deep river valleys eroded by glaciers allow for interconnected settlements on either side of the divide, which is significant to supporting any pass trade. In fact, there are numerous good footpaths through the Alps, if one is prepared for hardships of accidents and survival amongst the elements. The number of passes suitable for wheeled carts is dramatically fewer because the administrative, environmental, and technical requirements for roads can only be marshaled in very special instances. Modern passes are even more restricted despite the technological feats of overcoming slope inclines for trains and trucks.

National academies view the Alps in culturally specific ways that hamper most classification attempts (CIPRA, 1998). Swiss and Austrians stand out as being consumed by their alpine-ness, while French, German, and Italians only conceive of the Alps as small parts of their national personas. These national contexts are fundamental to explanations of the landscape because land use, property rights, land reforms, technological introductions, farm subsidies, and militarized borders all contribute in some form or another. Mathieu (1998:205) does a notable job of articulating the Alps as a single historical entity, and as a region, it has similar characteristics such as agricultural styles and demographic changes.

Nevertheless, these attempts still have the problem of the mountains falling across international boundaries. The physical part of drawing contours on a map is relatively easy, but agreeing on what constitutes the fore-alps and human territories is more problematic. A good example is the large regions of Lombardy and Bavaria: both have territory that is alpine, but should their large urban populations in Milan and Munich be part of an alpine analysis. Meanwhile, Grischun and Tyrol are mostly all alpine, and their largest cities, Chur and Innsbruck, are integral parts of their respective pass trade.

In recent decades, various international research organizations such as the ARGEALP (Central Alps), Alpen-Adria (Eastern Alps), COTRAO (Western Alps), and CIPRA have been active. The ARGEALP (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der zentralen Alpenländer) is a working group for research in the Alps including any hypothetical Rhaetian area, and their published work is multilingual. The culmination of academic and political pursuits is the Alpine Convention that officially formed in 1988 (CIPRA, 1998:373-393). Original member States included Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Germany, and Liechtenstein. The CIPRA (International Alpine Protection Commission) was enhanced as a result of the 1989 Alpenschutz-resolution. In 1993, Slovenia joined the Alpine Commission, which was its first international membership after independence, and Monaco joined in 1994. The member States signed their first official Protocol in 1994, and some treaty elements are already in effect. Currently, the European Union has joined the Alpine States (Alpenländer) in some of its activities not only because many are also E.U. members, but their regional and environmental activities parallels the same E.U. goals.

Anthropogeography

Scientific research of the alpine environment is impressive in specific fields like geology, glaciology, and hazards. On the contrary, knowledge of the first humans to impact ecology is very sketchy. Not only is early human settlement of the Alps not presented clearly, I am not sure the question of anthropogenic influence on flora and fauna is asked. The typical portrayal of natural history, one might experience in a museum, starts with post-glacial vegetative succession and then humans fall into place after the environmental setting is set. Furthermore, the geographical and temporal scales are often very blurry, somewhat justified because the nature of the questions and evidence. Fortunately, a discussion of human settlement need only go back to the beginning of the current interglacial period, and then, the natural-cultural processes of humans, fauna, and flora recolonizing the Alps are the bio-history.

The overarching picture is of a global climatic change, and the conditions of warming since the Pleistocene. A general sense of important events and their dates is useful for comprehending the scale of change. The retreat of ice began 17,000 years ago, but the glacial and periglacial conditions persisted in the Rhaetian Alps at least through 10,000 BP. Tundra ecology followed the glacial retreat. The transition from a Tundra ecosystem to a Steppe ecosystem occurred in the alpine valleys around 7000 years ago, while the appearance of a mixed forest (vegetative climax) happened about 4000 years BP (Trümpy, 1980:14). In general, boreal flora and fauna predominated during the initial succession with Mediterranean species and human influences coming later from the South. The typical portrayal is that humans appear as part of their agricultural complex, which is easier to date with pollen records and tool artifacts. Most dates for human presence are earlier in the Western/French Alps that are further South and closer to the Mediterranean. Both crop farming (Ackerbau) and animal breeding (Viehzucht) are evident in the approach valleys to the Rhaetian Alps as early as 6000 BP (Bätzing, 1991:26). While the physical evidence of domesticated animals and copper mining in the higher elevations follows at around 5000-4000 years ago (Bätzing, 1991:27).

The dramatic discovery of "Ötzi," the frozen man found above the snowline in the Tyrolian Alps (Ötztaler Alpen), has revised some of the thinking about human presence in the Alps (CIPRA, 1998). Researchers have dated "Ötzi" at around 5500 B.P., and the items he was carrying may provide some new insights of settlement and agricultural practices. Already, the Alpenschutz commission is using 7000 years as the date for settlement history of the Alps (CIPRA, 1998:92). The Ötzi discovery clearly shows that humans were in the Alps during vegetative succession. Now a new set of relative questions should include: how did humans alter the environment and what flora and fauna did they introduce or make scarce from hunting and gathering, or enhance by some selection strategy? Unless some genetic continuity can be shown between Ötzi and current residents from micro-anthropology, the scope of this discovery is in human-nature dynamic. The intellectual impact could propel a better discussion of the human past and its relationship to the environment.

Homo-Grischuna: In theory, humans could have been in the Grischun before the Pliestocene as archeological evidence shows human artifacts were in other parts of the Alps. Realistically, different groups of humans were responsible for re-settlement. This timeframe of human settlement coincides with Neolithic agricultural developments. The archaeological record in Grischun consists of five Neolithic findings including one right near the center of Chur (Zürcher, 1982). With a string of Stone, Bronze, Iron, and Roman Era discoveries, Chur claims to be the oldest (roughly 6000 years) continually inhabited place North of the Alps (Stadt Chur, 1993).

An even older Neolithic site is further upriver called Petrushugel that includes a ringwall, and there is a third site along the Rhine River near Tamins. The other two sites are in the southern valley of Mesolcina (Misox). Significantly, all five sites are in the 600-750 meter elevation range and are approach routes into the Alps, where one would expect the first sites after glaciation. Despite their physical presence, there is no direct evidence of anthropological change to flora and fauna except what one can assume as selection strategies for hunting, gathering, and planting. The SMP (SMP II, 1995) mentions the transition between hunted and domestic animal consumption, which suggests a hybrid period during the initial settlement process. More importantly, the dating of these finds places humans in the area as ecosystems were transitioning to an interglacial norm.

Archeological data for the Swiss Alps are limited by the number of sites available, yet what is found correlates well with finds throughout Europe. The most common dating technique is typology, classifying dig horizons to known levels, and occasionally, typology is correlated with Carbon dating (Rageth, 1986:80-90; SMP I, 1993:34). When archeology in the Alps is portrayed on maps, temporal continuity is missing for example: ARGEALP (Metzger and Gleirscher, 1992:16-17); Räterproblem (Frei et al, 1984:5) and SMP II (1995:26-27). On the other hand, spatial relationships are very apparent. There is a strong association of sites/cultures with the direction of approach, which implies that initial settlement and cultural complexes works up the different river valleys (Figure 15). The conditions (contact and communication) for cultural diffusion between these different cultural groups did not exist, so they must have separately adopted to the alpine ecology.

Figure 15 -- Region Rhaetia
[Dissertation Map]

f15
For the Grischun with its multiple drainage basins, early human settlement and cultural diffusion arrived from different directions. The Rhine River is the pathway for cultural influences from the North, and the Southern valleys that drain to the Adriatic are the gateway for Mediterranean based influences. The third major pathway is in the eastern corner of Grischun along the En and Etsch River systems, and this is sometimes labeled as Rhaetian (Metzger and Gleirscher, 1992:15-17). Each of these realms remains mostly independent of each other, but on occasion, a particular element of material culture appears in multiple areas. It is not until the later stages of the Iron Age, that archaeological finds begin to show up more frequently on different sides of mountain groups. Thereafter trans-alpine communication and cultural complexes are routine part of comprehending the Alps with a special emphasis on the ability of crossing passes to allow the necessary contact and connections between people on both sides. The Rhaetian origin question is helped along by understanding the three main approaches of human activity.

