Author: June Helm
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803223738
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192
Book Description
The Dogrib Indians are one of the Dene people of Western Canadian Subarctic; they speak a language belonging to the widespread Athapaskan family, whose southern relatives include the Navajos and Apaches of the southwestern United States. This study draws on the author’s field studies from 1959 to 1974 to present an ethnographic description of Dogrib religion. The first part of the book introduces three prophets who came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s. Though they developed from the same tradition and had the same aims, their prophetic styles contrasted dramatically with one another. Helm situates the prophetic movement in relation to tribal and Christian traditions and shows the determining importance of the prophets personalities in shaping their teachings. The second part of the book examines the traditional Dogrib concept of power (ink’on), drawing on information given over the course of the years by Vital Thomas, a religious leader who collaborated closely with Helm. This firsthand material, told in Thomas’s own words, is noteworthy for its personal perspective and for the understanding it provides of the differing sources and uses of power. This concept of power is so pervasive in daily life that it forms the key for understanding the dynamics of Dogrib culture. The book concludes with a brief autobiography related by Vital Thomas. Prophecy and Power among the Dogrib Indians is important for documenting the prophet movement among the Dene people in the late twentieth century and for situating it historically in the context of Dogrib traditional culture.
Prophecy and Power Among the Dogrib Indians
Author: June Helm
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803223738
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192
Book Description
The Dogrib Indians are one of the Dene people of Western Canadian Subarctic; they speak a language belonging to the widespread Athapaskan family, whose southern relatives include the Navajos and Apaches of the southwestern United States. This study draws on the author’s field studies from 1959 to 1974 to present an ethnographic description of Dogrib religion. The first part of the book introduces three prophets who came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s. Though they developed from the same tradition and had the same aims, their prophetic styles contrasted dramatically with one another. Helm situates the prophetic movement in relation to tribal and Christian traditions and shows the determining importance of the prophets personalities in shaping their teachings. The second part of the book examines the traditional Dogrib concept of power (ink’on), drawing on information given over the course of the years by Vital Thomas, a religious leader who collaborated closely with Helm. This firsthand material, told in Thomas’s own words, is noteworthy for its personal perspective and for the understanding it provides of the differing sources and uses of power. This concept of power is so pervasive in daily life that it forms the key for understanding the dynamics of Dogrib culture. The book concludes with a brief autobiography related by Vital Thomas. Prophecy and Power among the Dogrib Indians is important for documenting the prophet movement among the Dene people in the late twentieth century and for situating it historically in the context of Dogrib traditional culture.
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803223738
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192
Book Description
The Dogrib Indians are one of the Dene people of Western Canadian Subarctic; they speak a language belonging to the widespread Athapaskan family, whose southern relatives include the Navajos and Apaches of the southwestern United States. This study draws on the author’s field studies from 1959 to 1974 to present an ethnographic description of Dogrib religion. The first part of the book introduces three prophets who came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s. Though they developed from the same tradition and had the same aims, their prophetic styles contrasted dramatically with one another. Helm situates the prophetic movement in relation to tribal and Christian traditions and shows the determining importance of the prophets personalities in shaping their teachings. The second part of the book examines the traditional Dogrib concept of power (ink’on), drawing on information given over the course of the years by Vital Thomas, a religious leader who collaborated closely with Helm. This firsthand material, told in Thomas’s own words, is noteworthy for its personal perspective and for the understanding it provides of the differing sources and uses of power. This concept of power is so pervasive in daily life that it forms the key for understanding the dynamics of Dogrib culture. The book concludes with a brief autobiography related by Vital Thomas. Prophecy and Power among the Dogrib Indians is important for documenting the prophet movement among the Dene people in the late twentieth century and for situating it historically in the context of Dogrib traditional culture.
That's Raven Talk
Author: Mareike Neuhaus
Publisher: University of Regina Press
ISBN: 0889772339
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
Annotation A reading strategy for orality in North American Indigenous literatures that is grounded in Indigenous linquistic traditions.
Publisher: University of Regina Press
ISBN: 0889772339
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
Annotation A reading strategy for orality in North American Indigenous literatures that is grounded in Indigenous linquistic traditions.
