The Nacerima
The Nacerima Cultural Description
Part A
Based on the article "The Body Ritual of the Nacerima," by Horace Miner here are 5 descriptive words I would use to describe the population Miner discusses.
Ritualistic
A significant portion of the daily activities of these tribes revolves around ritualistic practices. These rituals are centered on the human body, with concerns about appearance and health being paramount in the ethos of the people. As outlined in the article "The Body Ritual of the Nacerima," the fundamental belief that underpins this entire system is the notion that the human body is inherently prone to debilitation and illness. This belief leaves them with the sole recourse of mitigating these characteristics through the utilization of ritual and ceremony. Each household maintains one or more shrines dedicated to these purposes.
Acquisitive
The medicine men and their assistants expect to be compensated with substantial gifts for their services. They transcribe the potion's ingredients in a secret language known only to the medicine men and the herbalists, who, in exchange for another gift, provide the necessary charm. Moreover, material possessions hold significant importance, with the opulence of a household often being measured by the number of ritual centers it possesses. While most houses are constructed using wattle and daub, the shrine rooms of the affluent are typically walled with stone.
Metaphysical
The Nacirema hold firm spiritual beliefs and engage in magical practices. The ceremonial aspects and associated philosophy of these practices are highly distinctive. They rely on sacred rituals and divine intervention, prompting regular visits to the medicine men and holy-mouth-men. As articulated in the article "The Body Ritual of the Nacerima," the Nacerima exhibit an almost pathological fixation on the condition of the mouth, believing it to exert a supernatural influence on all social relationships. They attribute a strong correlation between oral and moral characteristics, viewing rituals related to oral hygiene as essential for maintaining social harmony.
Hierarchical
Social hierarchy plays an important role in Nacerima culture. Within the hierarchy of magical practitioners, specialists known as "holy-mouth-men" hold a position below the medicine men in terms of prestige. These individuals hold significant influence within the community due to their specialized skills. Individuals of higher social standing enjoy greater access to resources and luxuries. The medicine men maintain imposing temples, or latipsos, in every community, regardless of size.
Private
According to Horace Miner the rituals are not family ceremonies, they´re private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. Bathing and excretory acts are performed only in the secrecy of the household shrine, where they are ritualized as part of the body-rites.
1. As an American, I feel shocked to discover that it's describing our behaviors. As an insider, I feel like I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and viewing our culture with fresh eyes. Now that I think about it, the medicinal practices seemed oddly familiar to me.
2. I acknowledge that some of my word choices may demonstrate ethnocentrism. For instance, describing the Nacerima as "ritualistic" may describe their practices as abnormal. However, since the term was frequently used in the article, I understand its application. While I hadn't previously viewed our activities as "ritualistic," I can grasp why they're described as such, given our rituals concerning the human body, appearance, and health. I would indeed characterize us as "acquisitive" because our world operates on services exchanged for money, and "hierarchical" because individuals with higher social standing enjoy greater access to resources and luxuries, as I mentioned in my post.
3. To eliminate bias from my descriptions, I would choose neutral words that avoid cultural judgment. Instead of "ritualistic," I could use "traditional" to describe the Nacirema's practices. Similarly, instead of "metaphysical," I could use "spiritual" to convey the significance of their beliefs.
4. I believe it's incredibly important to stay clear of ethnocentric judgments when describing other cultures because they have their specific beliefs and reasons that entirely justify their actions within their culture. While we may not necessarily agree with their practices, when studying and learning about them, we should approach them with respect, objectivity, and freedom from bias. I'm impressed by the extent of judgment we can hold against a culture we don't relate to. Ultimately, we're not as dissimilar as we might think, and it's crucial to combat harmful stereotypes and misconceptions about others.
I've recorded and scored your Part A submission. I will more feedback on Friday after you have submitted Part B.