Rheinquellen: From the perspective of the Swiss Plain, a sequence of three eras (Urnfield, Halstatt, and La Téne) that dominated Central and Western Europe explains pre-historical material culture of the region. The Urnfield Culture is a major late Bronze Age era (1300-700BC), and it is often thought of as proto-Celtic. The Halstatt Culture is early Iron Age (800-450BC), and it is closely associated with Celts. Unfortunately from a classification perspective, the material culture of the Celts diffuses to other groups and Celts migrated beyond the core area of Halstatt classification (Mallory and Adams, 1997:96,258). The La Téne is a late Iron Age culture (500BC-Romans), and it is identified with artistic features and the emergence of trading routes rather than human migrations. In Switzerland, the La Téne is firmly a Celtic phenomenon. Using Roman records including Julius Caesar's, a good description of the Celtic tribes by names and location and their culture is possible. The Swiss look to one of these tribes, the Helvetii, as a sort of indigenous roots to the modern country exemplified by the formal name: Confœderatio Helvetica.

Southern Way: The picture on the other side of the Alps does not present itself as clearly, but it is probably more relevant to the Rhaetian question. The mixture of peoples includes Indo-European (Italic and Celtic), non-IE or early IE (Etruscans and maybe Rhaetians). Two separate points of reference in northern Italy are useful: the first is Lake Como in the upper Po basin north of Milan, and the other is the Venetian coast along the Adriatic (Figures 13 and 15).

The Golasecca Culture was a widespread Bronze Age culture on the Southern side of the Alps, and around Lake Como, a sub-group becomes recognizable. The Lepontin, who are currently considered a Celtic tribe, maintained a continuous presence in that area up to the Roman era even expanding into the uppermost parts of the Rhine and Rhône Rivers. Around Venice, the prominent culture is the Este (900-182BC) which evolved into an Iron Age culture; the Venetii were an Italic speaking group and had considerable influence on the south-central Alps.

The wildcard on the Southern side is the role of the Etruscans (Pallottino, 1991). While more is known about the Etruscan culture in Tuscany, the range of their pre-Roman hegemony into Northeastern Italy is not, which is the relative question for Rhaetian origins. One of the more enduring origin stories of the Rhaetians is that they were related to the Etruscans (King Rätus story). The key evidence of a Rhaetian—Etruscan link are stone tablets with an Etruscan alphabet, which are described as a Raetic language. The Roman description of the Rhaetians as a sub-group of the Etruscans rests on their recognition of Etruscan writing on the tablets.

Easterly Gate: The one area that seems to get the Rhaetian culture label is the triangle area of the upper Etsch (Vinschgau), upper Inn / lower Engadine, and Brenner corridor (Bozen-Innsbruck). This area does not fit into the typical North/South division of the Alps. In fact, it is one of the few parts of the Alps with relatively low elevation passes. Moreover, the eastward draining rivers provides another entry route via the Danube and even Southeast Europe (Balkans).

The classification of known cultural complexes begins with the Laugen-Melaun group in the 700 BC timeframe, and the Fritzens-Sanzeno group around 400 BC (Metzger and Gleirscher, 1992:16-17). This seems to be the first area with cultural complexes that overcome any barriers from alpine passes. A crucial factor is the elevations of the passes between the En and Etsch, which are some of the lowest in the Alps. The lower elevation seems to provide the possibility of a coherent culture group occupying different river basins much earlier than in other parts of the Alps.

The AlpArge is a multinational academic group that produces studies on the central Alps (Grischun/Tyrol). In a work devoted to archaeology of the Rhaetians, they combined all the possible Rhaetian areas into a single framework of analysis (Figure 15). One of the interesting aspects of their maps is that they continually sub-divide the whole area into the component parts based on accepted European archaeology, and they show more continuity to both North and South halves respectively.

The two important pieces of physical evidence are a pottery style and the stone tablets (Figure 16). As a matter of geographical location, they do not coincide in areal terms. A concern I have is that much of this data are based on modern analyses after the "Rhaetian" place-name is engrained and ethnic group is considered a given. Therefore, searching for Rhaetian evidence is producing evidence with the Rhaetian label whether or not it fits into a coherent ethnic or culture group.

Figure 16 [Map] Rhaetian Artifacts
 

Environment and Culture

The relationship between human culture and the alpine environmental is more complex than just elevation. Still, elevation is a major factor because a host of other things related to settlements such as domesticated crops and forest resources are altitude sensitive. In theory, humans could evolve towards a physiology that works more efficiently in the thinner atmosphere of high altitude, but settlements in the Alps are not extremely high nor are they isolated from human migrations. Moreover, human differentiation is not a current topic of discussion in the Alps (see Semple, 1911). Maybe the closest attempt to define people this way was when the Swiss used terms like race interchangeably with nation and people, yet these descriptions of a Swiss race were more likely to use political terms like freedom and liberty than any physical traits.

A prevailing notion is that the mountain environment creates zones of separation where culture groups can isolate themselves. There seems to be some support for this when looking at language and religion. For example, the Caucasus Mountains has an incredible number of ethno-linguistic groups suggesting that remnant languages can survive well in a mountainous environment. The Rhaeto-Romance languages are usually thought of in the same way, basically, they avoided inundation and change from subsequent migrations and even maintained a purer form of folk-Latin (Fontanini in Haiman and Beninca, 1992). The genetic dimension suggests the opposite as human populations in mountains are diverse (Pult, 1999). Therefore, a strange paradox exists: on the surface, culture is fragmented and preservation remains possible, meanwhile, there is a sharing of human traits and influences. I surmise language preservation is closely associated with the other forms of knowledge that help people survive in their environment. It follows that an existing culture group linguistically assimilates new arrivals because the necessary forms of knowledge are/were intertwined with the original group's communication.

Altitude and Settlements: The human settlement of the Alps must take into account the cultures of the people doing the settling, and the time required for a survivable alpine culture to evolve. Since many of the individual components are able to survive in the Alps, it must be the whole complex that takes a long time to adapt. People could have hunted and explored the upper limits such as Ötzi; domesticated animals could graze at higher altitudes in Summer; dwellings could be built that survive a Winter. The collective knowledge and selection process of animal husbandry and cultivating plants had to develop through altitude changes. Each new settlement up river occurred with the experience, innovations, and population growth of the previous settlement as well as prior familiarity of the area being settled since it was already in the summer zone of activity.

Despite the relatively long time period, the archaeological finds in the Grischun suggests this pattern (Zürcher, 1982). The initial settlements include only five Neolithic finds all less than 750 meters. The number of Bronze sites found jumps to 44 settlements including four grave sites, but even more importantly, the altitude of these sites are higher than the five Neolithic sites. The upper range of Bronze Age sites moves through time up to around 1500 meters (Figure 17). The Iron Age sites continue this trend with some newer locations at altitudes up to 1500 meters (Stadt Chur, 1993:95), but not enough sites are in place before Roman conquest to know how high they could go. In the Roman Era, the maximum elevation is closer to 1800 meters, which would be necessary to support the known trade routes (e.g. Bivio and Segl on the Julier route). Even today the main settlements are all under 2000 meters and the highest settled place, Juf, is just over 2100 meters.