Choctaw Prophecy
Author: Tom Mould
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817312269
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
Explores the power and artistry of prophecy among the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, who use predictions about the future to interpret the world around them This book challenges the common assumption that American Indian prophecy was an anomaly of the 18th and 19th centuries that resulted from tribes across the continent reacting to the European invasion. Tom Mould’s study of the contemporary prophetic traditions of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reveals a much larger system of prophecy that continues today as a vibrant part of the oral tradition. Mould shows that Choctaw prophecy is more than a prediction of the future; it is a way to unite the past, present, and future in a moral dialogue about how one should live. Choctaw prophecy, he argues, is stable and continuous; it is shared in verbal discourse, inviting negotiation on the individual level; and, because it is a tradition of all the people, it manifests itself through myriad visions with many themes. In homes, casinos, restaurants, laundromats, day care centers, and grocery stores, as well as in ceremonial and political situations, people discuss current events and put them into context with traditional stories that govern the culture. In short, recitation is widely used in everyday life as a way to interpret, validate, challenge, and create the world of the Choctaw speaker. Choctaw Prophecy stands as a sound model for further study into the prophetic traditions of not only other American Indian tribes but also communities throughout the world. Weaving folklore and oral tradition with ethnography, this book will be useful to academic and public libraries as well as to scholars and students of southern Indians and the modern South.
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817312269
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
Explores the power and artistry of prophecy among the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, who use predictions about the future to interpret the world around them This book challenges the common assumption that American Indian prophecy was an anomaly of the 18th and 19th centuries that resulted from tribes across the continent reacting to the European invasion. Tom Mould’s study of the contemporary prophetic traditions of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reveals a much larger system of prophecy that continues today as a vibrant part of the oral tradition. Mould shows that Choctaw prophecy is more than a prediction of the future; it is a way to unite the past, present, and future in a moral dialogue about how one should live. Choctaw prophecy, he argues, is stable and continuous; it is shared in verbal discourse, inviting negotiation on the individual level; and, because it is a tradition of all the people, it manifests itself through myriad visions with many themes. In homes, casinos, restaurants, laundromats, day care centers, and grocery stores, as well as in ceremonial and political situations, people discuss current events and put them into context with traditional stories that govern the culture. In short, recitation is widely used in everyday life as a way to interpret, validate, challenge, and create the world of the Choctaw speaker. Choctaw Prophecy stands as a sound model for further study into the prophetic traditions of not only other American Indian tribes but also communities throughout the world. Weaving folklore and oral tradition with ethnography, this book will be useful to academic and public libraries as well as to scholars and students of southern Indians and the modern South.
Ways of Knowing
Author: Jean-Guy Goulet
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803270749
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384
Book Description
This innovative study reveals the creative world of a Native community. Once seminomadic hunters and gatherers who traveled by horse wagon, canoe, and dog sled, the Dene Tha of northern Canada today live in government-built homes in the settlement of Chateh. Their lives are a distinct blend of old and new, in which traditional forms of social control, healing, and praying entwine with services supplied by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a nursing station, and a Roman Catholic church. Many older cultural beliefs and practices remain: ghosts linger, reincarnating and sometimes causing deaths; past and future are interpreted through the Prophet Dance; ?animal helpers? become lifelong companions and sources of power; and personal visions and experiences are considered the roots of true knowledge. Why and how are such striking beliefs and practices still vital to the Dene Tha? Drawing on extensive fieldwork at Chateh, anthropologist Jean-Guy Goulet delineates the interconnections between the strands of meaning and experience with which the Dene Tha constitute and creatively engage their world. Goulet?s insights into the Dene Tha?s ways of knowing were gained through directly experiencing their lifeway rather than through formal instruction. This experiential perspective makes his study especially illuminating, providing an intimate glimpse of a remarkable and enduring Native community.
