Reflections from a descendant

My five words:

Ignorant-

Although these practices seem like their mere enactment should raise a red flag on multiple levels, the Nacerima people are so loyal in following these traditions that my first word is "ignorant". However, if they are considered a "highly developed market economy", who are they trading with that wouldn't question and try to help them get out of the more destructive of their behaviors?  There can't be a successful market economy without demand, so they can't be selling only within their own culture...  They also seem to trust in these medicine men and "Holy-mouth men" although their health doesn't necessarily stabilize and their teeth continue to decay, still religiously visiting them even when the remedies fail to work.

Materialistic-

"...the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses.... Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls"  Obviously a status symbol, a home that contains multiple shrines denotes wealth and power. The dramatic and materialistic emphasis on the ownership of the "many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live" is only surpassed by the requirement that the medicine men and other service people must be rewarded with substantial gifts in order to provide their remedies.

Inadequate-

"The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease." Feeling "incarcerated" in these ugly human bodies makes them constantly masochistic in pursuit of the divine or alien form they strive for. Punishing themselves by "baking their heads in small ovens" or "scraping and lacerating the surface of the face", they can never atone for the inadequacy they struggle to cope with from birth.  Their dissatisfaction with breast shape seems unreal! 

Superstitious

Referred to as a "magic-ridden people", it all seems to be in a negative connotation. It is hard to be objective about many of the traditions they uphold and the beliefs that support them. The degree of faith they place in their magic potions and holy men is unimaginable. However, their "pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth" is the most interesting and extreme.  They believe that it has a "supernatural influence on all social relationships. Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shring, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them. They also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics." I'm curious as to the origin of this oral fixation, and of the superstition surrounding it. Perhaps the cold sore epidemic (Herpes simplex) hit them roughly at some point, but I can only speculate.

American-

The terrible part is that I chose all my words, and then when re-reading was thrown off with the geography Miner includes:  “They are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east....” Okay, so geography isn’t my strength, but I do know enough to raise an eyebrow at such a range-certainly a culture such as this couldn’t warrant such a large span of land, and besides, the US is between Canada and Mexico…this refers to a study performed in the 1930s…is this a trick?  Ohhhh!!! Read it backwards, guys...although the vowels are swapped (Stoked that I figured it out before Thursday!!!-secretly relieved at the embarrassment I saved myself, and excited that this course is going to be just as, if not more challenging and tricky than Anthro 101.)  You almost got me, Professor Rodriguez!

"Latipso"

Non-human-looking breasts-these are the idolized women that provide staring priviledges, for a fee...they also serve really good chicken wings as they display their alien forms.

Ritualistic Charm box

"Moral Fiber" -improving mouth ablution for children

Part B:

1. As an American, how do you feel about your choice of descriptive words in Part A? (If you are from another country, you can still comment on your choices based upon your first hand experience with American culture but include the fact that you are from another culture.)

As an American, I think that the words that I chose-Ignorant, Materialistic, Inadequate, and Superstitious-and American!!-are accurate, except that "superstitious" may be a little skewed. Although the article portrays our culture as such, I think that a lot of the fears that the author labels as "superstitions" are actual physical attributes that we do consider ugly, and will inhibit us from (not necessarily keeping friends) attracting a spouse, or landing a job, etc.  Because of the importance we place on appearances, a mouth full of decay can be a detriment not only to health but also to social progress.


2. Do any of your choices exhibit ethnocentrism on your part? In other words, do any of your descriptive words reveal a judgment of the Nacerima rooted in your own cultural bias? Are any of your words free of bias? Identify the words you feel are biased and unbiased and explain your reasoning.

I think that my choice of the word "Ignorant" demonstrates my ethnocentrism. My first line to justify this word is, "Although these practices seem like their mere enactment should raise a red flag on multiple levels..." This shows my bias since, although it turned out to be pointed toward my own culture, it is improper of me to assume that just because certain actions would raise a red flag for me, there may be no perceived warnings within the culture being analyzed. 

Obviously "American" is biased, because at this point I realized that I was shooting down my own culture the entire time.  However, I didn't describe this word completely as an adjective-it's meaning is far too vast and relative to try to define it.

I feel that "Materialistic", "Inadequate", and "Superstitious" are all pretty unbiased, from an objective point of view, and that they are well-founded within the text.  While "materialistic" and "superstitious" are 3rd party observations, "Inadequate" is, I think, a cultural self-identity that a native "Nacerima"n would agree with.


3. For any of the words that are biased, can you provide alternate words that are free of bias but communicate the same explanatory information and intent of your original word?

 Instead of "ignorant", I might say "creedbound", because it seems that although certain actions lack the foundation for continuance, and should be re-evaluated, it seems that this population is wearing blinders in favor of upholding their traditions.

Instead of "American"...? What other word is vague enough to describe such a culture? Let's go with "motley"

4. From this experience, reflect on the importance of avoiding ethnocentric judgments when describing other cultures. Why is it important to describe another culture in a manner as free from personal cultural bias as possible? Do you think it is possible to completely avoid personal cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist?

It is extremely important to avoid ethnocentric judgements when describing another culture.  I am curious to know the cerebral difference between the likelihood of bias of someone who has spent time already within several different cultures for extended periods of time, and someone who just has one cultural background. Does the anthropologist with experience in a larger variety of cultures pick up more biases, several from each culture, that they have to work to shed? Or does it become easier to detangle themselves from these skewed perspectives? Is ethnocentrism more difficult to deal with the first time a new anthropologist visits another population? Or less trouble, since they only have the perspective from one culture? 

In order to give an accurate and objective description of another culture, it is important to use objective thought and language as much as possible, or misrepresentation may, and probably will, occur-this is not conducive to the goal of anthropology.

Unless you lived under a rock with no cultural influences for your entire life, it is almost impossible to completely avoid cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist.  The successful anthropologist will analyze and re-analyze and re-re-analyze themselves to learn and maintain an awareness of their own cultural biases, and use this objective self-study in conjunction with their gathered data in order to accurately represent the culture they are studying.