Figure 17 [Map] Prehistoric Settlements in Grischun
 

The dating of archeological sites and the progression of time and elevation suggests that settlement of the Alps occurred "upriver" at a very slow rate (Bundi, 1982). A crucial question is whether new settlements are entirely a function of existing settlements or growth pressures from beyond. While the individual components of this culture, people and exploitable resources could survive further up valley, the entire settlement complex of domesticated flora and fauna had to evolve much slower to alpine conditions. The significant limits to human settlement include a sustainable wood resource, proper site selection, and connectivity to other settlements. Wood was the most important resource because of the need to burn wood for survival, so management of the forest was the biggest challenge. Mismanagement has extreme implications or feedbacks in an ecological sense as the forest is also an avalanche and landslide barrier. Furthermore, forests are under pressure from the desire to expand grazing and cultivation areas, and the closest part of the forest is temptingly near in a severe winter.

The limitations of altitude to settlement are also a real factor for trade. In terms of alpine pass trade, the main obstacle is the human and animal ability of climbing and traversing gradients and surviving the climatic elements. Elevation is the most important variable of passability because altitude is indicative of snowfall amounts and likely length of time the pass is untraversable. Another consideration is the support system for the trade route such as places or hospices along the way especially near the immediate approach to the pass. Either settlements are a single day’s walk from each other or a system of hospices would need to be in place, and both require some coordination if not outright control from a higher power. The question of who did the trading is still an outstanding one with two scenarios: a hand to hand system of trade between neighboring settlements or the establishment of professional traders.

Alpine Population: Population changes are a feature of alpine settlements. Historically, population growth is relatively low reflecting cultural controls on fertility and a few extra sources of mortality. Locals give much importance to catastrophic events such as avalanches, fires, and disease, and they are prominently remembered in their local histories. For example, a small commune named Veulden states that they suffered the loss of every child during a Plague year. Plague struck the region twice; the first was in the mid-1300s, which signifies the end of Middle Age colonization and town founding (Bätzing, 1991; Meyer, 1999). The second Plague occurs in the early half of the Seventeenth Century (Altstatter, 1982), which compounds with the regional losses from the Thirty Years War and the beginning of a cooler climatic period.

While disease was a major check on population, avalanches are the primary natural disaster that captures local and national imagination (Bündner Kulturforschung, 2000). Avalanches are a fact of life for alpine communities in a similar way earthquakes are part of California. Most settlements are built in relatively safe locations, nevertheless, avalanches continue to cause loss of life and property. A cruel spin is that deadly avalanches are more likely in a severe snowfall year when other resources are most strained.

In more recent centuries, the link between population and climate becomes clearer with empirical and statistical data. The so-called "Little Ice Age" from 1600-1850 provides direct evidence of demographic changes during a climatically cooler period (Viazzo, 1989:137). As one would expect, climatic changes over a long cycle of warming or cooling affect population. With better agricultural production, population growth and settlement expansion is possible. A prominent growth period occurs in the Middle Ages with extensive settlement activity filling-out the current pattern (Bundi, 1982; Meyer, 1999). In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, emigration is widely recognized but it is not clear if that is a direct result of agricultural change or population rebound. In addition, there is a population increase associated with the introduction of New World agricultural products. Nevertheless, migration becomes part of the popular mythology as both a depopulation reality of some small communities and as part of the hardships that they have to endure. Some notable migratory avenues included the mercenary trade for men, confectioners (sugar bakers) in Venice and European coffeehouses, and eventually some permanent migration to America. Migration is also important because some of these migrants return with new ideas about landscape and liberty.

The anthropological record for human settlement in the Alps points to cultural factors in population control – nuptiality and communalism. Viazzio (1989:91-93) identifies nuptiality for population control, and the prominent aspects were late marriage and high rates of celibacy. Late marriage of women reduces lifetime fertility, and those that never marry are only a minimal factor in population growth since illegitimacy rates are also low. Communalism is more than a political reality with collective management of resources. Communalism includes a social cohesion that reinforces the cultural limits on population growth. On many fronts, pressure by peers and family socially enforced inheritance rules (impartability), socially approved marriages, and taxation based on resource use.

Current demographic changes in the Alps are complex because of two contrary movements: one, agricultural restructuring associated with declining and aging demographics, and two, high growth resulting from tourism and construction. The neo-liberal restructuring of European economies is reaching the remote agricultural communities. Actually, agriculture has been changing for hundreds of years with the introduction of industrial techniques and mechanical means, but now national subsidies are declining which make traditional agriculture untenable. Bätzing (1998:95) and others have noticed the population decline in the Alps especially in rural France and Italy. The Alps have characteristically uneven tourist development (see Bundesamt für Statistik and Schweitzer Tourismus-Verband, 1996). Tourism infrastructure has brought economic development to communities that have been able to invest in it as well as have the assets that can attract visitors. In places where the Alps are accessible for fellow citizens such as St. Moritz, growth and development includes vacation and retirement homes.

Environmental Change: The human impact on the natural environment is quite extreme in the Alps although it does not produce an aesthetic reaction. Without creating a separate discussion about culture—nature, I am using "nature" as those things people attribute as non-human such as wildlife, forests, and climate. The most obvious anthropogenic changes are floral because one can see them, but the most dramatic changes is in the fauna realm because you do not see them. The Swiss Alps are missing large carnivores due to over hunting and eradication by farmers (CIPRA, 1998). There is some debate in the Swiss media concerning reintroduction of bears, wolves, and lynxes. Lynxes are already in a few locations, and the environmentalists would like to establish a viable population using the forests of the northern fore-alps (Voralpen). This has become a priority for the federal environmental agency and a broad understanding between cantons is likely to be successful because the Lynx is not seen as a major threat to livestock.

There is no consensus on larger animals and out right hostility by farmers to animals they view as threats to their livestock. Regardless, wolves are repopulating the Western Alps from the South and a few of these "Italian wolves" have arrived and been shot in Wallis. Meanwhile, bears are spreading westward from Slovenia, and authorities in Tyrol are trying to educate people about bears. It is conceivable that both wolves and bears could return to the Grischun in the next decade. Local folklore reveals their appreciation for other animals like the eagle and ibex (capricorn) which appear as insignia and establishment names. The likely reaction by farmers is to prevent wolf and bear reestablishment, but those in the tourism circles are more likely to follow popular opinion.

Local communities heavily manage land use, forests, and scenic resources, so it might not be too apparent how much human modification has occurred. An interesting modification is the terracing system on many south-facing slopes. The exact details of terrace introduction is unknown, but they are thought to be over 3000 years old (Rageth, 1986; 1999). Terraces appear to change the soil and micro-climate regime for better crop farming, and even though they are not used for crop farming, they have a secondary use as platforms for grass harvesting. Human modification of the environment can work in both directions. Over use of forests as well as poor road construction and improper stream diversions can take away protections from avalanches and mass-wasting. The changes in the natural environment are significant enough that one should not call these areas natural. The human impact is complete and anything natural is modified or managed, so it is a cultural landscape. In the next section, I return to the heritage epochs and discuss the cultural history of the Romansh.

Epoca Retica

Epoca retica, or literally Rhaetian epoch in English, refers to the years covering the pre-Roman, Roman, and early Middle Ages. It is the longest of the three epochs, and as the earliest, it is the furthest removed from experience and evidence. One could further divide this epoch into more manageable time units, but people I spoke with rarely differentiated the subtleties all those changes in titles and territorial limits had. What people grasp is that their cultural foundation was in place a long time ago, and they attribute their physical existence to events that occurred back then rather than anything more recent. The Retica epoch covers all the origin stories that revolve around the Rhaetians, and the popular explanation of the Romansh language falls into this epoch. It also accounts for the folk migrations and transitional authorities that followed the breakdown of Roman hegemony. The starting point for this epoch is with the Rhaetians and the mystery of their origins.