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803270749
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384
Book Description
This innovative study reveals the creative world of a Native community. Once seminomadic hunters and gatherers who traveled by horse wagon, canoe, and dog sled, the Dene Tha of northern Canada today live in government-built homes in the settlement of Chateh. Their lives are a distinct blend of old and new, in which traditional forms of social control, healing, and praying entwine with services supplied by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a nursing station, and a Roman Catholic church. Many older cultural beliefs and practices remain: ghosts linger, reincarnating and sometimes causing deaths; past and future are interpreted through the Prophet Dance; ?animal helpers? become lifelong companions and sources of power; and personal visions and experiences are considered the roots of true knowledge. Why and how are such striking beliefs and practices still vital to the Dene Tha? Drawing on extensive fieldwork at Chateh, anthropologist Jean-Guy Goulet delineates the interconnections between the strands of meaning and experience with which the Dene Tha constitute and creatively engage their world. Goulet?s insights into the Dene Tha?s ways of knowing were gained through directly experiencing their lifeway rather than through formal instruction. This experiential perspective makes his study especially illuminating, providing an intimate glimpse of a remarkable and enduring Native community.
Life Among the Indians
Author: Alice Cunningham Fletcher
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496208196
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 519
Book Description
Alice C. Fletcher (1838-1923), one of the few women who became anthropologists in the United States during the nineteenth century, was a pioneer in the practice of participant-observation ethnography. She focused her studies over many years among the Native tribes in Nebraska and South Dakota. Life among the Indians, Fletcher's popularized autobiographical memoir written in 1886-87 about her first fieldwork among the Sioux and the Omahas during 1881-82, remained unpublished in Fletcher's archives at the Smithsonian Institution for more than one hundred years. In it Fletcher depicts the humor and hardships of her field experiences as a middle-aged woman undertaking anthropological fieldwork alone, while showing genuine respect and compassion for Native ways and beliefs that was far ahead of her time. What emerges is a complex and fascinating picture of a woman questioning the cultural and gender expectations of nineteenth-century America while insightfully portraying rapidly changing reservation life. Fletcher's account of her early fieldwork is available here for the first time, accompanied by an essay by the editors that sheds light on Fletcher's place in the development of anthropology and the role of women in the discipline.
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496208196
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 519
Book Description
Alice C. Fletcher (1838-1923), one of the few women who became anthropologists in the United States during the nineteenth century, was a pioneer in the practice of participant-observation ethnography. She focused her studies over many years among the Native tribes in Nebraska and South Dakota. Life among the Indians, Fletcher's popularized autobiographical memoir written in 1886-87 about her first fieldwork among the Sioux and the Omahas during 1881-82, remained unpublished in Fletcher's archives at the Smithsonian Institution for more than one hundred years. In it Fletcher depicts the humor and hardships of her field experiences as a middle-aged woman undertaking anthropological fieldwork alone, while showing genuine respect and compassion for Native ways and beliefs that was far ahead of her time. What emerges is a complex and fascinating picture of a woman questioning the cultural and gender expectations of nineteenth-century America while insightfully portraying rapidly changing reservation life. Fletcher's account of her early fieldwork is available here for the first time, accompanied by an essay by the editors that sheds light on Fletcher's place in the development of anthropology and the role of women in the discipline.
Politics and Government in Germany, 1944-1994
Author: C. C. Schweitzer
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1782388591
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 512
Book Description
This revised and enlarged edition brings the successful original volume of 1984 right up to date, taking into account the most recent developments. Each section begins with an introduction that provides the context for the following documents. There is no comparable volume of its kind available in English, and most documents have not previously been translated.
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1782388591
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 512
Book Description
This revised and enlarged edition brings the successful original volume of 1984 right up to date, taking into account the most recent developments. Each section begins with an introduction that provides the context for the following documents. There is no comparable volume of its kind available in English, and most documents have not previously been translated.
Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s)
Author: Greg Johnson
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004346716
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
Extremely distant and distinct indigenous communities have over recent decades become more like themselves and more like each other – a paradox prevalent globally but inadequately explained by established analytical frames, particularly with regard to religion. Addressing this rich and unfolding context, the Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s) engages a wide variety of locations and perspectives. Drawing upon the efforts of a diverse group of scholars working at the intersection of indigenous studies and religious studies, this volume includes a programmatic introduction that argues for new ways of conceptualizing the field of indigenous religion(s), numerous case study-based examples, and an Afterword by Thomas Tweed.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004346716
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
Extremely distant and distinct indigenous communities have over recent decades become more like themselves and more like each other – a paradox prevalent globally but inadequately explained by established analytical frames, particularly with regard to religion. Addressing this rich and unfolding context, the Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s) engages a wide variety of locations and perspectives. Drawing upon the efforts of a diverse group of scholars working at the intersection of indigenous studies and religious studies, this volume includes a programmatic introduction that argues for new ways of conceptualizing the field of indigenous religion(s), numerous case study-based examples, and an Afterword by Thomas Tweed.
Hunters and Gatherers in the Modern World
Author: Megan Biesele
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1782381589
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 512
Book Description
In an age of heightened awareness of the threat that western industrialized societies pose to the environment, hunters and gatherers attract particularly strong interest because they occupy the ecological niches that are constantly eroded. Despite the denial of sovereignty, the world's more than 350 million indigenous peoples continue to assert aboriginal title to significant portions of the world's remaining bio-diversity. As a result, conflicts between tribal peoples and nation states are on the increase. Today, many of the societies that gave the field of anthropology its empirical foundations and unique global vision of a diverse and evolving humanity are being destroyed as a result of national economic, political, and military policies. Although quite a sizable body of literature exists on the living conditions of the hunters and gatherers, this volume is unique in that it represents the first extensive east-west scholarly exchange in anthropology since the demise of the USSR. Moreover, it also offers new perspectives from indigenous communities and scholars in an exchange that be termed "south-north" as opposed to " north-north," denoting the predominance of northern Europe and North America in scholarly debate. The main focus of this volume is on the internal dynamics and political strategies of hunting and gathering societies in areas of self-determination and self-representation. More specifically, it examines areas such as warfare and conflict resolution, resistance, identity and the state, demography and ecology, gender and representation, and world view and religion. It raises a large number of major issues of common concerns and therefore makes important reading for all those interested in human rights issues, ethnic conflict, grassroots development and community organization, and environmental topics.
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1782381589
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 512
Book Description
In an age of heightened awareness of the threat that western industrialized societies pose to the environment, hunters and gatherers attract particularly strong interest because they occupy the ecological niches that are constantly eroded. Despite the denial of sovereignty, the world's more than 350 million indigenous peoples continue to assert aboriginal title to significant portions of the world's remaining bio-diversity. As a result, conflicts between tribal peoples and nation states are on the increase. Today, many of the societies that gave the field of anthropology its empirical foundations and unique global vision of a diverse and evolving humanity are being destroyed as a result of national economic, political, and military policies. Although quite a sizable body of literature exists on the living conditions of the hunters and gatherers, this volume is unique in that it represents the first extensive east-west scholarly exchange in anthropology since the demise of the USSR. Moreover, it also offers new perspectives from indigenous communities and scholars in an exchange that be termed "south-north" as opposed to " north-north," denoting the predominance of northern Europe and North America in scholarly debate. The main focus of this volume is on the internal dynamics and political strategies of hunting and gathering societies in areas of self-determination and self-representation. More specifically, it examines areas such as warfare and conflict resolution, resistance, identity and the state, demography and ecology, gender and representation, and world view and religion. It raises a large number of major issues of common concerns and therefore makes important reading for all those interested in human rights issues, ethnic conflict, grassroots development and community organization, and environmental topics.