ReplyDeleteHello Kenya,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the hierarchy and secretive description of your blog. I also used those two descriptive words. I liked how you described the oral and moral being as social harmony. The Nacerima people did strongly believe that they had to practice these oral rituals to relieve themselves from certain evil. They also believed it was essential to keep their family and friends. The term social harmony makes me connect the word with unity. Unity was demonstrated throughout the entire reading. The term acquisitive used in your blog is the only one I did not agree with. It was to my understanding that the Nacerima populations hold their spiritual beliefs in a very high standard. I did not think they were so much interested in the value of the gifts they would present during the rituals or to their shrines. I think the gifts were seen more as a gratitude for being able to participate in the rituals.
You did an amazing job describing all five words. I agree with you on the other holy mouth men they had a good part of being apart of helping the medicine men. They helped the people in there cultures respectfully.
DeleteMy comment is the anonymous one
ReplyDeletePart B Comment: I'll start by listing your five words...
ReplyDeleteRitualistic
Acquisitive
Metaphysical
Hierarchical
Private
The first question is also asks you about how you feel about YOUR choice of words. I agree that the discovery that Miner is discussing American culture was shocking and eye-opening! But do you think your chosen words accurately describe the American culture?
In all honesty, I actually came away with the impression that you did a decent job of choosing relatively non-biased words, which is remarkable since you are basing your choice upon Minor's clearly biased telling of this story. We are ritualistic people (as are all cultures, frankly). We are acquisitive (materialistic would be a more biased choice but accurate). We are hierarchical and we tend to be private people (except on social media!). The only word that seemed inaccurate, and therefore possessing some possible bias, is the term "metaphysical". Are the practices Minor described actually magical? Or are they for the most part medical and dental practices based upon science? It is interesting that this is the only word choice you don't highlight as possibly biased. Why was that?
So, what does your new word choices tell us about the Nacerima? Anything interesting and valuable? All cultures are "traditional" to a certain extent. And all cultures have a spiritual component. For that matter, all cultures have aspects of the original words your chose as well. Is this a good way to go about describing a culture? It might be better to recognize that this attempt to define a culture with individual words isn't possible in the first place. It is a futile and biased practice and doesn't reflect what anthropologists are trying to do in their jobs. As an anthropologist, your job is to not describe from an outsider's perspective but to understand a culture.. and that means starting to see it as insiders do.
I agree with your conclusion for the final prompt, but I would like you to address the final question: Do you think it is possible to completely avoid personal cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist? While Anthropologists can strive to avoid bias and practice this skill, I suggest it is just as important to be aware that our biases are deeply ingrained in our psyche and are likely impossible to avoid completely. Better to be aware of this and be receptive to those who point it out when it happens. This is one of the reasons anthropologists collaborate with others... so that they can watch out for each other's bias seeping into their work.
On a purely scientific basis, yes, we should strive to be impartial in our observations of different cultures as it relates to anthropology and the scientific method. But, regardless I do not see anything ethnocentric about pointing out that some cultures do practice certain traditions that we as a whole would all agree are bad. For instance, slavery. Which is still practiced in some parts of the world even today.
ReplyDeleteHi K. I found it interesting that you choose ritualistic as a word that was ethnocentric. In my opinion ritualistic was a good neutral descriptor of people who simply had strict routines. This was because the implication of a ritual in my mind was not good or bad. After looking back I think I did imply a bit more of an opinion unknowingly. I also found it interesting that you chose spiritual because I chose the same. After looking the word choices and thinking about them a little bit. I feel that they can all be ethnocentric just depending on how who is looking at them. I personally do not think that "secretive" is biased but someone who values openness might see it and have a bias.
ReplyDeleteHi K,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't describe 'ritualistic' as a necessarily ethnocentric or negative word to describe the practices of the Nacirema, rather as too limited a descriptor. Though we often use it to invoke cultural behaviors which are foreign to us, it is a useful term when applied within the understanding of a given cultures wider norms to practices which have a divergent, in-group specific set of characteristics.