Rhaetians

The "Rhaetians" have become synonymous for all human existence in the region before Roman administration. Most anything anthropological such as place-names, terraces in the landscape, and festive rituals that can not be explained by more recent cultural history is attributed to the Rhaetians. In Switzerland, people describe Romansh as a Romanisation of the Rhaetians as does the Lia Rumantsch (1996). My language teacher explained it literally like a one plus one equals two equation: {Rhaetian + Roman = Rhaeto-Romance}. This is the popular view that Rhaetians were the genealogical ancestors and founders of the current places where Romansh are today. One only has to turn to the webpage of the youth magazine La Punt to see them describe themselves as "Young Rhaetians."

A consensus view amongst linguists holds the group outside of both the Italic and Celtic language groups, but likewise, no conclusive evidence exists to classify it with other known languages (Mallory and Adams, 1997). A logical explanation of the Rhaetians is that they were part of an earlier Indo-European migration or perhaps a remnant of an even earlier non Indo-European group (similar to the Etruscan debate, see Pallottino, 1991). Then, the Rhaetians became isolated by more recent waves of migration. This origin question is the basis for some scholarly disagreement as well as an entry point for imaginative thinking.

Origin Questions: For many informants, the earliest part of this epoch is a blurry pre-history of sorts. Academic writing mentions the pre-Roman era in very general terms often avoiding serious analysis because there is very little documentary evidence (Williams, 1997). In general, researchers cite archaeological evidence before the Roman occupation to show human presence and attempt to create coherent culture groups (Rageth, 1986; Metzger and Gleirscher, 1992). A few linguists are the exception who advocate epigraphical and etymological evidence for pre-Roman ethnicity (Brunner and Toth, 1987).

My critique of these efforts by others to prove the Rhaetian origins began as quizzical examination of the cartographic representation of (proto-)Rhaetians. In particular, a few different authors were attributing a cultural continuity over such a large geographical area, from the Adriatic Sea to Lake Constance, that defies sense without any core area or logical center for such uniformity. The area currently contains Romance, German, and Slavic languages, and it includes portions of five nation-states. Despite all the modern communication technology, many parts of the area celebrate their individuality and defy any notion that they have a common origin. Moreover, it does not coincide with the Roman province of Rezia (Figure 18).

Figure 18 [Map] Roman Provinces
 

With the fragmented evidence of initial human settlement in the area, there is no clear pattern of arrival or even a real ethno-genesis of the Rhaetians. The only possible scenarios are, one, that the Rhaetians are a legacy of migration, or two, that they are something other than an ethnic group. If the Rhaetians are the product of human migration, the timing of their arrival is unknown. They could be the legacy of the first peoples who arrived in the Alps, or they displaced or absorbed earlier groups. The more plausible account is the second whereas they were part of a larger migration wave across Europe that brought agricultural and technological innovations from the near East. Later, they became an isolated group due to more recent migrations that cut them off from the larger language group who moved on or were subsumed under another language group.

Both the current epigraphical theories of Rhaetian language origins would fit under this scheme, even without exact dates (Brunner, 1981; Zebisch, 1988). Another problem with this origins question is the distinction between material evidence and the culture group who made these physical artifacts. None of the current proponents mention the history of alphabets or the relative time-frame of Indo-European unity as part of their discussions. Since the diffusion of both and their inter-relatedness are overlooked, it makes their discussions seem idiosyncratic. I am aware of four Rhaetian origins theories. The local theory mentioned by von Planta (1939) looked South towards the Balkans at Illyrian origins, so the more recent Celtic and Etruscan elements are just intrusions. The Etruscan origin story is still popular as it would explain a reasonable migration from Etruscan controlled Northeastern Italy around 600 BC when Celtic tribes were known to have entered the Po Plain. The so-called Rhaetian tablets found on the southern side of the Alps have an Etruscan alphabet.

Zebrisch's (1988) little known analysis of the alphabet has led him to conclude that it is related to Iberian (as is Etruscan), and this origins theory has the best migratory logic. The Rhaetians were part of an earlier diffusion wave moving West, and they subsequently became fragmented when Italic and Celtic groups arrived. The last origins theory is the most sensational because it links two geographical separate language groups. Brunner (1981) alleges that the language is related to the eastern Semitic language of Accadian. Both Zebrisch and Brunner provide word lists to support how their interpretations of artifacts relates to real words and languages, but it is beyond my competency. Brunner and Toth's (1987) thesis suffers from an exaggerated Rhaetian territory including place-names throughout the St. Galler Rheintal.

The movement of people across space is one of the more important geographical concepts (Semple, 1911). As people move, they carry their culture so to speak, including their beliefs, their language, and their material belongings. All of which can explain the diffusion of ideas and innovations such as bronze pins/fibulas, alphabets, and agricultural practices. Diffusion does not require human migration, the spread of ideas and innovations also results from contact and communication between groups. There are two ways to describe language change: the same people or the same place. Language change of a group is less likely to be a freely adopted innovation as it is too close to personal identity. On the other hand, language change in a specific territory represents an imposition of power/culture over another or more explicit change by ethnic cleansing/displacement.

• Imagination: I contend that "ethno-creativity" is occurring through the discourse concerning Rhaetian origins, and I discuss this in the context of trying to prove in an antithetical way that the Rhaetians never existed. Another scenario that has not been pursued and suffers from a similar lack of scientific evidence is that "Rhaetian" is an imaginary ethnicity. If someone believes that a people or language used to exist in a particular place, it would be easy to attribute known and imaginary qualities onto them. Eventually, an ethnicity could be unwittingly created, and identification with it could be real. Figures 19 and 20 show some current, real examples of "Rhaetia" in the landscape, which are all recent identifications with the name.

Figures 19 and 20 – Rhaetian in the Landscape

Photo 1, Rätische Akademie held in Zuoz

Photo 2, Rätia Hotel/Restaurant in Casti (Tiefencastel)                             Photo 3, Hotel Rätia in Glion/Ilanz

Photo 4, Raetus Apotheke in Chur (King Rätus myth)                              Photo 5, Hotel Rezia in Sent

Photo 6, RhB Depot in Samedan (Engiadin' ota)                                 Photo 7, Railcar with Elektro-Raetus AG

The limited amount of historical references and archeological findings may be attributable to the imposition of a geographical reference point for the Romans becoming an ethnic marker for current scientific studies. The first stipulation of this idea is that it is not using the logic of self-identity verses imposed labels, where a group does not call itself "Rhaetian" so it does not exist. In all likelihood, no group of people ever called themselves Rhaetians until the modern era. The presence of a group or groups labeled as such by the Romans may have existed, but their exact locations and relationships to Rome remain unclear. One possible scenario is that the newly assigned Roman legion in Trient (circa 22 B.C.) came into contact with people or an area they labeled Rhaetian, and the name would prevail as Rome would extend their power in that direction. In this scenario, Rhaetia was more of a geographical reference point than a province named after its indigenous members.

• Evidentary: The idea that the Romans did not view the Rhaetians as a nation or unified people of some sort has a concrete basis. Foremost, the Romans did not mention the Rhaetians on their self-congratulating monument to conquering the Alps--tropeaum Alpium (Frei-Stolba, 1992:665). The list of tribes/peoples that they mentioned as conquered include the Vindelicii (Augsburg), Calucones (Chur/Rheintal), and Venostes (Vinschgau), which are located in the province. It is hard to believe that the Romans would omit the Rhaetians after all the invasion preparation and political glory associated with it. I contend that Rhaetia was a geographical reference for the Romans. If a group of people existed, their exact location is not as important as their relative location to the Romans. The Roman view of the Alps was intertwined with security issues and their attempts to colonize and absolutely control the Po valley and the possible approaches of entering the Italian Peninsula. Earlier, Polybios mentioned Rhaetia as one of four major alpine transit points when he wrote the post-Hannibal analysis (Frei-Stolba, 1992:657). Therefore, Romans already conceived of the Alps in sectors centuries before they conquered the eastern and central Alps.