Coming Down from Above
Author: Lee Irwin
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806185791
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 529
Book Description
For longer than five centuries, Native Americans have struggled to adapt to colonialism, missionization, and government control policies. This first comprehensive survey of prophetic movements in Native North America tells how religious leaders blended indigenous beliefs with Christianity’s prophetic traditions to respond to those challenges. Lee Irwin gathers a scattered literature to provide a single-volume overview that depicts American Indians’ creative synthesis of their own religious beliefs and practices with a variety of Christian theological ideas and moral teachings. He traces continuities in the prophetic tradition from eighteenth-century Delaware prophets to Western dream dance visionaries, showing that Native American prophecy was not merely borrowed from Christianity but emerged from an interweaving of Christian and ancient North American teachings integral to Native religions. From the highly assimilated ideas of the Puget Sound Shakers to such resistance movements as that of the Shawnee Prophet, Irwin tells how the integration of non-Native beliefs with prophetic teachings gave rise to diverse ethnotheologies with unique features. He surveys the beliefs and practices of the nation to which each prophet belonged, then describes his or her life and teachings, the codification of those teachings, and the impact they had on both the community and the history of Native religions. Key hard-to-find primary texts are included in an appendix. An introduction to an important strand within the rich tapestry of Native religions, Coming Down from Above shows the remarkable responsiveness of those beliefs to historical events. It is an unprecedented, encyclopedic sourcebook for anyone interested in the roots of Native theology.
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806185791
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 529
Book Description
For longer than five centuries, Native Americans have struggled to adapt to colonialism, missionization, and government control policies. This first comprehensive survey of prophetic movements in Native North America tells how religious leaders blended indigenous beliefs with Christianity’s prophetic traditions to respond to those challenges. Lee Irwin gathers a scattered literature to provide a single-volume overview that depicts American Indians’ creative synthesis of their own religious beliefs and practices with a variety of Christian theological ideas and moral teachings. He traces continuities in the prophetic tradition from eighteenth-century Delaware prophets to Western dream dance visionaries, showing that Native American prophecy was not merely borrowed from Christianity but emerged from an interweaving of Christian and ancient North American teachings integral to Native religions. From the highly assimilated ideas of the Puget Sound Shakers to such resistance movements as that of the Shawnee Prophet, Irwin tells how the integration of non-Native beliefs with prophetic teachings gave rise to diverse ethnotheologies with unique features. He surveys the beliefs and practices of the nation to which each prophet belonged, then describes his or her life and teachings, the codification of those teachings, and the impact they had on both the community and the history of Native religions. Key hard-to-find primary texts are included in an appendix. An introduction to an important strand within the rich tapestry of Native religions, Coming Down from Above shows the remarkable responsiveness of those beliefs to historical events. It is an unprecedented, encyclopedic sourcebook for anyone interested in the roots of Native theology.
Celebrating a Century of the American Anthropological Association
Author: Regna Darnell
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803217201
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
During the past century the American Anthropological Association (AAA) has borne witness to profound social, cultural, and technical changes, transformations that have affected anthropologists and the people they work with across the planet. In response to such global changes, anthropology continues to evolve into an increasingly complex and sophisticated discipline with a dynamic range of flourishing subfields. This volume contains the memorable stories of the seventy-seven men and women who have led the AAA during the past century. The list of the association's presidents reads like a roster of influential scholars from various specializations within anthropology. Their histories cumulatively reflect the trends in interpretive thought and fieldwork methodology that have emerged during the past ten decades. For each president the book provides a photograph and a biography replete with personal anecdotes, career highlights, and information about his or her contributions to the development of the discipline of anthropology. Important works by each president are listed separately in the back of the volume. An introduction by Regna Darnell and Frederic W. Gleach summarizes the first century of the AAA and contextualizes the individual stories.
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803217201
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
During the past century the American Anthropological Association (AAA) has borne witness to profound social, cultural, and technical changes, transformations that have affected anthropologists and the people they work with across the planet. In response to such global changes, anthropology continues to evolve into an increasingly complex and sophisticated discipline with a dynamic range of flourishing subfields. This volume contains the memorable stories of the seventy-seven men and women who have led the AAA during the past century. The list of the association's presidents reads like a roster of influential scholars from various specializations within anthropology. Their histories cumulatively reflect the trends in interpretive thought and fieldwork methodology that have emerged during the past ten decades. For each president the book provides a photograph and a biography replete with personal anecdotes, career highlights, and information about his or her contributions to the development of the discipline of anthropology. Important works by each president are listed separately in the back of the volume. An introduction by Regna Darnell and Frederic W. Gleach summarizes the first century of the AAA and contextualizes the individual stories.