Perhaps, a slow recognition from a whole series of folk tales and word associations is developing towards "Rhaetian" as something different from our current notions of tribes and Roman understanding of nations. Researchers know many beliefs and cults were active with Romans and in Roman controlled areas before Christianity. Rhaetian was in all likelihood a quasi-religion/cult kind of entity based on beliefs and practices. One interesting coincidence is the word similarities such as Venus and Fanes between Venice and Rhaetia, and there is also a historical association with wine and honey to Rhaetia.This kind of understanding of Rhaetia as a complex of ideas and practices allows for both the geographical reference point I argue for, and it accounts for the absence of Rhaetia references on the tropeaum Alpium monument.

Rhaetia Appropriation: The sequence of events that leads to the current notion of Rhaetian ethnicity in Grischun is complex and easy to critique by those who do not want to believe otherwise. I propose that a series of name appropriations has occurred, which at least provides a coherent story of how the pre-Roman notion of Rhaetia ends up as an ethnic reality.

• First Appropriation: The imposition of Roman power over Northeast Italy and the eastern Alps is the key to the first appropriation of the Rhaetian name. Roman obsession with their Northern border was rooted in constant warfare with a strong neighbor, the Etruscans, and occasional setbacks with Celtic tribes in the Po River valley. After Hannibal’s alpine crossing, Rome aggressively conquered and colonized Northern Italy and eventually imposed Roman control over Gaul. The last step was to create frontier provinces that secured the alpine passes and their approaches on the other side. The first appropriation of the Rhaetia-name is when the Romans named the province Rezia despite the fact that a majority if not all of the people were Celtic (e.g. Calucones, Lepontin, Vindeliker).

Rhaetia (Rezia) as a province included every pass between the Simplon and Brenner, the head waters of the Rhine and Inn, and large area bordering the frontier with Germanic tribes all the way North to the Danube (Figure 18). The capital of Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicum) was a forward position to monitor and respond to German tribes. As Roman infrastructure of roads and administration become the norm, Rhaetia became inscribed into the framework of European geography through its location not its ethnicity. One can still see this legacy in street names in Northern Italy (e.g. Meran and Chiavenna) where the main street is called Via Roma in one direction and Via Rezia in the other. In Southern Germany, the labeling of the Rätien Limes (wall fortifications) refers to administrative names not ethnicity since the area was too far North in the Celtic realm (Im Hof, 1986).

• Second Appropriation: The second appropriation of Rhaetian occurs during the Middle Ages to supplement the distinction of Chur from its neighbors. As the former Roman province became settled by Germanic tribes, the Rhaetian label disappeared from place-names and titles, except for the core area around Chur, which retained Roman law and structure. The term Churrätien implies both the geographical location of Rhaetia and the center of this entity at Chur, while Rex curiensis is usually applied to the retention of legal systems administered in Chur (Clavadetscher, 1994). It was not uncommon for there to be two parallel legal systems based on who one was; Roman law for Romansh and German law for Germans. Chur also had a dual political and religious structure, but the important element is that its formal name of Upper Rhaetia (Alte Raetia) survives. While the legalistic meanings of the Latin name are relevant, it is the long time frame that allows new culture groups to associate the area with this name and project ethnic meanings onto it.

• Third Appropriation: The third appropriation of Rhaetian is the use of the term to categorize the Romance speaking people in the same geographical area. The classification of languages would appear to be a simple linguistic exercise, but the limitations of early research and political constraints resulted in a contested classification. The German word Rätoromanisch initially only described the romance speakers in Graubünden, which was still associated with Rhaetia the geographical location.

Currently, the Rhaeto-Romance language is described as three related languages of Swiss-Romansh, Dolomite-Ladin, and Friulian. Its peripheral position to both Northern Italian and Provencial French has not been enough evidence for some, and the claim of a common Rhaetian language sub-strata has been the answer. This has serious problems because of the range of Rhaetians has never been established. Furthermore, the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (Mallory and Adams, 1997:293/Homeland entry) brings up a linguistic concern that any linguistic contribution of Rhaetian to the Romansh language is extremely speculative and inconclusive: "...reference to possible substrates as agents of linguistic change can only be tested when the substrate is known." A search for Rhaetians in an ethnic sense is hollow without taking into account these possible appropriations of the name and the changing meanings that they imply. In the next part, I return to the history that people mention and is consistently seen in the literature.

Romanization

No history of the Romansh forgets to mention the Roman occupation of the region in the year 15 BC (circa 738 AUC Rome time or year 30 in the Julian calender). In 1985, the Romansh held their first modern "Scuntrada" with the theme of two Millennia Rumantscha. The date 15 BC is pretty firm in terms of the year Tiberius and Drusus, step-sons of Augustus, began their field campaigns to secure the Roman frontier. The actual dates of occupying Chur or setting up Roman governship is less precise. The incorporation of the central and eastern Alps completed the Northern security zone with the Alps as natural fortress. In addition, the areas northward to the Danube were occupied, which on a current map looks too far East to solely be a buffer zone to the Alps (Figure 18).

The two Roman provinces resulting from this campaign were Rhaetia and Noricum, and both played a defensive/frontier role vis-à-vis the Germanic tribes. The capital of Rhaetia was Augusta Vindelicum (Augsburg), and today it would probably be called a forward capital because it was located closer to the frontier (Mommsen, 1992). The border between the two provinces generally follows the Inn-Brenner Pass-Etsch, which would have been a valuable transportation route. Many modern passes would fall into Rhaetian territory, but the ones that stand out during the Roman period are the Julier route and its variants and the Via Claudia Augustae (Hagen, 1967). It was not until the division of the province in 284 AD that Chur becomes the capital of Raetia Prima. Perhaps by this date, Raetia Secunda was already inundated by Germanic migration and was becoming a federal / hybrid entity.

The Fall of the Empire is still a topic of discussion 15 centuries after the event especially with the enduring image of barbarians overrunning civilized Roman society (Sprecher, 1617). For the Romansh, it would be easy to contrast the Alemmani as uncivilized pagans lacking Roman law and Christianity. A contrary image is that the European fringes were already in transition with federations of Roman and German entities controlling the territories and important institutions such as the military. While the old border region underwent substantial change, the more impressive development was the mass migrations (Volkerwanderung) of whole culture groups into other areas of the continent.

The undeniable consequences of Roman occupation include both material culture and linguistic legacies. The prime artifacts attributed to the Roman period are the engineered roads across the alpine passes as well as the whole trading network. A few building foundations exist in Chur, but in general, the number of mobile things such as money and fibula are more frequently found than fixed things like actual settlements.

The most obvious legacy is the Latin based language. Nevertheless, the Romanisation may not have been as complete as it is being portrayed (Billigmeier, 1979). In my opinion, the standardization of the various folk-Latins in the region probably occurred only after Christianity arrived. Only with the need to evangelicize, does the language actually reach the common person. Before then, a rural society of different groups and isolated settlements only needed a few people to interact with outsiders. Speculation based on rites and terminology suggests Christianity arrived in the Third Century (Planta and Schorta, 1939). For example, the Romansh use some terms that were eventually changed elsewhere such as Tschuncaisma (Pentecost). The first written documentation refers to the appointment of Asinius as the Bishop of Chur in 451 AD, but he was likely the ninth Bishop (Bündner Kulturforschung, 2000:4/268). Conversion of the region probably occurs in the late third and early fourth centuries. While Asinius is called the first Chur Bishop, the process that led to Chur becoming a Bisphoric seat is unknown, but most likely tied to its political role as a loyal Roman outpost.

Churraetia

Churraetia is the name one associates with the regional entity that follows the end of the Western Roman Empire. From today's perspective, the end of Roman rule did not dramatically change the situation in Rhaetia for at least three centuries. The sequence of political lordship between Roman Empire and Charlemagne Era was probably less important than the changes in territories surrounding the previous Rhaetia Prima. The first nominal title holders were the Ostrogoths (East Goths) who established their kingdom in northern Italy. Theoderich, their king, presided over a migratory wave of various Germanic tribes: Lango Bards (Lombards) settled in the Po Plain, Bajuwaren (Bavarians) into Bavaria and Tyrol, and the Alemanni received permission to settle up to the Rhine River and Lake Constance (Billigmeier, 1979).

The next stage occurs soon after when the Franks consolidated power over other Germanic tribes on the northern side of the Alps in the 530s. A few decades later when Justinien reconquered the Italian peninsula in the name of the Eastern Roman Empire, Rhaetia remains politically oriented towards the North. A different kind of territorial tension became a constant consideration with political and ecclesiastic boundaries not coinciding in some form or another between 536 and 1818. While Rhaetia is part of the Frankish political sphere, the Bishopric remains part of the Archdiocese of Milan, which became Lombardic in the sixth century. In the northern parts of Rhaetia, Christianity was introduced to Germanic settlers by Celtic missionaries in the seventh century and not from the neo-Latin speaking Chur. The existence of a dual political and religious structures created tensions of authority. Eventually, these jurisdictional disputes were decided along ethnic lines, but ethnic boundaries were also changing as folk-Latin (proto-Romansh) areas were becoming German.

• Charlemagne: Charlemagne is a pivotal figure of the early Middle Ages because he gathered enough power to reorganize territories, introduce feudalism, and found the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne also had a personal role in Rhaetia, and it is said, he considered the Raetic Bishop a personal friend. The Sontg Gion monastery in Müstair was bequethed by him as he once found refuge there on a journey through the Alps. Nevertheless, after the Bishop died, he reorganized Churraetia and introduced feudalism. Foremost, Rhaetia Prima was divided into a upper and lower Rhaetia (Oberrätien and Unterrätien) in 807 AD. The upper half "Alte Raetia" remained Romansh for the time being, but the lower part became Germanic if it already was not. The eastern part of Rhaetia Prima is less clear, but it also ended up with dual titles, and effectively fell out of the Bishop's control. For many regional scholars, a defining moment was the transfer of the (Raetic) Bishop of Chur from the arch-diocese of Milan to Mainz in the 840s. Beginning in 849 AD, an outside entity, the arch-diocese, appointed Bishops with strictly German names for over a thousand years. Many scholars consider the Raetic Bishop as the last powerful figure to defend the Romansh language and rights of Roman citizenship.

Charlemagne's Empire itself was reorganized after his death, and pan-European unity was lost as his survivors split the Empire into three. Rhaetia was part of the Eastern/German part, and the feudal claims eventually fell into the hands of Swabian Dukes. These Dukes were not successful in introducing feudalism in its totality into Upper Rhaetia, but the legalist titles and claims do arrive in the region. The political and ecclesiastic arenas are still separate, but now both are outside of local control. While the transfer of the Bishop would seem to align political and religious jurisdictions at one geographic scale, another one becomes important as the Bishop of Chur and the Tyrolian Dukes have overlapping claims to the Lower Engadine and the Vinschgau. This conflict propelled an independence movement that eventually found both the Bishop and Dukes losing control to peasants.

Retica and Romansh

Another way to view this epoch is to characterize it as a period of language change that reflected not only changes in politico-military power but human migration. It is difficult to distinguish without evidence between cultural imposition, assimilation, or hybridization, but it is clear that cultural change did occur. The first change is Romanisation, where the Latin language and Christian religion are firmly established before the end of the Western Roman Empire. The second change is the introduction of people and power that works to decrease the Romansh language territory. Franco-Swabian geopolitical interests and Germanic migrations worked to upset the balance of power through a series of divisions of the old Roman province of Rezia, and subsequent permissions to settle land are probably de-jure efforts reflecting ethnic boundaries that have already changed.

The Retica epoch as I have constructed it is most significant for the Romansh people as it provides the basis for their cultural identity. For the Germanic and Italic speaking peoples, and the wider audience, the discussion of Rhaetians is more a discourse of natural history. This natural history includes collecting and displaying artifacts as evidence of past human settlement and interpreting the rituals and legends of rural areas as general clues to authentic culture. Non-Romansh can find this anthropogenic past interesting, but the Romansh naturalize it as their history.

Epoca Grischuna

The succeeding epoch, Grischun (the Romansh name for the Canton of Graubünden), represents a coming together of the different cultural groups in what was a successful independence movement. Besides recognition and de-facto independence from the Austrians in 1499, their firm control over important alpine trade routes put them in a position of economic autonomy. They also had to be in a constant state of diplomatic and militaristic preparedness as they became entangled with outside powers. The Rhaetian Freestate was an interesting expression of this "pass-state" reality and its attempt to balance internal divisions (Head, 1995). The most prominent issue was the contradiction between decentralization of communal democracy with the centralizing tendencies to efficiently govern a micro-republic. I organize this epoch into three parts: the introduction of German, the Freestate, and the Bündner cultural complex.

German Influx

In the proceeding epoch, the structural changes initiated by Charlemagne resulted in a decidedly biased leadership of German speaking individuals over the largely Romansh speaking people of Alte Raetia. While the role of the Bishop is highlighted, the church had already initiated steps to preach in local languages. Political power was a more determining factor of language change whether it was exercised by Ecclesiastic or Feudal lords. The process of Germanization in Grischun from the ninth century into the fifteenth century was rather slow when considering the amount of time involved, and it was very narrow in scope. There are two Germanization trends to mention: the one coinciding with a slow infiltration up the Rhine valley (Bündner German), and the intriguing Walser colonization (Figure 21).

Figure 21 [Map] Germanization
 

Bündner German: Germanic settlers moved the ethnic boundary up the Rhine at varying paces between the initial Alemmanic breakthroughs during Roman Empire to the final stages in Grischun (Weiss, 1946; Zinsli, 1991). The boundary itself changes over time in terms of contestation. Early changes in the cultural boundary reflected a mass-movement and a certain level of overwhelming (perhaps violent) change that may have produced refugees of folk-Latin/Roman citizens. The later changes appear to have been along the lines of assimilation and it is reflected with the adoption of non-German names and words in German speaking areas. This process is even more obvious the farther South and closer to the existing language border (Escher, et.al., 1973).

The movement of German migrants becomes very focused or place specific in Grischun (see Figure 21). The process became a civic migration of craftsmen associated with guilds and particular building skills in contrast to peasant agriculturalists. The most obvious case is Chur (Stadt Chur, 1993). After the fire of 1464, German tradesmen were brought in to rebuild the city in a Germanic style and they resettled there changing the linguistic balance. As it turned out, the fire had another lasting consequence because the official records of freemen were lost, which meant feudalistic restrictions on people were difficult to enforce. Additional "Bundner" German infiltration was specific with places like Thusis and Tamins along the north-south trade route being an example. During the years of railroad construction, German speaking workers overwhelmed Romansh speaking Filisur and has never reverted back (Catrina, 1983).

Walsers Colonies: Walser migrations were the second major influx of German speakers. The "over-the-alp" migration of the Walsers has captured the attention of a few scholars (Weiss, 1946 and 1959; Zinsli, 1991). At one point, their origins where unknown and frequently attributed to be Bavarian. In actuality, they were Alemmanic settlers that had moved at the forefront of the colonization of Gallo-Romance areas across the Swiss Plain, and eventually moved through the Bernese Alps into the uppermost Rhône valley. After they settled or displaced others in the upper Rhône, they moved South and East in more or less isolated settlements that sometimes failed as much as they took hold.

In Grischun, the first Walser migration was into the Cloister of Disentis lands, which were mostly absorbed into Romansh communities except for Obersaxen. The two large successful migrations were at Davos and Rheinwald, and each of those spawned further settlements. The process of how the Walsers arrived in the Grischun is generally confusing because the roots of the process are over looked. Feudal lords needed loyal militias, so they financed Walsers to settle these obscure parts of the Grischun, trading freeman status in exchange for military service. The friction between Romansh and Walser was high in some localities, but in other cases, they were congenial enough to create marital links. Marriage provided the Walsers with access to communal property, while the Romansh gained freemen rights (Billigmeier, 1979). On the other hand, failure of some settlements reflect the lack of ecological balance, while many successful settlements were in viable areas that were known to Romansh. Walser migration ended in the mid-fourteenth century as the Black Plague devastated the population of both source areas and destinations.

The fact that two different German migrations occur does not mean they are unified in any way against the Romansh. In fact, the Walsers came into conflict with other German speakers more frequently. Today, Walsers see their culture being lost to mainstream Bündner culture. An old Bündner told me Walsers are our "Gypsies" (Zigeuner), which is a very negative comment. The various Walser dialects are extremely unique even to each other, so as Walser communities or individuals become integrated with other places the dialect is easily lost. The "Bündnerdeutsch" in the Rhine valley and Chur region is the dominant lingua amongst German speakers in Grischun. Bündner German is one of the regionally known variations of Swiss German (Schwyzertüütsch), and in the canton, people recognize a distinct Chur sub-dialect (Mundart).

After the German speaking influx ended, relatively stable cultural borders formed along the internal and external political divisions. Romansh communities remained Romansh and Romansh was the largest language group in the Republic even though German was gradually becoming an equal language of state with Latin. It is highly unlikely that the common person spoke either chancellery German or classical Latin, and the region was a complex mixture of spoken dialects or "mundarts." The eventual unification of the region had to overcome this lack of internal cohesion, and the development that unified the various segments was the threat of outsiders.

Freestate

The Rhaetian Freestate has its origins in the formation of three different leagues (Lias/Bünden). Each league was a collection of communities or jurisdictions that declared a pact of shared interests and mutual defense. Eventually, the three leagues felt compelled to cooperate with another to wage war and administer subject lands. The Grischun epoch also contains the Reformation and Counter-Reformation conflicts that resulted in strong divisions between Catholics and Reformers. Despite a relatively weak republican form of government, they maintained their political-military alliances with each other and with parts of the Swiss confederation.

Three Leagues: The three leagues were a formative aspect of the regional past (Head, 1995). The current cantonal flag and emblem contain three distinct fields representing each of the leagues. Figure 22 is a map of the Freestate with the three leagues distinguished. The formation of the leagues reflects a transition between feudalism and true independence because the people were not necessarily overthrowing the previous order. Head (1995) likens it to appropriating the feudal order but with a different group of people controlling the order. The Obererbund is a good example as it contained both free communities and feudal titles. The transition away from feudalism was in part easy because those holding feudal titles were rarely present, so there is no way they could uphold their feudal obligations to protect the people. Therefore, the people could take control claiming they were not being protected and had to protect themselves (Head, 1995). The Chadè (House of God) League was mostly owned by the Bishop, so the Bishop appointed feudal like governors. As the Bishop became associated with Austrian influence, the Chadè communities organized in their own self-interest, but did not overthrow the Bishop's official titles until the Reformation. The third league was known by its description of being ten jurisdictions and they had to contend with direct Austrian claims. Right from the beginning, the leagues made treaties with each other and occasionally, with the various Swiss cantons (Clavadetscher, 1994).

Figure 22 [Map] Rhaetian Freestate

The significant event for the three leagues was their participation in the Swabian War, which resulted in their independence (Bundi, 1999). The war was a success for the Swiss and Bündners who defeated or held their own against Habsburg troops. In Grischun, the war raged in the Engadine and Val Müstair and in areas immediately across the border. Locals on either side name the war by their opponents, where its known as either the "Tirolerkrieg" or "Engadinerkrieg," and both illuminate each others excesses. Austrian troops marched up the Val Engiadina in Spring 1499 and burned every Romansh settlement, then they went down the Val Müstair. At a narrow gorge called Chalavaina, a militia of mostly Engiadiner farmers routed the Austrians (Bundi, 1999). The Bündners were a third party at the Treaty of Basel (1501), but they received the same independence rights from the German (Holy Roman) Empire as the Swiss.

Republicanism: The three leagues were quickly propelled into a new geopolitical reality; they had to deal with large external powers. Only a few years later, they were engulfed a new series of wars with the Milanese Dukes over control of the Valtellina, which is the southerly approach to their alpine passes. Venetian and French ambassadors swayed Bündner élites, and Austrian and Lombard interests were equally adept (Head, 1995). These external interests became internal interests, which revealed how weak their republican arrangement was in practice. On the other hand, communities were strong cores of democracy and they had the mindset to maintain military preparations.

The first part of the sixteenth century was crucial because the Leagues had to come up with a way to govern their miniature Republic. They had to accommodate more powerful neighbors, and later, they had to deal with a fifty-fifty internal split between Reformers and Catholics. Their territorial integrity was threatened, for example, when the Romansh speaking upper Vinschgau was aggressively Germanized in the early seventeenth century. The way to deal with foreign powers was to accommodate the most influential—Austria, and avoid a religious confrontation by allowing the Counter-Reformation in the Valtellina. In exchange, they kept their administration over subject areas, which was a source of major corruption as a rotating system of appointments broke down into who could buy their way into those positions. Regardless, the republic prevailed until the French Revolution. Thereafter, the Bündner culture is a regional Swiss culture.

Bündnerland

The Swiss Canton of Grischun (Graubünden) is often called a little Switzerland because it has the cultural diversity and the alpine ecology that much of the world has come to associate with the Swiss. Yet in Switzerland, Bündner has another connotation—an entity in and of itself. The Bündnerland contains natural uniqueness with remote valleys and alps as well as Switzerland’s only National Park, but it is the cultural distinctiveness that really stands out. Bündner stereotypes are rural people strangely proud of being behind-the-times and a little bit ignorant or indifferent to what outsiders think about them (Figure 23). Figures 23 and 24 provide a contrast between traditional and modern.

Figure 23 – Bundnerisms in the Landscape

Left photo, Actress doing a comedy sketch, Scuntrada 2000
Right photo, Symbolic first kill, Kunkelspass

Figure 24 – Modernity in the Landscape

Top photo, High-house apartments and railroad station in Thusis

Bottom photo, Ems Chemical and Golf course (Domat)

Heimat Verkaufen? The "Grisons" as it was introduced in the English language literature, was a distant location even for those familiar with the Grand Tour routes of Western Europe. Despite its centrality as a pass-state for thousands of years, the contemporary view is that the Bündnerland is a peripheral place in modern Switzerland just as it was to the numerous entities before (Pyatt, 1984). Clearly, the Canton is in the Southeastern extreme of the current federal territory, and it had a different past on which to draw its heritage. Today, they represent themselves with the successful tourist slogan "Ferienecke der Schweiz" (Il chantun da vacanzas da la Svizra / vacation corner of Switzerland) that reinforces this image of uniqueness vis-à-vis its geography (Graubünden Verkehrsverein, 1997).

The popular selling and marketing of Grischun revolves around a stereotype of the people and the landscape as being traditional. An award winning advertising campaign used images and stereotypes to poke fun at locals as well as portray the region as the real deal. On the ten year anniversary of the advertisement campaign, a book of commentary and review called Heimat verkaufen examines the impact (Liebi, 1998). The heart of being a Bündner is attitude—a stereotype of thick skulls, down to earth reality, and staunch conservatism. The most mentioned event is the cantonal prohibition against automobiles. Several attempts to allow motorized vehicles were consistently rejected by the voters at referendum until it finally sneaked through in 1925. The irony is the Bündnerland currently has more miles of highway per capita than any other Swiss canton, and they aggressively lobby parliament for federal money to construct more.

Greyness: The Grischun epoch formally ended during the Napoleonic Wars when Grischun/Graubünden was adjoined to the Swiss State, but the regional identity that many call "Bündner" continues into the present. Some of the current differentiation in the tourism business draws heavily on this Bündner image, and it is still a source of pride especially around the topics of political independence and human ecology. This epoch has one special aspect for the Romansh. It is the time period where the language became written and standardized in each of the regions. In addition to the literary developments, religious based literature promotes strong, regional identities. While this literary movement was a positive for the language, it also set in motion ecclesiastic animosity between the Romansh regions.

Epoca Svizra

The next logical epoch is the current period of time, labeled with the Romansh word for Switzerland, Svizra. The Svizra epoch would include all the developments of the last two hundred years such as industrialization and recreation. Because this timeframe or Swiss context is crucial for understanding the present institutional and national components to cultural preservation, it is also a focus of Chapter Three. Therefore, I present this epoch in more of a survey fashion and as a conclusion to this chapter.

In short, the Romansh as well as many other folks in the Alps experienced a profound change to their livelihoods and demographic patterns (Bätzing, 1991). The most profound change remains the mobility of people to migrate and travel, which changes the contact patterns between the languages. In addition, dramatic political revolution plays out in the words of ideology and the fields of conflict. The occupation by foreign armies and imposition of new administrative ideas left a legacy in Grischun. Society was changing as the result of technology, which was improving living conditions through better heaters, mechanized farming, and access to medicine. On the other hand, alpine valleys could not cope with population growth that resulted in migration and restructuring of agricultural communities (Figure 24).

Napoleon and Helveticism

The French Revolution marked a change in political discourse and governing structures (Metz, 1989). The French Army introduced administrative order, Napoleonic code, and rational planning methods. Needless to say, voluntary activities of local "patriots" had already worked to overthrow élites. Later, as the imposition of military occupation set in, it created resentment that made becoming Swiss easier. Regardless of origin, constitutional notions of rights do become significant. Amongst Swiss (Eidgenössen) and Bündners, the common way to signal political friendship was with oaths. Eidgenössen literally means oath takers and it is synonymous with being Swiss. Furthermore, these oaths are usually at a community level where residents elect their own representatives or provide guidance to join an alliance. The new political order of constitutions gives individuals universal rights, but the communities never relinquished anything and still like symbolic friendship oaths.

Constitutions: The first dramatic change in political discourse resulted from the structure of a constitution that defines the role and power of the state. Currently, political debate and conflict in Switzerland revolves around changing and interpreting their constitutions. While it took decades to eventually find a federal-canton-commune relationship that works, there never was a movement to deny others basic rights including language. Provisions for language rights appear in the first constitutional documents. For the Romansh, the 1794 constitution in Grischun recognizes the language as official—actually two versions of Romansh: Ladin and Sursilvan (Metz, 1989). Subsequent cantonal constitutions have retained Romansh language rights. At the federal level, Romansh recognition took much longer, while not being negative towards the Swiss in general.

Swiss Federalism: After the Helvetic Republic experience, imposed by the French, the individual cantons reverted back to their previous ruling élites (Ancient Regime). The political turmoil of the nineteenth century had a liberal verses conservative nature, and it eventually led to a civil war in 1847 (Remak, 1993). The new political order, often called the era of modern Switzerland, is the federal state founded in 1848 by the liberals. This constitution recognized German, French, and Italian as both national and official languages. Romansh was recognized as the fourth national language in 1938 by a popular referendum vote, and in 1996, Romansh was elevated to partial official language. The distinction between national and official refers to the ability to use the language in official ways such as with the federal court or in the legislative process. It even applied to practical matters like the printing of a personal name on a passport. The partial official status is a realization that geographical and demographical scales matter, whereas the printing of every official document need not be in Romansh as long as a Romansh speaking person has the right to deal with the government in their language when necessary.

Modernity and Mobility

The ability of people to travel and change residence is complex in terms of both understanding the individuals motives and the process of accounting for this mobility. Mobility including temporary and permanent migration is one aspect of language change in Switzerland. Romansh have for Centuries left their traditional areas, and occasionally, they returned with new influences reflected in the landscape. Another aspect of mobility is the growth of tourism centers that meant the arrival of non-Romansh as guest workers. The language situation of these tourist places is a complex mixture of locals, guests, and workers. In the case of Swiss citizens, the ability to change residence has impacted the alpine areas because of their desirable locations, and in some areas incredible amounts of capital flows into investment opportunities that communities create.

Not only do people move through the language territory, so do ideas of the respective period. Modern ideas and influences associated with architecture and ways of living impact the landscape (Figure 24). School reform and postal standardization are two such modern ideas that came to the mountainous regions, which resulted in even stronger German language influences for the Romansh (Billigmeier, 1979). Later, many of these same areas became idealized as places of authentic Swiss culture and worthy of special initiatives to preserve their ways of life. Preservation in many guises has become part of the cultural landscape.

Epical Conclusion

The epochs I describe are just a framework to attach meanings. What a historian would do with this topic and how ordinary people understand their past are very different. A quote from Goethe may reflect both the historian’s purpose and the common person's sentiment: "He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth." While I can also appreciate the idea of learning from the past, there seems to be ample evidence that humanity does not always learn from past mistakes. The imaginary boundaries of the past are quite at odds with the known borders one celebrates today. Furthermore, the inconsistencies in environmental and cultural history are a little bit disturbing as that does not bode well for ecological sustainability nor cultural diversity. If well-meaning people in real places get the story wrong, maybe it means something.

I admire the European folk customs as they still exist even if inaccurate, and from a scholarly point of view rather recent inventions of the nineteenth century (Hobsbawm, 1983). The concern is that many folk things coincide with State-based ideology, and the writing of national and ethnic histories has been a component of conflict and misunderstanding. Both science as a methodology and academic subversion by the state are directly implicated in some of the continent’s worst atrocities. Early twentieth century was a relative case in point as Swiss and Italian authors approached Romansh linguistic classification in very different, politically charged ways (see Lansel, 1937; Bundi, 1996).

The Romansh are not usually discussed in the realm of Europe’s dark side, just the opposite, such as the emergence of early forms of democracy (Head, 1995). Romansh bibliographies and histories typically emphasize their participation in the sphere of European ideas by showing the longevity and breadth of Romansh literature dating back to the Reformation (Lia Rumantscha, 1938). Yet, their broader cultural awareness is a combination of self-discovery and interaction with foreign academics and travelers. Like any study subject, they learned from those interested in their language and landscape, and they contributed to the process by stimulating intellectual interest and building hospitality infrastructure. The unraveling of these impacts on folk culture and ethnic origins as it applies to the Romansh still needs to be taken up in a serious manner. In the next chapter, I explore more of the unique qualities of Switzerland that deeply impact the Romansh situation.

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